Take it to an independent mechanic, not the dealer.
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May be a silly question- why donāt you look at something used as a replacement for your TL? For example, for what you TL is worth, you can easily get an used, reliable private vehicle of the same age. Or if you want to wait slightly, keep TL for now, take it to a good independent mechanic who can fix it for much less than $800 and then trade it for a new vehicle lease in December when chances to land an unicorn deal go up significantly. Just my $.02
+1 on the posts recommending a good, independent mechanic before trying to lease another car.
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Thank you everyone for all your comments. I greatly appreciate it. Buying something used isnāt a good idea because I still have to get rid of the TL and will be upside down at least 3500. I can fix it and try to trade it in. I want something for 3 years that isnāt going to give me a headache. In 3 years Iāll be in a position to get a 340im or M3
Why not just fix it and continue driving it until you can afford the M3?
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What? That makes no sense. He already has a reliable vehicle but instead of taking care of it heās looking to dump it. Heād have the same issues with anything else. A fritzy Bluetooth module and a dirty DVD navigation laser eye does not an unreliable vehicle make. 2008 BMW owners would love to have these types of āissuesā 
All valid points. I think fixing the TL is my best best. My payments are $235 a month now and to lease any basic car will be 330 because of negative equity. Iāll take it to my mechanic and have him look at it. My fear is that major stuff happens to it.
The only Acura ever built which still looks decent even for its age. 3rd gen TL never disappoints and yes as @chrishs2000 mentioned, a lot of stuff is fixable. Just work on Acurazine. Neither the civic or the Jetta are up to par to that decade old TL. Minus safety features
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Gorgeous. Take care of her!! Clean 3g TLās are starting to bounce back in value from what Iāve seen. Give it a year or two and I bet you have good positive equity.
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Take the extra money youād be spending on a lease and make extra principal payments on the TL until you pay it off.
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Thank You. Iām going to fix the minor stuff. I really hope it does go up in price
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For sure that way it will be paid a lot quicker. Thank you for the insight.
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I listed my car on autotrader and car gurus hopefully someone bites. I have gone to a few dealerships and they seem to keep the MF, Residual even Cost of the car top secret. How can I get that info from them? Is it better to do it in person or via the Internet?
Get RV and mf from edmunds. Then work the deal via email.
CarMax offered 7k on my TL, Carvana and KBB was $5200. Iām trying to figure out what to do next unfortunately Iād like to be driving a bmw or Mercedes but only want to pay 300 so all I can afford is a corolla, civic or Jetta. Considering just fixing the TL and keeping it.
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Keep the TL and hang out on the forums until the next widespread replicable amazing deal comes around. Thereās nothing right now.
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Mistake #1 - why spend $11k on a 10yr old car
I you paid off $8k in 12mos, that says another 4-6mos from now you should be even equity, and the car should be worth a few grand. Look for a deal at year end, and see what you can sell/trade the Acura TL for, either private party or Carmax, Vroom . etc, and youāll be in a better position.
Iād suggest using a broker to keep the next deal in your favor financially, and use the proceeds from the TL sale to make the first year of lease payments if possible.
I think the issue at hand is the lack of proceeds after the TL is paid off given the current situation
His current situation should be different in 4mos at year-end, based on 4 mos more of made payments and then the sale of the TL.