I purchased a 2004 acura tsx with 76,221 miles on it. It is a manual transmission car. The car had NY inspection stickers on it and I purchased the car in northeast philadelphia. The car was purchased at a privately owned dealership. Part of the terms of purchase was that the car passed inspection. They bought it to their friends next door to them in the parking lot to inspect. It passed inspection and I picked the car up.

I have been driving MT for about 8 years now, and consider myself a good driver (of course). I think the clutch was slipping a little bit when I test drove the car. I didnt know that it was actually slipping because I described it to my father after it broke. I thought that it was a feature of the newer car because I havent driven anything except an integra '94. The owner of the dealer said that he never noticed it and the inspection shop took the car on the road and never said anything. I wasnt going to buy the car if they found anything wrong with it.

I did purchase a 3 month / 4,000 mile warranty for 100 bucks. This warranty specifically states that it doesnt cover a manual clutch and related components. The warranty is from C.A.R.S. protection plus in Murraysville pa. Here is the exact warranty: http://www.carsprotectionplus.com/coverages/power-train

I purchased the car late wednesday night and on saturday morning I was trying to merge onto the highway and the rpm's just went up and the car never accelerated. When I pulled off to the side I could sit with the car in gear and no foot on the clutch and it wasnt stalling. The car wouldnt move anywhere. I had it towed back to the dealer who said that it was a burned out clutch.

He told me today that the clutch isnt covered under warranty and it would be $1100 parts and labor to repair. I asked him if anything else needed to be done and he said no, just replace clutch.

I called another shop who I've taken my integra too before and they quoted me $1700 parts and labor. He said if I were to buy another clutch online just labor would be $1000. This is includes resurfacing the flywheel, which he says you should do when replacing the clutch.

I'm waiting to hear back from 2 other shops and am just really bummed out. Especially with the service I've received from the dealer. I had the car about 2 days before the clutch completely burned out and it passed inspection.. something just seems a little fishy to me.

I drove the car to and from work 2 days which is about 100 miles total.. then halfway to my parents house and the thing went out on me.

I am out $11000 and a car, and am back to driving my sisters car around which bothers me because I don't like using her car so much.. I know I would be mad if she did that to me. Just really short on money and patients at the moment.

I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to gain leverage in my situation.. I am not aware of the current PA Lemon Laws but I can't see how a clutch can go from perfectly fine to totally burned out in about 2 days after passing inspection.

What would you guys do in my situation.. if there is nothing I can do than can you guys recommend a clutch to go with? I am unsure of purchasing another OEM clutch because this one lasted max 76K (dunno if it was ever replaced prior), and I know this is a common problem with TSX's and TL's.

I greatly appreciate anyone who is willing to help out and leave a comment, Thank You.

 

I probably can't add much that wouldn't sound critical other than $1100 for a clutch is probably not a bad deal. A clutch replacement is a big job in a TSX; they literally have to take the front end off the car to replace it (try finding something on youtube and you'll see what I mean)(or even a search on here; there are a couple of threads with great pictures).

 

brian, I know buying used cars can be frustrating.
take this as a lesson to not trust dealers.
if you want something done right, do it your self.
with this being said, the car should have been inspected by you!
maybe you could have caught the slipping clutch before hand.


same deal happened to me, but not as severe.
bought my TL with 31k miles, and at 35k miles I had to change the clutch.


I had time to shop around, tho.


Hope you get her back on the road soon

 

Thanks for the response. I know it doesnt sound like a bad deal but I'm not sure if I want them working on my car again. I kinda want to bring it to a place that I trust. I had a feeling it was a big job.

 

Did you go with an OEM clutch or aftermarket?

 

I have a TL, which uses a completely different clutch set up.
alas, I went OEM clutch

 

I wouldnt let that dealer touch it

 

I just got a quote from another shop about 12 miles away for $1150.. so I'm leaning towards having the car towed over there for the work to be done. The $1150 included a new flywheel.. which the original dealer mentioned nothing about.. It seems standard to either re surface the flywheel or get a new one and this guy had no idea..

 

If it means anything I just purchased an 07' TSX with 114k on the clock and it was a single owner vehicle and he ended up replacing the clutch flywheel 2 times! Once at 30k and again at 100k. He'd been driving manual all his life. Lets see how long before I have to replace it...

 

Most of those sound like premature clutch failures. There are more than a few folks on here that are 100K plus and probably a few near 200K miles. I'm always skeptical of experts who say they've driven manuals their entire life... that statement doesn't mean you are driving it right. I have a friend who burned out the clutch in his brand new Jeep because we would slip the clutch instead of bringing it out of gear to hold himself at an intersection.

 

So you got it inspected beforehand yet they didn't notice the slipping clutch as you said you did, when you test drove it? No offense, but the second you thought something was even possibly wrong, you should have questioned it.

 

Thats the how the dealer replaces it... I just replaced my clutch and flywheel with a friend (who is a top notch mechanic) but we did it on jack stands and supports and didn't have to take teh whole car apart. I think it helped that the the clutch had been replaced once already by teh dealer (who screwed it up - long story) so it was no problem cracking open the transmission - and we probably got a bit lucky getting it all back into place. The biggest pain was a stripped bolt on the rear trans mount - had to grind off teh mount and replace that.

All that said, 1100 is an incredible price from Acura - they quoted me 2400 - and a good price from a shop. But if you you find a shop that will let you buy teh parts you can get it all done for under 750 i would think. My 2 cents which is late and probably useless at this point