borntorace

Hi guys,

I am planning to buy Acura TL- type S 2002. I need some info from you guys.
I know that this model has a problem with its transmission. How bad is it? What is the symptom of the problem?
Does it have any problem with its engine too?

Has any body noticed the performance difference between the regular TL and the type S?

I am dealing with a private party selling his Acura TL type S - 2002 (45,000 miles) asking for 19,500. What is the market (private party) price of this car?

Thanks in advance guys.

-bh-

accordselux

The transmission thing is the same with the accord.

Most people notice the engine 'straining'. The engine revs past its normal shift point, and the car slows and the engine seems to strain, then it pops into the next gear. If you slowly notice the transmission 'letting go' as in you dont feel the shifts as precise as an auto should be, you should check the tranny fluid. When they replaced mine, mine was all discolored and smelled awful. I had the full 25k checkup not 7 months before, and there were only 32k on the car by that point. I'm on my second tranny and they have already had to replace the shifter cable on the new one.

For an S with 45k, i'd probably pay 16-18k, which sounds about fair. I bought my Accord SE with 14k FOR 14k so i'm just figuring that.

hypnosisracing

My CL Type-S is on its 3rd tranny...it is DEFFINATELY noticeable, it tends to surge unexpectedly, mine experienced slipping and ROUGH shifting, one of the last symptoms i observed on the 2 tranny's i actual knew what i was looking for was when in automatic drive (not tiptronic) the gears will typically switch very low when driving normally, when the tranny goes bad it tends to rev past 5K rpm (VTEC engagement) even if you do not have the pedal matted...just normal driving, this becomes kind of strange, and it tends to shift pretty roughly at first and becomes almost violent at times when the tranny gets real bad...that was my experience though, they replaced the oil jets (with that kit they offer for recall), that didnt work, tranny slipped, got it replaced, 2nd tranny shifted horribly (as explained above) and i tend to drive my car spiritedly so tiptronic is constantly used...thus far the 3rd tranny has had no issues, but im knocking on wood as i type.

As far as performance between the TL/CL and TL/CL Type-S...MAJOR difference, your talking a whole new beast with the Type-S model, its nearly identical to the difference between the RSX and RSX Type-S...night and day. The normal TL/CL feel very luxerious, they feel like expensive (but boring) cars in comparison, they dont have the same pick up feel, they dont have the same exhaust note (which i love, the stock exhaust has a nice sound)...i dont know all the specs between the cars but i can safely say between a stock CL and CL Type-S, i wouldnt even consider the normal counter part.

RhdDc2R

Well just to let you know, "American Honda is announcing a warranty extension for the automatic transmission on all 2000-02 3.2TLs, all 2001-02 3.2CLs, and some 2003 3.2TLs and 3.2CLs. The automatic transmission and torque converter are now covered for a total of 7 years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the date of original sale. We are providing this warranty extension because a higher than normal number of automatic transmissions in certain vehicles may have problems due to defects in material or workmanship beyond the 4-year, 50,000-mile new vehicle limited warranty." If that helps at all in your purchase. I just purchased my 2002 TL type S just last month, and absolutely love it.

hypnosisracing

Awesome cars...just sucks having a rental for a week when they go down.

TurboBumblBee

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by H22aDc2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well just to let you know, "American Honda is announcing a warranty extension for the automatic transmission on all 2000-02 3.2TLs, all 2001-02 3.2CLs, and some 2003 3.2TLs and 3.2CLs. The automatic transmission and torque converter are now covered for a total of 7 years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the date of original sale. We are providing this warranty extension because a higher than normal number of automatic transmissions in certain vehicles may have problems due to defects in material or workmanship beyond the 4-year, 50,000-mile new vehicle limited warranty." If that helps at all in your purchase. I just purchased my 2002 TL type S just last month, and absolutely love it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

where did you get this information from?? im currently looking at a 2001 acura cl type-s w/ 75k miles on it from carmax and im wondering if i would need to purchase the extended warranty on this car?? im very good w/ civic and integra motors if i need any maintance but im unsure of the v6 model..

corey415

The automatic transmission warrannty extension is legit.

http://world.honda.com/news/2002/4020920.html

http://world.honda.com/news/2004/c040630.html

Storm Shadow

And there was a recall to check the tranny & install a cooler to help alleviate the problem. It took them no time to install mine.

hypnosisracing

^^^ Doesnt always work. They put 2 in mine before just putting new trannies in.

Storm Shadow

Lovely.

hypnosisracing

I said the same thing as i drove a piece of **** Grand Prix home as a rental...

RideOrDie

Any problems with the 6speed manuals? Im looking for a 01-03 Type S CL and found a black one for 18,500 i might buy its a 6speed.

hypnosisracing

Nope...its the optimal setup for the CL Type-S, only came in 2003 so they are still kind of pricey.

Clean91GS

To politely correct for the above, a transmission oil jet kit is installed in the trans fluid filler hole, replacing the bolt with a new hollow bolt with an oil jet inside, not exactly a cooler. They are, however, fun to install .

hypnosisracing

Fun to install...and from what my service guy at Acura says now, about 80% worthless.

grocerygetter

it helped my car a little. You could tell it shifted smoother after getting off the interstate for 30 minutes or so. It used to be kind of notchy after it got off the interstate. I've had my tranny and ecu replaced under warranty prior to this.

OCAUTOCARE

I had a 01 Cl-S and had to replace the tranny due to the second gear warping. The dealship replaced it with a new transmision and added a Tranny cooler(factory recall). I also use redline fluids. Everything worked fine and doesn't give the new owner any problems either. Good Luck.

GSC Motorsports

there is a recall on the transmissions for acura to fix them

also - the trannies have a 100k mile warranty on them regardless of what # owner you are

i have a 02 tl type s - nothing but good things to say about it really - comfortably seat 4 people - great gas mileage, decent power, a great car really

James Innes