well it's happened again. center dash lights out for the 2nd time. you guys might remember i'm one of the first one's to report this problem back in 03 or was it 04 lol. i don't even remember. i'm already at 61k miles on my 04 tsx. should i take it back to the dealer that performed the first replacement or take it to one that's closer to me (i've moved since then). they shouldn't hassle me on paying for this right? acura should clearly know by now it's a problem.

thanks

 

it would probably be best to take it to the dealer who dealt with this issue the first time around.....

you could try and go to the one closer...i dont' think they (Acura dealers) in general will have a problem for a known issue...

 

Your car has 61k miles, out of warranty and one replacement has already been done... It would be interesting to see how the dealer handles something like this. Let us know though.

 

Isn't the replacement a refurbished unit? Atleast mine was. My statement showed it cost around mid-$200.

 

It's unbelievable what Acura has come to, now they are replacing a bad unit with one that has the same problem. I think they should definately replace it again. That is a very expensive part.
I had mine changed once already at about 39000 miles on my 04.
The cost to them is $200
The cost to you if not warrantied is $2500

 

man this blows. i called my dealership and explained the situation. unfortunately because i'm over the 50k mark the service manager must approve of it first. it also so happens he's on vacation till next thursday.

to make the situation worse, i called the 1-800 number and also explained the situation and mentioned the service bulletin, but the guy on the line couldn't do jack for me because i'm out of warranty. once again he said it's up to the service manager.

i might just try another dealer first. i don't want to wait till next thursday. it's really freakin annoying. i actually looked on ebay and there are a couple of units on there. figure worse case senario i can get one there if they make me pay for it. anybody know will an 05 unit with xm hookup to my 04?

also anybody else ever been in my situation. i remember reading from some posters having their units replaced more than once. anybody had theirs replaced above 50k miles?

this is truly frustrating. if they don't cover this, i don't see any point in even keeping the car over 50k miles. not worth the headache in my opinion.

thanks for listening to my ranting. just need to let off some steam.

 

That really sucks to hear. I hope everything works out for you.

 

this is y is better to buy extended warranty upfront at time of purchase of the new car. no worries for 7 years or 100k.

 

it doesn't seem right that they wouldnt cover something that there is a service bulletin about even if you are out of warrenty

 

Sorry, but please clarify what you mean by the "center dash light". You mean the blue light or the light that lights up your buttons?

 

clock, radio, temperature......and all the buttons associated with those 3 items. basically if you look anywhere in the center of the dash it's total darkness. i'm going to call montclair acura tomorrow and schedule an appointment. ryan's open road acura in east brunswick can't do jack for me until the service manager returns on thursday.

 

This is exactly what I was afraid of. I had my unit replaced (refurbished) around 40 000km and now I'm approaching 60 000km. If this happens and Honda doesn't replace it because I'm out of warranty, I'm going to trade it in for a different car. I'm not going to give business to a car company that knows there's an issue with a part and not do anything about it.

 

well i called back open road acura in east brunswick. i told them warranty or no warranty i need to get it fixed (especially if i plan on getting rid of the car). so they got me in for this thursday and they said i can speak to the service manager when i arrive. they also reserved a loaner for me which is good. i'll let you guys know.

 

oh by the way montclair acura, our so called sponser for this board told me they are not aware of any service bulletin about the radio. the service advisor said if im over 50k i'd have to pay for it. i did not talk to the service manager because he was with a "customer." at that point i was just too fed up and hung up.

 

You could try Precision Acura on Rt. 1 in Lawrenceville if things don't work out....hopefully they will though.

 

damn.....this is not good at all. I am at 48k miles and hope this does happen to me. That blows that montclair acura said they won't fix it cause they don't know about the service bulletin....they didn't even know about the trunk wire harness, even though I bought the car there and Acura/Honda sent me the postcard in the mail.

 

sucks to hear they wont cover that bro

 

dropped off my car this morning. had a little chat with the service manager seemed reluctant at first, told me i'd had to call acura. i told him that i already did and they told me it's up to him to decide.

so he told me to leave the car and he'll call acura to work it out. i also told him i wasn't going to be the last one to comeback. =)

so got a call around lunch time. they are going to overnight the part over and cover everything. so my car should be ready on friday. so i'm glad this will be taken care of. the dealer is open road acura in east brunswick, nj. now i just need to decide where im gonna go with my loaner tonight lol.

 

In my '05 the pass. side seat heater switch light went out, still works just doesn't illuminate as it should. Anyone else experience lights out in the '05's?

 

^^ Yep..do a search. I think some people even replaced this themselves by getting a radioshack part. Dealer will take care of it if you're under warranty though.

 

I have had the same problem with the dash (audio unit) lights in my '04 TSX. It has 33,000km (20,000 miles). This audio unit is the 2nd one in the car. It actually failed (this time) 3 days before my warranty expired. I phoned the dealership to let them know and book an appointment. My appointment (due to both their schedule and my own) was 8 days later. They said sorry - I'm outside of warranty. To be really nice, they're offering "goodwill" of paying for 1/2 of the "remanufactured" part (the 2nd one this car will receive). They say the remanufactured part is CDN$789.49 (about US$700) so they'll pay 1/2 of that. The labour is about 4 hours, and this dealership charges CDN$105/hour. So the fix will cost me over CDN$900, and Acura will pay $400.

I think this totally, totally stinks. I can't believe how cheap they're being, but they maintain they're going further than they have to because the car was out of warranty when it was brought to the dealership. I've pleaded my case with them until I was blue in the face - regional service reps, Honda Canada customer service, etc, no help. In Canada we have the "Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan" (http://www.camvap.ca/). I plan to go that route, and the experiences of others on this board (thanks Mojo20) will be part of the evidence I present that this is a serious defect.

Any thoughts/advice?

 

I say argue (professional yet sternly) with them that you called BEFORE the warranty was up. Heck, get the secretary over there to say "yes I booked his appointment 8 days prior to today".

There's NO way that 5 days should make a difference on warranty items especially if this is a known problem, and you first reported it to the dealer 3 days before it expired.

 

PS: Where are you from Arisaig?

 

DCH Montclair Acura stinks, IMO, when it comes to service. They always have no clue of TSB's even if you show it to them. The TSB could even clearly state that all 04 models are affected, and they will somehow say that it doesn't pertain to your car. Plus I went there to get my seat fixed due to a grinding noise issue, and they did more harm than good.

By the way, I had the seat heater light go out as well on my 05.

 

thats BS that they wont cover that under warrenty

 

Thats insane, keep fighting it. 8 days over should NOT be denied.

Any chance these second radio's are failing because they were some of the first to go, and were simply replaced with units that hadn't been fixed yet? Fact is there is a TSB for this problem so something must have been done.

Print off the TSB and bring it in with you.

Very dissapointing to hear.

 

Well, I'm from Arisaig, Nova Scotia, Canada. But I now live in Calgary, Alberta, like most Nova Scotians!

I'm grateful to you guys for reinforcing my opinion that Acura's being unreasonable. I've argued my point professionally and not-so-professionally but neither worked. I'll just go to arbitration - I think that with everyone's experiences to which to refer, it should go well. It's a pain, but perhaps it will also help others who may be stood up by Acura similarly.

It may be a while, but I'll certainly let you know how it concludes.

Cheers.

 

I'd also make DAMN sure to complain loud enough, one more time, before going to arbitration.

But this time make sure you are being heard by potential customers on the sales floor, in the service areas, and if you get mad enough, the people next door at the Tim Horton's.

GET MAD.

And thanks to you Nova Scotians moving to Calgary... and leaving the Newfie's in Ottawa.

 

Good news - they came around. I copied every single post by Mojox20 all the way back from the original, including dates, and sent that to the regional service representative as an example of an owner with the same problem who received positive results. I also responded to his statement, "If you wish to discuss this matter further, please call me on my cell phone..." with, "I choose this form of communication to have documentation of it." I think that let him know that I wasn't finished trying. In Canada (I don't know about the USA) we have an arbitration body - perhaps I posted it before - www.camvap.ca. It has excellent processes (though a bit cumbersome) for resolving these issues if the manufacturer is stone-walling you.

Thanks

 

i'm in the same boat, 62k miles, they refuse to pay to replace it.

i'm fucked.