How are you guys.
I have a very serious question to ask you guys for overall quality for Acura ( All Models, include Honda) compare to others.

Yesterday, I got my 2002 TL-S back from dealer for installed new tranny (only at 22,500 miles, my wife drives). Then I found that Driver Side Windows switch is not working properly in this morning. Also, new tranny is very hard to change gears. I heard a couple rattling too. I am pretty disappointed. As I am a middle of purchasing MDX. I am curious that what if MDX has same problems. Then I do not want to buy it for $45000.
Additionally, I have a 2001 Honda Accord EX-6V too. I have a couple of problems that cannot be fixed by local Honda dealers.

I am sure Honda is a great car company. But there are better car company out there too. I am selling 1998 Mazda Millenia S to Carmax today for $8700. I have been having her for more than a 5 years now. I had only one problem that covered by Engine warranty (under 80000 Mile or 8 years) at last week. It was a great car.

What you guys experiences for your Acura? What your opinions?


thanks

 

I'd say on electrical and mechanical, they're build quality is second only to lexus. Your experience seems to be an anomaly (aside from the tranny).

Now, build quality also means fit and finish. I don't think Acura holds up as well as, say, Mercedes in terms of the solidness, rattles, rust, etc. But unless you plan to drive it for 15 years, who cares!

Acura has stepped up to the plate with a 7 yr tranny warranty.

This is the sign of a great company.

 

i think that the overall quality is up there with the best. it beats MB, and BMW. the only 1 that can beat it is lexus, and they have there share of rattles and fixes to. no car company is perfect.

 

I had my tranny replaced at round same mileages as you, and I noticed the hard gear changes too. But that went away after driving 5 to 600 miles, I think it just needed to get break-in just like the brand new car. The other thing I had made complaint was the rattling of the sun roof, after it was fixed it hasn't made single noise since then. The last thing was the CD player, I had to get it replaced since the CD's got stuck inside. Overall I'm satisfied with my TLS.

 

Interesting Question, I would have to say that based on my experience with the 99 3.2TL I currently own I would not purchase another Acura.
I've owned a few Honda products and this TL is not even close to what I expect form this company.
Way too many small and large problems. AC, Tranny, Seat Heaters, Trim, Body/paint Perforation.. the list goes on . The tranny issues have been around in most Honda V6's since the Legend! You would think that a company concerned with product quality would have addressed the damn issue long ago?
These guys comparing Acura to MB and BMW are out of thir minds!
Spend your money wisely and buy a Toyota/Lexus, I know I will.
Cheers

 

Overall, I am satisfied with my car (an 00 TL). I must admit that I was concerned about quality issues later on (I had a failed transmission as well- only one), but the dealer has been very good about investigating if any of my repairs were under warranty (including those after 50K miles). I haven't had to lay out a dime for this car except for routine maintenance items and a set of tires (at 50K miles). It performs well, is comfortable, and still looks very good. My overall response is that I would buy another Acura.
-The new TL looks great, but I would probably wait for the next 1-2 model years to see if they have any bugs that need to be worked out.

 

My old Toyotas (all of them: 4x4 (2); Corolla; Celica; Camry and 4Runner) were all better built cars than the Acura. MB has better fit and finish, though electrically and mechanically I agree that Acura is better there as well. I find it better than BMW, Mazda and Infinity...

Lexus is no comparison at all...

 

This is my first and last Honda product.

I am very disappointed with the tranny issue on the TLS. As this is a $30K vehicle, and a Honda (supposedly a good quality/reliable car company), such a major issue should not occur. It's good that Honda extended the warranty, but it's more of a safety issue here. If you or your wife was going 75 mph on the freeway, and the tranny dropped out on you, you would definitely have my same sentiments. Honda should have owned up and had a recall on ALL trannies and gave new ones, not replace them with rebuilt trannies upon failure.

You'll notice that many people on this forum are on their THIRD tranny, and some even on their 4th. Why take the risk?

Don't forget the MDX also has a timing belt tensioner recall to start you off with, if you get one. If I were you, I'd definitely get the RX330 or the FX35. By the way, I think all Infinitis have a timing chain.

Hope this helps.

 

I have a 99 and have had the standard problems - burned cds not playing in the head unit, brake rotors warping due to acura's pads, and the trim on the outside. These problems alone don't seem too bad since every car you get is going to have some issues, however acura's customer service has been so bad that I would definitely choose lexus over acura.

 

lexus isnt every thing there cracked up to be. my friend has had 2 of them both LS400, 430 and he has had more rattles than i have. hes suspension was worn out after 50k replaced 2 starters at 800$ to replace on the ls400, and its already going on the ls430. they cant seem to track down some of the rattles either. and as far as toyota quality, if there so good how come instead of owning up to the engine problem they had like 2 years ago they pawned it off on the user of the car instead of fixing it for them? instead they send them all a letter telling them to change there oil on time?
my acura service has been 2nd to none!

 

Strange comments about the Lexus-my neighbor has an LS430, and he is constantly annoyed with the rattles galore that the dealer cannot locate.

Again, shows that even Lexus is not perfect.

I think the TL is a good overall vehicle, tranny issue aside.

 

especially for the price!

 

I think Acuras quality control has slipped some in recent years, but is still very good over all.

 

My family has owned only Honda products since 1999. We had American Cars before then (1995 Pontiac Grand Am, and 1981 Oldsmobile Toronado). Though, I was throughly disappointed with my Honda Accord, my sisters have not had many problems with theirs. My TL has only had warped rotors which I bought back to the dealer and they gave me great service. Overall, I never had a bad experience with Honda/Acura service. They have been very nice and respectful to me and my family. I think when it came to cars I'll stick with Honda. NO car company is perfect and all of them will have their customer greviances. I don't know everyone is entitled to their own opinion and mine is in favor of Honda/Acura.

 

Go to Roadfly.com to read the BMW message boards, especially the E38 board (740, 750). You will be very happy to have an Acura. At least Acura stands behind their product and doesn't act like they are doing you a favor by allowing you to drive their vehicle. Take the noisy sunroof problem for example. Acura fixes it without blinking. BMW will tell you "They all sound like that." and send you on your way to learn to live with the problem. I haven't had my 2003 TL-S long enough to have any problems yet, but its nice to know the problems will get fixed if they pop up.

 

My 2003 Acura TL-S is the worst car I have ever owned. I had a Lexus, and it was far better. Their quality and reliability is poor. The car rattles worse than any other I have driven (including several Cadillacs), and the seemingly unsolvable issues with the transmissions are not only totally unacceptable, but frankly make the car unsafe.

If you can avoid getting into this mess, do so. I wish I had known before I leased this car what I know now.

My first Acura. My last.

ME

 

Sorry to hear you don't like your TL. I personally LOVE my TL-S and MDX. Both 2002's. My dad has a Lexus and although it is quiet and has all the auto everything, I can't get comfortable driving that car. I like to feel the road, I like to go when I want and to just drive. I can't do that in his lexus. I almost feel like the car is driving me as opposed to me driving the car. As for your decision on the MDX, I love mine! I had a few little things wrong, but nothing Acura didn't fix the first week. If I had a choice...I'd definitely get another Acura. The only other cars I would get is the E500 and 5 series...but that's a totally different class.

 

My '02 TL-S was my second Honda product. I also owned a 99 Accord V-6 Coupe. Nice enough vehicles, but Honda needs to change tranny suppliers. In any case, I will never consider another Honda product again after 2 trannies in the TL-S. The Accord had tranny issues too, but the dealer couldn't duplicate, and I didn't keep it long enough to worry about it any more. My opinion is that Honda represents false value. Sure, you can fit all the 'options' into a nice little package and offer it at a lower price than your competitors, but if you have prevalent major component failures, then where is the value? Your real competitors are actually Hyundai and Kia then because what they do is load their car with all the options and charge less than their competitors....hmmm.

The other reason for my not ever going back to Honda was the way Honda America handled the problem with my TL-S. I was in that first wave of folks here who had the tranny problems and Honda America blamed the failed tranny on me. The SE US Honda America Rep was condescending and rude; customer service is not his forte. I hope the SOB reads this forum (as he said he did) because I am proud to say I have talked 6 people out of an Acura in the last 2 years. Not many...but if they passed my information on, hopefully it exponentially multiplied.

 

Well said, I couldn't have said it better myself.

Your evaluation is bang on, I used the same analogy when dealing with Honda Canada but used GM instead.

My experience with the Factory Rep, Dealer and a Customer Service Rep was brutal. It was a freakin joke. Like I said to the goofs I was dealing with.. "I could have purchased a GM for 1/2 the cash and got the same product quality"

I hope the Dealer, Factory Rep's and Customer Service Rep's drop by this web site. I quoted this Site in my letters to them & that they should drop in and read whats being written.

Their Losing long time customers like me faster than their gaining others. I haven't owned a vehicle other than a Honda since 1995!!
Toyota is ahead in sales (in Canada.. not sure about the USA) and I dont think we'll see a change anytime soon!

 

I agree. Customer Service is a joke. My dealer (Northeast Acura) has tried to do their best, but the problem is Acura's, not theirs. And when I've talked to Acura, they are long on promises and "wanting to help," but quite lacking in actually doing anything to fix the problem or make me feel better about my decision to buy an Acura.

Not again.

 

dont buy an MDX waste of money, the tranny goes quicker than the TL, buy a pilot but if u want lux. get an american made one(i hate 2 say that so mcuh) but they are looking nice. i got myself a 4rinner limited its nice. the MDX was 3rd on the list, 2nd was the pilot. i still ogts da TL

 

There is NO recall or problems with the MDX's tranny, where did you get that info from? Sorry, but I gotta defend my MDX! I have an '02 and I think it's one of the best cars I've ever bought, including the Lexus RX300 and my '98 4-Runner! Granted the newer models have more power and more power is always good, but I think the overall quality, ride and comfort is awesome!
But then again, it's my own opinion.

 

I'm happy with the overall quality but the squeaks/rattles really do annoy me.

On the topic of Lexus's: my buddy has a '99 LS400 and it's ridiculously quiet. Not a single squeak or rattle. The only present noise came from the winter tires.

 

Ok, here are my 2 cents on this: All experienced on new cars.

I had a '94 VW Jetta Limited Edition and for sure my last on those, the car spent more time at the dealer than in my possession. When I traded in, the car already had a '96 engine wiring harness, lemon or not one car like that is all it takes for a customer to run away from the company, specially if the service was as bad as mine. Let's not forget one detail here, the car was built in Mexico.

My next car and so far the best in overall quality was a '96 Nissan Maxima, what a car that was, 190hp (w/o mods ) 5 speed manual, and for almost 8 yrs and 86000 miles, little or no rattles (yes the sunroof was rattle free, no noise from the seats and no tranny or clutch problems). Again, the car was pure Japan made, assembled and everything. But it was time for a new car.

Enter the '03 Acura TLS. More luxury, better handling, more power, definitely a long happy highway cruiser but........enter the sunroof rattles, driver's seat noise and a darn flickering of the HIDs that is getting on my nerves and yes and I quote "we can't duplicate" excuses from the dealer and "I'm talking to the Tech Rep". Did I mentioned that the car is made right here in the good old USA.

Can we follow the trend here, as much as we try, we still can't put together a car like they do in Japan and that's a shame. My 2 cents.

 

All right, What made Honda motors famous here in the US? They made great reliable small cars, and they still do. But when you move into the preformance lux market you have to be willing to accept some loss in reliability across the board of manufacturers.

 

Sigh, Lexus has not only been the most reliable for the last 12 years, but their 5 year old cars for the past 3 years (since the survey was invented) are the most reliable. In fact, the new Lexus is close to Infiniti but after 5 years, Lexus is way ahead of everyone else.

Sorry to hear of your friends problems but they are few and far between. And if he went in for service, Lexus has #1 customer satisfaction.

 

WOW:wow: , I said their quality has slipped a little in recent years (I've owned/leased one for the last 10 years), but I've never felt that way about them. They had more attention to detail and better quality control when they were assembled in Japan. However, I think you must have gotten the runt of the litter to feel so strongly against ever owning/leasing one again.

May I suggest that when you lease is up in 2006 that you still look at what they are offering at the time? My new 04 TL is great, and I suspect it will be even better by the time you consider leasing again.

Good Luck

 

My 2001 TL has given me no problems at all . . . other than the transmission that went out. Sure it's warrantied, and sure they fixed it quick and without hassle. It's the fact that it downshifted on my wife in traffic that stopped us from even looking at the MDX and the Pilot when we were in the market for an SUV. (We wound up getting a Highlander.)

If I were to get a new TL, I'd only get it in 6 speed. I would not trust any V6-Auto Honda/Acura until they come out with a brand new transmission, and even then, I'd wait a few years to see how it does before I'd buy it.

 

plain and simple if the tl wasnt that good of a car or had that many problems, it wouldnt continue to be the best selling acura out there

 

This is my 4th Honda. Had an 87 Accord then an 89 Accord (great cars, both Japan-made). Never gave me problems except that the body was rusted out due to road salt corrosion. My next one was a 2000 Acura 1.6 EL (Canadian made). Great car. Very reliable and fit and finish was not bad. (Shouldn't have traded this car in.) Then came the 03 TL-S. Fit and finish was obviously poor. Rotors had to be machined at 5,000 kms. But overall, my satisfaction with this car is very good. My recent problems mostly had been satisfaction with my service dealer wherein lies most of my frustrations. I guess it's time to look for another one. No tranny problems yet, so far so good.

 

note the sig.

amen.