tdoh

I've felt a slight thump whenever I let up on the gas pedal while in gear, almost as if the transmission isn't smoothly downshifting as the vehicle slows down--it does downshift when you let up on the gas as well as when you mash on it to force a downshift, doesn't it? Or does it just stay in whatever gear you're in until you come to a stop?

Anyways, sorry to digress a bit--can someone out there try this and see if you get the same thump? Just accelerate to 60 mph or so, then gently let up on the gas pedal--did you feel a very slight thump, as if the tranny wasn't downshifting smoothly? The thump almost feels like excessive driveline play, for lack of a better description; again, the "thump" is more felt than heard, as it is subtle to begin with.

In any case, I'm sure people will just tell me to have the dealer look at it under warranty; that's swell and all but as many people have found out when it comes to having not-as-noticeable problems diagnosed/fixed under warranty, they're usually either told that the mechanic couldn't see/hear/find the problem or that the problem is *normal*; hence my post for info that can be of good use to me if/when I have the dealer address my issue.

Thanks!
Tony

P.S.: On a side note, how many people have faith in their dealer's service department in that if a service tech, while performing routine maintenance on one part of a vehicle, found something wrong with another part (e.g., doing an oil change and found a very small tranny/valve cover leak) but failed to report or address the issue with you, ostensibly because they were possibly trying to avoid repairing it under warranty?

Yes, this is somewhat a harsh thing to say but quite frankly, I can see something like this happening where some problem was discovered at 49900 miles/4 yrs. 360 days, and then nothing said until some next service interval well past the warranty period. Needless to say, it is a big difference since it basically comes down to either the dealer or you paying for the repairs.

TL4Mo

Does the dealership really pay for warranty items? Or does the dealership maybe really charge something back to Acura? Reason I ask is that if the dealer themselves absorbed the cost totally, then it doesn't seem like each dealership would work on any other cars not purchased at their place. For example, I bought my Type S in S.A. but live in Houston. So, so far I've taken it to a Houston dealership for an oil change and 2 recall items.......if they absorbed all the cost, would they be willing to work on my car?

CO-TLS

As far as i know, the dealership should send the defective part back to acura. Then acura should re-imburse the dealership. If this isnt how it works, i cant contemplate why different dealerships would do work on the same car. I bought my TL-S in colorado springs, and the salesman told me that i can have it serviced at any Honda/Acura dealership. This is a good thing since i live in Greeley and there is no acura dealership within an hours drive. Again, im no expert, but i assume this is how it works

p.s. was anyone else told the same thing about having their car serviced at any honda/acura dealership?

coffeefingers

Dude,

Yeah...you can get your Acura serviced at ANY Acura or Honda dealership in the country you bought it in...for sure. I'm not sure about a Canadian ride getting serviced in America...but I don't see how that's a big deal.

If a dealer repairs an item under warranty...Acura will reimburse the dealer for labor and parts.

BLEXV6

There is no way the dealer would pay for warranty work, that is Acura pays for the parts, and the dealer performs the labour @ warranty rates, which is substantially less than they would charge you.

To give you an example, when my Honda tranny went, when it was out of warranty, I was quoted $4000 CDN to replace. After some significant whining to the dealer and Honda, the dealer and Honda agreed to pay 40 % of the job based on warranty rates. My final cost was $1500 CDN.

Can you say gouge. For this reason, the dealers prefer not to do warranty work as they do not make as much, which may explain why they always say "your car runs fine", even though it needs warranty work.

pianoman41

There is one big distinction: you can get *routine* maintenence for your Acura at any Acura or Honda dealer and it will not void your warranty. You can get *repair* service (you pay for the repairs) at any Acura or Honda dealer and the parts/service will not void your warranty. However, if you want to get *warranty* service (such as sunroof squeak fixed or dead radio, etc) for your Acura, you MUST go to an Acura dealer. I believe it has something to do with the way the companies are financially structured; Honda can't bill Acura for warranty service. I had two separate Acura service managers tell me this.

jtdragon

How about getting your Acura serviced routinely at another auto repair shop (a reliable one, of course), and whenever they bring up issues regarding your vehicle (since they will be in it to make repairs, so they won't be as hesitant to point problems out), you can have the Acura dealership check out specific things (especially now that you've gotten a second opinion--it would be hard for them to deny you warranty service on that)?

tdoh

Okay...now that the warranty issue has been tossed back and forth, how about someone out there addressing the first part of my initial post...

Surely one of you TL-S owners can report back yea or nay--I mean, there must be at least one of you who drove his/her TL-S yesterday, no? Or are they all at the dealer getting warranty work??? j/k about the last part...

Tony

hooked2TL

As for Canadian cars being serviced in US and vice versa, i believe I read somewhere that Acura will not want you to do that on warranty type work, unless you moved to the country with your car bought in the other country. It's not a problem to pay for service in either country with your "foreign" car, but they may not honor warranty type work. Warranties are different, price structures different, etc. Makers discourages people from going to one country to buy stuff, even though they could be exactly the same, and they price it out to discourage people from doing this, or telling you the warranty may not honored somehow.

It's a bunch of bs really....

evolaerok

After driving quick and hitting 60 then letting off the gas does to my car too. I hope it's not bad?!?!? Hey CO-TLS who did you buy from? My buddies Frank, Travis, and Cornell are cool......if you bought from them I know you got a good deal.........

HU

I have a 2000 TL and it happens once in a while but at much slower speeds. It seems like it can't find the right gear or something. There is a slight hesitation. Let me know if you find out anything from your dealer.

ynick79y

all of this happened to me, right before i tranny went dead, and was replaced.

tdoh

In a weird sort of way, I hope that my tranny problem gets worse while under warranty so that it will become so obvious for the dealer to not notice.

On a different but sorta related note: I know that when you press down hard on the gas pedal while in top gear the tranny should downshift (depending on speed and if you are not in SS mode, of course); however, I've noticed on my car that if I press the gas pedal slightly (maybe 1/4 pedal travel; again, while in D5 doing freeway speeds) but in a smooth, quick motion, the revs will momentarily (less than a second) jump up about 500 RPM or so before dropping back to where it was just a moment ago. It's almost as if something in the tranny was slipping (like a slipping clutch); anyone else here notice it too or see if they can duplicate what I just described?

Again--yes, I can have the dealer look at it but I want to know whether or not what I've just described is normal, because we all know that the service manager will almost always tell you that either he doesn't notice it or that it's normal whenever you detail a problem while under warranty...

Thanks,

Tony