I'm about to purchase a 1999 Acura CL 2.3 from a private seller for $9,600 and wanted to see if anyone had any advice (good or bad) about making that decision. I've car faxed and everything looks good.

The car has 52,000 miles, comprehensive warranty from Acura until June 2006, tires only have about 7,000 miles on them, new battery put in last week and was checked by the Acura dealer for everything at the same time.

The only thing I can think of that doesnt worrk is the controls on the steering wheel to control the radio. I'm guessing thats probably an expensive repair and not worth fixing. Also the service light is on, I was told that comes on at 30,000 and 60,000 and the only way to have it turned off is when you do the scheduled checkup from Acura directly.

Otherwise it seems like a good car and the ride was smooth.

Any advice? Thanks.

 

Im in lOVE with my 2.3cl. Congrats. Im not sure what ur last car was, but that car was a huge upgrade for me.

btw, what color? 5speed or auto?

 

I had a 1994 Ford Tempo (white) that I had since I was 16 (so 6 years), not exactly the most fun car to drive, so yes it would be a big upgrade.

The CL is automatic and black exterior. Thinking if I get it to have the windows tinted. Any other suggestions for reasonably priced modifications?

 

For mods.. It depends on wat ur going for.. do u want to go a lil faster, nicer ride? Sound system?

The mods on my car are :Tint ($100), short shifter ($35), pioneer speakers ($120), clear front bumper lights ($15 used), white underglow($60), short ram intake ($50). i got my stuff cheap because my buddy works at bestbuy. All 99 2.3 have the bose sound systems in it, so u might not wnna change anything in that dept.

My next mod will be lowering spring from H&R they only drop the car about 1". They reduce body roll without affecting normal driving conditions much.
Also i want a new header, and new cat back system. Im not going to make the car much faster, but it makes me feel better knowing i tried.

Oh and about that sevice light, u can turn it off by inserting your key in the gauge cluster area. the funny looking slot.

 

My checklist for used cars:

=========
Condition:
=========
Check saftey belts for fraying

Undercariage
frame checkup
cv boots
tire bubbles

=========
Body
=========
Bolts Check
Overspray
Even panels

=========
Drive test:
=========
Tight radius rt
noises?

Tight radius left
noises?

Brakes
straight line check
pulsating check

Engine
Smoke out of tail pipe
spark plugs condition
compression test with 5% of each other
no engine codes set, must not be in learning mode

Highway speeds
noises
steering wobble

Idle
shuttering
rpm
smooth

Trans:
smooth shifts

Airbags
No srs lamp on

=========
misc
=========
recall completion

 

First off, the service indicator can be reset yourself; I do not recall exactly how to do it, but for that year car it is likely to be a small opening in the dash near the instrument panel that you stick the ignition key (or other similarly sized object) and press a button to reset.

I looked at a '99 before buying my '01. There wasn't a lot of price differential and the new generation CL has some serious upgrades over the last generation (there was not a 2000 MY CL). The '99s still use spark plug wires, so make sure these are in good shape and I would caution you to change the plugs and tranny fluid on an automatic at like 50k miles (more often if it's a DIY for you), as Honda/Acura seems to push the maint. interval far too long for my comfort zone; but that's just my opinion. EGR problems seem to be quite common for that year CL (that engine family) and can be $250 or more to get fixed by a dealer - the passages seem to clog for some reason; might be due to the tune-up interval being too long as well, again IMO. (The '99 requires a cap and rotor for tune-up).

Good luck; its a nice ride. I agree that getting the steering wheel controls fixed would be high $ and not likely worth the effort; just be sure that this isn't the start of other electrical gremlins as generally those problems can be difficult to locate/diagnose and also expensive to fix.

 

this is coincidential....i just got a black auto 99cl 2.3 last week and gonna get it tinted this weekend. The only problem I'm sensing is the transmision which feels weak.