Older Acura TLs

1violinist

"I also have full tint on all the windows..."
What kind of tint do you have? Did you get it from the dealer of aftermarket? What are the legal specs in CA?
Appreciate your input!

kahunah

Many congrats on your new TL. I'm sure you're enjoying it as much as I'm enjoying mine.

You'll note in the Break-in Period section of the manual, it clearly states "Do not change the oil until the multi-information display indicates it is needed". Buy switching to synthetic or any oil before the designated time period, you may be compromising the break-in process, as the original oil contains special additives to enhance this process.

kahunah

If you're seriously thinking about getting a 6MT TL, believe me when I say, "You will not be disappointed!" I've had my Silver/Ebony 6MT since Friday and I love it! It is by far the best ride I've ever owned (or test driven for that matter). This car is solid, smooth, powerful and feels/looks much more expensive than it really is, and the 6MT is the cherry on the icing.

BTW, since the 6MTs are produced in limited quantities, don't be surprised if by summer you have difficulty finding one to buy, much less in the colors that you want. In fact, if you're really picky, you may have to wait until next fall and take delivery on a 2005 model.

pg48477

I saw black exterior, Camel interior in the dealership the other day, looks like million bucks.

vinceb81

Have any other owners experienced dents in the aluminum strip on the driver side of the shifter console? Really like the car, waiting for dealer to get my color combination. Will look at dealer cars and check out aluminum.

achadha

I currently drive an 03 Maxima 6speed which I like a lot. The exterior of the TL doesn't really excite I more into the interior which i think looks excellent. One thing I did not like on the previous TL's was the bland interior. They got it right on the 04. When getting to the dealer and looking at the lot for new TL's I ran into 2 TSX's thinking they were TL's . Not sure if I should make the move to the TL need the exterior to grow on me a little more. I wonder how the 04 TL compares to the maxima in 0-60 times. The maxima is 6.0 according to car and driver not sure about the TL 6speeed?

vinceb81

Acura reports 0-60 time is 6.0

mishima8105

What is the A-Spec? Is that a sportier version of the current new TLs in the showroom? Hate to mention another automaker in an Acura discussion group, but does anyone know about the upcoming IS redesign? The new TL looks hot, but I might consider waiting to see what Lexus is up to with its lagging IS.

Sounds like Acura needs to do something about the aluminum denting so easily.

I'm looking forward to checking out the car today, but I'll leave the checkbook and credit cards home just in case.

torontotl

Congrats on your new TL. Sounds like you're having a great time driving it, just like I am.

1hopeck

Testing for posting...........

aaking

Drove by last night and bought a TL (w/o Nav). I have been looking at them for 3 weeks. My preferance was for the Black Camel but came home with the Black Parchment. Cannot think of any car for the money that is as well equiped as the TL. While I wish it was RWD, I'm very pleased. The best part, Paid $32k on the nose. $1,200 under invoice on a Monday. They had about 15 on the lot and one Nav. Large supply produces the better deals. Since they would not come off MSRP on the Nav the true Nav upgraed price would have been $3,200. Not worth it since Nav has no value in 3 years but a flat plasma for the house does! Good Luck

aaking

Drove by last night and bought a TL (w/o Nav). I have been looking at them for 3 weeks. My preferance was for the Black Camel but came home with the Black Parchment. Cannot think of any car for the money that is as well equiped as the TL. While I wish it was RWD, I'm very pleased. The best part, Paid $32k on the nose. $1,200 under invoice on a Monday. They had about 15 on the lot and one Nav. Large supply produces the better deals. Since they would not come off MSRP on the Nav the true Nav upgraed price would have been $3,200. Not worth it since Nav has no value in 3 years but a flat plasma for the house does! Good Luck

dficco

Yes, I'm looking forward to getting the 6MT. Actually, if I have a limited color selection it makes the process simpler! Will wait for the 05 if necessary. Good to hear that you are enjoying the new car. I am curious as to how it performs in the snow. Are you planning to equip with Blizzaks or another set of snow treads for winter?

rroyce10

....... I like these new TL's, I agree, Lot's of Bang for the Buck .. So unless you have that *need And the *want for the Nav's, getting $300/$400 back at trade time doesn't sometimes make much sense ...

                  Enjoy .......

                       Terry.

gregory28

For obvious reasons I'm not going to test my trim to see if it'll dent easily. njdriver, I'm sorry to hear that happened.

I personally like the display. One can very easily adjust the brightness which may help with daytime driving.

Someone, I believe in this section, complained about the display not being readable at night. I turned the brightness all the way down and I couldn't read the steering wheel comands. I think it was a case of operator error.

My dealer doesn't recommend the first oil change for approximately 10,000 miles- after the on board computer leaves a message. It's definitely not a good idea to start using a synthetic after 1K.

I'm going to try the car in the snow with the OEM tires. I'll see how it does and I'll report back to you folks. Hopefully, our Winter will be mild. Last year was a tough one in NJ.

njdriver2

A passenger got into car, went to latch their seatbelt and gently hit the aluminum strip...dented. Now I have two. What a joke for nearly $40k. Should've went German, they think these things through. Given that I have personally witnessed the denting at the showrooms, I can't imagine that other drivers will not encounter this problem. I am contacting Acura today to inform them of their stupid choice of materials.

ruski

it's a problem with your passenger

njdriver2

Go to a showroom and hit the alumnium strip with your seatbelt buckle, then decide if you want to buy the car.

talon95

"Should've went German, they think these things through."

To this, I have one comment... iControl.

Actually, Honda and Acura are pretty well known for sweating the details... but nobody's perfect.

kahunah

I'm getting Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 or M2 performance winter tires. They were rated higher than the Blizzack LM-22s in both Consumer Reports and TireRack.

The plan is to switch the OEM summer tires to the winter Dunlops on the existing 17" Acura rims for now. In the Spring, I have the option to buy another set of 17" Acura rims for the summer tires at dealer cost plus 5% (part of my original negotiations when I bought the car).

kahunah

In my TL, the way I have positioned the front seats and the arm rest (fully extended), the aluminum strips near the seat belt buckle holders are almost fully protected. However, the fundamental problem remains. That is, hardened steel from the buckle making contact with a much softer metal, at a concentrated point. Even if the aluminum was thicker you would still create a dent.

One way to prevent this is to have the trim made of a harder material than the buckle, such as a hardened steel alloy or titanium. Another method is to place a transparent protective cover piece in the area of the buckle holder that is made of high-impact plastic and can be replaced if needed. Hopefully, Acura and/or the after-market industry will come up with a solution. In the meantime, care must be taken when drivers and passengers buckle up in this car.

richardgold

I ordered a 2004 TL automatic with NAV (refundable deposit) ebony interior/anthracite. Dealer said this is a "hot" combination at this time. Who knows? I added wheel locks, wind deflector, mud guards, and all season mats. Price for accessories $439, $1000 under MSRP for car. Was not able to bring price down further no matter how hard I tried and could not do better at another dealer. Thoughts?

kahunah

Congratulations on your new TL purchase and your negotiating skills. Wow...$1,200 under invoice.

kahunah

You must have gone to the same negotiating school as aaking. Congrats!

bodble2

How come all our American friends are able to get discounts, and we're not?!!

bodble2

"since Nav has no value in 3 years but a flat plasma for the house does!"

How do you mean?

gkearns56

Karen_S

Please continue in one of these discussions.

njdriver2

Just called the parts department. They cost $87.50 each to replace, not including labor. Just an FYI. To the canadians, I only got $500 off the MSRP, plus the dealer threw in all season floor mats, and wheel locks. I purchased a navi. apparently there is less room in the price on these models.

njdriver2

if you plan to acquire a bluetooth phone for your acura. Make sure you go here and click on the sonyericsson phone icon and then select "compatibility". Not all Bluetooth phones will work the the car's HFL. You need one that has a Handsfree Protocol. Check the web site. http://www.acura.com/models/model_comfort_handsfree.asp?module=tl- #

pmf13

Apparantly, the only way to get a discount off the MSRP in Canada is to buy the car through a broker like Auto Revolution. The sales guys at Acura can't (or won't) offer one at this stage. I've been quoted $1020 off a Navi-equipped car and $1500 off the non-Navi through these folks.

Njdriver, thanks for the information on bluetooth compatibility. You might have just saved me a temper tantrum.

jaydoll

Gregory28, I was told by my dealer that there are no special additives in the TL that require you to leave the oil in for 10K miles. I also called two other Acura service Departments and they verified that that there are no special break-in additives that are put in added at the factory. My engine abuse comes in the form of frequent short mileage trips and there is not much worse that you can do to a engine. In terms of messing with the computer's ablility to alert you to change your oil, simple enough-reset it at oil change. Synth blen or full synth will pump much quicker than regular oil in the very cold weather which is my biggest concern. For those that choose to follow the owners manual reagrding oil changes, you can't argue with that. But you also can't argue with the fact that some of worlds most expensive cars come loaded with full synth oil right from the factory.

Regarding the display, my complaint was that during the day when the display is in direct sunlight, the light grey color is hard to see. No big deal.

Never drove the Potenzas before but I have to say that they are one of the most quiet 17" tires I have ever rode on. Yeah they don't handle like the Michlen Pilot Primacys that I had on a Saab 9-5 and a Audi A4, but they are dead quit compared to the Michlens.

torontotl

Well I guess that is the risk with the real aluminum trim. If it was plastic it would probably scratch, but then we'd complain that it wasn't real metal. I guess we have to be very careful and mention to our passengers to be careful as well. So far I've been lucky and no marks on my trim yet.

If they are 87.50 to replace in the US they must be a bit more here in Canada. That would hurt to replace them often.

neuronbob

Been lurking, but have to ask you...how'd you get $1k off on your car? Most people are getting theirs for MSRP, or with accessories thrown in. I bought my 2004 TL on 10/3 for MSRP + accessories thrown in for free, and others here report $500 off MSRP at most.

jaydoll, the 17" Turanzas the TL rides on are pretty noisy, and would be worse without the new sound deadening in the wheelwells. Other than that, the tires seem to ride satisfactorily and handle well when driving reasonably in dry and wet conditions.

aciampi

I just recently test drove an 04 TL with Nav and I love it. My only concern really is that I have heard that the 18" alloy wheels with the summer tires is a horrible ride. Is this true?

No matter what I am planning on ordering a red with parchment with Nav system. I love the voice activation, and the dvd audio system destroyes the bose I currently have in my trailblazer.

I have read what has been said about snow tires and my plans were to use some Bridgestone Blizzaks with steel wheels so that I don't scuff the rims. I have used the blizzaks on my pontiac grand prix and my father had them on his 7 series bmw and thought they were awesome especially on a rear wheel drive car. And I live in Mass on a hill so good snow tires are a must.

Another concern that I have is why isn't there any fog lights? Didn't the last style have them? Or is it that the xenon lights are more than powerful and doesn't need them?

And finally I just thought I would add a little comment made about how the Germans wouldn't allow anything such as the easily damaged aluminum strips. My father has had 2 740iL BMW's in the last 7 years. In one the rear window fell off its track and feel into the door panel, the A/C unit only gave hot air which the dealer couldn't fix, and the sunroof never worked properly. On his 2000 the batteries in the key fod kept dying so the car wouldn't start, the trunk light would stay on after closing the trunk causing the battery to die, a reley got wet causing the vehicle not to start, and the knobs on the navigational system would go crazy and move all over the place by just touching it. So it is safe to say with our expierence that the Germans aren't perfect and seeing as how they have now redesigned the BMW's to look like crap my father will not buy another especially when they decided to take away the center console shifter and put it behind the steering wheel to make room for the stupid iDrive system. And don't forget how that when the new 7's came out you couldn't use the up-shift button on the steering wheel because the tranny's used in this country weren't capable of such a thing.

automophile

The latest issue of Consumer Reports rates the Falken Ziex ZE 512 ($60 each!) at the top of their list, next the Turanza LS-H.

Any experience or comments on these?

gregory28

The fog lights on the new TL are contained within the lens of the headlights. There's a way to switch the fogs on/off.

I love my TL. The interior is beautiful and the car handles great. I don't think the tires are noisy at all.

I had a luxury sedan prior to this and there are some trade-offs. TL's trunk feels a bit tinny and the exterior paint job doesn't appear to have as many coats as luxury cars. The interior doesn't use real wood and there's aluminum trim that damages fairly easily. We're comparing apples and oranges at times.

The latest Consumer Reports has the Acura brand rated as the most reliable in the world. It scored 4 percentage points better than Lexus and Toyota. It has the best sound system on the planet- and I've heard many (someone said the 430 Lexus has a better one; I haven't heard that one). The seats are incredibly comfortable. The hands free device is awesome. The car is fun to drive. Does it handle better than my buddy's 5 series? No, but it's not that far off. The engine of the TL is most similar to the 540, which is $50K+ This is a very good car. One of my concerns is the snow driving. If it does poorly I'll get snow tires- simple solution. My last car was awful in the snow, until I put snow tires on it- it handled like a 4WD afterwards.

wlmbrm

Got the White Diamond Pearl / Parchment with NAV. So far (only 50 miles) I'm totally impressed with everything this car has to offer. The NAV is superb (the USA Today reviewer clearly didn't know how to use it), the sound system is incredible especially with 5.1 DVD-A. Haven't programmed the XM yet but I know it will sound good since I've already got it in my 03 Denali. No problems at all with the controls lighting up on the wheel as other's have reported. Voice command works very well and the seats are incredibly comfortable. A very well built car. Will update more as we drive it further.

jaydoll

I am going to stick with the Turanzas. For my style of driving, they are fine. Regarding the dampening material in the wheel wells, it definitely cuts down on road/tire noise but with the michlens pilot Primacy, you would still hear it no matter how much material was stuffed into the wheel well. My A4 with the Michlens was capable of cornering at speeds well above my driving skills. But don't even think about driving this quatro all wheel drive car in the snow with those tires.

With the TL, the 17s give you a taste of sport handling in a very comfortable size car and I think that's all you should expect from the Turanzas. Any high performance summer tire is going to give a harsher ride. While there is lots of positive feedback on the forum regarding the Conti contact extreme M+S tires, I don't know that they are better than the Turanzas for all season driving. Since I have a 4 wheel drive SUV, I won't ever buy snows for the TL. I just want to know that if I am at work and it starts snowing I can get home with the Turanzas with some ability to stop and some moderate traction in the snow.

bodble2

It's interesting what you said about being able to get a discount through an auto broker such as Auto Revolution. Auto brokers have the advantage, obviously, of volume. But they aren't immune to the laws of supply and demand. My experience in the past with auto brokers is that with "hot" models, they can't get any significant price advantage. I guess the point is, if the manufacturer can sell every car they make through their retail dealers, why would they want to play ball with the brokers?

starbuck246

Edmund's rates mpg for MT and AT at 19/28 and 19/29, respectively. When I was at the dealer this afternoon, I noticed that the window sticker rated the MT at 20/30, and AT at 20/28. I'm in CA, could there be regional differences due to emissions requirements?

kahunah

The "window sticker" rating of 20/30(MT) and 20/28(AT) is the official EPA rating. Earlier estimates made by Acura before the car was released is what Edmunds had quoted.

For EPA data reports, go to: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/download.shtml

1violinist

Starbuck246: These figures are all "estimates" and usually higher than actual gas-mileage. It also depends on many other factors, like your driving style, weather, road conditions, etc.

varmint

FWIW, I typically find the EPA estimates to be lower than what I get from the car. Then there's the testing issues with cars that are geared rather low (numerically high), like most Honda stickshifts.

tyresmoker

The manufacturer has no choice BUT to sell every car they make through the dealers. US franchise laws prevent it to be any other way. Brokers are all about relationship and volume. Absolutely true the basic laws of s&d do apply, but I am more likely to get a shorter deal than the average consumer due to the volume of buyers I am able to send to a given dealership I have an "understanding" with.
I find that I spend a good deal of time educating the consumer about the laws of s&d and how paying a nickel over for a hot model is just not logical.

richardgold

It seems in the NYC area at this time $500 off MSRP is the standard. While the dealers are saying MSRP, a walk to the exit door will get you the $500. I just told dealer if he wanted my business he would have to do better. I asked for $1200 off and got $1000. I asked another dealer for $1500 said no but would match the $1000. I also think it has to do with financing. If you use their financing they make more and maybe will negotiate. NY has no leasing so I used a balloon loan through Honda finance at 3.9%. Maybe this dealer just wants to move cars, I am not sure.

luvmylt

Have been driving my 04TL for past two weeks and loving every minute of it:) It is in Anthracite/Camel and I am very happy with the combination... Camel interior really brings out the richness of the leather. I am sure the younger/sporty types would prefer ebony/quartz for the sporty look.
The car handles beautifully as others have mentioned....I am happy with the tires but must confess that I would not pick up on the subtleties mentioned...they are definitely not noisy for me.
I do hear a different pitch at ~1500 rpm's...my guess is it's some kind of harmonic resonance at that frequency. I doubt it's related to tires.
So far nearly 400 miles of mostly city driving. Trip computer reports Av speed 25 mph consuming gas at 21 mpg...kinda expected.
Hope all of you enjoy your TL's as much as I am...

sirdarby

I test drove the TL this afternoon. Looks are impressive but I would never buy an import manufactured in the US.

I just sold my 98 ML320. I won't even tell you how disappointed I was with that purchase. It was produced in Tuscaloosa , AL.

The salesman told me that all TLs are made in Ohio.

Is that true? Surely there are some from Japan somewhere. If this is fact, I'll wait for the new RL, supposedly coming this spring.

Maybe it will be made in japan.

varmint

All TLs are assembled in the USA. I think RLs are, too.

You might be interested to learn that when Honda switched some Accord production from Japan to the US, the US built vehicles recorded fewer warranty claims. Just an FYI.

robr2

Honda/Acura has been successfully manufacturing automobiles in North America for 20 years or so now. I think they do a pretty good job.

Varmint you would know - aren't Marysville TL's sent to Japan??