Are the tranny problems worth it?

[Jarrod and Carrie]

I'm thinking about purchasing a '04-up TL. I'm worried about the potential problems I might have with the transmission. I'm assuming that a manual transmission will be less of a hassle than an automatic because there is typically less maintenance involved with the stick. Can anyone offer any advice for someone who wants to purchase the car of their dreams that seems to be having problems with the tranny and recalls? Is the manual better? Or the automatic? Are the problems worth it anyway? How much is it costing to fix these problems?

[rominl]

umm, i don't think i have read extensive or more than normal number of auto tranny failures on the 04+ TL? it was a problem for 00-03 TL and so on, but 04+ i think so far it's been pretty good?

to me though, of couse manual is much better. much more fun, more control, more power (less powertrain loss)

[pianoman41]

Yep, the notorious tranny problem plagued the 2nd gen TLs ('99-'03). Although there may be some reported failures on the '04 and newer TLs, it's not even comparable to the epidemic affecting the earlier models.

[The General]

What tranny problems?

[Acura_Kid]

only some 2004's had a gear lube issue in the auto trans. it was line fixed starting sometime in 4/2004. all others were recalled so a "at-the-dealer" fix could be performed (a inspection was done of the gear, if it was not burnt then a oil jet kit was installed, if the gear was burnt then a re-man tranny was installed).

i have no knowledge that this oil jet kit ever ceased, so i am assuming that honda continues to use this "fix" in all of its auto trans units for 2004-2006 TL's. the "fix" apparently works just fine. i'm guessing the next gen TL will have a completely re-engineered auto trans.

[nastinupe1]

Yea, get the car. Just make sure you have Navi. That's more important that anything else in the world.

[deuxprop]

about a month ago i bought a 2004 tl (black), no navi unfortunately - but i bought it because i know hondas/acuras are great, reliable cars (i previously had an accord) and i hadn't really heard of too many transmission problems with 04+ tl's. supposedly the problems were with the '03 and older models. i totally love the car and couldn't ask for anything more (except for the navi..maybe ) but anyway, i would recommend one all the way.

[SouthernBoy]

If you can see your way clear to the manual transmission, by all means, give it some real serious consideration. You'll not be sorry.

[#1hondalover]

Originally Posted by nastinupe1

Yea, get the car. Just make sure you have Navi. That's more important that anything else in the world.

True That!

[Tampa RL]

The personality of the car can be very different between the manual and auto models. Drive both if you are open to either, then decide.

My 05 5AT / Navi has not been a problem. I did notice in the 1st 2-3K miles a few clumsy shifts when in stop and roll traffic. My service center immediately took the car for evaluation, without any rebuff. They reported no identifiable issues with the tranny. I was told that the fuzzy logic on the tranny puter does 'learn' from your driving habits and this could be a cause for the clumsy shifts (I think I experienced 6 of them in 3 months...yep I am anal ). They told me to be concious of my driving and and note if it continued to do it when I 'feathered' the throttle. They suggested, perhaps, it was the shift logic adjusting?

I was skeptical, but went on my way. I did step up my throttle input when driving. I have some weird game of trying to get my TL to stay above 26mpg in my 50/50 mix of city / hwy driving.

Well by month six, and now my TL is one year old, I cannot make it shift clumsy if I try. It shifts silky smooth when I drive conservatively, and shifts are very positive when I drive aggressively.

Dunno if they were right or wrong about the shifting logic, but I know I haven't any concerns with the tranny. I am even using the autoshift quite a lot these days!