Scotty,
Thank you for putting out your very helpful videos. It very much appreciated.
I am looking for a first car for my son that first and foremost dependable. I ran across a private seller listing a 2001 Acura CL with 3.2 VTEC paired up to an automatic transmission. The car has 173k miles, and for $2900 is in pretty decent shape. I know the Honda VTEC is a great engine. Are there any potential know issues with the Acura CLs that I should be on the lookout for? I know about the timing belt, but other than that I don’t know much else about this particular model.
side note: have you seen that older Acuras are listing lower than Hondas? Not sure if there is a reason for that or if it’s just the DC, Maryland, Virginia area’s market.
Thank you very much,
Rob
There's a lot to go wrong with a 22-year-old luxury car. A Honda has less "stuff" to break. Automatic transmissions on Honda products of that era are weak so be careful of that, as well as rust. Other than that the way it's been cared for over the last two decades is going to be the biggest factor.
Since it is a V6, look to see when the last time the timing belt and water pump was replaced. It’s a maintenance item for those vehicles. Just make sure it has been maintained, or be prepared to maintain it yourself.
I think*** that generation may have had the last best V6 from Honda, since it didn’t yet come with cylinder deactivation.
One other thing to look out for is the transmission. Do the research in what transmissions were affected, and/or the transmission was taken to the dealer for warranty work. If it was taken in, you might be okay.
The 3.2L V6 engines in those cars are very good in my experience if they're taken care of. The timing belt is supposed to be changed every 109,000 miles. I drove my '03 CL Type S a lot, had the timing belt changed 4 times. Yes, I put over 400k on it. Had the timing belt, water pump, and spark plugs replaced by a Honda or Acura dealer for around $1100 each visit. The transmissions, however, were horrible between model year 2001 & 2003. Cost me $3000 to have mine rebuilt. If you look up Consumer Reports on those CLs, the automatic transmission would have a black dot rating on the component table meaning much worse than average.
I would pass on your deal unless the seller can prove the transmission was rebuilt or replaced. And if you don't know when the timing belt was replaced, add another $1k to the bill if you end up buying it.
The Acura CL is a beautiful 2 door coupe. Mine was agean blue. They did offer the Type S with a manual transmission option. I would say yes to spending $2500 for a CL type S with the 6 speed MT between 100k & 200k miles if it passed a detailed inspection by a reputable mechanic.
