And it was my father.

He was looking at a 2001/2002 CL-S. He called me from the dealership and asked what I thought about my CL-S before he finalized any deals. I proceded to tell him about my problems (i.e. transmission, brakes) as well as what I loved about the car (power and luxury) and he ended up buying something else because he didn't want to deal with the problems.

Isn't there a saying that for every good experience one customer has, another customer is gained. But for evey bad experience, ten customers are lost.

 

If someone asked me what I thought, they'd buy the car. Luckily, I haven't had any problems... <knock> and bang for the buck, I'm buying a new one when 03 is released.

It's too bad these problems exists and I think if it wasn't such a major component - I think it wouldn't stick in our minds like this. But it does and it looks bad but I have one thing to say; Would you rather own a Ford?

 

Oh my God Sid, I thought you were meant that they lost a customer in the sense that someone died. My heart rate is slowly returning to normal...

 

yeah Sid, there you go you're the MAN.
I personally told a few friends & family members not to bother with Acura product especially CLs/TLs because of their problems.
Plus I experienced first hand after my car broke down what a headache it was to spend 2 hours on the freaken phone with TLC trying to get a hold of them, what a freakin joke...

 

I wouldn't recommend the car because that person would never ask me for advice again after all the crazy problems they are likely to run into. :p

 

but guys its such a good car, such a good deal, all cars have problem, you should buy a kia or bmw instead they will both have better trannys, wait for the 6MT, wait for 800 hp, wait for AWD, wait for RWD, honda sends me checks to like them...

ok that should take care of all the BS the apologists with spout out..

 

I wish we knew the count of bad trannies vs. cars actually sold. Yes, there are bad ones out there. No one has died from it, like so many other car company prompted recalls... Yes, it is an inconvenience because it's a major repair, takes a skilled mechanic and the part needs to be ordered but those are the reasons why it such a big deal.

My point is, maybe we've gotten it in our minds that are cars have so many problems because we pick apart, almost down to the molecule, every little squeak on up, repeatedly.

A tranny failure is a big deal. The problem most likely has been identified and solved but the problem itself as been suffered by an unfortunate few. Compound that with not so skilled mechanics form a few not so choice dealerships... BANG > Acura sucks

See if you can find a domestic w/ this horsepower, comfort and convenience that are all standard, NAVI, descent mileage considering the engine, etc.... that doesn’t squeak more or breaks down less for $32,000 or under and I will shut up.

 

hmm i thought i had all that covered.. somebody doesn't have to die before a company takes action! my tranny is fine too but it scares the hell out of me that if something does happen acura will proceed to dick me around for month.. this is not a cupholder, its a transmission, the second most important part of a cars drivetrain!

 

If you have a major problem ... lemon law it ... the law is there to be used. If you do not have a problem and still don't like the car kick yourself and sell your car and get over it.

Quit your beeeeochin' and get a BMW and sell your house ... it is a CAR for goodness sake. 99 out of 100 of us love the CLS and admire the quality of Honda/Acura in general -- if they have a problem they will address it, but they need time.

Merry Christmas

 

Too bad. I love my car. Even if the trans. goes out, so what, it's a warranty item. Just my positive take on the issue.

Just wondering, why wouldn't you just say which car your father bought instead of saying "something else"? I'd like to know which unbelievable, trouble free car he bought. IMO, you didn't necessarily do him any favors. Happy Holidays.

 

Tell your dad to get a Chrysler...
Make sure when ha has his first set of problem you moved far enough away he'd be too afraid to come and kick your ass, due to the car peing too crappy to get anywhere.

 

what the heck are you ranting about?
Sid gave his father an honest response...
pros and cons, what can be more objective than that?
Would you give misleading advice to your father about a car that you knew about it's problems?

And don't try to hijack the thread with responses like
buy a _____ or a ______....

If youre happy with your CLS, then GREAT, have a friggin cookie.
No need to rub salt on the wounds of others.
BE THANKFUL. Some of us aren't as fortunate
and they tell it like it is...its only proper that way.

They're not making it up or blowing it out of porportion.
I can vouch for Dan and Sid (above).

Otherwise, take a seat rookies :P

 

I don't really understand what problems you all are having....I personally haven't had one problem (knock on wood) and my car is at 51000 miles..its been running smoothly the whole time since it was brand new...maybe cuz my mom drives like a slow grandma before i got the car...but it still hasn't had any problems...


CL'S

 

here is my issue about all of this.. lack of communications at all from honda.. if there is a ticking time bomb in all our cars, tell us, if its only from a certain batch of parts, tell us, if they are working on the fix, tell us.. i would be equally pissed if i had a civic or and m5 and the same thing was happening. i think as a customer we deserve to know what the deal is. i don't want my warranty to run out then be left with a dead car with big bills..

tell me this how many 30k cars do you know that had to have it tranny replaced twice under 30k miles.. that doesnt sound like a good value to me..

 

Are a lot of people having the problems you have cuz I seriously haven't had a problem with my car...it just sounds weird to me....any other people have probs like him?

CL'S

 

You did the right thing by telling him YOUR experience. If someone asked me, I would give a "guarded" recommendation for the CL-S. I have no problems after 23,700 miles and 1.5 years but I have read others woes.

A better question would be "What did he finally buy?" Then we can pick apart that selection.

 

Dad either bought an inferior vehicle than the CL or TL or paid another 10 grand.

 

I speak from experience on this one.... Try explaining to your local Ford Service department what driveshaft runout is, then convince them that it is not a factory option and they need to fix it. After the seventh trip in, you're more than happy to trade a Mustang in for an Acura.

You expect that the Ford is going to suck when you buy it.

 

I recommend this...

 

You are right. I told him exactly what experiences I have had. I also felt that I had to mention that many others were having similar problems. Did I lie? NO.

I am not going to say what he bought instead because it really doesn't matter and I don't need shit from all the haters out there. The point of this thread is that he didn't buy an Acura.

I, personally, love my car. When the warranty will near expiration, I will have a tough decision to make: buy the extended warranty or trade in for something else.

 

At least give Acura a fighting chance and let him read the board a little and see that most of us aren't having any problems.
Liek I said before, tell him to get a Chrysler. The 300M has pretty good specs, he'll be happy with it... for the first year.

 

I think that if he did read the board for a while, that the two or three trannys going out each week might steer him away too. I love my car, haven't had a single problem with it yet. Other than the CD deck blitzing every so often, a rattle here and there, and the occasional "no start" syndrome.

Although, I gurantee you that I'm selling it as soon as the warranty expires. I hate worrying everytime I feel or hear something abnormal from the drivetrain. I guess I just have little faith in my cars transmission, or the secondary intake solenoid. Oh well, any accessory-loaded car is going to have it's quirks.

 

Exactly, he just gave an honest opinion based on his experiences with the car and on what he sees on the forum, and then his dad made the decision for himself. He could've just said, "I wouldn't buy another piece of shit Acura no matter what," but he didn't, he just commented on his and others experiences.

I've also had two people decide not to buy CL-Ss after speaking with them. Not because I told them the car was a POS or even that the tranny was a POS, I just commented on my experience with a failing tranny and on the fact that the trannies are on backorder, enough said. I told them that the car is the best bang for the buck and all the things I do like about it, but some things are just very obvious. I don't think I would have bought this car if I had known about all the tranny problems like we do now.

 

If ACL.com did not exist, how would everyone feel instead? I think...differently.

 

A bery bery good question Ken,

If A-CL.com did not exist or any other forum for that matter,
I think i would have an IS300 or a Solara :'(

and yes i would be myself.

 

Good point, but why waste time thinking about this hypothetical situation? Luckily the web and this forum do exist and people can make more informed decisions. I didn't know about A-CL.com before I bought my car and I'm sure I still would've bought my car because no one was really having tranny problems at that time, on the forum at least.

I'm not saying that the tranny problem is wide-spread or that it isn't. It's just that even if this forum didn't exist and your tranny went out and you were told that there was at least a one month waiting list for you to get a new tranny, I'm sure you'd think there was a serious problem, wether you knew about others on the one month waiting list or not. This forum at least lets you see things from a different perspective and hopefully before you're involved in the same situaion.

 

If this place didn't exist, I would still have a transmission that has been replaced at 14,000 miles and brakes that have been replaced once, waiting to be replaced again.

The fact of the matter is, I have had some problems with my car (which have been fixed under warranty thus far) and whether or not this site exists has no bearing on wheather or not I have experienced this problem. The fact that this site exists has only helped me (and my father) make better and more educated decisions.

End of story.

 

Makes sense... I convinced somebody not to get an Audi after I had them talk to my dad... So I tuess we all have problems with certain makes.

 

I think he's got it!

Have a cookie dumbass!

 

My favorite song is "Rock DJ" by Robbie WIlliams.

 

Interesting. A coworker is interested in a TLS and I told him the pluses and minus'. I told him I could not recommend the car in good faith.


The reason I didn't buy the Accord Coupe was due to the tranny problems I kept reading about at Edmunds.

 

I think the main thing we need to realize here is the fact that this could be a potential problem in the future for anyone who has a CL-S/TL-S.

I have read some horror stories about multiple transmissions failing on the same car. Even though I have not had problems yet, It still concerns me that if my warranty runs out I could get stuck with a large bill for a new tranny.

This is not the feeling expected by most people when they buy a Honda/Acura. Most people buy a Honda/Acura for it's "reliability". It's quite scary to think that you could have major tranny problems & expensive repairs once the warranty runs out after paying $30k + for a car.

I am "not complaining" but I just wanted to look at this problem with an open mind.

Just my $.02

 

I dunno man, with the mods you have on your ride i think your warranty is already dead.

but seriously, this is the same concern i have. hopefully my trade-in and pay-off are getting closer..

 

I had a long-ass reply to this but I said "forget it." It's just a continuation of the tranny issue so I'll let it go here in Car Talk. Tranny discussions don't belong here...but instead in that dead forum...what's it called?