Looking for some general What would you do? advice:
Ive got a 2007 TL I bought from my Honda/Acura mechanic in April, 2012. It had 98K miles on it then and I got it for under $16K. It was an awesome improvement over my then 20 yr old Accord.
The first two years I had it I had a 60 mile/day commute to work, and it spent a lot of time year round parked in a lot at work. Since 2015 I only drive it about 5-7K miles a year and its parked in my garage when not being driven. Im just now up to 178K miles. Mechanically speaking its been a great car and Ive kept it maintained.
No body damage from any wrecks or even fender benders, but
#1 The first month I owned it I got caught in two hail storms! Never again since then. The hail was tiny and there are no dents at all, but it did leave behind nearly invisible impacts that eventually became visible as paint chips.
#2 About 5 years ago either a straight-line wind event or small tornado touched down in my backyard, tore up a path in my yard leading straight to the side door of my garage, blew in that door and it landed on the TL, leaving a 6 inch long crease just behind the drivers side, rear passenger window.
Interior Issues:
#1 The bluetooth never worked.
#2 Front passenger heated seat never worked.
#3 One LED out in the climate controls (driver side temperature), so its hard to see in the dark.
#4 The dash cracking has gotten really bad, and started after the car was mostly garage kept. Thats definitely annoying. The worst area is around the front passenger airbag, where it looks like somebody tried to cut it out with an exact-o knife.
Theres the general picture, and now (for the past two years) my mechanicwho I trust, by the wayhas been strongly suggesting a bunch of work including:
#1 - Rocker Cover gaskets and Cam End Plug Seals
#2 - Front Plate re-seal + Timing Belt (same time to save on labor)
#3 - Rear main crankshaft seal + Power steering rack (same time to save on labor)
The total of those repairs adds up to just over the blue-book trade-in value of the car, thus I am getting to the nut of my question
If this was any other car Ive ever owned Id trade it in and walk away from it in a heartbeat. But I read over and over that the 2007 TL may be one of the best cars Acura ever built, and besides all that, I still love to drive this extraordinarily agile car, locally, though I do want to retire it for long road trips, of which I have also enjoyed several times.
I am retired now and lets just say Im by no means only scraping by, though I still wouldnt say I like to or can afford to waste money. Im looking to get a 2019 BMW X5 xDrive50i for road trips and the occasional times I need to haul stuff (used to use my wifes CRV for that but she died and that car is now history also).
What would you do? Would you just trade in the TL for whatever you can get for it, or is it worth it to spend the money to get it back in tip-top shape, mechanically speaking? Id also consider detailing it to fix those hail chips and get it looking sharp again. It would almost be like buying the car over again, for about half of what I paid the first time, and I would still like to have it as my other car.
And finally, is there anything practically speaking that can be done about those dash cracks? I can live with the other interior issues.
Ive got a 2007 TL I bought from my Honda/Acura mechanic in April, 2012. It had 98K miles on it then and I got it for under $16K. It was an awesome improvement over my then 20 yr old Accord.
The first two years I had it I had a 60 mile/day commute to work, and it spent a lot of time year round parked in a lot at work. Since 2015 I only drive it about 5-7K miles a year and its parked in my garage when not being driven. Im just now up to 178K miles. Mechanically speaking its been a great car and Ive kept it maintained.
No body damage from any wrecks or even fender benders, but
#1 The first month I owned it I got caught in two hail storms! Never again since then. The hail was tiny and there are no dents at all, but it did leave behind nearly invisible impacts that eventually became visible as paint chips.
#2 About 5 years ago either a straight-line wind event or small tornado touched down in my backyard, tore up a path in my yard leading straight to the side door of my garage, blew in that door and it landed on the TL, leaving a 6 inch long crease just behind the drivers side, rear passenger window.
Interior Issues:
#1 The bluetooth never worked.
#2 Front passenger heated seat never worked.
#3 One LED out in the climate controls (driver side temperature), so its hard to see in the dark.
#4 The dash cracking has gotten really bad, and started after the car was mostly garage kept. Thats definitely annoying. The worst area is around the front passenger airbag, where it looks like somebody tried to cut it out with an exact-o knife.
Theres the general picture, and now (for the past two years) my mechanicwho I trust, by the wayhas been strongly suggesting a bunch of work including:
#1 - Rocker Cover gaskets and Cam End Plug Seals
#2 - Front Plate re-seal + Timing Belt (same time to save on labor)
#3 - Rear main crankshaft seal + Power steering rack (same time to save on labor)
The total of those repairs adds up to just over the blue-book trade-in value of the car, thus I am getting to the nut of my question
If this was any other car Ive ever owned Id trade it in and walk away from it in a heartbeat. But I read over and over that the 2007 TL may be one of the best cars Acura ever built, and besides all that, I still love to drive this extraordinarily agile car, locally, though I do want to retire it for long road trips, of which I have also enjoyed several times.
I am retired now and lets just say Im by no means only scraping by, though I still wouldnt say I like to or can afford to waste money. Im looking to get a 2019 BMW X5 xDrive50i for road trips and the occasional times I need to haul stuff (used to use my wifes CRV for that but she died and that car is now history also).
What would you do? Would you just trade in the TL for whatever you can get for it, or is it worth it to spend the money to get it back in tip-top shape, mechanically speaking? Id also consider detailing it to fix those hail chips and get it looking sharp again. It would almost be like buying the car over again, for about half of what I paid the first time, and I would still like to have it as my other car.
And finally, is there anything practically speaking that can be done about those dash cracks? I can live with the other interior issues.