chikai

Consumer Report's most reliable coupe: Acura CL

Yeah you read it correctly. According to Consumer Reports' they have ranked the Acura CL as the most reliable coupe. Maybe they don't know about the exploding trannies, the creaky interiors, non-moving mirrors, warping rotors, etc, etc

I like how in the article, they included Saab 9-5's reliability grade with FORD, trying to make the domestics look better.

The only surprising thing about the report is the reliability grade for European automakers. Glad I didn't get a 325i.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/723139.asp

mcdanjw

I'm not surprised whatsoever.

German "quality". Ha. Looks nice, but enjoys time in the shop.

flipwhip

good, maybe this well help sales

flipwhip

hey, mcdanjw

does your car rattle with that sub pumping, or is it good? nice orchids by the way...

charliemike

Errr, Saab is owned by GM

Shawn S

I would have to agree with this quality rating on the car.

I’ve had ZERO problems with mine after 21,000 miles and I have no concerns about buying another CL.
No Brake issues.
No Tranny issues.
Minor rattles that are easily compensated for with the VOLUME control.
Paint chips easily, but I drive FAST on the highways so that’s expected.

In defense of Acura (AGAIN) I still feel that a lot of the Tranny & Brake issues are caused by owner abuse.
I would venture a guess that 50-60 percent of the people bitching about failures beat the PISS out of their cars.
We’ve all read posts about people taking the car up to 100+ on the way home from the dealer or beating the CRAP out of a brand new test car.
I’ve seen it myself at some of the local meets.
People are expecting WAY too much from the car.

Before I get FLAMED about this comment, I know this doesn’t apply to ALL cases.
Some of you guys are getting shafted with lousy equipment or service two or three times in a row, but that ISN’T the norm.

We represent a SMALL cross-section of owners and even smaller portions of those are having MAJOR problems.

Shawn S

Nicky Pass

I think it is a very reliable car.

flipwhip

Shawn S,

just out of curiosity, where does your car rattle? i had 1 rattle in the sun roof, and my dealership said they knew what the source was and fixed it.

Shawn S

Sunroof rattles only when the glass is closed and the interior cover is open.

There are a few rattles from the rear parcel shelf that I know are caused by my Subwoofers and my passion for 80’s ROCK.
I’m REALLY surprised my NAV unit has survived this long with the daily POUNDING it takes sitting right above the Sub box.

Shawn S

tktommy

I agree with Shawn S. I bought my 2001 CL-S used with 18,000 miles on it. I'm nearing 29,500 and have loved the car. I did have the rotors replaced, no charge by Continental Acura in Lisle. Otherwise the car has been a real champ.

I can't speak for others, but like Shawn I'm guessing some (not all) folks pushed the envelope with their cars. I've got two friends that have BMW's and those things are "service shop queens". Their experince, plus the bang for buck quotient of the CL-S swung my decision to the Acura.

gobridge

Shawn S,

Thanks for that post. I have 19,000 miles and zero problems. I've been wondering about the same thing about some of the folks with problems having caused them by abusing the cars. To be fair, I'm sure there were some lemons out there as with any manufacturer. I have one squeak coming from somewhere in the passenger seat, but like you pointed out, with the radio on, it doesn't matter.

One other thing, as I think about it, I probably took my Audi to the shop just a smidgen less than I took the Ford I had before it. That seems to correlate with Consumer reports numbers about European vs American.

scalbert

Actually if you look at those who have reported failures it seems that the large majority use D5 most often and do not push their car (at least do not admit to it).

However, there are many of us who do go to the track or do some serious mountain running which have not experienced the mentione transaxle failures.

So it appears that driving habit has nothing to do with the transaxle longevitivy but more on build quality or component quality.

sidemarker

if you think about it our cars is the only coupe in the 28k-32k price range.

sidemarker

gobridge

Shawn S,

Thanks for that post. I have 19,000 miles and zero problems. I've been wondering about the same thing about some of the folks with problems having caused them by abusing the cars. To be fair, I'm sure there were some lemons out there as with any manufacturer. I have one squeak coming from somewhere in the passenger seat, but like you pointed out, with the radio on, it doesn't matter.

One other thing, as I think about it, I probably took my Audi to the shop just a smidgen less than I took the Ford I had before it. That seems to correlate with Consumer reports numbers about European vs American.

Speed_Racer

I actually saw the black CL they were testing. I was watching that Joan Lunden show Behind Closed Doors when they did a piece on how Consumer Reports tests products. It was on their test track.

scalbert

Something else to think about, do people who care less about their vehicles report less??

For instance my brother-in-law has many, what I would call, noticeable sweaks from the interior of his Camry and a horrdendous sounding transmission. He has no interests in cars and hardly washes them. When I mentioned these issues with him most of them he said he never noticed or didn't care. These would go one as unreported

On the other hand I am sure most here are more meticulous with their vehicle and notice smaller issues which others might over look. These smaller issues would then be added to the reported data

So this unbalanced flow of reported problems can impact these rankings. Wouldn't it stand to reason that certain vehicles might be rated better or worse due to invalid data??

Marine1

Yeah, what he said. I now have 60K miles on my CLS. Probably more than anyone else on this board. I have virtually no rattles at all. The only one I do have comes fron the sun visor on the passenger side of my vehicle. No brake problems or tranny probs. I feel sorry for those that have had problems. I have had almost none. My CLS is one of the earliest made. See my sig.

Dacat

I agree with Shawn S...I've had (KNOCK ON WOOD) only rotor issues and I'm at 36,000 miles. Shaved the rotors once during service, no big deal. Other than that, the car has performed pretty flawlessly. AND I drive very aggressively, frequent full throttle and hard turns, but not much braking

I get the regular services/maintenance as scheduled and do take good care of the car, but not more than any other car I've had.

In a few years (I've had this since June 2000) I may get another car, but not until another one comes out that has the same or more features (especially DVD Nav, which only a few cars have in the same price range). I also must have an in-dash changer, xenon, heated seats, auto-dimming rear view, tilting side mirro, etc....everything that comes standard, and not pay 3-4k extra for it!

eclipse23

Ahemmmm.............

36,885 Miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Only problem........ Warped brakes...................


Why you ask?


BECAUSE I BEAT ON MY CAR!

dhlesq

I would be curious to see what sample size consumer reports uses in checking on complaints and reliability issues.

We have a sample here on this board, and if the consumer reports sample is considerably bigger than this one (like say ten times), then it might be that we are either uncharacteristically picky about our cars, uncharacteriustically hard on our cars, or it may be that the increased incidence of modifications to the cars represented here have something to do with it.

I'm not really good with statistics, but there may be some explanations lurking in the sample size and methodology of consumer reports' reliability testing.

flipwhip

for you guys with a rattle in your sunroof: when i told the dealership about it, they knew exactly what i was talking about and fxed it quickly...i bet if you take it in to your dealership, they could fix it.

(mine was rattling when the sun roof was closed, but the sun visor was open...)

osclude

Well I have one of the early production models and baby my car and I have had the following problems:

Bad Tranny - fixed
Bad Traction Control - fixed
Black Paint spots all over car - not fixed
Broken pass seat heater - fixed
Broken back of driver seat - fixed
Trunk Rattles - fixed
Sun Roof Rattle - not fixed
Bad Actuator - fixed
Peeling Leather - fix, and getting fix again
Moisture in Headlights - took alot of bitching, but replaced
Bad Drivers Window Motor - fixed
Possibly Warped Rotors - possibly getting fixed
Windsheild seal comming off - fixed
Bad Navi - not fixed, they blame my very light tint! does it say somewhere in the maunal about tint and navi problems?

I currently have 46K miles, no modifications what so ever. The car is at the dealer now for oil change, leather peeling, sunroof not opening well, possibly warped rotors.

I love the car, with all the problems I have had, I still belive it is a great car. I am just concerned about future tranny problems, but I know if have any in the future the dealer will take care of it.

I guess I just got a bad apple Type S.

DISRUPTV

Hey. Not to start any flame wars or n e thing but the people on this board are enthusiasts-- people who love 2 drive and usually drive their car hard. Enthusiasts are very very punctilious when it comes 2 their car and notice every single detail. For example, the rattles which prob 4/5 of the owners will nvr even notice. As a matter of fact some people have said that the only reason the rattles can be heard is b/c of how quiet the cars are.

Sure some members here have had tranny problems, but there are cars that cost 10k more than the cl/tl and are lemons. As a matter of fact a lot of BMW owners have 2 deal w/ service depts. that suck more ass then some of the acura ones. Overall, acura did a very nice job w/the CL/TL. Sure some may wish it was lighter, looked a little sharper, was RWd etc. But nowadays, its really hard 2 find the automotive equivalent of having ur cake and eating it 2, though the cl/tl comes close.

p.s. when honda was putting more and more 4spd autos in their cars in the late 80s, initially their were quite a few complaint regarding the tranny. However, they have been vastly improved and we can hope the next gen cl/tl will undrgo this improvement as well.

Ashburner

Shawn S,

Sorry to dispute your theory but I have never raced my CL, and if I push the accelerator past 4K with my wife in the car, she freaks out on me. I have floored it from time to time but there is no way I "abuse" my car. I have had rattles and I have had my tranny replaced at 7800 miles. The dealer told me today that Honda knows about the problem and they hope to have it fixed. He also stated that they will stand by and support any customer with this issue. I don't have an extended warranty but if my tranny goes out again after 50K miles or so, I feel confident that Acura would replace it for no charge. They do try to go the extra mile and Honda doesn't want their name associated with a bad transmission.

Either way you slice it, some of the tranny's have problems. These cars are made to be driven and your attitude of abuse is a poor argument.

-Ash

Shawn S

I don’t doubt your comments, but please go back a re-read my post.
You are obviously in the bracket of people who just got a RAW DEAL from the factory.

Shawn S

Like I said:

DreamU

Shawn, I thought I was tranny problem free till mine blew at 23,000 so getting to 21,000, as you've done, does not give the tranny a good bill of health.

Out of 100 people on this board, there are 2 of me and 98 people with no tranny problems. So, the real question is 'what is the NORM'. I think 2 per 100 is above the norm and deserves rectifying. One per 200 sounds like the norm against which Acura should be measured.

The Consumer's report says 21 per 100 is the average number of complaints. So, two tranny failures, would hardly budge the numbers or displace a vehicle from its ranking. Two things to note: 1) that survey is 1994 thro 2001 so you got a lot of pre-2001 vehicles counting (before the bad tranny), 2) counting all complaints equally is not fair - a bad tranny is more trouble than a squeak or rattle.

Oh ya...I still love my car and have no intention of trading it. In fact, wasn't it Robin Williams in The World Accourding to Garp who said, 'We'll be safe here' after the plane hit his home (meaning what are the chances of a second plane hitting the same home). I feel the same about my tranny.

fast_daddy_car

Was their test car a CL or a CL-S? I am sure CL-S people are more inclined to push their cars and use SS more than the 'other' model.

acura_service

ash even if some are from abuse, there is always going to be some that are just mechanical failure

acura_service

yes even though its not in writing, acura (any mfg (except for ford)) is always willing to help, esp with prior documentation for the same problem - remember they want you happy enough to buy another one