9.0

really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
$800
Average Mileage:
167,700 miles
Total Complaints:
2 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. replaced with used transmission (2 reports)
1998 Acura CL transmission problems

transmission problem

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1998 Acura CL Owner Comments

problem #2

Oct 032015

CL 3.0L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 180,356 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

This is the fourth time the transmission has failed (3 times rebuilt) and am so tired of putting out money to fix this car. The last rebuilt was about 3 years ago and less than 10K miles, this is adding insult to injury. If the car was not in such good condition except for the transmission, I wished I had discarded the car several years ago. I changed the transmission oil every 15K miles only with Honda ATF, never drove more than average miles per year, but it did not matter as the transmission keeps breaking down. I did not have the time to enjoy this car as I am always worrying when the next transmission problem will occur. Not sure what to do with this car as another rebuilt will cost around $3-3.5k again. Probably time to look at other car brands with more reliability.

- Edgar R., Plainsboro, NJ, US

problem #1

Sep 012014

CL Premium 2.3L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 155,000 miles

At 155,000 miles, failure of an automatic transmission isn't unheard of. By the time I came upon my car it had been owned by 5 other people, who may or may not have driven excessively hard. My neighbor is a mechanic and was able to use his connections to get a transmission from another CL, that had been scrapped after an accident, with about 35,000 miles on it for around $750. Pre failure, the transmission would refuse to shift smoothly between first and second, and then drop from third in to second without warning. Overall, not a huge problem considering the car is over 16 years old at this point. Aside from having to replace the AC condenser last year, literally everything else in the car is original (aside from belts, fluids, water pump, and other maintenance tidbits). I plan on owning this car until it gets in an accident, which hopefully doesn't happen anytime soon.

- b-rad2, Portland, OR, US

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