vmishka

I live in Reno, NV. I don't know why, but there is no Acura dealer within 120 miles. The closest are in Sacramento, CA.

The TSX has all of the features I want. I don't mind buying the car out-of-state if I can find a good deal. I travel a lot in the west and can easily pick up a car in any western state.

My concerns are what is my experience going to be like if I need warranty work done. I called Acura and they said that theoretically you can have warranty work done by a non-dealer, independent Accura certified company (they exist in Reno), pay for it yourself, and Acura would re-imburse you for the cost if it really was covered under warranty.

Does anyone have experience with a similar situation, i.e., no Acura dealer within a reasonable distance? Did you get re-imbursed? Do Honda dealerships do the work (Acura said no, but in some forums they imply that they might)?

Thank you for any input.

Matts05TSX

I also live quite a distance from my dealership. I live in Fargo and the closest dealership is in Minneapolis. Thats about 250 miles away! I decided to get the TSX anyway, due to Honda/Acura reliability. I have had my '05 TSX since April '05 ( have 9300 miles on it) and haven't had any troubles with it, so I haven't had it back to the dealership. They told me that if I did have troubles with it, the Honda dealer here should be able to take care of most things, but if it werer major, they would have to flat bed truck it to Minneapolis and they would give me a TSX or TL as a loaner. I would go for it if I were you, the TSX is worth it!

vmishka

Thank you for the input Matts05TSX. I am giving it serious consideration. I will stop by the Honda dealership to talk to them and will probably look at an Accord for comparison.

If anyone has had the experience of having warranty work done on a TSX outside of their dealership and tried to get re-imbursed by Acura, I would appreciate hearing about your experience.

jeff330

Hi,

I am also located in Reno and thinking about a TSX. Acura customer care said that a Honda dealership should be able to perform warranty work because most of the service technicians are Acura trained to. In theory, we should be able to get warranty work done, pay for it ourselves, and submit the bill to the nearest Acura dealer for reimbursement.

However, the nearest Acura dealership (Niello Acura in Sacramento) says that they will not abide by this procedure and that your Acura needs to be brought to the dealership if it is drivable. If the car cannot be driven, then Acura should pay to have it taken to Sacramento on a flat bed.

There seems to be a gap between what Acura USA thinks ought to be done, and what some dealers are willing to do. If I find out anything new, I will post it here. Having to travel 100+ miles over the hill to CA could be a deal killer for me (bummer).

miner

My Honda dealer told me they could work on Acuras BUT could not do warranty work.

jpt

The acura dealership's opinion doesn't come into it. Warranty law does. If you don't have a dealer close enough you can get your warranty work done elsewhere. It's just a lot less convenient.

jpt

Okay, I was wrong

Insurance law says that you can have repairs from an accident done anywhere you want. Warranty law says that the manufacturer must be given a reasonable opportunity to repair the vehicle.

I suspect you could insist that Acura arrange for the transportation of your car to an Acura dealer (hell, Acura TLC will probably just tow you without batting an eyelash and pay for your rental car while you wait).

t_in_maine

I live in Northern Maine, and my closest Acura dealership is in New Hampshire, about 300+ miles away. I actually bought in Boston, a six-hour drive from home!

Salmoneous

I'm not as bad as you - only about an hour and 15 minutes away from my dealer. I honestly expect to need very little warranty service for my car If I did, I would have bought something else.

So maybe I have to make one trip a year to the dealership. Just not that big a deal (especially as they have free loans on all warranty work).