I am looking at a 1996 Acura TL 3.2 V6 for $1600. It has 236,000 miles.

I've done some looking into maintenance costs versus a nearly comparable 1996 Infiniti J30 and its like comparing copper to gold in the sense of cost, Acura being the copper.

With 236,000 miles though, what kind of issues is this car likely to have? Were there any major defects with the engine and transmission? (I haven't much found anything).

I'm figuring that at a cost of only $1600 (given that the body is in good shape and there are no leaks), its a hell of a deal.

 

I have a 96 3.2TL with 107K. The only non-routine maintenance I have had to do are to replace the starter - major job that required disassembling some of the LF suspension. I do have a small hole in the exhaust pipe between the cat and the muffler that I need to fix sometime,but right now I have it patched with some putty and it is holding OK.

Everything has been routine maintenance. Tires, batteries, brakes, oil changes, etc. I did change the timing belt at 90K miles. I would find out when it was done last on the car you are looking at, as that is a key maintenance item.

 

I might just have the timing belt changed regardless. 236k is a LOT of miles, but if it could get me to 300k, that'd be great.

 

Found out that the timing belt/chain was done at 190,000 miles.

I talked the guy down to $1300 to top it off.
However, there are issues with the car.

Missing stereo
Bad alignment
Bad tire wear
Dings/Dents that weren't mentioned
Rust spots that weren't mentioned
Cracked left tail light that wasn't mentioned
Neither passenger or driver side front windows will roll down properly
The transmission shifts rough from third to fourth, but I'm guessing its the original transmission so it shouldn't be surprising

I shouldn't complain, considering that the interior is in really good shape, and that's a lot of the car right there. And I checked the suspension and the compression and both check out pretty well. I should be set for a while with this car.