mlionel

Just checked latest Consumer Report; second generation TL transmission rating is ALL BLACK! Not even white, or half red! That is going to hurt our cars resale value big time.

fsttyms1

duh!

fsttyms1

duh! It cant be good for ratings
its been spirialing downwards for awhile now

bkzjimmy

fsttyms1 <----i think he's on his 15th tranny! lol

not really funny, but he's been through a few.

415ua5

argh.....acura/honda could easily fix this problem by making the warranty lifetime


FUCK THEM!!!

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$

ResidualFreedom

We need to find a relyable aftermarket transmission supplier.. If Acura will hold this trannie till 100miles, then you/we should be budgeting for a new tranny around that milage..

I'm personally going to jump all over the turbo that is coming out for our car... adding that turbo, thus torque and HP, it will eventually destroy the stock transmission. The real tricky part is finding a aftermarket tranny manufacturer that makes tiptronic transmissions.....

I saw a show recently showing audi's new tip-tronic transmission. It shifts way faster than it's predessor, and it also beats the manual in shift timing!!! I couldn't believe it, but it's true!

Any ideas?

Indyjenks

Not tiptronic but a major upgrade to existing.

http://www.levelten.com/

ou sig

the '99 rating is the only one that is ok...and I got 96k miles on the original one, so hopefully it keeps on going for a long time

fsttyms1

That would not fix the problem. What would fix the problem is a complete redesign of the tranny

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Yep, but that would be even more expensive than extending the transmission warranty to lifetime. As much as I've come to terms with the transmission problem, I still hate the fact that such a weak link exists on our cars, because other than that, I love these cars.

So when's that video coming, Kris? And have you decided what you're going to replace your TL with?

ndawood

They will have to do something regarding the tranny despite its costs. Im sure honda/acura has realized that these cars are going to be around for a long time and they cant expect people to be spending $5000+ on a new tranny. I dont think anyone has had to pay for a tranny yet but the time will come when we are expected to.

ou sig

from a business standpoint, they really only extended the warranty because they wanted to be sure to cover the original owners of the cars. Theyare trying to improve their customer satisfaction by doing this because if they didnt, many people would leave Acura (more than already has). Also the vast majority of people dont keep their cars nearly to 100k miles so once the warranty ends, they hope that the original owner will move up to a newer Acura.

people that keep the car for 150k miles or more really dont concern them on a macro level because they are few and far between - so they really dont have a need to redesign a tranny that they dont use in their current lineup.

shockwave

Did they bother to distinguish the MT from the AT? If not, I'm a little annoyed that they are lumping a perfectly wonderful MT in with that POS AT. Yet one more reason to choose the stick.

Honda/Acura has had nothing but trouble with the AT that sits under their V6's. Their failure rate is legendary in the oddessy as well.

415ua5

yea if it comes down to it i might grab a 6 speed CLS

these cars are wonderful, excellent styling, speed, luxury, but the fact the transmissions are so bad is so dissapointing

where was that website with all the petitions, between our forum and v6p.net, we have thousands of unsatisfied people. i rememeber someone on their forum was taking a lawsuit against acura...no idea what happened though

ou sig

the 6 speed CLS doesnt have any problems - so no tranny worries there, just that you have to shift all the damn time. there is no way I would have a stick as my daily driver.

Edward'TLS

I bet Honda will say "screw us all". Wait a couple more years when the 7 years tranny extended warranty expires, it will be off the hook. You think Honda will care if the resale value for the 2nd gen. TL is dropping like a rock ? All it cares is that the 3rd gen. TL's sales figure going up like a rocket. So obviously the 2nd gen. tranny problem has not even made a small dent in the 3rd gen. TL at all.

jazzpicker

Agree 100%. I sold my 2nd gen because of the tranny issue and lost a bunch of money. I love my 3 g car now bur will never have the same loyalty to Acura. Bottom line- they fucked us..

NYbsbl04

Why did I buy this car...ill be paying it off for four more years

nayyarn

sell it then. Remember you are good till 100k on the warrenty ext.

Edward'TLS

Another good example of despite tranny woes, people still flock to buy the new TL's. Only if Acura owners defect to other brands or car buyers stay away from the Acura brand will Honda realize the problem. But it's not happening, and I don't think it will happen because the Acura line-up is actually good, too good that the tranny problem is easily forgettable.

fsttyms1

They never made teh 2nd Gen with a manual. (only the CL-S had a option)

acutee

Easy to say. If money was not an issue, I wouldn't care if the tranny lasted only 1k. Out the lot, you can lose 3k easy. From 33k and sell it back for 15k in 2 years....very unfortunate for our 2g model.

ou sig

exactly like I said - Im sure the 2nd gen problem has actually helped the 3rd gen sales (though that can never be proven), because most people see Acura/Honda extending the warranty as good customer service, so they dont have a problem giving $35k for a new TL that doesnt have tranny problems (though it has its share like every other car).

overall I think they did what they could and gave a good compromise between really fixing the problem (cost lots of $$$$) and just leaving us out to dry (lose lots of $$$$). Though it does suck for those of you that have to put up with it. If I didnt have the money for a new one (and wanted a TL), I would just trade in for a '99, and save the extra money for when i had more for a new car.

03CoupeV6

I think the transmission warranty should be at minimum 14 years, 150,000 miles. It's a design flaw - it's not like that's something that will magically disappear after a certain point. Years ago, 7 years or 100,000 miles might have been an acceptable length of time for a transmission or an engine - and it may still be from the likes of buy one, get one free $9995 Kia Rios - but it is NOT acceptable on a $30k luxury car from a brand that made a name for itself based on reliability.

03CoupeV6

As a former owner of two Gen6 Accords and frequent visitor to v6performance.net, I can tell you that the 4ATs are NOT without problems.

ou sig

you are right - there isnt any tranny that has 0 problems. Most of the people on v6p mod the hell out of their cars and drive them the same.

I doubt you see a 4speed fail with a grandma behind the wheel - like happens with the 5 speeds.

03CoupeV6

A manufacturer does not recall a transmission and add a 7 year, 100,000 mile warranty to it if it has no design defect or above average failure rate. If the 4AT was designed correctly, it would not be covered by the recall - not for the TL, and not for the Accord V6s in Gen6 years.

There are 3 years for the 5AT versus 1 for the 4AT, so there will be more failures in the 5AT - however, the 4AT sucks just as hard and will fail without warning and without provocation... search these forums and you'll find that info.

NYbsbl04

Id lose about $4000 on it. Not worth it to me as its still an awesome car

ou sig

who knows man - but ive been on here as long as you (just more often) and I only remember 3 maybe 4 times reading about a person with a '99 tranny go bad - compared to 100s of 5 speeds. So, you could argue that it could be because of the actual # difference between the amount that have each (I agree some), but I still think the 5 speed has a worse design - amazing like you say, that we are having this conversation with this type of car...but thats what happens with mass production and not enough R&D in the designs

bigvortex

Here's another one for you then. My '99 is going to need an new transmission at 130k and it doesn't look like Acura is going to warrenty any of it.

jazzpicker

I suppose I will continue flocking to Acura to buy cars even though 2nd gen tranny was a disaster. I have been driving acuras for many years and never had a single problem until I had the 2nd gen car. I know the people at the dealership and I am treated well. there.

Hell no, I am not going to change brands of cars unless something truly awful happens.The other dealerships in this part of the country are just not so good. Despite the tranny fuck up, i'll stick with Acura. FAr as I know they are replaing trannys with over 100,00 miles.

Edward, maybe you should change brands, try a ford or something but if you buy it here be prepared to fight at every visit. I had an expensive Explorer that would just stop in the middle of the road and was never fixed. ALso had a dodge Ram that blew a tranny at 67K and wasn't replaced under warranty. I'll stick with Acura

patrick

LOL! Yup, I agree!

patrick

I understand your point of view, and you are probably correct. Heck, even the 4AT tranny in my 2001 Honda Odyssey died at around $54,000 KM and I had to get it replaced under warranty. Honda's transmission are well known to be on the weak side. But having said that, I have not had any tranny problems in my 99 TL with 4AT.

patrick

I agree with ou sig here: 99 TL 4-spd tranny failures are due to weak bearings. 00+ 5-spd tranny failures are due to 3rd gear clutch pack. While both types are tranny design flaws, IMHO the 5 speed is the worst of the two trannys. I'd pick a 4 spd tranny over a 5-spd any day.

Edward'TLS

Jazzpicker, I'm with you. My tranny has been replaced once, but I still love my TL-S 100%, and I will keep buying Acura's. If I were to change brands, I would go for Lexus or Infiniti, never American nor European. Lexus and Infiniti also make damn good and reliable cars, comparable to Acura.

My point is that you always hear TL, CL, Accord, Odyssey owners complaining about their $hitty trannys, but this doesn't seem to affect the number of people flocking to buy the new TL, Accord, Odyssey, like you and me.

The Accord sales figure drops a bit because of its wierd looking rear-end styling. Honda immediately addresses this by redesigning the complete rear-end at the mid-model refresh. Not often does mid-model refresh involves such an extensive rework, a simple change of tail-light colour is usually the norm. So sales figure is the only thing that can grab Honda by the balls.

So unless the tranny problem really cuts into the car sales, Honda/Acura is not going to do anything more about it, other than the warranty extension.

El pana/TL32

Hey guys... So with all that said, do we have an option in regards to purchasing an "aftermarket" transmission (aside from the one mentioned in this thread already) that will help those who plan on keeping the TL for years to come? And perhaps boosting it or running a SC with confidence....

Also, those of you with the 3.5 conversion, have you experience and increase in transmission issues due to the conversion?

Thanks!

jazzpicker

I've read about companies that are supposed to rebuild and fix the tranny for the 2nd gen TL and some of the things I have read were not so good. The tranny failed anyway etc. I am not the typical mechanic type like many of the guys are on the site but I do know business and how to interact with difficult comapnies. I've heard that Acura will make good on the trannies despite being out of warranty in order to keep the customers happy. I don't know if this is true or not but would raise pure hell if I lost a already defective tranny after the warranty expired and had to pay 4K for another defective tranny. Far as I know there is not a fix for the tranny.
Second option:
Go to AAMCO or another national chain and get the tranny fixed and pay for a lifetime warranty if affordable. That way you will have a transmission forever if the company is reputable.

JRA2000TL

As for the tranny being replaced; Acura can replace it at no cost to you even if you're over 100k miles. I work at a dealership (that has an Acura franchise), and there is not a 00-03 TL tranny available for customer pay---Acura warranty has them all for recall replacements. If you go to our parts counter and try to order one to pay for it yourself, it will be unavailable. The Acura service manager told me that he can "ok" a tranny to be replaced way after 100k. I am unsure if this comes out of the dealer's alloted "goodwill" money given for the purpose of satisfying customers who've just run out of warranty but have a major repair. We recently had a 98/99 Integra in w/ over 100k needing a tranny--Acura paid for it. Also, there was an instance with a Gen 1 TL way over 100k needing a tranny. I don't believe the car had regular service records with our dealer and Acura split the cost---they paid for the part, customer paid the labor. I guess dealerships are all different but working for one, I know there's alot more pull. I happen to write service for Jaguar (no I didn't pick to work there, they stuck me at that franchise b/c that was all they had when I applied---worst car line in the world, I might add). If you think the TL's tranny is bad, look at the 00-02 S-types....and Jags in general are total junk. I could write 10 pages of the problems with those cars and the stuff that's a product fault but warranty denies repairing. You think Acura warranty is bad? Jaguar never wants to pay for anything. Ever heard of wearing out rear pads/rotors at 20k?--not normal wear unless you drive with the parking brake on---does Jag pay for it? Nope! $500 for rear pads and rotors customer pay! I work in a shop that includes Infiniti, Acura, Jaguar, and Land Rover. Acura and Infiniti by far have the best customer service and warranty out of all of them. I'm not sure who you guys have had dealings with, but at our shop, it's no hassle. Even though Acura has this flaw; go work for a British car line and you will appreciate Acura more---I'm comparing apples to oranges, but you haven't seen a POS car until you've worked around Jags. I hate them. My $.02.

jazzpicker

OMG, what a scary thought, a car, 1/2 ford and 1/2 british. It's really a pity when Ford contaminated Jaguar and Volvo. Actually Volvo DLs were really neat cars with the cast Iron 4 cyl engine that would go for 300K miles or better and the bodies were sturdy as a tank. There were years that were no fatalities in DLs. THey were the safest car on earth but then along came Ford and turned volvos into shit..
I once had a new expensive Ford explorer that would just stop running in the middle of the road. I had many really bad fights with Ford Service trying to get the car fixed, After more than 7 visits to the service dept, all that ford did was to replace the spark plugs. I was told by Ford just to not bring the car back to the dealership. I didn't and will never set my foot on a Ford dealership again or set my ass in a Ford car again.

I agree with you JRA200TL and think it's better to stick with Acura or lexus. AS I said in a earlier post, I'm beyond getting treated like shit when trying to get an expensive car serviced.