Less than a month ago I bought a 00 Acura TL with 83,000km (50,000mi) on it . When I took it out for a test drive I couldn't hear any strange noises coming from the motor. It ran really well. So I bought this near mint pearl white TL. The first morning I started her up, I noticed (windows rolled down) than the motor was making "clacking" sounds at fast idle. I opened the hood and checked the oil. It was at about a quarter inch below the fill line, so I topped it up. (took a bit more than a quart). When I got to work I noticed the noise was almost gone. My mechanic says the motor is producing mild piston slap at idle. I also noticed that the idle is sort of rough when cold but fine warmed up. I took my car to my local Acura dealer and they ran a scan on the motor. No codes. They say the noises the motor is making are normal and that the tune-up is ok. I also noticed that the transaxle started to shift sort of hard going 2-3, 3-4, gear and that the fluid was starting to get a bit discolored. They say it needs a new transaxle and that they've ordered one for me.(under warranty). I also complained about the car not feeling stable in a straight line at 60-80 mph. If I let go of the steering wheel on the freeway it has a tendancy of drifting to the right. If I'm in the passing lane it doesn't pull and goes straight. They took it out for a ride and told me that the car felt fine . The car is equipped with stock Toyo Proxes TPT tires which I've researched to find out that they're not that great. They have about 7/32'' of tread left except for one that is down to 3/32". The car has never had an alignment done. This car is a lease return and all servicing was done at this dealership. The last time they saw it was for a 46,000 mile inspection. I got a printout and all scheduled maintenance was done. Talking to a local Honda dealer I found out that a lot of Honda V-6 were affected by piston slap or knocking and that Honda will not warrant this problem. My Acura dealer says that the 3.2 L Acura block and pistons are different from Honda's 3.0 L. My last complaint is with the stock mag wheels. Because salt is used on our roads in the winter the wheels allthough clearcoated have corrosion damage. Acura tells me that my wheels would need machining and polishing to bring them back to like new but that his would cost about $250Can. per wheel and that new wheels cost about the same. I'm wondering what kind of warranty does Acura provide for mag wheels? Any help, advice, links, similar stories out there? The Acura dealer is Camco Acura up here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Thanks guys. And be very, very carefull when buying a 99-03 TL. I was and it seems that I still got a bad one. VIN#: 19uua566xya804417.