I talked to the gen. mgr. at my dealership today, telling him what was going on with my TLS. He said he thought I definitely have a lemon and that I should call the lemon-law phone number in my Acura owner's manual. He stated that one of 3 things will happen:

1) My transmission that is on back-order will appear w/in a few days rather than a month.
2) Acura will replace my car with a new one.
3) Acura will buy back my car at purchase price plus whatever interest I've paid so far.

I told him I was going to contact an attorney and he felt that wasn't necessary. He thought that by just calling Acura, I should get whatever I want and that it would be easier than doing all this through a lawyer. I'm going to call the number tomorrow and see what happens. If things don't go to my satisfaction, then I'll call an attorney at that point.

 

sounds sweet!! Good luck man! If they give you a brand new car, then I love acura!


let us know what they say

 

RedLined,

I am very surprised that the General Manager of any car dealership was that forthright. It's also interesting that he potentially considers the car a lemon and not just that you got two "lemon" transmissions. It could almost be interpreted that it's possible there is something wrong with the rest of the car that is causing the trans to fail (ie. someone recently suggested an ECU issue).

Hmmm. Let us know what happens. I just it hope it works out to your satisfaction. Options 2 and 3 are impressive, especially with the miles you have logged. Good luck.

- RockinTLS -

 

I contacted a lemon law lawyer today and am waiting to hear back from them. I also called Acura's customer relations line to let them know that I'm waiting for my 3rd transmission and that I was going to contact a lawyer. They are supposed to get back to me in a couple of days. The number the gen. mgr. was talking about in the owners manual was for Autoline of the BBB. I haven't contacted them yet because they need all sorts of info in didn't have readily available. After I hear from the lawyer, I may contact them.

I'll keep everyone posted.

 

I guess things are different in VA. Here in NY the law states that in order to have a case the following has to hold true:
1) Car has less than 18000 miles on it
2) The defective part has to have been fixed a minimum of 4 times

I think there is one other stipulation. But you get the idea. I guess I have no case at this point!!

 

If you would please, go the the topic thread of "Transmission Questions" I started a couple of days ago.

Even though, the posted replys have been just a few. There has been a slight relationship to transmissions problems for those cars built between March 15 to Mid April 2001......but the sample so far has been so extremely light, that that maybe only a fluke.

Good Luck!

 

Redlined,

I hope things work out to your satisfaction. Question: if they buy back your car......are you getting another TL-S?

 

RL:

I have been there, done that, and my experience and the professional services I retained indicate that the BBB arbitration is liekly a complete waste of time, unless Acura is especially accomodating in your case. Wish you luck - I thing the GM was very optimistic and telling you what you wanted to hear.

Did you contact the guy I suggested? The Va Bar Assoc in Richmond has a list of attorney's by specialty if the one you called turns out to be a lemon as well. RR.

 

RR:

After calling the BBB number, I too felt it would be a waste of time. So I contacted Gayle (the guy you recommended) and I'm waiting for a response. I sent them an e-mail outlining all my troubles so far. Hopefully I'll hear back from them tomorrow.

 

I don't know. Right now, there's nothing else out there (for the money) I would rather drive. I'm going to check out an I35 next week.

 

I wonder if it is simply a function of those cars built between those dates were among the first purchased once the Type S came to market. Therefore, they have the most miles on them and are more likely to have experienced a problem.

 

Does anybody know whether or not the TL-S and CL-S share the same transmission? Unless they are different, wouldn't the tranny problem have been well documented with the CL-S?

 

Yikes! My baby was built during that production time

 

I do not see the connection, since the transmissions are built in Japan, imported, and thus we have no idea when THEY were made, right? Maybe the factory had some "setlled out" ATF per my previous speculative rambling?

 

RR: I've been e-mailing back and forth with John Gayle. It seems that I may not have a case because VA law requires that at least 50% of the use of you car is personal. I'm guessing that no more than 25% of my mileage is for personal use. I'm waiting to hear back from Gayle but right now it doesn't look good.

Also, didn't you used to have Comptech exhaust? What happened? Or am I thinking of someone else?

 

Redlined,

If your car is not a "company vehicle", you can't justify at least 50% of your drive time being personal????? That seems very hard to believe. Plus, who is monitoring your personal vs. business use?

Whatever the technicalities, I hope it all works out well for you!

 

WTF difference does it make whether or not the miles on your vehicle are business or personal, as long it occurs within the warranty period. If this is a requirement it is fn stupid, unless of course you are towing trailers or something.

 

RL:

1) I did have the Comptech exhaust but the noise inside got to me and I sold it to a Forum dude with a crabby Korean Dad (so he says)

2) The VA LL does not get into business vehicles, as this would probably open up fleets to mass actions

3) Who knows what % is business? I would never recommend lying about anything in a court action or anywhere really - if RL were tpo go to court, they would ask to see his income tax return during discovery, and might discover that he had claimed, say, 75% of his mileage as business - it could impoeach him and jeopardize the whole case

 

It's confirmed -- VA lemon law does not cover cars used for business. Why? I have no idea but it doesn't seem right to me. Since I'm self employed, it all seems like personal mileage to me.

Also, since I do use the car for business and get reimbursed for the mileage, I have to keep close track of my mileage. Every business mile is well documented. I guess I could drive out to CA and back a few time just for the hell of it to turn the mileage in my favor.

I guess I'm just S.O.L. I've already called Acura's customer relations line. We'll see what happens there. Probably nothing.

 

Does anyone have some knowledge of Florida's lemon law? As everyone knows my tranny died 4 days ago. The service department says it'll take 1-2 months before the new tranny gets to the shop. Can some verify what I read in the FL lemon law... If the car is stuck in the service lot for more than 30 days and they haven't repaired the problem yet then it is considered a lemon? The reason I ask is because i'm gonna be pis*ed off if my car is going to be stuck at acura over 30 days. I would probably demand a new car or my money back as the lemon law states...

Any replies is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

I guess i can squeeze in my post cause it seems no one is responding to mine. What are the signs of a dead trasmission. I not very familiar with what a dead transmission is.. never happend to my old car or maybe it happened and i jsut dont knwow hat it is. Thanks.

 

Azyn - is there a question in there? If you had a dead transmission, you would know it - start car - put car in gear - car does not move - ergo, dead transmission.