volcomst0ne24

my dad knows a friend that is selling a 3.2 tl with about 75k mi on it. i am 17 and this will be my first car. he is selling it for about 12,500$, do you think that it is worth it and would it be a wise choice? what are some pros and cons about it and the paint is green, if i wanted to get a new paint job, how much would that set me back? thank you!

volcomst0ne24

?? does anyone have an answer

3.2

man TL are sweet cars, but from 00 and before i would not recommend it, the styling is not great, and either is the performance. but its just an opinion.

CLpower

you are looking at between 3-5K for a whole new paint job. The 3.2TL was a great car, I think it looks sweet, performance isn't great, but it'd be a great first car.

w/ 75K on it you still have 25K worth or warranty on the tranny. The only problem w/ these cars was the POS auto tranny, but that's true w/ all late model honda/acura auto's. Other then tranny issues it's a great car.

volcomst0ne24

i thought the styling from 00 hasent changed at all

robertinwa

You know about the complete redesign for the 2004 TL I'm sure. There was also a minor facelift in about 2002 or so. A little bit nicer front end I think. I've seen a lot of chatter about the automatic transmissions but it's more anecdotal than statistical. Check Consumer Reports and I don't think you'll see their complaints backed up by Consumer Report's data. I'm not saying that there isn't an issue with the transmissions, I'm just saying it isn't enough of a problem to stop Consumer Reports from recommending the car.

AcuraTL

I think it is a great car for a 17 year old, but maybe it is a little on the big side for you. TL is a very long car, and it might be a little hard for a new driver to handle. You should look for something more agile, like a used Integra or Prelude.

volcomst0ne24

i think ill be ok with the tl. this is my first car but ive been using my dads gmc envoy for about 6 months now and i can handle that fine...

CLpower

there is enough of a problem that ACL has a whole section dedicated to tranny problems


there are a large amount of owners that have had it go out multiple times.

robertinwa

Again you're talking about anecdotal data. If you look at the Consumer Reports data you'll see that the transmissions for the TL are rated above average in reliability for the years in question. Decisions are best made with data that has been gathered and analyzed through mathematically sound techniques. For example, I know other TL owners and none of them have had any transmission problems. Does that mean that the transmissions are perfect? Of course not, all it means in this case is that my sampling size is too small.

BTW, $12,500 appears to be an average price for the car. Check the various guides for the cars market value. I assume you know the condition of the car so you can use the guidelines better than I can.

While the TL may be longer than the Prelude or Integra, it also does very well in crash tests. So should you get in an accident, you'll be well protected. But seriously, you'll get used to whatever car you buy in no time. This way, after you've mastered the TL you won't be driving around some econobox that will get crushed flat by the next teenager learning how to drive in Dad's SUV. My first car was a 1966 Pontiac GTO. A fairly long car by today's standards with lots of torque to get in trouble with. It didn't take me long to get used to its size.