I just took my 03 Tl with 55K miles to the stealership. My TL is one of the 03 models that does NOT have the extended warranty on the Transmission. After 1 day (today) they told me that Acura will cover 75% of the cost, that still means 800 out of my pocket. I was not satisfied with this Answer and told the Service Guy to talk to them again Monday to see if they can cover it all or more. so not sure. The only benefit of me paying something is I get the 3 yr 36K mile warranty.

ANy thoughts on what I should do? The tranny is NOT that bad, just on down shifts it is a lil shaky. I think it is worth replacing now as I will keep this car for a while. do you guys think I should push more? Talk to Acura myself etc? Any help would be appreciated. I woudl not mind paying some $$ to get the 3 yr 36K warranty. IF they do it totally under warranty, I only get 12mth/12K miles.

 

my trannie just let "loose" today, shifting from 2nd to 3rd is long and harsh, but the only problem with mine is that i have a salvage title so the dealer is out of my mind, so its down to i do it myself (swap) or i do a 6 speed conversion. all acura care and see if the could do anything more for u

 

Get the tranny done!! If you wait longer, Acura might give you a harder time. But see if you can drive down the out of pocket some more AND still get the 3 year/36K warranty since you plan on keeping it for a while.

 

Its usually 1 year warranty with freebie and 1 year per 1000 you pay
Ask the service manager what it comes with for sure
That person has already gone to bat for you with the District Rep
800 is a good deal
If you bought 3 cars there and did all the services at that dealer- you could ask for more
but as it is- be grateful- it may go into 2nd gear tomorrow and stay there on the freeway- very exciting moments when that occurs
Get it fixed now!!

 

yeah I haven't done much service @ the dealership except a few oil changes on my 99 red tl. The service Advisor said 3yr/36K miles warranty if I pay out of pocket. I asked him if the new trannie would last 100K miles, he told me nothing lasts 100K miles around here( northern VA). That was surprising, but whatever. I am going to try to get them to cover a bit more and have it replaced. I think I will keep this baby for a while as I got it on a steal.

 

3/36 is the best warant they offer
Dont listen to the service guy- the replacements are very good transmissions
Sometimes you get a defective part inside that shows itself within 1000 miles
thats warranty!

Pay up- shut up- hang on and enjoy

 

I would go back and talk to client services myself. When I owned my 03 TL it"wasn't covered by the extended warranty". That's what the dealer told me and I thought that was ridiculous. I had 75000+ miles on it so I was past the normal warranty.

I spoke to client services and told them that I was very aware of the problem that TL's had and that I could provide them with pages and pages of documentation (acurazine.com) that they have done a "good faith" replacement at no cost to people that weren't covered by the extended warranty. I had to wait a day, but they decided to replace the tranny at no cost to me and instructed the dealer to provided me with a loaner.

My next tranny failed just 8000 miles later. The dealer once again was not going to replace the tranny for free. So, even though it was a "good faith" replacement with no warranty, I contacted client services again and they agreeded to replace the tranny again. After that I could stand the fact that I may have to go through this again so I got rid of the car.

I think it would be ridiculous for you to pay anything based on the fact that many people on this board with 03's in your same situation paid nothing. I think you should call Acura Client Services yourself, Don't rely on the dealer to negotiate for you...they are working with Acura Client Services to make it as cost effective for them. Just call yourself, be polite and informed and you should get out of this without spending a dime!

Good luck

 

Thanks, the information I needed, I appreciate it. I heard the 03's are better and they don't fail as much, but it seems this problem is there a lot. I have heard bad stories of used Trannies as well. What are our options? go manual eventually?

 

Get another remanufactured unit when it comes time again.

You can get an aftermarket remanufactured unit for $1500 shipped and it'd cost you another $800 to have it installed locally.

 

$800 is very fair. I'd take it and just consider it your extended warranty.

 

IMO, 3yrs/36k is well worth the $800 copay, considering you're not the original owner. That's a better warranty than you'll get anywhere ! You've have total peace of mind during that period of time driving your "stolen baby".

 

The 03s were not any better than the 02s
Acura got a decent fix finally in early 2005 on the rebuilds!!

The units since then have a very good reputation, sure a few fail shortly after install due to parts defect- thats life- its warranty

Grab this deal before its gone!!!

 

update:
So Acura decided to take care of the Trannie for Free, which is good. I am not a rough driver so this one should last me about 50K. By then I'll either Sell or convert to a 6 spd. It may last longer. I can get the trannie replaced probably for 3-400 USD (labor). 1500 is not too bad for the part I guess. How much would it cost to convert it to manual? probably same thing? Only problem then would be no one else (wife) can drive it.

 

They also stated that the 99 Transmission (4 speed) were much toughter than the 02/03's, and they said that those lasted about 100K. That is really weird, because you would think they would fix their problems as time went on.

 

the switch from 4 to 5 speed automatics made the problem appear= then it took a while to work out and change, and still there is room for improvement
I would expect 100k + out of the replacement

 

I hope it lasts 100K, I would be happy with that.

 

Nice job man, I'm in the process of negotiating with my '03 TL-P tranny that is NOT included in the extended warranty. So far, they've, McDavid Acura in Plano, Texas, offered to pay half but we'll see if I can get them to pay all of it.

 

have them pay full. and if htey make you pay any $$, you'll get the 36k/3 yr warranty. Make sure ot mess it up before that!!!! It's just insane how they make these FD up trannies and expect consumers to pay for their mistakes.

 

I just found out converting to a 6spd is about 6K in just parts? WTH...forget that, I'll either sell the car then or get a new trannie for 1500 bux and have my friend install it

 

red- many car companies make cars that wont last 100k, ours have a problem and acura takes care of it
Thats the insane part!

The dealer has nothing to do with payment for trans- Acura picks that up, the service manager talks with the District Rep and they go from there

 

I just got a 99 TL for a steal. It has 258k miles!! I bought it off a lot with no type of warranty. Is there a way that I can get acura to hook me up with a new tranny or am I way out of the limits?

 

Man you are two times over the 109,000 warranty. Acura won't help you with that at all. You can try, but I doubt they would help. 258,000 DAMN! The extended warranty was 7 years/ 109,000 miles.

 

damn, the service manager is telling me that it's $110 to "diagnose" the issue to confirm their is an issue with the transmission. If there is, there's no guarantee on how much they will pay.

 

Your joking right. You my friend are WAY beyond the limits

 

they diagnosed mine for free. BUt if they already told u they'll cover 50%, it has not been diagnosed yet?

 

Hairy,
Tell him this way. Say if/when I replace the trannie, your dealership will make $$ by me having to replace this part. They get paid regardless, say it is in their best interest to have it diagnosed.

 

red,

I'm glad you got through this without having to spend any money.

 

$800 is a good deal for those cars with high mileage, but 55k is very very low mileage. You should talk to ACS again.

 

I don't think it's quite that much

 

Went through the same thing 2 weeks ago. Took the $800 and never looked back. If you're going to keep the car, take it. 3yr/36000 is worth it.

 

yeahI paid $0, I got a 2008 MDX in the meantime for a week. This thing is awesome, I am really impressed. A lil smaller than my Odyssey but it's amazing handling. I would not directly compare it to my M5, but it is not BAD for a SUV.

 

The reason I did not want to pay $800 for the 3 yr warranty is I doubt it will go out in 3 yrs or 36K miles. I am hoping to get 100K from this trannie unless I sell the car.

 

I got my car back today ...happy. what are the break in procedures for the new trannie if anY?

 

no racing/track days first 1000 miles

Be gentle to normal first 500 as all the new parts mesh
avoid full throttle shifting
Make sure SS mode works up and down
After 1000 just enjoy you fine ride!

 

another 100k warranty?- hey I want that for free too!!

 

SS mode is the stick shift? Ok ....yeah I don't race etc. no i got a 12mth/12K mile warranty on it.

 

Red_tl :
How did you manage to talk to the client service??
I am in the similar situation, but they wouldn't listen to me for free replacement.
All they offered was $1500 off for the tranny. So the total cost to me is $2500 plus taxes.
I think it's ridiculous. The guy told me that I didn't buy new from the dealer and I didn't do much services at the dealership, that why they can only offer so. I think it's BS.
So i am just driving until it completly fails. So far it's been about 20,000km since then.
I guess ACURA CANADA is not as good as ACURA USA. I don't know...
Any comments???

 

uh, well the dealership actually talked Acura into it, I did not have to call the client services at all. they talked someone in another department. I think You are still getting a decent deal because you are getting the warranty, but yeah free or cheapest is always good. Why don't you try another dealer? I did not buy my car @ the Acura nor have I done anything more than 2 oil changes in the Dealership with my last TL.

 

The deal was made with the customer relation guy so I don't know if he or Acura would change anything even if I go talk to different dealer. I am not sure. But I guess I can try...