MikeS 18

You know its bad enough that they have me in an Elantra for the next week and a half to replace the trans,

but they also say both front wheel bearings need replacing ($500+) and the driver SRS sensor is busted ($350+)

I have 77,000 miles driving mostly interstates from MA to Southern NH.

Are wheel bearings supposed to only last 77,000 miles?

Should an SRS component burn out after 3 1/2 years? nice MTBF jerks!

I, of course, need new rotors which should be about $500 installed. (if we only talk about the fronts)

This now really sucks. So I will have to get on the phone with the service manager tomorrow and talk with him about this situation. And cajole him into doing something about it.

Someone please argue with me that this is to be expected of a $32,000 car. This is bullshit!

Crazy Bimmer

It happens to $50-70k cars... just the same repairs cost more. Take it to a independent shop, im sure their labor rates are cheaper.

Justin.CL

My mileage is close to the same and I have already had the rotor, SRS and transmission problems. I hope the wheel bearings are not next.

berny

All cars will need repairs, especially after 77,000 miles. That is to be expected. Your wheel bearings, that might be caused by snow or cold temperature, unless you live down south. If that's the case, it's pretty strange to me. I would definitely call up that service manager

Did you buy it brand new from that same dealer?

MikeS 18

Good a worthy opponent.

So then what the hell did we/you pay for? You mean the plastic wood in my car is worth $10K? 'Cause a VW Golf is more reliable than this and its cheaper to fix.

mattg

did you just say VW and reliable?



i need new front bearings too.

Crazy Bimmer

A golf is not more reilable than the CLS, but is cheaper to fix.

Like i said, take it somewhere else besides the dealer and see how much it costs. Trust me, i rather have a CLS than a Golf once warrenty is over with. I gave up thinking any car is reliable anymore.

Crazy Bimmer

Oh and my SRS failed on my TLS within 10k miles. Just for reference

And OEM rotors should not be costing $500 to replace!!

oonowindoo

__________________________

CAMRY....

Crazy Bimmer

Well i dont know anyone with one, but in the same family my brother has a lexus rx300 and has some problems here and there as well. I would expect a brand like lexus to be more reliable than a Camry

MikeS 18

MY Golf had less problems. I replaced the water pump at 105,000, the clutches every 50k or so and the exhaust at 90,000. other than normal wear items, I had no issues. and it was cheaper to fix.

Why would I get OEM rotors? They only last 30,000 miles at best. I know I can do it myself but it you priced out someone to put something in that lasted 70,000 miles on rotors, I bet you would be at $500 easy.

I bought it from another out-of-state dealer. But have serviced it there consistently.

Crazy Bimmer

true, my Audi has been in the shop less time than my acura did so far

How long did your rotors last on the Golf? I figured most cars need to replace them around 75-80kmiles

berny

VW is not reliable for shit. Believe me when I tell you this, I used to own a Jetta VR6 2000, bought it 1 year old and had problems with the brakes and fuel injectors after 25k.

Acura is expensive, but that's expected. Like stated above, just go to local shops. SHOP around, you'll get a good price. If you need to replace something on your car, get the piece off of ebay, black market, any web site, and then pay a local mecanic to install it for you.

there are many ways to get your repairs to cost half of what the dealer would charge... for example, I went to the dealer and they were charging me the following for my rotors: 104.99 x 2 in the rear and 154.99 x 2 in the front. %!%!@#$@!$#@ Are you mental? That doesnt even include labour! It would of cost me 750$ + taxes to get the whole set of rotors on my car.

Instead, I bought the famous rotora rotors, which I personally judge will be much more reliable and durable, for 305$, for all four rotors!!! I'm getting a mecanic to install them this weekend for 100$ even. In all, for all four rotors, 405$ taxes included my friend

Hope this helps

MikeS 18

I can't remember on the rotors...but they didn't stand out as a problem to me. I certainly got more than 26,000 miles on them. The only thing this acura seems to be able to do is stay in alignment. I haven't had it aligned and the tires are wearing well.

berny

Oh and I forgot to mention. I got brand new stock pads off of ebay, for 69$ shipping included for all four. Getting thoses installed too this weekend. My brakes are gonna be night and day after this install this weekend Just can't wait... :blaze:

MikeS 18

At least for a little while...

We just simply shouldn't have to be doing this with these cars...

the freakin Elantra I am driving is quieter than my CL Type Sux

berny

One thing is for sure Mike, there is a big issue with the SRS Sensor. I have an extended warranty and it's covered until the end of the warranty. However, if your car is not under warranty anymore, I would still complain, telling them this is a current issue and that there has been many call backs. There is probably a TSB in pdf format on the forum concerning the SRS Sensor problems the CL-S has. Do a search on that, print it out and bring it in to the dealer.

berny

Hahaha. That's probably because no one cars to push it a little bit

tuleman

I have to agree with you Mike. I expected alot more from Acura regarding quality.
I would think a 500.00 dollar pair of wheel bearings would last longer than 77k miles.

MikeS 18

driving the elantra....

"man those headlights are bright behind me!"

about 10 miles later I realize I have the "flip" the mirror to nighttime mode.

Chopsie

Sucks to hear Mike! All cars have their share of problems, and you have been around here long enough to have read about ALL the "potentials". The wheel bearing are something I have not read about yet though. I think everyone gets mad at their car when they have to shell out the dough to have something fixed. I know I do :P

davo-cls

I'm taking mine in 2 weeks from now for the tranny recall. In the meantime, my SRS light is back on also. Luckily I'm at 49,300 miles so I'm getting in just under the wire for warrenty work. I think things like SRS sensors, or any saftey devices (that aren't prone to wear and tear) that break should be covered through the life of the car. I also expect a $30k+ car to have a little better reliability than the CL. It's enough to make you want to jump ship on the next car instead of being a loyal customer.

GreenMonster

Mike, I think Bulldog had his front bearings replaced recently but he's over 100K miles...

My 94 tbird was pretty good for a $18K car. I had half the problems at 100K miles then I've had with my CLS at 24k miles, so I'm not going to argue with you...

I sold the tbird @ 136K miles with an auto tranny that was dieing for $700, so I think you'll get a better resale value with the Acura tho'

oonowindoo

______________________

not necessarily... most of the Camry/avalon will last over 200k without any major problems. My first car was 97 avalon (parents gave it to me when i was 17)... it had 100k on it when i sold it. It was still rock solid wit no rattles whatsoever. i even took it to vegas a coupe of times when it had that many miles. Everything worked like new. the only thing i changed was a sparkplug at 70k and brake pads.


if you think dealer charge u too much then do the little stuff on your own, things like changing brake pads and rotors dont require a lot of skills as long as you have the tools.
and like everybody else said. you dont have to do everything at dealer, alot of the car shops are just as good as dealer and sometimes they are even better.

MikeS 18

I want my '72 Maverick back...

carquest

well...... as far as the SRS problem goes it depends on how much longer you can stand the car. i'd say just bag the SRS. get a quote on the wheel bearings from an independent local shop. i'll bet its between 1/2 to 60% of the acura dealer's quote. just let the acura shop replace the trans. no cost to you. you can bet the dealer's just trying to recoup some of the loses on the trans replacement.

lastly, if you're really fed up with the car its time to sell it or trade in for something else. life's too short to suffer over a lousy car.

MikeS 18

The dealer isn't paying for the tranny, Acura Corporate is, so they are probably happy to have the labor costs that they can charge Acura. I don't think the dealer is trying to recoup anything.

MikeS 18

Srvc Mgr is going to see what he can do on the SRS. I'm on my own on the wheel bearings. Crap.

Shawn S

I checked my AcuraCare Extended warranty paperwork last night and both the wheel bearings and SRS components are listed on there as covered components.
Of course this info is useless to Mike, but I though others considering an extended warranty might find this info helpful.

This repair if NOT covered could easily be worth the entire cost of the plan.

Shawn S

MikeS 18

Now I really want to kill myself...

GET AN EXTENDED WARRANTY IF YOU WANT TO DRIVE THESE CARS MORE THAN 100,000 MILES!!!!

time to start evaluating the value of this car and the cost of another brand...

sundance_gold

Owning a car is like betting on a dice roll. Some cars are good (regardlesss of brand) and some aren't. I own my CL-S and a VW (both 2001s)and the VW was more expensive than the Acura. Compared to my CL, the VW has been a money pit! If it wasn't for the fact that the VW is 4wd, I would have dumped it long ago. The last maintenance on the VW was $1,700--to replace a vent fan motor that sounded like a bunch of crickets (defective sealed bearings), replace the front end tie rods, replace the plastic belly pan, and more. The VW had a 2 yr/24k warranty. In contrast, the 75k maintenance on the Acura cost $200--with fuel induction service. A local import mod shop installed my rotors and pads for $120.00 (total for parts and labor $300.00)

I once heard that the more expensive the car, the more expensive the maintenance--especially for BWMs and MBs. Plus if you beat the car, you can't expect the OEM parts to last forever!!!!

MikeS 18

Mechanics Direct, Lowell MA, front wheel bearings, about $350.

I think its driving this Hyundai Elantra in light green that's making me so cranky.

ChadT

patek007

What you do is replace the vin under windshield with someone's here who is covered for 100k and check it in ... Jokes aside. I do not think you've gotten the "REAL" answer here yet, i.e. NO the crap should NOT fail [on average] at 77k miles - this is uf-believable, at how the qa/qc went downhill... and if you think it's getting better - think again. You think 30-50% off chinese parts that are about to flood the market will perform any better??
What it'll come down to is it will no longer be of value to 'own', just to lease with warantee in tact. Also... ext.warantee is not bumper to bumper... and they constantly r trying to cut out things from it as well.
In the mean time... independants is the only suitable way.

MikeS 18

'72 Maverick! sounded better all the time.

ChadT

rondog

iTrader: (1)

My wifes 3 series had bearing issues, and rotor issues too. it cost a damn lot more to fix, and the car was about the same price as the CL. did you have aftermarket wheels by any chance? that usually causes bearings to go, also a drop too can cause that.

MikeS 18

Nah, that's a '79. Newbie shit.

My CL is totally stock - except for the body-side mouldling but I don't think that would affect my front bearing...

My Mav' was light green too!

ChadT

That's a '73. Don't think they made a Maverick in '79.

Yeah the green one is much better. :P



j/k. The '72 2 door coupe is actually pretty cool.

GreenMonster

Yes, the 2 door coupe rules... Hood scoop, V8... I wanted one of those... my buddy had a 74 4 door maverick. I think he squeezed 250K plus miles out of it... (closer to 300K, but I forget). Alot nicer then my Pintos (yeah, I had a few of 'em).

I think as people get older they tend to not want to mess with cars anymore. I know that I'm getting to the point of just wanting to turn the key and drive. I've got a project in the garage with the old and new motors sitting on the garage floor waiting for me to do something.

When I was younger (and changing starters in the snow in a parking lot) I wondered why people needed a new car every couple of years. Now I know.

I'm thinking that my days of keeping a car for 100K miles are over. Acura better hurry up with their "un-named sportscar", 'cause I'm thinking that I'd better trade in before shit starts breaking (and the resale gets under 15K)