1Louder

It is unfortunate and stupid of Acura. In reality, all they'd have to do is replace the transmissions for the owners in this thread and 95% of the visible complaints would go away. Couldn't amount to more than 50 transmissions tops. They might even retain some loyal customers.

If they deny me again at my upcoming B16 service I'm out for good - off to Lexus most likely.

jiggaman

Anyone with 2016 experiencing the transmission issues?

neil0311

I think the consensus is that 2016 models don't have the issues found in the early 2015 builds.

My 2015 TLX with replacement tranny with 16-012 applied is smooth shifting, and I don't have any real issues.

CPR

Getting mine replaced next Tuesday; can't wait!

Stew4HD

Indeed. I sure gave ACR plenty of opportunity to step up. They obviously saw me as just a minor nuisance and sure enough, I went away.

jiggaman

ok thanks, looking at possibly getting a 2016 and i just know i'd be the person to get one with issues if they were still happening.

currently driving a C300 that shifts are smooth as butter.

neil0311

Make sure and test drive well and try all IDS modes to be sure you're happy. Ask for an extended test drive overnight. Drive on the highway and around town.

Best as anyone knows, the hardware was updated mid-2015 and neither the replaced units nor the new 2016s coming off the line have the shifting issues.

mondster

No fees for trading in at a different dealer. Only thing that matters is the trade in value, as each dealer can give you a different amount

jeich182

You've hit the nail on the head and that's the bitch of it. You satisfy the people in this thread who are likely enthusiasts and/or loyal (hence their presence on an internet forum) and you not only satisfy people who represent the brand for free but there's also something less crappy out there for the casual owner/shopper who is unsure, "Googling" stuff, and happens upon threads like this. Disappointing.

KeithL

My guess is if Acura replaced the trannies people would keep them, now they lose a customer that will not likely return for some time if ever. I can tell you my tranny is not horrible, but my first opportunity to get out and I am gone. The tranny and bad infotainment are enough to chase me away for some time.

Rocketsfan

Hah. I'm watching Fast Money at the moment on CNBC. I'm not sure Labeau does that kind of reporting though. He's more of an industry reporter than an investigative reporter. Especially for CNBC. Is there anything like a "national investigative reporter"? lol. Labeau seems like a good guy, though.

Also, good idea to post it on his Twitter considering anything you'll probably post on Acura's Twitter will probably get removed in favor of a "look at this Acura parked on the side of a mountain road... oh the thrill of it... do you feel it? we feel it! Yaaaay!"-pic.

Rip1125

Just got the call from my dealer that they got approval for a tranny swap for me. Was persistent with ACR and my dealership certainly stepped up to back my case. They told me that it was a tranny swap only but seems as though others had other components replaced as well. Hope this works out. Will keep everyone updated.

mondster

Which dealership is this?

mondster

Anyone here from socal who was succesful in getting their tranny replaced? If so, which dealership did you go to?

Rip1125

Rallye in Roslyn, NY

Zippercat

Anybody complained here?

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

jswift2000

Zippercat,

I filled out that form late last year/early this year. However, the more people who fill it out the better the chances of raising awareness. However, I just filled it out again.

Illuminati

Rallye is the dealership I go to. I wish they would swap my damn transmission. They claim that they cannot and no updates are due for my car. I believe I have a build date of 2/15

Rip1125

Here's what I did hopefully it will help your case.
1) had all service bulletins updated as it relates to the hard shift and hesitation
2) opened a case with ACR - they will assign you with a case manager and case number.
3) give Rallye a heads up on the situation and case number The SA and the SM were instrumental in pushing the approval along.
4) stay patient. This was a 2 month process for me and always stay pleasant. To some extent their hands are tied they want the work (I believe they get reimbursed/paid for the labor) and the customer satisfaction.

The SM actually told me that ACR had no role in this approval and that they did all the work in getting the district field rep to approve the replacement. I believe this is the 3rd or 4th they've done.

I also suspect that Acura is doing this on a VIN / build date basis since I did not it require a test drive with a field rep at all. I have a SH-AWD with a Nov '14 build.

Good luck.

CPR

ACR is basically useless; they don't deny, they stall; meaning, they pretend to hear you, but don't have the authority to do anything. In my case, Acura of Brooklyn is great; after 17 months & 3 software upgrades, they acquiesed, & ordered me a new 2016 tranny. Having it installed May 31st; can't wait; Kudo's to Heather Fornino/Service Manager, & Rich Durgin/Ops. Director, who approved the switch. Great people to work with! Hope the wait is worth it; other than the tranny, & the ELS not playing DVD/A's, I LOVE this car

9SpeedTran

It's interesting. I have a Nov 2014 build SH-AWD, and once the car is warmed up, maybe 19 out of 20 times it shifts 2-3 as smoothly as the upper gears. The 20th time, and this is certainly more frequent before the transmission has warmed up, it will hold a little too long in 2nd given the rate of acceleration and then the drop to 3rd is noticeable -- but not significantly more noticeable than some of the shifts in my 2014 6AT MDX SH-AWD. I have just about 30K miles on the car and my only complaint at this point is how badly the wind buffets front seat passengers when the sunroof is open. ;-)

Stew4HD

The ELS does play DTS-CDs very well with great surround sound seperation

CPR

Thanks, Stew; I'm well aware of the DTS 5.1, but being the owner of 40-50 DVD/A's, I miss being able to play them. I have lots of homemade DTS discs, that are good, like Aqualung, Wish You Were Here, Rumours, etc.; but not quite as good as my DVD/A's; not complaining, just sayin'

Illuminati

Thanks. I guess i'll try to do that. Just hate that I have to jump through hoops and move mountains to rectify this situation.

Stew4HD

It won't be long before we lose the ability to enjoy the format. I don't know of any player that will decode multi channel WAV files. I also wish they had kept DVD-A

9SpeedTran

I love my service rep. I came in today for a B12 service and she is asking me about the transmission, and of course I told her what I posted above, and she says, OK but keep an eye on it because we just replaced another one (first one apparently here) and there are things we need to do if we are going to replace yours.

kuzdu

hey are you guys going to Rallye on Northern Blvd? that my dealership I got all of my acuras there since 2000. my TLX was the first to get the tranny change from them and it took 2 months. I always go to Chad he's great.

Illuminati

Yes I am. My TL and Current TLX were bought from Rallye. I used to deal with Chad but now I go to the other gentleman that's there l, forgot his name. (Tall, bald head, glasses). Anywho, the service dept is great. I have no qualms with them.

Rip1125

Yep Chad is probably one of the most accommodating SA's I've every dealt with. Just my call for my airbag recall on my RDX as well. How long did you leave your TLX with them for the tranny swap? Did you also get a new TCM as well? Are u happy with the car after the swap?

samuel002

Got my car back from the dealership after the transmission swap the car does drive abit better from 2-3 but 1-2 still there....

kuzdu

Yeah I always go to him, I use to go to a guy name Stephen before then mike he's now the manager there. Car was in there for almost 6 weeks and got my new tranny and I didn't think I got a new pcm but I could be wrong and it came wit the kit. On the statement it didn't say that so I'm assuming it came with the kit. So far so good smooth shifts but still has some delays once in a while

Rocket_man

I've had this new software for 3 weeks now, but one week I was out of town. I've driven the car on the highway and normal local commuting to/from work and around town. The improvements have stuck and the transmission is greatly improved although not perfect. I think this new software is a complete re-work of the transmission logic. It really highlights how rushed they were to get this under-developed transmission into production. I think the transmission needed another 9-12 months of development before it should have been approved for production. But given the decision to shut down TL production Acura had no choice. They do though have a choice to fix the mess they made with this poor decision. They have not done that for many owners which is irresponsible and has damaged the brand.

Here are the improvements I see...

- Faster down shifts at low speeds. This is the problem where you slow to make a left turn, but don't quite stop, and the press the 'go' peddle and the car does not 'go.' I experienced this almost every day on a fast left turn onto a feeder road on my way home from work. I slow from 50-60 down to ~20 or so to take a left turn and I hit the peddle half way around the turn to rotate the car around and nothing would happen. The car would not accelerate for almost 2 secs after I wanted it to. Now there is still a delay but the delay is much shorter and sometimes does not happen at all. The improvement here on a scale of 1-10 is about 8. Maybe with 9 gears this is the best you can do. Not perfect, but acceptable.

- Less engine braking. In Normal mode and even more so in Sport mode, any left off on the gas would result in engine braking and being jerked forward in the car. Now I know some may like this, I don't and on a TLX I don't think it belongs. Now when I let off the gas the car coasts and the forward jerking motion is gone. Much more comfortable ride for this type of car. The improvement here is a 10.

- More responsive. The car is more responsive to the Go peddle than before. The acceleration from a stop through 1st to 2nd is more normal and overall the car seems more responsive to my right foot. The improvement here is a 9.

- Sport Mode makes you smile again. In Sport mode the car is actually fun to drive. It is like a different car before and after in Sport mode. I had not really had a smile on my face in this car until this software update and I put it in Sport mode. Have not tried Sport +. I spend most of my time in Normal mode, but Sport mode is now actually fun. The improvement here is a 10.

I think overall the biggest indication of the improvement is that I don't think about the transmission much at all anymore. I just drive the car. I used to have to devote brain cycles to thinking about the transmission, how is it shifting, when is it going to down shift, how it jerks me forward when I let off the gas etc... now I can just drive the car. I do still get some delay on downshifts but it is not nearly as distracting as it used to be. I think if everyone's transmission behaved like this most would not have a problem. It would be chalked up to how a 9-speed behaves.

But now that Acura knows how to fix the late 2015's and knows how to replace the early 2015's, they need to get busy and make sure they fix every 2015. None of this BS that 'you car behaves like other 2015's and is normal, but far worse than a 2016' crap. Clearly Acura realizes they messed up and have spent a lot of time and effort to create a fix. Now apply it for anyone who asks.

And I would NOT be an early adopter of their 10-speed. Not a chance in Hell. Two reasons... first they may rush it to production like they did with the 9ZF, and 2nd if they mess it up I'd not trust Acura to fix it. No one should. They have shown how little they stand behind their cars, so I will not take a chance on them again.

KeithL

I also have a late model TLX AWD Advance and have had the TSB for about 6 weeks and while the downshifts are better this in no way changes my opinion of the poor job Acura did with this tranny. I am guessing to fix all the hard shifts everyone else had they over compensated on the logic for the rev matching during shifts. I have never driven a tranny where the lag between shifts is so long, seems like an eternity.

I drive in Sport mode because in normal mode the car is unacceptable, yet Sport in this car is like normal mode in most other brands. Sport + is just too much with the car holding gears excessively.

I have owner numerous Acuras, recently an Audi and Infiniti and the TLX honestly leaves me with a bad taste. While my TLX has some good characteristics the teanny and infotainment basically leave me putting the TLX at the bottom of the list of cars I have owned for some time. It is not a bad car, but too many overall shortcomings in daily experience. Even with all the hype about a Type-S unless they have a new tranny and Infotainment I will likely move on from Acura when this lease is up or when I can get out without a loss. A new grill, exhausts and some sporty exterior tweaks will not convince me Acura has their act together.

Illuminati

I couldn't agree with this more. Another thing that bothers me is how far the car rolls when I shift into park. It rolls too much, sometimes I put the parking brake on to lessen the blow. I doubt I'll find myself in another Acura unless they seriously remanufacture their transmissions and fix the laggy infotainment system.

KeithL

I see Hyundai Genesis models passing Acura real soon, they will occupy the space Acura did, Value Luxury. Hyundai improves their suspensions all the time and the Genesis G80 AWD is set up like Audi Quattro when the car is in sport mode it is in 40/60 F/R full time. And Hyundai's infotainment is ahead of Acura. Hyundai reliability increases all the time. Where Hyundai needs to improves is the suspension and then using more advanced manufacturing, the G80 is heavy due to so much steel and not enough light weight and composite materials. Of course Hyandai's parent is a huge steel company ;-)

Rocket_man

I never have this problem, I always use the parking brake. I hit the Stop/Start button, it goes into park automatically, then just pull up on the parking brake. Takes half a second. I don't like relying on the parking pawl to keep the car in place.

jswift2000

Hi all - it has been 3 weeks since the TSB update (15-040/16-012) so I thought I would provide an update. The s/w update helps but not as mush as initially thought. There is still hesitation when pressing on the accelerator (although not as often as before), there is still delayed shifting for a good 10-20 seconds (I've counted twice in the past 3 weeks) and there still seems to be gear hunting when slowing down. That being said, the car is more responsive, better passing acceleration on the highway and the unintended acceleration when going down a hill seems to be reduced, not eliminated.

The s/w update was a major step forward but more tweaks are needed to fix the transmission issues. I have a call into ACR to update my existing case and will call the dealership this week. Keep in mind this on an 8/15 build so I don't have the 2-3 jerkiness. I will press on with Honda and update here if things improve.

CPR

Today's the day! getting my new 2016 version 9 speed tranny; should be finished Thursday or Friday; fingers XXXXXXXXXX; keep you posted!

samuel002

planning to take a hit and sell off my TLX after the tranny swap.. things hasn't got better and this really sucks on my end.. should have went to lexus in the first place.

1Louder

x 1000.