Figured was bound to happen with all the cases i hear about.

So I have a 103 miles on 2000 Acura TL. Brought to mechanic who said might be Coil, I was thinking probably not and yep its the transmission as expected especially the way it was driven before i got there, if the car jerked any harder i would have done a flip on Storrow Drive.

So my mechanic tells me it should be under warranty for 112 mi. and to call Acura Boston, which I do, but they tell me its only for certain models based on VIN. Mine was good for 109 mi. or 7 years and 9 months from when put on road. I'm over by 1 year, the original owner bought it in Feb of 2000. So here i am stuck might having to pay 5k for new tranny. But it don't feel right, Acura still knew it was going to go, and im only over by 1 year.

I'm going to call American Honda and hope for an exception! anybody got any tips or advice on making a case for myself and getting an exception so that I will be covered?

 

See the Tranny Failure thread for tips on requesting goodwill coverage:

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-problems-fixes-117/tranny-failure-thread-566833/

Read the last 10 or so pages and pay particular attention to the posts made by forum member 01tl4tl.

There's no guarantee that you'll get any help but how you go about requesting it can sometimes make a difference.

Good luck.

 

Wow. almost a month later I finally have an update on my bad tranny, it took Acura that long to do and fix. So I brought in my car shortly after this post and spoke with the Head guy as suggested in the long acura post and gave them the story of Love Acura, Expect reliability, been loyal, always rave about only having to do breaks and oil. And would expect the same service in return with quality and service. It helped as well that I always brought my car to the dealership as well for other fixes so i guess that proves that i'm loyal.
Told him i saw on Acurazine and heard about goodwill cases, and he said he would see what he could do. In the meantime he gave me a loaner 2009 TSX with the video in the back so when you reverse u can see where your going, what a cool feature. 2 weeks later they get back to me and tell me that they will cover it under warranty but not free but at warranty price, but they are not sure how much is going to cost, so i said ok! They ordered it and replaced tranny which took about another week and a half.
Overall, have had this awesome loaner for more then 3 weeks and loving it. But now to reality I got a call from them today and they told me it would cost 2,300.00 which includes about 500 in additional maintenance not related and still is much cheaper then 6k which i was told when i first called before the whole good will thing.

One complaint though and question is with the tranny they replaced my ECU computer again which is costing me 700.00, but they replaced it about a year ago before the tranny went, i told them that they replaced it a year ago when I made my good will case which i mentioned because i figured it would save them money when replacing my tranny since i knew it goes together with replacing the tranny. Should I have to pay for this? being that they replaced it a wear ago which I paid for then. I'm thinking they should have noted this and only sent the tranny and not the ecu.

What do you think guys?

 

they shouldnt have done anything with the ecu. dont pay for it bc your ecu was good.

 

In the USA
shops must give you a written estimate and get oral approval from you for any increase in that price due to extra repairs needed-
then they must document ON the work order who and when they talked to, the new amount, and get your initials on the invoice acknowledging the increase.
If not- you dont owe anything over the original estimate- which all they said was warranty price?? not a hint of cost???
Normally its 4 hours labor to remove and replace the trans-
I thought the replacement trans were coming with the ecu, or it was only $150 for a new one to another ziner recently with their trans

What other work did they do? front motor mount is common failure
Did they sell you the 3/36 warranty for $300?

 

you may have said it was a new ecu - but no one wrote that down on the invoice
Take the paperwork from last time and speak in person with the service manager

IMO $2300 is still a good deal overall, and you cant bitch about a car that goes 100k on a trans, and the rest of it is running strong (note it needs the 105 service)
many other cars fail even sooner- with no warranty!
Its making those aftermarket warranty policies popular,,, with trans costing 4 grand on any newer hi tech car

 

All I got for documentation is the same day I brought it in when I made my case. But all they gave me was a inspection charge of $ 112.00 which they told me was going to be waved if the tranny was going to be coverd under warranty, which i suppose it is at this point. I signed that document.

I did talk to them once or twice inbetween, but they never had anything definate in price, even when the tranny came in it was always somewhere around $ 1,500 or so never a definate price, just it will be ready sometime next week.
My thoughts as well where that it came with the ECU and I would not be charged extra for it, but I am being charged $700.00, well in this case twice since I paid for it before about a year ago not related to tranny.

Your right the other things they did where Front Mount for $ 250.00 and Lower ball joint for 200.00 and maybe sway bar for 180 not sure though, will double check. No mention of 3/36 warranty either.

So 2,300.00 is total cost so my breakdown is $ 1,100.00 for tran, 700 for ecu, and 500 for mount and ball joint.

Note I have not picked up car yet, they just called me today with actually price, but honestly I thought it was going to be lower, I think its the whole ecu thing that jacking up the price. So I will probally go down Monday and g so I can talk to my service guy.

It feels good getting a discount from 6k, but 2,300 is still allot and this ECU thing just dosn't seem right.

 

so since u just signed the $112 paper thats all u have to pay, unless you agreed over the phone the price.

 

So since I did not get an written estimate as to how much it was going to cost thats it?
So how does it usally work then since they had to check with corporate first anyways if they where going to cover it under warranty? once they heard back from corporate they should have had me come in and sign a written estimate?
I mean he did call and let me know it was going to cost around 1500 and asked me if it was a go ahead and I was like yes, but he was still very iffy still and no definate answer as to actual cost.

Interesting thats all, feel like this might not be easy one. But dont want to be a sucker and just pay for something I dont have especially if its my right and the law that they where supposed to disclose.

 

theirs a big difference between 1500 and 2300. google what 01tl4tl said and print it out, then when they say that u owe 2300 ask to see the manager and say that u didnt sign the paper saying you were agreed to what it says and if he try bs u pull the papers that u printed out.

 

this is what I got from the mass.gov site about auto repair

Right to a written estimate before the repairs are made...
Before beginning any work, a repair shop must give you a written estimate listing the specific repairs to be made. The estimate must list the specific parts, labor, and cost of the repairs, unless the charges are posted where they may readily be seen. This written estimate must be signed by you. 940 CMR 5.05 (3)

The repair shop does not need to provide you with this written estimate if:

they are unable to diagnose the specific problem when the vehicle is delivered to the repair shop, and they obtain your authorization for needed repairs after determining the required work; or

I dont know what to do i'm confused. geeez i'm somewhat coverd. Sorry for beating this down. I just like to be 100 percent knowledable going into situations like this

 

Although I might have something here in Bold

(3) It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a repair shop to charge a customer for any repairs on a customer's motor vehicle unless either:

(c) If the repair shop is unable to obtain written authorization from the customer to perform specific repairs (as when the specific repairs to be performed on the vehicle are not known at the time the vehicle is delivered to the repair shop), the repair shop notifies the customer, prior to commencing any repairs, of the specific repairs to be performed on the vehicle and the total price to be charged the customer for such repairs, including parts and labor, and obtains the customer's authorization to perform such repairs; or

which they did not!!

 

I was a service writer- I know the LAW

The OP agreed to $1500 with partial warranty coverage by phone- thats ok as I said earlier- you do have to initial on the invoice that says they did call, and you did agree to price xx increase--you sign that when you pick up the car

1500 was for the transmission- thats good deal

Did they contact you about the front mount- that should only cost 120 for the part and 30 dollars labor to install with the trans removed, because it only takes 15 minutes then,
should be about $150
they charged full labor price on that--ooops sorry sir- computer error!
it automatically puts in the regular price with trans installed

Did they say anything about the suspension part in the phone calls- that they would be able to give a definite price on at the time, and need your approval

If you did not authorize the extra items found after inspection, it is not legal charge

Someone is trying to pull a fast one and you need to speak with the SERVICE MANAGER about the bill before you go in to get the car
They can recalculate and redo your bill to what was agreed.

Be kind and let the manager blame the stupid computer, no one double checked the printout...sorry for the trouble sir~

ASK about the warranty- any trans you partial pay on is eligible for $300 3/36 warranty

Acura corp needs to know when a dealer is screwing around and causing you to go online and spread their name- in a bad way!!!

 

If in the end you are satisified, send a letter to acura dealership and to acura corp
Name specific persons who were good or bad in the case

Acura usually includes a survey with the receipt
Anything less than perfect 10s is a failing grade- the cards are read and info put in a system-good remarks=pay bonus
bad remarks- remedial education or no bonus or maybe goodbye if the same person gets compaints over and over

Acura also does phone and email survey if you want to participate
Remarks are routed to the manager, and get you extra good service when you drop by needing something.
I dont know what the note in my file says after a good letter to corp, but as soon as they punch up my car its- Yes Sir, What can we do for you!!!

 

you need the new ECU otherwise your're going to have the same problem all over again. The new ECU retards timing during 2-3 shift and alters the shift points and feel among others.......

 

ok, learned something new today

 

But he said it was already replaced a year or so ago. If so it had the updated ECU. They shouldnt be charging him for it.

 

 

the P/N for the ECU that they put in my car in OCT was newer than the one listed in the trans failure thread so they may have installed a newer update......

 

If they still have it, you might want to keep the one they pulled as a spare.