Hi Scotty I'm 21 years old from Southern California and I'm in the Market for my first used car. Is the 2007 or 2008 Acura TL Type S model a good choice? Do they last long? What problems should I look for? I hear the Dashboards tend to crack. They also seem to hold there value I see alot going for $10k to $15k for 88k to 120k miles I'm also preferably looking for one with a manual transmission But those seem to be like unicorns very hard to find so are the automatic transmissions good? I also see alot of them in my area are being sold by used car dealerships when looking through craigslist, Facebook marketplace, offer up etc.
Wish you and your family well
Thanks Patrick
Acuras can tend to get expensive in repairs, as they age (>150,000 miles).
For that reason alone, as your first car, you’re better off with a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla instead.
No matter which car you end up buying, be sure to have it inspected thoroughly by a professional mechanic, before you buy it.
Also, feel free to type in ‘first car’ into the search box of this website (top right corner).
Congratulations & good luck!
To me those prices are ridiculously overpriced I'm not sure if the S Type increases the value by that much, I doubt it does. With a manual transmission they are actually a very well made set up but the manuals tend to be trashed I wouldn't spend that much. The most "sporty" I would go with your first car would be the Honda Civic SI.
Acura is still a luxury car brand, which means that repairs and maintenance can get expensive over time (generally after 10-15 years or 150k miles). Acuras especially the specific one you are considering are more sporty than other premium cars so they also get ragged out a lot.
Here is the tag for Acura, and here is the first car tag. Check them out and see what members have already posted about buying cars.
Lots of helpful hyperlinks are below, most notably the Used Car Buying Guide, which you can check out to see what car fits you and what the forum has said about them.
Also peruse through Scotty's videos on Acuras: https://www.youtube.com/c/ScottyKilmermechanic/search?query=Acura
Good luck!
I don't usually recommend used Acura Type-S or Honda Type-R (unless you know what you are doing) for first time car owners for two reasons.
1) Those are built for speed, performance, and racing, rather than comfort.
2) Previous owners usually drive the heck out of them. Unless you it comes from a Grandpa that only drove it to church on Sundays, it's hard to say if the previous owners didn't abuse them, because they are made for speed.
That's not saying these are great cars. They can be, if well maintained, and taken care of.
