Well, Im in the market for a new car, and had my heart set on an TL-S. My wife had a '00 TL-P and I've missed the car ever since our lease ended. BUT, after reading OVER & OVER about the transmission failures I'm starting to rethink buying a TL-S at all.

You guys know more about this than me so mayby you can help me out.

Are the transmission failures limited to certain years?? Or, if i get an 03 TLS, will the transmission be less likely to fail than that of an 02 or 01 TLS?

Also, is it just the TLS that has these issues, or is it the TLP also?

HELP...Im actually starting to consider a G35 or 330i!!

 

well???

 

Love the TL to death, just the tranny thing for me is horrid, because i drive ALOT AND WHEN I SAT ALOT I MEAN ALOT. I've had the car for 1.5 years and i put 50k on it. bought it at around 35k and its at 83k right now so some depend on how you drive, HOW MUCH YOU DRIVE, and how well you baby your car. Some it dont matter if you baby it or not its gonna die. Its nothing we can really suggest. I have yet to get BROKE DOWN ON THE HIGHWAY, but it could happen and as fast as i drive anything coudl happen. you never know. ANyone else wana chime in ?

 

All of the Type S years have a chance of the tranny going out. Some of the '03 Type S (like mine) are outside of the Vin # range for the extended warranty. I'm only covered for 4 years /50,000 while the others are 7 years/ 100,000. Keep an eye on that.
Otherwise, the car is great ! I will see what's going on a year from now when my 4 years is up (mileage is not an issue for me). Then I'll decide to get a diff car or buy an extended.

 

How did you find out if the vin# is outside the extended warranty?

 

BACKGROUND

In certain vehicles, a higher than normal number of automatic transmission may have defects in material or workmanship that could cause premature wear or failure. To insure that customers have adequate warranty coverage, American Honda is increasing the warranty on the transmission (including solenoids) and the torque converter to 7 years or 100,000 miles whichever occurs first.

VEHICLES AFFECTED

2000-02 3.2TL: All

2003 3.2TL (except Type S):
From VIN 19UUA5…3A000001 thru 19UUA5…3A019556

2003 3.2TL Type S:
From VIN 19UUA5…3A000001 thru 19UUA5…3A019061

2001-02 3.2CL: All

2003 3.2CL (all models):
From VIN 19UYA42…3A000001 thru 19UYA42…3A005203

*****************

This is from the CL forum under the Tranny sub forum. Not sure if it's up to date, but I haven't seen anything here that tells me different.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104677

 

I wonder what's the difference in your model and the earlier models that failed. If whatever part in your tranny corrected the problem, then why can't acura use that on the tranny that failed; rather having repeated tranny replacement.

Thanks for the vin# info.

 

If you read the NHSTA report...they have changed parts in some of the '03 models....it's also in one of the threads in the CL forum somewhere.

However, I've seen guyz post here with '03 failures outside the vin # range as well. So there still isn't any real fix.

I think they were putting some more "new" parts in the rebuilds as of Feb '05. Don't recall which parts or exact date, but only time will tell if those rebuilds are any better.

 

In any case, if I am correct, even your vin# is not in the extended warranty vin# range, you still have the factory powertrain coverage up to 7yrs/70k miles. But, I hope with the known issue, they may goodwill if it happens.

 

Dunno why some many people think its only a TL-S problem. The TL-P and the TL-S both have the same redesigned front exterior for the 2002-2003 model but maybe thats why there is confusion (those that only think the TL-S was with a resigned body?). In any event the tranny problem is not isolated to just the TL-S. My 2002 TL-P is on its 3rd tranny at 88k miles. Another myth is the one about "abusing the car". I've never beat on my car, or overstressed the tranny is sport shift mode. The redesigned parts as of '05 (confirmed by fasttymz) include smoother polished 3rd gear clutch plates to reduce friction, but apparently there is just too much excess heat build up and not much can be done short of a redesign which is never going to happen now that this 2nd gen car is already out of production.

 

My 03 TL-S is also out of the VIN range... I ended up picking up an extended warranty just for piece of mind...

I have heard rumors that the tranny update (and yes, I know it does not fix all the tranny issues), has greatly reduce the number of tranny failures...

Can anyone vouch for this? I talked to someone I know at the dealership, and he says that he has not seen a single TL come in that had the tranny recall applied...