Had my TLS for about 2 weeks now. I love the way it drives and the firm ride. Just noticed yesterday that the leather insert on one of the doors had some soft tacky material boardering the edges. It took me a while to push it all back in. I also noticed that the steering wheel airbag/horn cover is misaligned. To take it off, does the cover just pull straight out? Will this interfere with any airbag sensors? Wouldn't want the airbag to deploy on me.

Have any of you had problems with fit and finish on your TLS? I have always been a fan of Japan assembled cars. Is the quality control in America the same? There are not that many cars that are still assembeled in Japan.

 

The quality is like $*** to me...

Sorry to all other TL lovers, but at least my car is like crap!!! I am serious.

I think that Made in Japan and Made in USA does make a difference over here. It's part of the culture, I am not saying that Japanese is better or anything. It's just that they have different style of management and bababa... I learned that in the classroom and proven to be ture after I got the TL.

Oh, and you won't want to hear about my story of steering wheel.

 

Yah, I have a couple of things on my car. On the dash I have a lil indentation. Then there is over spray bubbles under my door handle. Some areas there is paint on my rubber lining inside my trunk.

It kinda pisses me off, but I still love everything else about the car. When I drive it, I forget about all the imperfections.

I think I will show the dealer when I come in for service.

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2002 TL TYPE S
SATIN SILVER/EBONY w/NAVI
[img]http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1212504&a=8950241&p=50260985&Sequence=0&res =high
[/img]

 

I have definitely found minor fit/finish quality problems in the car, now almost 3 weeks old. I've found those flaky molding tabs on lots of rubber pieces, bits of speaker stuffing peeking out from behind the grilles, and miscellaneous stuff. Overall, though, it's nothing to complain about. I'm extremely pleased with this car!

 

For me personally, I believe that Acura makes excellent products. However, in the case of our beloved TL’s.. (2002) I believe that the build quality has diminished somewhat. So far I have two complaints in regards to my TL-S. One is the rattle noise that seems to be coming from the trunk/subwoofer area. This rattle is only slightly annoying as it only happens on rougher roads. The second problem I have identified has started out as a shutter near the driver’s window, around the A-Pillar area. I have found that problem to be caused from the driver window itself.. You can actually grab the window and move it up and down about 1 inch. It appears not to be seated/held onto the window mechanics. I feel somewhat lucky however that these are the only two problems I have encountered. (Other than the over inflated tires) Hopefully there will be no more surprises.. For 30k plus.. There shouldn’t be. Overall Im still very pleased with this car, even with those minor complaints its still a blast to drive.

 

MB45, I have that SAME rattle in my car. It's not a very loud rattle, but it's fast and only happens on the rougher roads. Have you had the dealer look at it yet? I looked all over the back seat, checked the trunk bumpers, etc, and have found nothing that could cause it. I get my first oil change in about 1K miles and will bring it up then.


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2002 Satin Silver TL-S w/Navi

 

Check the rubber mounts that support the exhaust system. Mine makes a noise that sounds like a rattle when I go over a bump. I am going to try to fix it later today.

 

TAG66-
No I haven’t had it checked out yet.. IM waiting ‘til my first oil change as well. (car has about 1500k) There are other threads posted here on this forum that have addressed this specific problem. Not sure though what the ultimate fix is/will be.

 

Yup ....i've got the same noise. as far as I can tell its the subwoofer or something in that area.

Has ANYONE made any progress in identifiying the source? It would help me a great deal when I take my car in later this week.




<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by 1000bpm on June 25, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

the paint job is crap, I too noticed the wierd clothlike material at the side of the seats, the seatbelt recepticles stick out (ugly!), some of the rubber seals near the coin holder are misaligned, the steering wheel enclosure is of horrible quality and misaligned, slight wind leak on driver side window. My car is only 2 months old and already squeaks, rattles and rolls like crazy. When I shut the door something in the front vibrates!

This may be the norm on a Chevy but it is unacceptable for Acura's reputation.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by thejavagod on June 25, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

I'm amazed that Acura has not improved the quality control on the TL over the last few years.

My '01 TL has some of the creaks and kinks that keep getting mentioned on here, and I would have thought the 2002 would be better.

I keep being reminded how much nicer my two Legends (91 & 94) were than the TL. What has changed? I don't know, but its a drag.

The Legend is a great car, but I guess one must step up to the RL and sacrifice performance to equal the quality of the Legend.

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2001 TL Silver w/ Black Leather
CL-S Wheels
Alpine CD Changer
Burlwood Shift Knob
25% Tint, 35% In Front
Thomas Guide for So Cal

 

Thanks for all the input on the fit/finish. This is my first Acura. No squeaks or rattles yet. Even though I'm a little disappointed, everything so far has been minor. This is still a great car. It gets a lot of attention when I drive around town.

 

I guess I must be lucky. I've had my TL-S since March and it's squeak, rattle, and problem free.

 

I have serious issues w/ the quality of this car. I don't know if it's the "made in USA vs made in Japan" issue -- I had a 90 Integra GS that was VERY poorly made also and that was made in Japan. So far, my TL-S that I've had 2 months has the following problems:

1) Water leak coming in from behind the dash on driver's side
2) EXTREMELY squeaky sunroof (same as 98 Accord EX V6 I had)
3) Passenger's seat squeaks
4) Very poor paint job -- lots of bubbles and pimple like blemishes
5) AC make intermittent hissing noise loud enough to be heard while driving on highway
6) Several minor fit and finish problems
7) And the topper -- VSA and Check Engine warning lights both came on while in NYC (I'm from VA) this weekend. Engine would randomly rev and transmission would shift for absolutely no reason. Fortunately I was near Park Ave Acura and they were able to check it out. I seems I need a new speed sensor. Don't know yet, but this could be related to water leak causing a malfunction in electronics.


Any way you stack it, that's way too many problems for a new car. I would think maybe I just got the bad apple of the bunch, but it seems these are all common problems.

 

Personally, I feel that ACURA's quality control, fit and finish, and overall care in manufacturing have continued to erode. I am on my third Acura and each newer model is less finely crafted than my previous Acura.

My next ride will probably NOT be an Acura product. Let them aggravate someone else for a change.

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'02 Acura TL-S
Satin Silver/Ebony, w/out NAV