area859

Hey guys whats up? I truly need some advice...I want to buy this Acura Tl, it's a 2006 TL, Automatic, My problem is, Is I keep reading how these transmissions keep failing and that noone should buy these cars... Can anyone give me feedback or thoughts on this. I really like this car but if it's gonna fail on me with the tranny issues...I won't get it! Thanks

3rdGen

2007 they re-designed the trans. So any year before that they are prone to failure. Now I'm not telling you don't get the car cause it could have been through anything. Its all about who the previous owner or owners were. My suggestion would be look into a 2007 or later model. If that's out the question and you still want the car get the 06 and take care of it and it'll take care of you.

nist7

Careful of selection bias. On enthusiast forums somewhat higher common issues like the 5AT are going to be more vocally shown. You won't see tons of threads praising on how great the 5AT is. Just the way things are.

I have a 06 TL, it has 175,000 miles now and shifts smooth and great. Look at the high mileage TL thread...tons of people with 150k-200k+ miles.

Key is to find a well-maintained car. Without actual AT "failure" numbers and how those ATs were treated...no way to definitely compare this car to other cars (aka research study with controlled variables).

I found mine with 1 owner and had a PILE of acura dealer maintenance records and it had been done well all the way up to date.

Remember to check the section for 3rd and 4th gear switch change, and make sure to do drain/refill regularly. Most owners wait too long to change out ATF.

You can have the strongest built AT in the world....won't mean a thing if the prior owner didn't maintain it well.

area859

Thanks for your feedback!

area859

Wow, thats great if you have never had any Tranny problems! From what i've read, Honda/Acura really messed up on most of their V6 Auto from 2000-2009 ish.....I had a 2003 honda accord coupe ex-l with V6 Auto....my tranny went out at around 47k miles, but thanks God was under warranty or it would have been a $4k repair according to the Honda Tech..This TL i'm looking at is an '06, Silver with only 110k miles! Looks SHARP!

TL-GIXXER

yes, the trans is certainly a concern, but like others said- this is an enthusiast forum and we will come together to sing the cars praises and bitch about its issues- en masse

I bought my car with 16k miles, so I like to think that I can maintain and service the car as if I were the first owner. Following regular service intervals and recommendations, along with driving the car normally, you'll enjoy thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of trouble free miles

hieroglyphikz

Just so you know, my friend has an 04 with 275k miles and hasn't had a transmission problem.

nist7

Nice.

I'm hoping to reach that territory as well on the original trans/motor.

Again, I think ATF and ATF filter is a highly forgotten/neglected piece of the maintenance items and Honda's own manual probably calls for too long of a wait between changes...and so people forget about it and then problems arise later down the road at higher miles.

Regular drain and fills with filter change AND reasonable driving habit probably goes long way to keeping a 5AT alive and well for years/hundreds of thousands of miles to come.