Hey everyone -- haven't posted in a while. Here's my tranny story...

So, I'm coming home late Tuesday night and I felt (and saw) the tell-tale signs of tranny slippage: car's trying to shift from 2nd to 3rd; RPMs go high, momentum goes low. I managed to baby my car all the way home. I'm actually not too worried since on Saturday I signed up with AAA -- and I have the temporary card with me. Whew!

Managed to get home without the car dying on me. Yes! Now it's time to prepare for my "convince Acura to cover my 3rd Tranny" session. So I hop on to this site and read up on the latest tranny horror stories. Hmm... looks like it's going to be 50/50 on whether they eat the cost or not.

I strolled into Riverside Acura on Wednesday prepared to justify my case. Except I forgot they need to verify the codes before they know what's going on. Damn, it's going to be a two-hour wait just for that. I let Acura drive me home.

At home I'm thinking, "I don't want to discuss things over the phone... I want to be looking into their eyes when we talk." So I'm bracing myself for the "Doctor Phone Call" -- you know, the one where they tell you what's wrong with your vehicle -- and it comes. My service advisor says, "I have bad and good news."

I say, "Ok, what's the bad news?"

"You need a new tranny." I'm thinking, "Duh, I already knew that..."

"So, what's the good news?" Now I'm holding my breath...

"Acura's gonna pick up the entire bill, I have a loaner waiting for you, and my driver's on his way back to your house to pick you up."

I said, "Wow, Thank You. I thought I might have to do a little convincing on my part."

When I got to the dealership everything was ready... just signed my name on the paperwork; again on the loaner paperwork; and was given the keys to an '08 Turbo RDX. I'm not much of an SUV guy, but it was pretty cool being up high and able to see sh*t for a change! If you know what I mean.

Anyway, they called about 1 pm today (Thursday) and said everything was ready. When I showed up I found out that they had also detailed the entire car -- inside and out -- trunk to hood. I was pretty blown away with their excellent service. I drove away a happy camper -- and with my engine purring like a kitten!

Now that's how a Dealership should treat you everytime!

Later,

V.

1st Tranny -- 43K
2nd Tranny -- 62K
3rd Tranny -- ??

 

Very cool story. However, that is how Acura should treat you because you were still under the warranty extension.

I'm not so lucky having an 03 out of VIN range.

 

Man if I ever end up in that situation, I hope Acura of Modesto treats me as well as your dealer treated you. You should call Acura Customer Service and tell them what great service you received from them.

 

While you are covered till 109 anyway- plus the arguement that odometers read 5% fast..and you had 2 priors is probably why they detailed the car- or they let it sit outside somewhere it got really dirty- who cares- its clean now
Call that goodwill!

Acura managers and Service Writers get bonus pay based on customer feedback- sometimes its a card to fill out with your receipt or a phone call from Customer Care, anything less than 10s is failure to them

A real letter sent to Customer Care and the dealers Service Manager and General Manager- especially hand written letter and people named- with same info you put here- that goes an amazing distance in their favor! And next time you drop by for anything like touch up paint- they will remember you took care of them when it mattered....


It is allowed by the azine rules to post name of dealer- let others know good ones and not so generous ones

 

hey vperkins2, when did you get this failed tranny put in? was it prior to February of 2005 or after it?

 

Good Question. I am curious about this as well. I am also glad that they took such great care of you. The tranny dying is bad enough, but when they counter that with such great service, it takes that bad taste out of your mouth.

 

My first went at 73K. At 129K I was 2 hours sout hof town on the interstate when the revs start surging, I look in the rear view and it looks like I'm a mosquito fogger. Oh crap! Pull over, get Acura care on the phone even though I'm well past the warranty. I want everything in their system for what I know is gonna be a battle! They get me a tow truck, and get me back to the dealer before they close. The dealer gets me to the rental car place, and I continue the trip. This was a Saturday. Monday morning they call me - needs a tranny, but Acura is paying for the repair, but not the tow or rental. I ask the service guy to call the rep back and suggest that since they are admitting the failure shouldn't have happened, as evidenced by picking up the part/labor tab, wouldn't that liability also cover tow and rental? At least half? (I'm just relieved it's not going to cost big bucks, so I'm ok with splitting the cost of the rental/tow). He calls back and says yes, they'll cover it, completely, and I picked it up that Wednesday. Detailed, and very happy with the service. Sutton Acura in Macon, if I'm allowed to say....

 

i gotta say that even though some of this is a huge inconvenience to people, at least acura has had a good record of stepping up to the plate to cover the losses.

ford never did that with the garbage auto transmissions they put in the Taurus SHOs, and they used to actually launch the diff pins through the casing when they failed.

 

Very nice. Thumbs up for Acura treating customers properly.

 

nor did they do it on the full size trucks and mid size that have trans issues as well

 

always nice to hear Acura treatin their customers right. i'm nearin 90k and never know when it's gonna happen to me

 

Thats awesome. Its nice to hear about good experiences about Acura since people only post the bad ones. My experience at Hendrick Acura has also been awesome and while I havnet had a tranny replaced by them I would recommend there service to anyone.

 

i hope i have the luck you have later on - my 02 tl-s just blew its 2nd replacement tranny this week.

original lasted 29k, 1st replacement installed - this one lasted 38k and now the 2nd replacement.......and a loaner everytime....


best of luck..

 

mr min

please post the dates of your replacements- we are tracking anything after 2/05 that has a problem

 

...Just noticed you're in Dutchess. Me too, I live in Beacon. I'm new to Acuras; how would you rate Heart Acura's service, in the context of this thread? From the couple of times I actually set foot in there, they seem to take good care of ppl, but I haven't yet actually had any work done...much less a tranny!

 

I hope that's the reason. I never received anything in the mail saying that my VIN was part of the extension -- so I was a little nervous.

V.

 

I might just do that! And if I get a survey card I'll definitely score 'em high.

As for the name of the dealership, it was Riverside Acura, in Riverside, CA. I sort of buried their name in my original post... but it was there in the 4th paragraph.

Later,

V.

 

My 2nd Tranny (or first replacement) was in March of 2004.

In my original post I was trying to say how *far* each tranny went before dying.
The first went 43K miles.
The second went 62K (more) miles -- for a total of 105K miles.

Let's hope the third goes at least 100K miles!

V.

 

 

Excellent! It was reading stories like this before taking my car in that helped me prepare for my visit. Just knowing that a lot of the time Acura stepped up and did what's right helped me sleep just a bit better. However, there were almost just as many "Acura left me hanging" stories, too...

V.

 

Yeah, that's exactly why I posted up the message. Figured most folks were like me and needed to see some good with the bad.

Take it easy,

V.

 

Every azine member should be registered at www.acura.com ownership experience
Use VIN to make free account- many features and knows all the warranty info and history on your car-store radio security code there too

make sure you are covered on the trans- and if not covered there are ways around that~
And call 1-800-382-2238 x5 thats customer care- register as new owner so National has your name in case of recalls- ask if any outstanding warranty issues- sometimes you get a freebie!

 

https://www.ahm-ownerlink.com/Docume...ooks/E2331.pdf

 

vperkins - i actually just had my 3rd transmission put in yesterday by acura and it's like driving a new car all over again. i was 1000 miles outside my warranty and they still treated me like a king.

the funny thing is that i've been sulking all summer because i wanted to get a new G35x and forget this whole trans thing, but now that my car is fixed and drives perfectly i have no desire to get rid of it.

Ellcapitan - i actually live in Beacon as well, on the 9D side towards Cold Spring. to answer your question though, DCH Heart Acura in Wappingers Falls is the best dealership i have ever dealt with, PERIOD. that includes all the local ford dealerships and chevy dealerships and they are way better than Ramsey Acura in Paramus and in my opinion better than Feder's Acura in Westchester.

i was over my warranty and they replaced my trans for free yesterday AND payed for my rental car. John Alterio was the service manager who took care of me. he was fantastic! i would never hesitate to buy a car or get work done at heart acura in wappingers falls. every time i go there they consistently treat me right and do the job right. I actually bought my car at Ramsey in NJ, but i would never go back there for service.

both transmission were replaced at DCH Heart Acura, and both times they had the car back to me the same day i dropped it off!

Bob

 

Thanks, that's great to know. Even though I haven't really actually dealt w/ them yet, they do seem like good people. You know how sometimes you can just tell?

I live on the north side, off Washington Av, not far from the cemetery.