Older Acura TLs

dannych · February 2002

Thank you for the reply. I just got me a new 2003 acura tl type s. The car is definetly worth the price. I'm going to smile everytime I write a check out to acura. Oh by the way do you know where I could get deals on tl acessories like a spoiler or car cover. I just don't want to be paying acura prices.

eimeria · February 2002

Congrats on your purchase of a new TL-S. I just put down a deposit on a new 2003 TL-S with Navi in Anthracite for $31800. Unfortunately I've got to wait a couple of weeks for it to come in. What color did you go for?

I would check out www.acura-tl.com for accessories for your new car. The prices seemed reasonable to me (ie. they were less than what acura was charging).
Enjoy!

dannych · February 2002

I got the jet black on black. It drives so nice.

machiavelli · February 2002

Maybe it's just me, but I like the "base" TL better than the Type-S. I'm not looking for the ultimate in performance. The 225hp engine is plenty quick for me. Also, I liked the "wood" grain on the dash better than the "granite" on the S. Just IMO

jsylvester · February 2002

I've ridden in a 2002 Type-S. I thought it rode a little stiff. Impressive drivetrain, however.

I would probably go for the base TL as well. It will still get up and go, and is what, $2,350 less?

machiavelli · February 2002

The type-S has 50-series tires on 17 inch wheels, the "base" has 60-series tires on 16 inch wheels, so I'm sure you'll have a little more harshness and a little better handling in the type-S than in the TL.

The "base" TL has the right balance of performance vs. luxury for me, plus it costs less too. I've only had mine a few days now, and I love it!

fredvh · February 2002

I am considering purchasing a luxury vehicle and the TL is one of my possibilities but I am concerned over possible transmission problems that I have heard about. Is there a problem with the auto transmission? Has this problem, if it is one, been addressed by Acura and is the problem "fixed"? I would appreciate your input.

ck72 · February 2002

After lurking on this board for months, I finally went out and bought an 02, Acura 3.2 TL today. It is black with Ebony.

I paid a pretty decent price of $27,100 (300 over invoice) plus tax, title and tag.

I bought this from Acura of Libertyville. I worked with Steve who didn't play any games, and was a pleasure to work with.

I will stay on this board for another week or so, if people have any questions.

Thanks to everyone posting useful information on this board.

fredvh · February 2002

Congratulations on your new TL. I am just curious if there were any 2003s there. Is there any difference? Can you tell us about why you picked the TL and what others you were considering. The TL is also on my list of possible vehicles. Did you consider the Honda Accord too or not? Did you go to any other dealerships other than Libertyville? Thanks for your story and keep us informed as the miles roll on. I will be waiting for your updates as I will not be buying for a few more months. I would like to know what kind of mpg you are getting too.

machiavelli · February 2002

As far as I could tell, there were no differences at all from the 2002 to the 2003, that's why I got the 2002. The 2003 is $100 more, but the dealer was much more willing to negotiate on the 2002.

Why I picked it? - It is an unbeatable value. I looked at the CTS, the ES300, and the C-Class Mercedes. Apples-to-apples (fully loaded), the others were so much more money. I thought the TL was the perfect blend of sportiness and luxury for me.

flyfish52 · February 2002

I've had my 2002 TL-S for six months and love it. But here are a couple of things I wish Acura would fix. Has anyone else noticed?

1. The natural driving posture seems to be to drive with my left hand on the wheel and my right hand on the shifter. The steering wheel should be redesigned to make it easier for the right hand to fit a position other than 2 o'clock.

2. When driving with my hand on the shifter, momentum associated with sudden deceleration tends to push my hand and the shifter forward. If in the standard "drive" position, that means the transmission shifts to neutral, and that's a most uncomfortable feeling.

godeacs · February 2002

why would you be driving with your right hand on the shifter? It's an automatic, right? Also, how could they "re-design" a steering wheel? I mean, it's gotta be round...or am I missing something?

pdfs · February 2002

Hi,

I have had my 2002 TL for 5 months. Overall, we like the car. But here are some issues:

1. Driver seat buckle was making a lot of noise, just got replaced by dealer.

2. The ABS pump screw was loose, so it was making rattle noise when front doors were closed. This also got fixed, but I wonder how this kind of thing can happen!

3. Wind noise is very strong, dealer says this is normal for TL.

I would say road noise is minimal, that is why you can hear all the small squeaking noise in the cabin!

Is anybody there have the similar experience?

Regards.

flyfish52 · February 2002

The design of the lower half of the steering wheel, where the cruise control buttons are located, makes it uncomfortable to put the right hand anywhere but on the top half of the wheel. It is actually more comfortable to rest my elbow on the console and my hand on the shifter (after all, you can shift manually).

daysailer · February 2002

We just finished our first long trip in our 6 mo. old TL and I'm happy to report that the experience was most satisfactory. The TL's driving comfort and performance were superb! My only gripe is that the passenger seat does not have the lumbar support and seat bottom tilt of the driver's side and, of course, I would prefer a manual transmission.

Particularly impressive for such a heavy, powerful car with auto transmission was the fuel mileage. For the entire 1686 miles including several hours of stop-and-go city driving, aggressive 2-lane passing, and 80mph cruising on interstate, the overall was 29.7 mpg! That's as good or better than I could have achieved with our 5spd '89 Legend coupe under similar condidions with concious attention to fuel consumption. I did not drive the TL with fuel consumption in mind. Details are as follows:

Total trip miles: 1686
Total fuel consumed: 56.68 gal
best single fill: 31.3 mpg
worst single fill: 28.0
best 3-fill average: 30.4
worst 3-fill average: 28.6
overall average: 29.7

We have had NO quality issues with our TL.

machiavelli · February 2002

I've had mine about a week now, and loving every minute of it. No gripes, major or minor, yet! Put about 350 miles on it so far.

heatmiser1 · February 2002

Does anyone know if Acura will be offering a 6-speed manual in the TL-S?

machiavelli · February 2002

Not in 2003, maybe in the new 2004 car

tasdisr · February 2002

I have priced a TL type S at the only two Acura
dealers in my area. One is quoting sticker price and the other will knock $500.00 off on a 2003 model. Is this about the norm for these cars?

Frank

machiavelli · February 2002

I got a 2002 model. Technically, I paid sticker, $29,300, but I also got about $3500 above KBB value for my trade in, so I was happy. You could say I got KBB and paid around $26000 for the TL, either way the bottom line is the same for me. The dealer said he could not do that for a 2003. Luckily I got the last silver 2002 on the lot. I really couldn't see any difference in the 2003.

inky · February 2002

Type S or reg? I also got the same mileage on my 00 TL. I sold privately and bought a 02 TL due to nice improvements. One gripe is all cars are not made equally. I no longer get that mileage. All driving equal, with same gas and same trips. I get 3-4 mpg less. Not bad enough to warrant any dealer complaints. 28 mpg on highway is OK, but I yearn for the good old 31-32 mpg in principle.
INKY

machiavelli · February 2002

Was the '00 model a 4 speed auto? Maybe the '02 has "shorter" (numerically higher) gearing, that is why it gets worse mileage? You would think it would be the opposite and the 5-speed would have a "taller" overdrive in 5th?
I haven't had mine long enough yet to give a full gas mileage report.

daysailer · February 2002

My TL is an '02, premium (non-S) with just 6886 total miles, hardly "broken in". Sorry to hear that your mileage is not up to par. How many miles does your '02 have? Has your oil been changed yet? (I changed mine shortly before the trip) Note that I'm not getting 31-32 either.

hunter001 · February 2002

The 00 model was a 5-speed and the '02 models have the exact same gear ratios. In fact, the transmission and the engine have remained the same. The 99 TL had a 4-speed Auto. Also, all TL/TL-s cars have the exact same gear ratios, of which 4th and 5th gears are overdrive.

In my 2000 TL, during a >2500 mile trip, the overall trip mileage was 32mpg with 4 people and associated light luggage with speeds ranging from 65-100mph (mostly on 75mph) with climate control set on 69degrees. During a trip where I kept the cruise control on a steady 70mph during the whole trip, the car returned 36mpg, which is incredible to say the least, especially since this is a fairly large car.

In my regular commute, with 35%city/65%highway, it returns about 22-24mpg.

Later...AH

heyer · February 2002

Check out Car & Driver March '02. also see Temple of VTEC at www.vtec.net/news/
They are reporting a test drive with 6 spd tranny.

inky · February 2002

Only in CL as far as I know. If anyone knows better let me know. How easy to drop the 6 speed in the TL no brainer to me in this last year to boost sales.
INKY

machiavelli · February 2002

I don't think it would really boost sales too much. I think they are only building 2000 CL's with the 6-speed. It would be more of an "image" boost than a sales boost.

daysailer · February 2002

It will be very frustating to drive our automatic TL with the knowlege that a manual (6spd no less) is available. Grrrrrr...........

machiavelli · February 2002

I've been having fun using the sequential shifer, but I agree, a manual 6 speed would be even more fun. However, in our house, my wife can't drive a stick, so an automatic is mandatory, and the sequential shifter in the TL is a nice compromise.

I wish it would hold 1st gear, though. No matter what you do with the shifter, it will upshift from 1st to 2nd before redline. You can hold it in second until redline.

gabman · February 2002

My brand new Black on Black 3.2 Type S has arrived at the rail yard but Acura Canada will not release it to the dealer until March 15, how frustrating is that? Must be big inventory 0f 2002's around. Oh well at least the snow will be all gone by then. Would be worth the wait if there were at least some changes between 2002/2003. Guess I will have to put up with my grand am rental for another couple of weeks.

machiavelli · February 2002

Gabman - just curious, why didn't you just get an '02? There really isn't any difference as far as I could tell. I just got a "leftover" 2002 and got a great deal.

gabman · February 2002

machiavelli - As I am leasing the car , the residual on a 2003 will be much higher than on a 2002, hence lower monthly payments. They are offering 2003 at about the same discounted price as 2002. Funny thing though, I called acura canada to tell them I don't want to wait until march 15/02 and they are risking the fact that I may find something else, they blew me off lol.
Anyways I just got a call from an Infiniti dealer to tell me they just got a G35 in so I am off to check it out , have heard so many good things about it, mind you I heard the same things about the CTS and when I drove it i wasn't impressed.
Also I am concerned about model change on 2004 TL.
So as you can see I am very confused. Infinity and Acura dealers are side by side, so i should have an interesting lunch hour today. Will let you know.

machiavelli · February 2002

I've heard alot of great things about the G35, too. Living in Canada, you might prefer to go with FWD for winter driving, otherwise the G35 is probably a nice choice.

I liked the CTS, but it was alot more money for an "apples to apples" loaded car with sunroof, heated seats, Bose stereo, etc... , plus questions about resale value. You can't touch the value of a TL, just IMO.

Yeah, hopefully I won't be too disappointed with my "old" '02 when the 2004's come out.

I've been very happy with the TL so far, but I've only had it about a week.

gabman · February 2002

well enjoy driving your TL , you know cars are very subjective and everyone has different tastes.
Don't worry about the model change as I think current TL will always be in style. You know I was really hot about the CTS, but like you , when I compared all the options on the Tl to that of the CTS , the CTS was $10,000.00 more, plus it still did not have the sequential shift option.Also Cadi dealers wouldnt budge an inch on the price. Good thing though as I saw one on the street yesterday and I would never have been able to live with the back of that car, the rear quarter panels around to the back are so big that is looks funny. Am off to check out the G35

machiavelli · February 2002

Yeah, I'd say it would have been roughly 10K more for the CTS, plus I'd be willing to bet the TL will have better resale when I go to trade it in.

Good luck with the G35, let us know what you think. For me, I do just enough winter/snow driving that I prefer FWD.

gabman · February 2002

Funny, I came out of an Isuzu Trooper Ltd so snow was no big deal. Last rear wheel drive car I had was in 1990 A Q45, with traction control and the stability feature FWD is not a huge issue anymore.Most mfg's are now switching back to rear wheel drive, and from what I hear so will Acura.
Easy to talk this year as we had a very easy winter, I may not be singing the same tune next year. Fortunately I still have another suv in the family so now it's my turn for a fun car.

gabman · February 2002

Well as reported on previous messages Acura Canada did not want to release My 2003 Type s to me until March 15/02 despite the fact that the car is sitting in town. The Infiniti G35 arrived here today and is now on sale. I went to see it and it is awesome. Only thing left to do is decide colour tonite and take delivery by March 5/02 at the latest. Funny thing is I never even considered the Infinity as it wasn't supposed to be on sale until mid March. To all you 3.2 Type S owners you still have an amazing vehicle and enjoy driving it.

bcjacob1 · February 2002

Why does Acura + other mfg's continue to release the next year car early this year? In my experience, if you but a 2003 now and put 15k miles/yr on it and go to sell it 2 yrs from mow (in 2004), you will have a 1 yr old car by calendar w/ 30k miles on it and will get screwed by the dealer on trade. I've NEVER found a dealer who looked at the in-svc date when calculating trade value

fredvh · February 2002

I do not know either why 2003 models are out and it is only March of 2002.
In regards to your trade-in statement I can understand the mileage issue you brought out but you need to remember that the 2003 car will be worth approximately $2500 more than a 2002 car. Trade-in values are almost exclusively based on model year. You are right however to state that there would most likely be a excess mileage penalty on a trade-in.

inky · March 2002

01 TL 15k trade is 22,420 edmunds prices
00 TL 15k trade is 20,442

say you saved $1,000 for buying left over 00 in
oct 00. You actually lost $1,000!

The people who get screwed are those who buy last years car. I have always thought one does better to grab one very early in model year.

INKY

hunter001 · March 2002

In all these cases, it is better to sell the car to private owners than to try to trade it in. Assuming that you have maintained complete maintenance records and the car looks and feels great. It would be foolish to try to trade in a well maintained car, since the trade-in price does not consider such factors other than the overall "look" of the car.

Later...AH

gabman · March 2002

Test drove and subsequently leased a G35 last night. Also cancelled my order on 2003 3.2TL type S, see previous posts as to why.

Anyone considering a purchase/lease of a TL owes it to themselves to test drive the G35, I won't get in to why, I will let you be the judge after you see it.

Am in no way knocking the TL,anyone that already has one has a great car and the G35 only came out yesterday, so it could not have been in anyone choice that already owns one, however do yourself a favour and go see the G35

spartanman2 · March 2002

I'm not sure, this is only a guess, but I think the 03 Acura's are out early partly because the same plant in Marysville Ohio will be gearing up to produce the newly-redesigned 03 Accord set for release this summer/fall. I'm sure they expect Accord demand to be very high and need all the production capacity possible...Therefore, the majority of the TL's are being produced ahead of time.

gabman · March 2002

They have a history of producing early, plus the complete car will be redesigned next year so again their redesigned car will be a 2004 comming out in 2003, to catch market interest.

ck72 · March 2002

Here are my thought so far:

1 week down, I have driven about 200 miles and everything seems good.

I did consider an Accord (EX V6 with Leather), the best price for which was clost to 23K. But, I definitely felt that the TL was worth 4K more than the Accord. (For the engine, more features, Warrantly, and Brand)

There are absolutely no differences between the 02 and the 03 base TLs.

Besides Libertyville, I talked to McGrath and Continental Acura in Chicagoland. Continental did not even come close to a good deal. McGrath was close, and I offerred them $100 more than Liberyville as they are closer by 10 miles or so, but they couldn't make up their mind. So, their loss.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

BTW, does anyone have a good price on the 7yr/100K warranty bumper to bumper with no deductible. The dealer is quoting 1500, but I feel I can do better.

CK

fredvh · March 2002

Thanks for the update. I do have a couple more questions. How much do you figure you saved over the '03? Did they add any other charges other than TTL such as advertising fee or prep fee? Did you try any internet buying services such as Carsdirect? Let us know how the mpg are in highway driving if you can and I need the RPM at 70 mph? Thanks again.

machiavelli · March 2002

Technically, I paid sticker for my 2002, but... I also got 19,000 for my trade which had a KBB value of $15,600. So, in effect, I paid around $26K for the TL. It's the same bottom line to me. The dealer said he could not do that for the 2003 model. As someone mentioned above, I might lose that difference in resale down the road, but right now I'm happy about it.

ck72 · March 2002

I got quotes for 03 at a minimum of 1K over the 02. As I plan to keep the car for a long time, any effect on the "resale" price was irrelevant to me.

The only charge besides TTL was for"prep" which was about 40 bucks.

I tried some Internet services, but the best quote I got was $27,400.

I don't have the the mileage info as yet.

CK

x021627 · March 2002

I'm interested in a 2002TL no navi and I live in central nj. can anyone recommend any dealers and the prices they've paid.

Thanks.

bcjacob1 · March 2002

Inky, I think you're wrong in your analysis re: my prior post. 1st, you used too low of mileage for the comparison. No one "realistically" would have 15k miles on a '00 TL who actually drives their car - even to/from work everyday.

I went to Kelly's Blue Book and plugged in a '00TL and '01 TL both w/ 30k miles. In "excellent" contidion, the '00TL is worth virtually the same as the '01 TL. So if you get a better price for "last yr's" car, w/ the same features, you'd be a fool to buy the newer model.

Older Acura TLs

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