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Sedans Acura TL Acura TL 1999-2003
84 messages, Last post on Nov 13, 2009 at 6:34 AM
You are in the Acura TL Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: hpmctorque (Aug 06, 2008 3:47 pm) Anyway, dealers service department replaced the seat back cover (sent car to an upholsterer) using OEM replacement cover. No charge, called it a goodwill gesture. I also had them replace brake pads and ball joints. Dealer service is not cheap, and the latter two fixes came to ~ $700. Not complaining mind you, I consider this normal wear, and after 78K miles with NO major work except scheduled maintenance, am quite happy. Edit: Had failure of the mass air-flow valve around 55k miles. Other than minor things (brake reservoir cap) etc, zero failures. Great Car!  Best part of the deal was the service manager sent me home in an 09 TSX service loaner, which I kept for two days waiting completion of work on my TL. Nice car! Too small for my needs, tho. Fuel economy for life of the car had been excellent, with daily suburban driving averaging 22 - 24 mpg, interstate cruising always 31 or higher. Service manager told me they had not seen any tranny problems for several months, believes the bad ones have worked their way out of the system. Guess I'll keep the TL several more years, wife wants it for her run about car. Need to find something for me to drive soon, just gave my F150 to my son. Am thinking probably a Civic sedan.
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| i have had my tl since 2004. i got it with 115k on it. i have had to replace trans and some parts but other then that i am very pleased. looking to add headers, intake and exhaust. looking for a shop or mayhbe a acura club in riverside, ca area to give advice on upgrades. the navigation is awesome and even better in the new tl's. my favorite tl is the 02, i would take that over the new tl's! | |
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Replying to: kcall2 (Oct 31, 2008 1:35 pm) |
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"i have had to replace trans..." How much was the tranny replacement? Was it a new unit, or did they repair the old one? |
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| If you have your transmission replaced under the guidelines of the settlement, how long is the warranty period for the replacement transmission? | |
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I've got about 90K miles on my acura. I've had to replace the transmission twice (covered under warranty) and have also had a similar problem with a 2000 Honda Odyssey. I think Honda/Acura made some poor transmissions for these cars. Also recently had to replace the engine mounts ($$$) which I was told by a few acura places is a common problem. Overall, it's been a pretty good car, but the boring styling is getting to me. |
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The new-for-2000 5-speed automatic was indeed problematic, but the good news is that Acura stepped up to the plate and replaced those that went bad under warranty. From what I know, the automatic transmission on the next generation TL ('04-'08) was reliable. My wife's '99 has the older 4-speed automatic, which, at 115,000 miles, has been trouble free. We also replaced the motor mounts, though, at about the same mileage as you indicated for your repair. Overall, my wife's '99 has been reliable and satisfying to own. We're happy with the styling, which, in our opinion, is aging well. We were more concerned with its blandness when it was newer than we are now. Designs that are edgy when new frequently don't age well. In any event, I'm disappointed with the styling of the '09 TL. What car(s) are you considering as a replacement for your '02 TL?
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Replying to: hpmctorque (Jan 05, 2009 4:21 am) I guess after driving the acura I want something more sporty. I agree with you about the new Acura's styling which I find to be quite ugly. If Honda or Acura made a modern, cool sports sedan/coupe I would be very interested. |
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Replying to: hpmctorque (Feb 01, 2008 6:04 am) Our TL-S was included in the '00-'03 extended transmission warranty, and we did need it replaced. My wife must have misplaced or forgotten about the Oct 2002 letter Honda supposedly mailed out regarding the issue, and luckily our service dept diagnosed it Jan '08, a mere five months before the extension (7-years) expired! They put in a current model, "state of the art" tranny, which took a couple days and would have cost at least $3,000 according to the service rep. We knew there had been a problem because the car would have a delay in going from 1st to 2nd gear and would all of a sudden kick into gear...just felt like it was "slipping" too much. We brought it in and sure enough that was it. Car felt like new after they replaced it, much smoother and more responsive pickup. Our last major recommended maint was at 60,000 (our dealer does the major ones at 30K intervals), and we needed the engine motor mount, cabin air filter, transmission fluid flush, and timing belt. Whole thing came to $2,000. I do feel like the car is better off after they find and fix all that stuff at the major services, but MAN it can hit your wallet hard. Suffice it to say, it feels like it could last for another 100K at least. the OEM tires were shot at 39K. Can't recall what they were but definitely a high performance summer tire with awful winter traction that ran ~$230 a pop. Replaced them at NTB w/ Sigma Regent tourings, much cheaper all seasons that are better in snow but have a much less comfortable ride than the OEMs we replaced. My rims are pretty banged up from a couple curb jobs my wife had...it's causing slow leaks from a couple of my tires so I have to constantly take my compressor out to the driveway and fill er back up. Anyone know how much the OEM rims cost?
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Sorry your car needed the repairs you listed, but none of those repairs, except for the ball joints, is unusual for the TL. We had to have the motor mounts on my wife's '99 TL changed at about 98,000 miles, so based on our experience, those on you wife's TL failed prematurely. From what I learned, motor mounts are a week spot on TLs of '99-'03 TLs. "...our dealer does the major ones at 30K intervals..." I think your dealer is recommending service intervals that are shorter than necessary, mainly for his benefit, not the customers'. Our Acura dealer does the same thing. I'd follow the maintenance schedule in the owners manual, which is the one recommended by Acura, and I'd tell your dealer that this is what you want to do. Don't believe what the dealer service people may say about a shorter maintenance schedule being better for your car. Of course, more frequent maintenance can't hurt your car, and may be slightly better, in certain cases, but it's not sufficiently better to justify the additional cost, let alone the time and trouble of taking your car to the dealer more often. Shorter maintenance schedules benefit the dealer primarily.
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