roadrunner_RENAMED2

I guess by now the majority of us already know that this is a problem, perhaps even an ongoing one with the front brake discs that are easily warpped. Anyway, I had mine resurfaced at Park Avenue 2 years ago, at about 15k miles. Now at 32k, the problem recurred so I brought my car in this morning to get that fixed. The service advisor, Tom, told me that the first time they resurfaced the discs was done on the "good will courtesey" and that was a "one time deal" only. Needleess to say, I was pissed upon hearing that BS. I then explained to him that there was a TSB in existence as far back as 5/01 and was later revised in 10/01. To make the long story short, he refused to listen and said "again we are not going anywhere but running in circles". How could he even dare to say they did a "good will courtesey" when there was a TSB in existence then? I can understand if they fixed something after the car's warranty has been expired, then it is considered a "good will courtesey". Can somebody explain to me what this term means? I find while Tom was not exactly acting like an a--hole, he wasn't particularly helpful, either. My overall feeling for Park Avenue is that its reputation is not quite what it cracks up to be. Any comments and feedback on how I should go about resolving this issue would be appreciated.

Zapata

interesting.... any other comments? yea my auto had the same issue and as far as i can recall it was TSB in which the rotors were to be resurfaced in addition to new brake pads being applied. However, I know of several people who've had this issue re-appear. Seems Acura undersized the brakes for this heavy car.

SiGGy

3rd time for me But I have had better luck at my dealer...

They always give me new rotors and pads...

twiltshi

I brought my CL Type-S in for service last week. I told the dealer that the front of the car was shuttering when braking (more noticable with 2+ plus people in the car and from at least 50MPH). When I picked it up they told me the rotors where warped and that they resurfaced them as "a one time courtesy" to me. Until I came here tonight I had no idea there was a TSB on this issue. The warranty expires next April. I thought the guy was being nice....no I'm a bit miffed! I asked him "How could this happen the car is only 3 years old. We hardly drive it...most of it highway and within 20 miles of home." He says "This can happen when the heat builds up from the disc/pads. It's a normal occurence if the heat gets to excessive." Now that I know this isn't a "one off occurence" I would have to agree that these brakes aren't properly sized for the car. Any suggestions as how to minimize this occurence? (besides buying a new 2004 TL!)

CLS16

Whoa, something doesn't seem right. I was just there about 2 weeks ago to get my brakes/rotors looked at since I was getting a lot shaking in the steering wheel when braking. Anyway, they resurfaced the rotors and replaced my brake pads for free with no questions asked. I think this might be the third time they've done it for me and they have been nothing but extremely helpful every single time I've been there. THat is why it's hard for me to believe that they weren't helpful. I'm not saying that you're lying or anything, but there might have been some misunderstanding or something.

wayneg

Guys- Acura has been getting pretty tough on doing the brakes more than once . We try to do as much as we can, but sometimes it can be difficult. Roadrunner, I see you are new to the board and probably don't know much about me, but maybe there is something I can do. Instead of taking the time to bash us here, give me a call tomorrow at 201 587-0029 and I'll see what I can do. Just let me know who you are when you call. Our reputation is well earned and we stand behind it!

Wayne Gruen
Service Manager
Park Ave Acura

Zapata

Yea roadrunner, contact Wayne!! He's the man.....

TypeSAddict

^^^^^That's service for you.

soopa

my dealer refused to even resurface my brakes once.....

so i got myself new rotors and pads.

Jens H.

This was probably a misunderstanding but I am sure it will be resolved to everyone's satisfaction .

Jens

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Wayne, Jens, et al, you guys rock. I wish I lived closer to you. You guys would be doing all my service.

lou_RENAMED

the brakes on my clk are night and day better than my cl-s 6 speed with BREMBOS. The car is just too heavy...the clk has a V8 and according to my registration it only weighs 3265 lbs compared to 3525 lbs. for the auto cl-s

TypeSAddict

Do you have crossdrilled rotors? I saw a red CL at Crossgates like a year ago w/ crossdrilled, or maybe slotted rotors....that wasnt' you, was it?

BlackShadow

I have never been to a dealership that treats their customers with as much respect as PAA. Now I am not saying that PAA is perfect but they sure are really close. I just think that it is unfair to go onto a public forum and read a heading like the one you wrote. More than likely it was probably a misunderstanding. Come on, what other dealership will have the manager come onto the forum to try to satisfy their customer (none that I know of).

I would like to end by saying kudos to Wayne, Jens, Tom, Pete, and the entire PAA crew for their outstanding service and dedication!

YuppieCL

yah PAA rocks... give em another chance

darrinb

let PAA make it up to you

how is your warranty already out at 32k??

if its a known problem they should always warranty it, if my dealer told me that shit i'd fuck them up

SilverKnight

Wayne and Jens,
Thank you so much for taking care of our members. If PAA is within 50 miles radius, I would definately take my car to PAA for everything.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

At least you have 2 head guys at PAA on this board, I get this response whenever I try to get ANYTHING done to my car under warranty, because of the mods I have. Or they flat out say I have to pay for it.

ch1276

they have given me great service every single time that i have been there

Slimey

Hell, I've driven about 120 miles for PAA service.

Aquineas

Very nicely handled. You just took a potential PR negative and turned it into a double-positive.

BTW, Acura isn't the only one having problems with warped brake rotors. I wonder if this issue is endemic to the level of performance in today's cars? Cars go faster, turn quicker, and stop harder than they ever did before.

TypeSKid

Mine have been resurfaced 3 TIMES by the dealership. FREE everytime.


Being an asshole helps.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

I agree with the masses, give them another chance. Dealers do not get reputations for no reason... they earn them. The "line" they gave you is the line that every dealer gives b/c that is what Acura is holding them to. They are telling the dealers that they can resurface them once for free, and after that there is a cost. You can't blame the dealer for following procedure.

Even so, as noted by Wayne, they are willing to work with you. Next time you should just PM or email Wayne or Jens before coming into a public forum with a post like this. If you know about your reputation from the boards then we can assume you know who the PAA reps are on the board, so you should always take something like this offline first.

h2o467

The only way to truly fix the problem is to but a better quality aftermarket part. Going back to the dealer three+ times only prolongs the inevitable. I suppose Acura figures it's more cost effective than using quality parts. It was affective, however, in influencing my decision not to buy another Acura. Too bad. Acura previously made a better product.

I base this on the Acura cars I've owned, and cars of other Japanese makes. My CL has given me the most headache. Damn those Japanese automakers for raising the bar so high. But it is what it is.

h2o467

I had the same problem with my Maxima.

Jens H.

Juniorbean summed it up pretty well .Often times the dealer is stuck between trying to please two very different groups of people .In this case it's what Acura wants us to do versus what we feel is the right thing to do .There is a lot of debate over this particular sort of problem where there is an answer that manages to be both clearcut and very very misty about what we can do and also what we may not do .I hope the originator of this thread gives Wayne the opportunity to get this sorted as quickly as possible meantime I apologize for what is no doubt a confusing situation .

Jens

spdy0001

Man I wish PAA wasn't 185 miles from me. I will just have to buy all my mods and make one trip down and get everything done at once

Six Shifter

didn't keep me from making the 200 mile + trip ... well worth it, and I'll be going back!

mrdeeno

at least you didn't buy a ford. My aunt bought an '01 ranger for gardening and hauling crap. it's tranny has gone out twice, it's front brakes have been worn 4 times already (w/ about 25k on it now), and get this...everytime she took it in for warranty work, she had to pay a deductible, even though the problem keeps on occuring with the tranny.

don't even mention the brakes, they consider the wear normal and won't even hear about replacing pads unde rwarranty.

roadrunner_RENAMED2

Thank you all for your responses and feedbacks. By the way, wayne, I'm not new on this board; I've been browsing this website even before I bought my cl-s in May 2000. I just don't post unless I have a real problem. I am also no stranger to your dealership. I've had my car serviced there at 15K and 30K as well as a number of oil changes done there, the most recent one being Monday, the day that I brought up the brake disc issue. Anyway, thank you for the offer of help. I will give you a call tomorrow morning.

sgmotoring

Re-surfacing rotor under warranty should be easy, but getting new pads because your are worn is hard. Usually Acura will warranty re-surfacing of rotors but you will have to buy the pads after the first 20,000 miles.

darrinb

are they gonna fix it for ya

Scooter

just curious, why are they getting tough on dealerships??? are they THAT stupid and can't realize that the discs are too prone to warping b/c of the size/weight of the car??? lemme ask you this...how does the number of discs that need machining/replacing compare to the number of trannies you have to replace on a weekly basis???

and Lou, are you going to buy the Brembo's for the Benz???? whatever happened to the Brembo's on the CL????

eclipse23

Is there a TSB that specifically states undersized brakes on on this car?

CPR

Had mine done at 23,500 miles, (Paragon Acura), LIC, NY; no questions asked. Showed them the TSB; 1hr 20 min. later I was done, including oil change service and free car wash! Rocco, the service director, even called me to see if I was happy! Better than new! Also, rotors were REPLACED, not RE-SURFACED! Thanks to Jeff, Mike, as well. Great job, guys! P.S. My car was leased in New Jersey. Just goes to show you, there are honest service centers.

Scooter

no there isn't

so i guess you'd agree that Honda would rather throw a blind eye to the fact that the braking system sux than solve the problem just like the way they handled the tranny issue

altho i find it amusing that the TSB never states 1-time "courtesy" yet Honda tells the dealerships it's a 1-time "courtesy"...they probably know it would cost them a ridiculous amount of $$ to constantly replace the rotors while they can probably squeeze the money out of the customer since it's not that much as opposed to $3K a pop for the tranny

i wonder if Honda ever considered offering a Brembo-like braking system as an "upgrade" or option sortof like the G35/Z

Jens H.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Scooter
just curious, why are they getting tough on dealerships??? are they THAT stupid and can't realize that the discs are too prone to warping b/c of the size/weight of the car??? lemme ask you this...how does the number of discs that need machining/replacing compare to the number of trannies you have to replace on a weekly basis???

and Lou, are you going to buy the Brembo's for the Benz???? whatever happened to the Brembo's on the CL???? [/QUOTE

Well Scooter we honestly do not know what they are thinking after all we are a dealership not Corporate Honda .In the end they write the rules ,we do what we can but there is a limit to what we can accomplish with a given set of rules .I think most people by now know that we will go to some lengths to get things taken care of for our customers but we cannot go where we are not allowed or worse we do not get paid .It is as simple as that ,wish it were otherwise .Like I said I think this will get resolved to everyone's satisfaction .My understanding is that Wayne and Roadrunner were on the phone so I am sure all is well .

Jens

Zapata

i do it everytime.......

Shawn S

That would be great if something like that were available to EXISTING owners instead of just fixing the problem again and again.
You know like if we could credit the cost of replacing the stock brake parts & labor to aftermarket equipment.

Show up at the dealer and have the parts swapped out for upgrade equipment for a minimal cost.
The dealer could charge back Acura for the stock parts and apply that cost to the upgrade.

I think PAA should take the lead on this....

I know…..I’m dreaming again.

Shawn S

darrinb

that would be nice, but i doubt acura/honda would do this