Some people said that Acura/Honda had always had problems with trannys, and question is "Why did you buy Acura if you knew about this problem"

Well, honestly, I never knew that Honda/Acura have had any tranny problems with their trannies until I joined CL forum.
Why didn't I have this information before purchase? I guess it's my fault that I forgot to make a research on Honda's transmissions before shoping for a car.
If I could go back in time, there is no way I would buy CLS again.
The car is very good: looks good, drives good and etc. I like everything.
BUT, I am not rich to have my tranny replaced if it goes wrong after waranty.
And honestly, I rather be driving Toyota, which can promise the long lasting reliabily.

I'll have to make a decision when I rich 50K miles, sell it or keep it.

I wonder what will be the re-sale value, who would want to have
a car which is known to have weak trannys.

Sorry for a negative post, I am a little angre

 

if toyota can "promise the long lasting reliability", then why do they have a warranty?

 

It's very unlikely that Toyota Camry will have a bad tranny. And their waranty goes to 100K miles for power train

 

Because american shoppers expect it. Would you beleive a "car salesman" who said "I promise nothing will go wrong."? Would you beleive anything a car salesman says for that matter. YMMV

 

given then numbers that have been unofficially compiled, it's also unlikely that a cl-s/tl-s tranny will be bad also, maybe a little more likely than a camry, but still unlikely.

just because a person screams louder about his tranny problems, doesn't mean that he counts more than once.

and the people without tranny problems...they dont' scream at all.

 

unless there is a scam going on, the number of failed CLS trannys get high.
And its a known fact that Honda's trannys are not that great compared to toyota's

 

True, people without a tranny problem don't scream, but we are raising our voices. It does appear that Acura has a problem and a warranty that expires at 50,000 miles makes us real nervous. The more people that contact Acura with their concerns the sooner (hopefully) the problem and/or sulutions will be forthcoming?

 

Think of the re-sale value, people will not be optimistic about buying used CLS knowing that its trannsmission can fail. So we can lose lots of money when selling....

 

Seriously, I think a lot of u are blowing this outta proportion. We as a group on this board drive our car harder than what most ppl do outside of this forum. So u say "Well if Honda/Acura didn't intend for us to push this car hard, then why did they make it?"

1. Honda didn't build this car to be bulletproof when being pushed to it's limit.

2. YOU REALLY THINK HONDA WANTED THIS TO BE A PERFORMANCE CAR?? You've gotta be jokin me. Our cars don't even have a hand e-brake; how can a true sports car not have a foot and NOT hand operated e-brake? Look at our transmission, it's an automatic for crying out loud! Yeah so it's got Sportshift, big deal... The only reason we got SportShift is it would be a total PR dud if we got our cars with an Auto-only tranny. Think of the SS an added perk.

This isn't a Type R nor is it an NSX. It's a Semi-luxury, semi-sport coupe that Honda intended for the yuppies of our generation to drive and only got lucky that driving enthusiasts such as us love the car. Admit it, the majoirity of us ppl on the board punch it and punch it hard when we get the chance. For those of you that have owned Hondas and Acuras before this you know that this Tranny is a VAST improvement over anything else as the hard shifts for the most parts have been elimninated. I went for a 1990 4 door LX Accord to the CLS and it's a big improvement in all areas. If u really wanted a sports car, you would not have chosen a CL... It's not like anyone forced you to buy this car. U knew buying this car it had an automatic. It's not like after u got the car you're saying to yourself "hey, where did the clutch go!" Don't flame me for this, I'm just not seeing how cars are made to be perfect.

-John

 

I also have to agree that everyone is blowing this way out of proportion. First as it was stated, most people on this board do drive the car alot harder then most other people who own it. Second, out of all the people on this board, only a few have had trany problems, and then if you compare the amont of CL's on the road, the % is very small. Now im not saying that there is not a problem, but you guys are making it sound as if all Honda cars have these problems which they dont. Also to you people who are saying that these cars will have little or no trade in value because they are known to have bad trannys i think is one of the most insane comments ive ever herd.....listin up people, most of the people that buy cars dont read message boards like this that would let them know that some cars do have problems like this...and alot of salesmen have no idea there even is a problem, as i was at a dealership yesterday and i talked to a guy there and he realy didnt even know anything like that was happining. Trust me, most people think of Acura or Honda as the most reliable cars on the road, and i doubt even 1% of the people that are looking to buy this car have any idea that there is a small number of these cars that have had trany problems.

 

I agree with you on that one...but I think they still need to beef up the tranny just a little bit when they are fixing them becausr I do punch it from time to time but not all the times. As for the people who never do it ...that just might make there tranny last longer...maybe till its out of warenty.

I have had 4 other honda/acura cars (civic,teg gsr,lude,and 3.0cl) and never had the slightest problem w/ the tranny...or anything for that matter so I dont think they have always had this problem. Isnt this a new set up for them...like the first car this tranny went in was the CL-S.....if so then of course they are going to have quarks they need to work out...they just need to work them out and replace trannys under warenty with no trouble...and maybe extend the warenty on the 01 trannys to cover the ones that last a little longer past the original warenty.

 

I also have to agree that everyone is blowing this way out of proportion. First as it was stated, most people on this board do drive the car alot harder then most other people who own it. Second, out of all the people on this board, only a few have had trany problems, and then if you compare the amont of CL's on the road, the % is very small. Now im not saying that there is not a problem, but you guys are making it sound as if all Honda cars have these problems which they dont. Also to you people who are saying that these cars will have little or no trade in value because they are known to have bad trannys i think is one of the most insane comments ive ever herd.....listin up people, most of the people that buy cars dont read message boards like this that would let them know that some cars do have problems like this...and alot of salesmen have no idea there even is a problem, as i was at a dealership yesterday and i talked to a guy there and he realy didnt even know anything like that was happining. Trust me, most people think of Acura or Honda as the most reliable cars on the road, and i doubt even 1% of the people that are looking to buy this car have any idea that there is a small number of these cars that have had trany problems.

 

I agree, most of the people dont know or want to know this kind of information. They just buy whatever looks good and hot.
All my friends swear by Acura, they think its the most coolest car.
"A C U R A", think how cool the name sounds, who would ever suspect any problems ?

 

My 1994 Toyota 4Runner had it's tranny replaced at 65k miles. Even though my warranty expired, after a short battle Toyota paid for it.

 

Not if they talk to me. I'm waking up a LOT of people...

 

My 1998 Accord Coupe V6EX transmission died at 78,000 miles. Seviced by the book, by the same dealership since DAY ONE PEOPLE, change oil every 3,000 miles religiously by the same dealership ! THEY KNOW THERE ARE WEAK TRANSMISSIONS SINCE 1998 !

Do don't tell me it a small % ! IT'S SIMPLY BS................They are aware of the problems with HONDA'S/ACURA Transmission's

 

You're putting me to sleep.

 

Okay....my tranny went out. Am I blaming Honda for making a crappy tranny?? Yes. Do I care? No, Why? Because it's getting replaced under warranty. I'll let those of you in on a little secret, trannys usually only last to 120K, less if you drive it hard. Also, Honda automatic trannys are known to be weak. So why did I buy it?? I figured the SS 5spd would be a stouter tranny....oh well. Would I buy my CL-S again?? Probably, unless of course this tranny issue is a chronic problem, in which case I'd drift to the darkside and buy an IS300 (toyota trannys are pretty bulletproof).......only a few people have problems....live with it...nothing is perfect

 

I would disagree with Toyota automatic transaxles. I have witnessed several, a Camry with under 20k on it, go out quickly. But then again, I have never found the Japanese automatic's to be that great in any area, quality, feel, or performance...

I am not suprised at these failures but am glad I am not currently one of them and I do drive hard and check my fluid often...

 

Yep. And think about it, if it was CHRONIC, the rgeular CL/CLS buying population would be tlaking about it, there'd be a TSB out and either 1) They'd rework the problem or 2) there'd be a recall....

 

I beat the crap out of my Corolla tranny for 7 years...it died at 105K, then I got it rebuilt...no problem after....but for the abuse I put it through...I figured that was a fair amount of time. I have witnessed tons of Honda Autos die...and Dodge ones too...not mention Mitsus in general...auto or stick....
As for the Camry....how many are sold??? No.1 seller in the US numerous times...but like a lot of people point out....1-3% failure is more than acceptable...

 

yeah, my uncle who is a mechanic told me that about 6 years ago. I was going to be an acura legend when i starting school and he told me not too because of the tranny issue. I bought a nissan stanza and 1 year later the tranny blew up.....go figure.

 

I can guarante that Camry's freaken tranny is much more reliable than the one we have in Acura. Our CLS is much more cooler than Camry, but I would feel a little safer if my tranny would be as reliable as it is in Camrys

 

and if our cars only put out 192hp or whatever, i'm sure we wouldn't have a tranny issue either.

 

In Toyota's defense...they do have the 210hp ES300 version of that V6...not to mention a TRD supercharger available to bump power from 192 to 240...with a lot of torque to go with it.

 

es300 has a different tranny (5spd). and then again, it's still only 210hp.

and i doubt there's enough supercharged camries out there to make a valid comparison in their defense. the ratio between cl/tl-s : cl/tl-p is probably A LOT bigger than the one between a supercharged camry : regular camry. if EVERY supercharged camry's tranny failed, it would still be such a relatively low number compared to the non-supercharged ones that it wouldn't affect anything.

and in acura's defense, there are hundreds of cl-s's out there pushing 300hp at the crank with headers and cai wihtout tranny problems.

 

thats a "if". i suggest you quit the board and sell your car

if i loose my job
if someone steals my car
if i crash my car
if i die first
if i loose my license
if an asteroid lands on my car
alot of if's - life is full of disapointments - get used to them
there are no gurantee's in life
ADMIN: Please note: we need a stupid post section!

 

i work at a toyota dealer, yes they repair/replace transmissions
but with a toyota its the head gaskets i would worry about

 

True, but...tons of civics and accords have trannys that break...and a civic has what??? 118 now??? Or the ever popular CX with 78hp....go figure....great manuals, but Toyotas make the stoutest auto trannys not made by GM or Ford.

 

acura_service,

There is no need to defense Acura just because you own one, I am being realistic.
Acuras do have big issues with trannys. I am very glad if it makes you feel better that % are small and your car is not affected.
what happens in Acura, is not typical for other cars. Acura Trannies definatly have more problems than other cars.
We dont have scientific facts yet, and its very easy to speculate and defend Acura.
Who the hell really knows?

you are just a stuborn Acura owner thinking that you've got the best shit ever.

 

i work at a 14 franchise dealer, i can tell you that most have there share of transmission repairs/replacments and for the most part that is on average of >1%

what cars are you comparing them to?

i don't get it!
just becuase some people here on the board have had problems, doesn't mean they have a mfg problem, i'm not defending acura, i'm just telling it the way it is

 

Dude, I like my car very much. I think it's the best car in it's class for the amount of money.
But it looks like tranny numbers get high, first it was few cases, now we have few dozens. And rember, we are talking about brand new cars with 10-20K miles on it.
I dont know, you work for dealers, have you seen a lot of tranny cases on brand new Camries or Nissans??
For example, CLS engine is excellent, we have not had one single meber whose engine broke down.
I know that comparing engines and trannies is like apples and oranges, but just for the sake of argument.