Hey,
Well I know there are a few threads like this ongoing here but I figured id share my story since it may skew a bit differently than another.

Well I brought the TSX into Courtesy Acura in Sanford for some warranty work. Boy were they unhappy. I brought it in for the head light leak, the seized up driver side lock actuator and the front brake judder.

Halfway into the work day I get a phone call that my car is out of warranty. Yeah bullshit, the car has 38k miles and is 3 years old. Well after a bit arguing the service manager decided to try for some good will. An hour goes by I get a call back saying it was denied good will and I should pay 600 dollars to get the rotors refinished and brake pads replaced since this is normal wear and tear. $600 for a set of brake pads???? Racing brake pads dont even cost that much for this vehicle.

At this point I called up Acura client services. Opened up a case and started speaking with a case worker. After jumping through the hoops, we wait for a return phone call from my service manager with his findings.

While we wait I was told to pick up my vehicle and return the loaner or I would begin to rack up vehicle use charges on the loaner. I head into the dealership and find out the car isnt even finished! The head lights needed to be ordered (this is friday now) and they wouldn't be in until Monday (yesterday). Fuming at this point since they're giving me every excuse under the sun why they didnt order the part until friday evening when they had the vehicle since Thurs morning at 8 am, I take my vehicle home. Schedule an appointment for wed to get the work finished.

Well I hadnt heard from my client service person in a day or two so I decided to give her a phone call and see how things were going. Well she was about to call me (imagine that) and let me know her findings. The service manager is now saying that my class 1 receiver hitch (1"1/4) was being used for towing and this in turn heated up the brake pads causing them to warp the rotors. Funny right. Well after explaining to her that I work for a bike shop and it is used for carrying racing bicycles (20 lbs each) and they are no where near the rated 2000 lbs that the hitch is rated for, never mind the fact that I seriously doubt that it would even pull 1000 lbs.

Well now I await her phone call some time today to let me know what this higher up person has to say with my response.

Any ideas? I'm very disappointed with how this dealership and now Acura is treating this situation. 200 in brake pads and labor would have solved this issue and made me a happy customer. And yes, I made sure they documented that this was all it would take.

I apologize for the long rant, I'm pretty annoyed and about to run out. So apologizes for the spelling and grammatical errors as well.

thanks

 

Sounds like they're just being a$$#@!&s. The warranty is 4years/50Kmiles and they know that. They're just trying to find some way of saying you invalidated the warranty by using the car in a manner that it wasn't meant to be used. A typical dealer would just do the work under warranty.

 

I would have gone to another dealer for one, and two, would have just replaced the brakes with aftermarket parts since it's just going to happen again if you get them replaced with stock stuff.

I also still don't get why they said you're not under warranty. Whip out your book and show them 50k/4 years. Nice dealership.

 

I had a similar experience with Acura Client Services. After about 1-year of ownership and 30,000 miles, my front brake pads were shot and the rotors were so warped they had to be replaced. Acura Client Services said that was normal wear and tear and refused any assistance whatsoever in a very condescending manner. I think the consensus is that the brakes on the TSX are under-engineered, and Honda doesn't seem to care.

 

Basically. I know I need to get some after market pads but i figured if its under warranty then I could save myself a few hundred bucks. Kinda tight for money at the time since school started and works starting to lay people off.

On the note of the dealership, Ive already expressed that i wouldn't be purchasing another vehicle there and need to explain this to the dealership manager or whoever. Its kinda silly that they would loose a customer over $200, or their inflated $600.

Acura client services basically seem like they're going to help but work on one dealership at a time. I basicially told the lady that once I picked the car up I wanted to get the work done at another shop, and she was starting to close the issue. I am glad this isnt a more serious issue. While I know every manufacturer has their issues, I seriously don't see why theyre pushing this issue so hard. Is is so hard to make a customer happy?

Its cheaper to please a returning customer then start a relationship with a new one.

 

There is a Technical Service Bulletin that addresses this very problem.

TSB 07-021: Front Brake Judder

Right in the bulletin it says that this is covered under the vehicle warranty. I don't know what their problem is.

 

I physically handed that document to the service manager. Acura Client Services says that they will either deny service due to missuse or out of warranty coverage. Basically that service bulletin is more of a guidelines of what to follow if the customer is complaining of such items. Since its a wear and tear item I get alot of static from them. Right now I keep pressing the issue saying that I have these issues, why do you have this document if you arent going to follow it.

This ACS lady is about to get the boot if she keeps up with the attitude. Who do these people take thier orders from? Whos higher up on the food chain.

 

does not sound like a very good dealer. the dealer i bought my acura also sells hyundai's. I owned a 2003 elantra that had warped rotors at 46,000 miles. The hyundai service advisor had the rotors refinished and replaced the brake pads free (warranty work) I am happy to say that service advisor is now their acura service manager.

 

Xtremespeed - PM me - we should team up on this if we can...
And if you decide to go aftermarket, let me know who you use to install your new system - I'd like to find a reliable installer that can do my a-spec too - i dont trust Courtesy Acura anymore. $90 w/ discount for B1 service? $250 /ea for OEM michelins? yikes!