Well, after weeks of reading about the TL-S in this forum and test driving I made the decision to buy one for myself.

Thanks to the SoCal post about getting a good deal, my wife and I decided to send email to all the local dealers to see who would give us a good deal. It worked decently and got the WDP no nav TL-S.

When we took delivery of the vehicle I made sure that in my excitement to check over the vehicle for any flaws. Immediately I noticed the driver side door would not close flush (similar to the posting in <A HREF=http://www.acura-tl.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/000895.html> this thread</A>). I mentioned it immediately to the salesman. He told me that it was for noise reduction (full of crap) and finally admitted that we could have it fixed 'no problem'. My first mistake was driving the car off the lot that day.

Since then I noticed that they actually missed painting part of the bumper. You can see a 3 inch long pice of primer on the rear bumper (albeit a very small piece). I also noticed the tailpipes were mis-aligned (as mentioned in <a HREF=http://www.acura-tl.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/000556.html>previous posts</A>).

None of these are heartbreakers since they should be easily corrected by my dealer right? Nope.

I sat in the dealer's witing area for 2 hours the other day (after they told me it would take 1hr) only to find I had been given a car wash and nothing was fixed. They told me that the tailpipes cold not be fixed and the door could not be fixed. They told me that I'd have to come back another time for them to fix the paint (a 4 day job). What a Pisser.

Finally, when I got into the car today I found that the fake wood trim to the left of the gearshift console has let go and had a 1/4 inch gap showing.

I called my ever so polite salesman up today to hear him say once again that these items (door and tailpipe) could not be fixed but to come in again for the paint and wood trim.

They will fix my problems when I'm through.

My moral of this longwinded story is to advise that you take a long look at the fit and finish of your car before you buy - don't make the mistake I did and believe my salesman that they will fix these seemingly minor things.



<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by CupCrazy on May 05, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

That sucks, sorry.

I'm here to tell you that dealers vary widely in their levels of helpfulness and competency, though. You may wantto take it somewhere else and get it done right.

I hate the shop where I bought my car (David McDavid Acura of Plano, TX - suburb of Dallas), but the dealer I went to in Irving, TX right outside of downtown was better by a wide margin on all counts.

I used to have the door fit problem, and they fixed it in like 15 minutes. They're going to resurface my rotors under warranty this Monday, and give me a loaner.

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'01 White Diamond Pearl 3.2TL
-Wing, tint, wood and Whistler

 

That BUMS me!!
My dealership has been cool.. They have filled my car up 3x with gas and are giving me the factory painted wing for $400 not installed.. I payed 31,500 w/o nav and would not even go through 1/2 the shit I read on this board to save $750/1500, you can not put a price on service and pride!! They give me hats,cups,chrome plate holder, Acura rubber mats and they basically kiss my ass everytime I have been there... it is truly priceless.. if I were you I would contact the local Better Business Bureau and write a letter to the General Manager of the McDavid Corp. I hate to hear this and hope you are able to get some satisfactcion...

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RHINO928

 

Call Acura's 800 customer service # and complain like hell. That dealer is pathetic and Acura needs to hear about them. They have to fix everything that is wrong.

 

They made $4000-$5000 off of you. They should come to your house and wipe your A**! Actually, the level of service you get should not depend on the deal you got.

 

DITTO!!

Call the CS Line and file a complaint. Then ask for the name of the District Service Manager. You'll most likely have to leave a voicemail, but this is the way to get the attention you paid for.

 

Everyone is right -- you really should take this a couple notches up -- call the Acura Reps and ***** about it --

When my Isuzu Rodeo (and Isuzu, people) had warranty issues -- I called up Isuzu right away, and within hours a Rep called back, having already called two dealers near me, ready for them to receive my vehicle to repair the problem!! Never ever never give up your right to complain.

 

CupCrazy-please check your private messages.
Thanks

 

Sorry to hear you had this sort of experience. What can you do?

1. Complain. If that doesn't work,

2. Complain louder. Still not right?

3. COMPLAIN longer. Not fixed?

4. Complain more often. Still unhappy?

Repeat above cycle with everyone you can, from the sales person, to the sales manager, the service manager , the GM, the dealership owner, Acura corporate, etc.

Demand satisfaction!!

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by 8ball on May 05, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I spoke with the GM of the dealership today and am working on a solution. We'll see where that leads.

This is day 10 of the car and I've spent more time hassling with them than any other dealer I've bought from.

 

My car has been perfect, other than a minor adjustment needed for the rear decklid.

The muffler can be adjusted - just by bending the support hangers - so can the door - any good body shop can do it!

Your dealer is crap - I would also speak directly with the Service Manager or General Manager, and barring that, contact Acura directly.

My dealer has always been excellent, much better than the BMW dealer next door.

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Rage On!
2002 TL-S w. Comptech header/exhaust
SSR Integral A2's
17x7 45mm offset
Pirelli P7000 (Summer) 215-50/17

 

We all need to remember that our cars are made in the U.S.A. now, Marysville, Ohio to be exact. Trust me, I used to live 25 minutes from Marysville (in a town called Bellefontaine, Ohio) and I'm sure some my pot-smoking buddies were assembling a few of the cars that went down the pipe! I have a few minor gripes: like the center console latch keeps popping up (made very cheesy) and the center part of the steering wheel is not centered (there's a 1/4" gap on the right side), the driver's door rubber seals are practically hanging off, but other than that no MAJOR defects like uneven tailpipes, misaligned doors, or unpainted bumpers. I received my questionnaire from Acura about a week ago but will not fill it out until I get all of these things taken care of. Dealerships really value those surveys and so does the corporate office. I really think in a hurry to get these cars out to the buying public, some quality control apparently suffered. Thank goodness for the bumper-to-bumper warranty - - they have to fix it if it's not right.

 

Make sure when you survey comes in fill out the unsatisfactory circle all the way down, front and back. Acura really values the feed back and you may even receive a call from the headquarters like I did. Except for my dealer is awesome, sorry to hear about your experience!

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Those who know, don't talk.