Anyone had this problem? Car only has 5000 km on it and dealer is 250 kms away. Feels like there is no connection to the opening latch. pretty dangerous condition for these old bones!

Passenger side and rear doors okay, door is generally opened by little 5-3" little old lady!

Any suggestions? besides driving 500 kms to get it fixed!

cheers

 

Bad news sir: In addition to the distance you'll also need to wait about 90 years for service.

 

Sorry that should be 500 kms round trip to Acura dealer!

ps how do I edit a post?

 

Is there a Honda dealer nearby? Call Acura and get authorization for the Honda dealer to fix it. It shouldn't be a hard fix

 

Thanks....its worth a shot. Didn't think they would do that. Sure is a pain for the wife, its her car. I only suffer the fallout!

 

Try shorter strokes...

 

thanks....at our age that's all it is

 

What's going on here.....?

 

sounds like a cable detached

 

Well...tried with acura customer care. Initially they thought they could help, but turns out that they can't. Honda service manager said he can't order any parts if they are needed. So....guess I'm heading for a 500+ km drive starting at 3:30 am tomorrow morning!

The acura dealer says it, the door cable could have been damaged by tinting shop! I suppose it's possible. But have never had an inside door latch fail on me in well 40 years of driving. Seems really strange..I guess stuff happens.

Thanks for the suggestion. Almost worked. Too sd acura/Honda are so anal.

 

So I drove the 500 kms to dealer yesterday to have door lock issue fixed. left home at 3:00 am to arrive at dealer for 7:30 in order to be able to make round trip back home in one day. Dealer was very accommodating.

long story short. they replaced the cable clip on one cable and sent me off claiming the door was fixed. I stopped for gas about 150 kms from dealer and guess what? Couldn't get out of the car! WTF

Both The inside lock and outside drivers door lock wouldn't open! had to crawl over console and get out passenger side!

immediately called dealer on cell phone to tell them and offered to return the car but they said no, they will have to arrange for a loaner sometime soon! While talking to the dealer kept pressing door unloack and guess what, it opened! WTF

Got home and guess what? The door opened! WTF? Also noticed that the headlights came on in broad daylight when set to "auto" WTF?

The wife then took the car out last night and guess what? The door wouldn't open again. WTF? This is getting ridiculous.

its 22 below this morning and know that cold is one of the consistent factors causing the locks to fail. The light question is beyond me.

Have read that the CRV has the same problem and Honda has by the looks of it used the same door setup in the RDX.

So now I will have to drive another 500 kms to get a loaner, then another 500 to return the loaner and pickup the car and hope it gets fixed once and for all. As for the lights timing issue coming on whenever it wants to who knows. To say I am disappointed in acura value would be and understatement!

Am trying to get the wife used to idea to sell The damn thing and move to a brand that has a local dealer! At least that way I would not have to drive all day to get something fixed. Used to be Acura stood for quality, don't think so anymore. Of the 5000 kms on the car about 1/3 of it will be from going to the dealer!

anyway...

 

That's crazy!! Your Honda dealer really should be able to take care of that, door issues like that are probably simply mechanical and not too hard to fix... Maybe they'd fix it if you offered to pay out of pocket? Driving all that way seems crazy, it may not be a bad idea to go with a car that has a closer dealer... Maybe try to haggle with that Honda dealer again??

 

I believe I have read that Honda dealers can't do warranty work on Acuras. Not 100% sure that is accurate or why it would be but, I have read it here on AZ and other sites.

 

I can confirm that is the case here in canada. Acura was only willing to let them look at the car. The Honda service manager here told me he cannot order any parts for an Acura and indeed has not access to repair schematics, manuals or any other assistance from Acura.

incidentally the Gremlins continue, wife went out last night and door would not open twice. today they opened. wonder what the password is?

hence my 500 km trip, terribly short-sighted dont you think?

 

Correct - usually. Acura can authorize emergency repairs at either a Honda dealer or another repair shop.

Acura can also collect the car and drop off the loaner (and do the same in reverse after the repair) because of the distance.

To expect a customer to drive several hundred miles to get a simple repair done is outrageous. This is a safety hazard that should sideline the car until the repair is complete.

Mentioning that to Acura should get some immediate action.

 

I spoke to the Acura customer rep. this morning for at least 20 minutes. A less than inspiring experience I can assure you. And yes, advised him that it was a real safety issue!

He informed me reluctantly that they would pick up the car and tow it up to 300 kms to a dealer (that's gotta be good for the car), and maybe they would/could cover a rental for "a Period" of time. The time frame was sort of undetermined length, and he couldn't say for sure for how long that would be, but we would have to decide to either;

1. Rent one here, then submit an invoice and they would determine whether to approve it or not.

2. Negotiate with the receiving Dealer as to what and for how long they would give us a loaner.

As to resolving the problem, and its not a simple one either, he couldn't say how long that would take, only that they would let the dealer try and solve the problems(s) then get them to ask Acura tech for help, then maybe get the regional tech to come up and have a look see etc.

All for this for an intermittent problem(s)! Mechanically, the door cables are fixed. Its just that they periodically don't work! And when they don't, stuff goes wonky. Gotta be an Electrical/computer stuff issue. Today it was -22 degrees out and the temperature gauge that was working displayed +3 degrees!

I can't see fixing everything in under a couple of weeks. Especially given the flaky nature of the problem. As I said, it failed twice last night but worked today!!!

I guess what I'm saying is be careful about your degree of confidence in the regular Acura Assist. Maybe the Acura plus is a better plan. however, no use to us now over and above any other car MFG. plans.

p.s. Don't know what we are going to do yet. only 1 day in with the door(s) operating. Wish it would stay for a couple of weeks so we could sell it!

Lessons learned;
1. We will never buy a car brand that can't be serviced in a reasonable distance.
2. For us the Acura reliability issue is a non-starter. Its just not what it used to be, YMMV.

Will update this post if anyone wants to follow along.

Cheers

pps Acura CS, doesn't believe in any internet content about their cars. It is declared of no value, and not credible, or so I was told.

 

I take it that you are in Canada. If you were in the US then you could file a complaint with NHTSA (safercar.gov) and forward a copy of that complaint in a registered letter to Acura informing them that they are responsible for any consequences.

I know little (nothing?) of lemon laws in Canada but in the US my next call would be to a lemon lawyer.

 

yes, I wish we had lemon laws here in canada too! No such protection here. If there was I would definitely use it. Remember, we canucks are just too polite!

cheers

 

Wow what dealer are you going to? Seems odd to me that they treated you in that manner, in Calgary the two dealers here go above and beyond for their clients.

 

Call the number in this link on Monday. Then call Acura back and follow up that call with a registered letter.

They need to flatbed your car to the dealer and provide you with alternate transportation until the repair is complete and thoroughly tested.

 

OP - I think you have been more than patient. Your dealer needs to rectify this for you in short order. Climbing over the console is total BS.

 

I've had issues with Silverhill's service department and sales, but to each to their own. To the OP, please let us know which dealer location so we can all be informed.

 

I don't know whats going on now! For 2 days the door has been opening! Of course "The wife is happy" and I am totally confused, but waiting for it to happen again!

Does anyone have an idea whats going on with the car? I don't! It makes no sense to me!

The dealer was never really a problem. They seemed more than helpful. Its just that they are hundreds of kms away.

What was more disappointing was the attitude of Acura customer service. Their unwillingness to allow the car to be really looked at here in our home town Honda dealer plus and their refusal the allow them access to any emergency technical help or the buying parts if needed was a POff to be sure! That decision forced the 500 plus km drive!

That and the way they didn't seem to able to tell me what would be covered on my end about a rental if I decided to have it shipped to the Acura dealer. Only that i could rent a vehicle (wouldn't tell what kind or for how long) and that I could then submit an invoice to them once the car was repaired. They would then determine what they would pay, is well......not playing honestly in my opinion. Been had too many times in my 64 years to bite on that one!

Still waiting for a recurrence.

ps. Forget Transport Canada, they are totally useless and only follow whatever the USA does. No teeth whatsoever I am ashamed to say, buts its true.

 

I'm assuming you have been using the power locks. Maybe try and go old school and try manually unlocking the door next time it happens? Maybe there is a problem with the door lock actuator and it's not actually unlocking the driver's door?

 

What in the fuck?

In the year 2014, Car makers can't even make a reliable door lock mechanism anymore?

lol

 

It makes no difference if TC is useless. Filing a complaint with them just shows Acura that you are serious about the issue.

 

Since the problem is intermittent, it's probably the wiring harness inside the door. It's an electrical problem, not a mechanical one IMO.

 

I was thinking along the same lines, but it still might be a mechanical one. I'm thinking the driver's door lock actuator isn't working (could be electrical and/or mechanical) and while the door is locked, neither the inside or outside door handle is going to open it. That's why I suggested to the OP above to go old school and try to unlock the door manually next time it happens.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I have tried to open the door manually several times. The last time neither the internal or external handles would open the door. Even trying the manual lock unlock power handle inside and using the key of course wouldn't work either.

Agree, it could be either mechanical or electrical problem. It has been what 4 days now that it hasn't failed. I cannot proceed until it does.

However, will try again when it happens.

Cheers

 

Not sure I completely understand your response. What I meant by unlock manually was actual hand contact on the lock button. In other words, no key fobs, no power lock switches. Pulling and pushing on the actual lock mechanism button as would be necessary if the battery was dead. You may have done this, but i couldn't tell based on your response.

 

Could be a wire making intermittent contact. I had that in my Camry for the wire going to the tail light. When the connection broke the headlights would come on and the park indicator light would go out and the reverse indicator light would come on. Odd stuff can happen when a ground wire is broken.

 

just so we are all clear when it wasn't working as I said,nothing worked! For example, if you where in the car the manual lock, the outside door handle (after opening the window) would not release the lock and open the driver door.

If you were outside the car and locked out the key fob would not open the driver door. Nor would the hard key inside the fob open it. Even after climbing in the passenger side, same thing the hard door lock wouldn't move either until it decided on its own.

That plus the fact that the "auto lights" have come on and stay on a long time (several minutes, when set at 15 seconds) lead me to think this a one hairy gremlin. Have also noticed that the outside temperature gauge also reads incorrectly when it doesn't unlock!

however, day 5 and no re-occurrence! WTF!!!!!!

 

Gotcha! Well here's hoping the dealership fixed it and it is behind you. Last thing you want is an intermittent electrical gremlin on the loose......