Get this......I have a 2003 TL Type-S, I bought it the middle of april of 2006. Well the factory warranty expired Dec of 2006, and my vin doesnt have the transmission extended warranty so I decide it would be prudent to purchase an extended warranty for the whole car. So the warranty company comes back and says they cannot provide service because the car has a dealer buyback/lemon title. Obviously this was a total shocker! The Dealership that I bought the car from ( A GM dealership) NEVER said a word about the lemon title to me when I bought the car. I called Acura and they confirmed the status of the title too (they were no help by the way). And the worst part is that the title to car car is like this for its entire life! It cant be changed. Can you imagine what this does to the resale value of the car? I called the dealership this morning and he is "checking" on it. Im not expecting much. I think Im just another Acura owner that got *ucked! The car has run absolutely perfect for the past year (although I've only put 6000 miles on it) but with all the transmission issues with these cars its only a matter of time. I like this car but and overall Acura quality but If nothing good comes out of this I'll never buy one again.

 

That sucks, and i would demand some type of compensation from the dealer for not stating that outfront.

Also, you bought this from a GM dealer, and what does this situation if the outcome have to do with not buying another acura again? Its not acuras fault for not telling you.

 

That really blows - fight the GM dealership, they should not and cannot sell you a warranty for a car that can't have one. You should give them two options 1) provide you the money back for the warranty (all of what you paid) 2) to replace the tranny out of their pocket...

I would ask for both.

I had a TL imported to Canada from the U.S. - I had to jump through sh@t to get Acura to honor the Tranny warranty... Just stating if you are nice (to a point) and you maintain your persistence you can get this sorted out... Your probably screwed on the resale though...

I felt the same way as you, never will I buy an Acura again, and however, this is just a bad experience from a stealership. Should not stop you from buying an Acura again...

I bought an Audi A6, but that's just me

 

Here is the reason Im angry at acura: They did the bare minimum in taking care of the whole transmission problem, Its BS that certain vin numbers have no tranny extended warranty (mine being one of them), as for my particular car, so far so good but its a time bomb ticking towards a new transmission. Just got off the phone and they are willing to sell me an extended warranty now.

 

Its Acuras fault for desigining poor quality transmission (come on! the automatic transmission is not new technology) And then not taking care of all the customers affected, like i said, Acura did the absolute minimum

 

Yeah that's crazy! My apologies go out 2 you, hopefully they fix the car since you werent informed about the lemon status

 

Other than the small vin range that isnt covered (and i agree that its crap that they didnt include them) I think they did more than they even had to by extending the warranty to 100k 7 years. More than most would do.

 

Any transmission should go 200k plus if taken care of. Dont get me wrong, I love the car and Its ran absolutely perfect for the past year since I bought it, Im just pissed because the resale value of my car just went down the toilet. I guess I could be like the dealer and not disclose the lemon title to the next buyer, but I have morals. Guess I'll just have to keep it for ever and drive it into the ground. Car salesmen are scum of the earth!

 

AND you know Acura would have NEVER covered those transmissions if it wasnt for the law suit

 

Rick
You have a LEGAL claim against the dealer who sold the car
Its their JOB to make sure of a cars history- thats why they get CARFAX reports
May have even bought it at auction!
Get a carfax report and see if it shows up
Their failure is their failure- this car should not have been sold as "used"
If they do not ~buy the car back $$$$~ for failing to disclose the status AND they sold
a warranty that was not honored ( I dont care about new warranty offer)
Then they have committed CONSUMER FRAUD that your state board of something would really like to know about!
You have rights USE THEM

And show me an american car that even runs good at 100k
So Acura - many years ago in the infancy of this trans design-
had some probs they fix as warranty. Thats awesome!
Look how many cars now use the tiptronic as their trans-
so it would appear the probs are fixed or just accepted by all.

All car buyers should research history via the maker- like we can at acura care
never buy something you dont know anything about
What- the saleman is there to help YOU???
NOPE- help them$elves

 

Interesting -
Lemon Law Vehicle - A vehicle with major problems that has been repurchased by or had its price renegotiated with the manufacturer. The state marks its official records or issues a title brand for lemon law vehicles. Laws vary by state as to the specific requirements for a "lemon". Most manufacturers issue some buybacks that are not the result of Lemon Laws but rather a courtesy.

Also:

For release: April 29, 1996

Agency Plans to Hold A Public Forum On Issue
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking information from the public about the resale of "lemon buybacks" -- cars previously repurchased from consumers by manufacturers under state "lemon" laws, often because of warranty defects. The FTC said it is examining whether consumers who purchase the cars are adequately informed about the car's history and the extent of the practice. Comments on these issues will be discussed at a public forum to be held by the FTC on July 15 in Washington, D.C.
Written comments and requests to participate in the public forum are due by June 28, 1996. A list of specific questions on which the FTC is seeking comment will be published in the April 30 Federal Register.
The FTC has initiated this effort in response to a petition from the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety and other consumer groups (collectively "Consumer Coalition") requesting the FTC to either initiate a rulemaking proceeding or an enforcement action to look into the alleged auto industry practice of reselling "lemon buybacks" without disclosing the car's prior history to the subsequent purchaser.
State lemon laws give consumers the right to a replacement vehicle or a refund of the purchase price if their new car cannot be repaired after a certain number of attempts within a given timeframe. Currently such laws are on the books of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Some cars that have been taken back by manufacturers under the state lemon laws, however, are resold to other consumers as used cars. Approximately 36 states and D.C. require manufacturers and dealers to disclose to subsequent buyers of buybacks that the vehicle has been repurchased because it was found to be defective or to have non-conformities under the state lemon law. Some states require disclosure of all buyback cars, while other states require disclosure only on certain classes of buybacks. Also, some states prohibit reselling within the state any buyback car with a serious safety defect. In addition, the state laws vary as to how the disclosure should be made; some states require the title to be "branded," while other states require other methods of getting the information to the consumer.
According to the petition, auto manufacturers, their dealers and others frequently buy back vehicles pursuant to state lemon laws and then resell those vehicles to subsequent purchasers without disclosing that the vehicle had been bought back as a "lemon." The Consumer Coalition also alleged that these resellers are engaging in "lemon laundering," -- defeating state laws intended to ensure consumers receive adequate disclosures by moving a vehicle and retitling it in one or more states with less stringent disclosure requirements than the state where the vehicle was originally bought back from a consumer. According to the petitioners, lemon laundering conceals from used car buyers material information about the car's safety or reliability history. The Commission is publishing the petition as an appendix to the notice without endorsing or supporting the views expressed by the petitioners.
The notice lists a number of questions and issues on which the Commission seeks public comments, including:
• The extent of lemon buybacks and reselling;
• The degree to which buybacks are repaired successfully;
• Definitions of, and disclosure requirements for, buybacks;
• Length of time a vehicle should be considered a buyback;
• Current disclosure practices and the effectiveness of those practices;
• Ideas for new disclosure requirements or other remedies; and
• Whether uniform disclosure and labeling of repurchased vehicles would resolve the problem of interstate shipment of cars to avoid individual state requirements.
Requests to participate in the public forum must be sent by June 28, 1996 to Carole I. Danielson, Division of Marketing Practices, Federal Trade Commission, Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.
Comments on the various issued raise by the petition will be accepted until June 28, 1996. Comments should be identified as "Vehicle Buybacks -- Comment. FTC File No. P96 4402," and addressed to the Office of the Secretary, Room 159, FTC, Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.
The Commission vote to issue the Federal Register notice seeking public comment was 5-0.
Copies of Federal Register Notice and the petition are available from the FTC's Public Reference Branch, Room 130, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 202-326-2222; TTY for the hearing impaired 1-866-653-4261. To find out the latest FTC news as it is announced, call the FTC's NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710. FTC news releases and other materials also are available on the Internet at the FTC's World Wide Web Site at: http://www.ftc.gov
Media Contact:
Brenda A. Mack,
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2182
Staff Contact:
Eileen Harrington or Carole I. Danielson
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-3127 or 202-326-3115
(FTC Matter No. P964402)

 

Not sure, where you live however, found this site is very helpful (sort of)

http://www.ohiolemonlaw.com/laundered-lemons.html


I think my used car was bought back once by the manufacturer and the dealer didn't tell me when I bought it. Should I be concerned about that?

Yes. Many people believe in the saying "once a Lemon, always a Lemon" and they just won't pay much for a "buyback" lemon car. The market value of a lemon just isn't the same as a car that has always run right. The dealer was supposed to tell the consumer if the car was a Lemon Law buyback, before they sold it to you.

 

I've allready contacted an attorney, he is looking over the carfax and then will call me tomarrow. As soon as I mentioned to the dealer that I've contacted an attorney they started jumping. Should hear from them this afternoon. The only way to make it right in my book is to buy back the car at full market value. Sorry guys im not buying another 2nd gen TL. Although I havnt blown a tranny yet, I know its comming. I dont even feel like I can take this car on a road trip and it only has 47k on it.

 

Oh and by the way, it seems like there are about 20 different opinions about which year range of trannys are covered to 100k. Bottom line.....check your vin number with Acura! My car went into service Dec of 02 and mine is NOT covered

 

I'm glad mine is covered. I've replaced my tranny 4 times in less than 2 years! All free! The warrany was up to 100k, but Acura extended it to 109k. I have about 8,000 miles left on the warranty, so I'm going to get another one right before it expires.

 

I dont know of a single manufacturer that hasnt had a trans problem. Even toyota is having them.
The warranty extension came about far before this lawsuit

 

?? 20 different opinions on whats covered? every one knows ALL 99-02 are covered and a certain vin range of 03 as long as you fall withing the mileage and timeline (and dont have a salvaged title)

 

Oh and im not making excuses for the trans problem, i went thru 5 of them!

 

Talked to the attorney guys, looks like I have a fraud case against the dealership for not disclosing the lemon title to me at the time of purchase. This could get ugly

 

I figured as much. Something like that should have been disclosed. Hopefully the dealer gives you every thing you ask for!

 

At the LEAST you should get (always ask for more and negotiate down) is the full purchase price you paid plus any tax, fees, etc for the time you owned and any repairs that were required.
Next we talk about the general BAD FAITH etc etc that the attorny knows all about and its co$$$$t.

Sorry your bummed on the TL
The new ones have probs but overall Acura makes a nice car
Or get a Camry Hybrid and save gas

 

Question doesn't the Lemon Title show on up on your ownership papers? If so, this may go on longer than you think as the dealer will say they did tell you and it even shows on your ownership papers...

Good Luck with this...