Faults:

Transmission began giving trouble with shifting at about 87,000 miles. This included occasionally hanging up in second gear and slowness in shifting between gears.

This is the only problem I've had with the car. The only other service has been routine fluid and filter changes (on manufacturer's schedule), new tires at 70,000 miles and new brake pads at about 65,000 miles.

General Comments:

It is too bad that Acura has had this transmission problem on the 1999-2002 models on what is otherwise an excellent vehicle. That said, Acura has extended the transmission warranty first to 7 year/100,000 miles and more recently to 7 years 9 months/108,000. My transmission was replaced at no charge at 7 years 6 months with no hesitation by the dealer from which I had bought the car. So at the moment I have a car with a new transmission that carries a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty. A leaking front engine mount was replaced at the same time, which saved labor costs as much of the labor had to be done to replace the transmission.

The bottom line seems to be that Acura did have a transmission problem with this model, but has made a genuine effort to back up their product. For anyone considering buying this model as a used car, I would suggest looking into whether the transmission has been changed and if any warranty is available. Other than this, the car has been excellent with-literally-no problems except for the engine mount that was replaced with the transmission.

Faults:

The trunk release broke and needed to be repaired.

The front seat belts were replaced under warranty, but the drivers belt still does not retract properly.

The 6 disc CD changer jammed and was replaced under warranty.

The automatic transmission failed twice and was replaced under warranty.

The front engine mount is broken needs to be repaired.

The brake light flashes on and off.

General Comments:

The car is nice to look at, and handles and drives well.

The car gets decent fuel mileage, about 27hwy, 22 city.

The cabin is roomy and the seats are comfortable.

Faults:

Transmissions: 1st replacement at 38,000. Second replacement at 94,000.

Motor mounts replaced (2) at 25,000.

Front wheel bearings at 127,000.

CD player: for burned CDs -- will only play Maxell.

Brake pads warp too soon.

Heater does not kick in unless I turn it to max, then back off the heat.

Parts of the interior fabric are starting to separate.

General Comments:

I love the power and acceleration of my 2001 TL3.2. It is also very comfortable to drive long distances (MUCH more so than my last car - Honda Accord 1994).

I get fairly good gas mileage on the open road -- around 30MPG.

But the TRANSMISSION'S a problem... The story I got from my dealer when they were replaced is: Yes, these are "rebuilt" transmissions, but we reuse only the box that the gears are housed in. The gears are always new and can never be reused. He also said that it is RARE for more than one transmission failure. The transmission failure is at 2 to 3 percent.

However, EVERYONE I know who owns or owned a TL from 1999-2002 had at least one transmission replaced. At 127,500 I do need to sell it before its 3rd transmission fails (which according to the posts will happen probably sooner than later). I'm not sure if I can get Blue Book value for it (excellent condition) but I will be honest when I try to sell it.