My post 2/05 replacement tranny broke this April, after one month and about 1,000 miles of mostly highway driving (so most of the time it was cruizing in 5th gear). It was essentially babied for that 1,000 miles, and the one time I nailed it to pull out into traffic the tranny dropped. I had that replacement tranny replaced, and I'm currently on the 3rd tranny. It seems to be running fine at the moment, but I plain don't trust the car and I sure wouldn't trust ANY of these replacement transmissions. I'm going to dump it ASAP. No more Honda products for me after this!

 

Sorry to read of your transmision problems. Did you ever find out what exactly failed in the replacement transmission? Perhaps it was an installation problem?

Bob

 

Hey everybody,

I've got a 2003 TL Type S with 45,000 miles on it. It's on it's THIRD tranny and it's in the Acura shop as we speak. I still like my car, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. And here's the kicker . . . My husband and I are going on vacation (a 3000 mile round trip vacation to a family reunion) starting this friday. Just learned today that if they have to replace the tranny again that I'll just be up the creek about transportation out of state . . . since any loaner car they would be giving me while my tranny is replaced (again) can't be taken out of state! I can't change my vacation plans, so what can I do? Any ideas anybody? I had it in the shop a week and a half ago but they "didn't find the problem" but I've felt it and so has my husband when he has driven it; but it just doesn't happen all the time. I don't know whether I would rather take my car with the "iffy" tranny or hope they do find it and be stuck having to rent a car to drive. It's all becoming waaaaaaaaaay too famililiar though. Suggestions anyone?

 

Well first of all I didnt quite get the story. Is the car getting a tranny replacement or just maybe getting it replaced? If it is getting replaced ask Acura if instead of taking there loaner car if they can pay for a hertz rent a car instead.

 

The transmission is being replaced . . . probably. I've got a loaner (but it's a TSX, not a TL) and I'll probably know tomorrow whether or not they experienced the transmission problem. If they don't "find" the problem . . . which they ought to be real pros at by now . . . then I'll be driving my car on the 3000 mile trip with my fingers crossed that it doesn't leave me stranded in a distant city. If the do find the problem then it will be several days before they will have it replaced (that's what they did both previous times it broke down with the tranny problems). That will leave me driving my husband's 2 seater with no trunk for much too long of a trip . . . or our old truck (which I definitely don't want to do). Or else renting a car ourselves; so paying for a rental car will definitely come up if we have to go that route because I cannot reschedule the vacation. But if they say no, do I have a leg to stand on? Thanks for your reply.

 

Well I say talk to Acura and say instead of giving us a free loaner would you mind paying for a rental car. Tell them you really love the TL and hope one day to upgrade but dont want this to ruin your experience with Acura. I really think it depends on how much your dealer is willing to work with you since it verys from dealer to dealer. Maybe if it is your transmission it will be replaced in time? Ask them in it can be put on rush or something and again use the I really appericate and be as nice as possible.

 

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll probably do just that because I really do love the car. I also called the 800 # for Acura in California and explained the situation with them. The reason I did that is because I know they keep a record (they post it all by the VIN #) of any communications. They couldn't tell me for sure what would happen, but he suggested speaking with the General Manager if this situation does arrive. That's one more reason I wanted to have my phone conversation on record with Acura in CA. Again, thanks for listening to me and your reply.

 

I just bought an '03 TL yesterday. How do I know if mine is covered or not (if something goes wrong)? It has 43k miles right now.

 

Using the car's VIN number, you can register your car on Acura's Owner Link site and find out immediately if your car is covered by the extended warranty on the transmission. You can also call Acura with the VIN number and they can also tell you.

Bob

 

Do yourself a favor and bring the car back and don't ever purchase another Honda/Acura product.

 

Thanks Bob. Here is what the Owner Link says:

Your 2003 Acura is included in the 00-04 CL & TL A/T RECALL Campaign.

To view the press release regarding this recall, click here

Description 00-04 CL & TL A/T RECALL
Date 6/29/2004
Type Safety Recall Campaign
Status Fixed

Would I need to call client services for more specific info, like if I have the extended warranty?

 

That recall item is not related to the extended warranty on the transmission. (I think that's the "oil jet" recall.)

You should see the following under the "Recalls" page on Owner Link:

Description2000-03 TRANS WARRANTY EXT Date9/27/2002 TypeWarranty Extension Campaign StatusOpen

That's copied directly from my TL's Owner Link page.

If you don't see that, I would suspect that you don't have the extended warranty on the transmission. But call Acura directly to be sure. The 1-800 number has been posted previously on this forum.

Bob

 

my tl is getting towed to the shop tomorrow morning. the tranny started drinking atf last four months and 3 weeks ago the tranny died... now im stuck riding my gsxr in rain or shine :-(

they quoted me 2100-3600 and they are going to rebuild it and and offer me a 3 year warranty on it.

 

That stinks how many miles were on it? Maybe you can get an Acura goodwill replacement.

 

23k first rebuild now 68k and no acura goodwill replacement

 

Did you try calling Acura's national Customer Care group? Sometimes they can get involved and help with some or all of the cost of a replacement.

Bob

 

was on the phone with them i lost my temper after 2 hours of talking to 3 "managers" all they wanted to tell me is that the oil jets where replaced then the rebuild was done at acura and thats all they are going to do...

 

Does your car have a salvage title? If not, you might want to write a letter to Acura's corporate offices detailing your experience. If you have them, include the names of the people you spoke with. And you might want to reference some of the other "out-of warranty" good will repairs that have been reported on this forum.

Bob

 

to be honest i sick of acuras service lynwood acura was the only acura dealership that offered any help when my car was under warrenty.

the car has a clean title and they changed the airbags in the car and could not fix them (the srs lite was on i later found the passenger airbag unplugged.)

as far as the tranny im replacing out of pocket im looking close to 3k here and im getting rid of the pos.... i love the car to death but im sick of the tranny issue ill be looking for a 3g tl or waiting for the new body style if i dont find anything i want ill be looking in to the altima or g37

 

My transmission went out at 62,000 miles and was replaced for free I had harsh downshifting and it scared the shit out of me. New transmission with less than 3,000 miles on it, hopefully this one lasts me awhile

 

If you get the replaced through an Acura dealer it will have all of the latest design improvements. Acura may very well have corrected the major reliability issues with changes that were made in February of 2005.

So a replacement transmission might very well last a long time.

Bob

 

my fingers are crossed then again i cant really blaim the tranny i do drive my cars hard. but what still boggels my mind is that my audi 2.8 awd bought at 130k had same engine and same tranny i drove it like i stole it onlything i needed is an oil change and one new axel i sold it at 210k the 16 year old girl still drives it i see her around the city

 

So my car will be done Friday its a grand total of 3400 a complete rebuild and an external oil cooler
what they are saying most bearings clutch pack yadda yadda yadda. I looked at the parts 20 mins after the tech pulled it apart and showed me the parts most of them where heat burned changed colors from lack of oil being pushed threw. cool thing is i get a year unlimited milage warrenty. im fixing some scratches on the car and selling this shit what a loss this car is to me.......for the money its cost me i could of purchased an 05 even an 06 aspec tl with navi. i wanna bite my elbows

 

hey im new to acurazine,

i bought my 03 tl-s about a month ago used at an inifinity dealer, i checked my vin on owners link and i do get the extended warrenty not sure if the pervious owner had the car in for the recall yet or not but wondering if im still covered by the warrenty? just so if the tranny does get shot its only at 59500 miles tranny seems to be doing ok so far though

 

Welcome to Acurazine!

Recall items never expire and you can still have the oil jet recall done if it hasn't been taken care of already. I think that you should be able to tell if it's been done on the OwnerLink page. You can always call Acura directly with your VIN number and they can tell you. (If you can't find the toll free phone number, it's often posted on this forum.)

Bob

 

o thanks for the heads up thats good to know. i looked but couldntreally find it or itdidnt say if did or not. maybe ill just take it to the dealer and ask them when i get my 60k tune up

 

New 2003 Acura TL owner here, and I couldn't be happier. I was looking for an Accord of around the same year after finally burying my '92 and due to some cosmetic issues I can live with I actually got a TL for a better price. I registered for Owner's Link and under recalls I have the following notes-

Description 00-04 CL & TL A/T RECALL
Date 6/29/2004
Type Safety Recall Campaign
Status Fixed

Description 2000-03 TRANS WARRANTY EXT
Date 9/27/2002
Type Warranty Extension Campaign
Status Open

I just want to clarify. I assume the first one means it had the oil jet added or something in 2004, and the warranty extension says 100,000 miles when I click on it. Where is everyone getting 109,000 mi? I understand through searching that it came from a lawsuit, but is it implied without them updating the warranty information?

I have 90,000 miles and would like the peace of mind of being covered for another 20,000. Do I have it?

Thanks in advance.

 

Just thought I'd drop a post for the NoVA crowd:

Have 82k miles on my 03 TL-S when I started getting the standard signs of tranny failure (slow to hit reverse, slipping in 3rd), so I took it into Pohanka Acura a week ago Friday.

No questions -- just gave me a loaner and told me it would be ready the following Wednesday. And when I picked it up today (was done when promised, but I was on vaca), everything was good-to-go. And from the invoice, it looks like they gave me a new one instead of a reman'ed version.

Take it easy, and good luck to everyone who hasn't had as easy an experience.

 

Just had mine replaced, no charge. Mine's a 2003 with 49,000 miles. Gave me a nice 2008 TL loaner too! On the Owner Link, I don't see the special warranty listed, but apparently I had it.

 

Glad you had such a great experience. Did you purchase the car from Pohanka?

 

Yep -- they're not perfect, but they seem to get the job done when it matters . . .

 

Well it kind of sucks that my first post here is under this thread but here goes. I have a '02 TLP with 69,6xx miles on the clock and early last week I started to notice tranny failure symptoms. When I described the problem over the phone the service guy even commented that it was probably the transmission and that I was covered under warranty if this turned out to be the case. I made an appointment for Wednesday and, sure enough, I needed a replacement. They went ahead and ordered the replacement and scheduled me for yesterday (Thurs.) which was the earliest that they said they would be able do the work and provide me with a loaner ('07 TL ). I dropped the car off at 7:00 a.m. and it was ready to be picked up at 6:30 p.m.

I know that some of y'all have had some real horrible experiences so I was really glad that I didn't have to jump through any hoops and the whole experience was pretty painless (In fact this dealership has always treated me pretty well).

On a side note the service guy told me that they've had to replace "quite a few transmissions" lately and also about some idiot who managed to drown a new TL loaner

 

70k miles- yours went out right on schedule
No doubt as more 02s reach the magic number- the dealer does a lot of them!

 

First let me say what a great site this is. I have done a lot of research on here over the past two years, and I'm impressed by the wealth of info. Thanks everyone!

My tranny slipped today, enough that my wife must have red-lined the engine or at least considerably over-revved it to the point that the check engine light came on. It's been slipping for the past few months and I've been meaning to call the local Acura dealer, but I have been too busy. The car is 7 years old yesterday and has 75K and change on the odometer. I've owned it since it was new. I was planning on keeping it for four more years and then giving it to my kids as they become of driving age (a lot nicer car then I had when I was 16...), but now I'm considering getting the tranny replaced and selling it. I know I have some equity in the car, but I would like not having a car payment for at least two more years (we were considering a convertible for summer driving maybe in '09).

I called Park Acura (Akron/Canton Acura/Honda/Mazda dealer) and told them the symptoms they gave me the option of dropping it off this Wednesday and probably getting it back Friday evening with no loaner car, or waiting until next Tuesday (after Labor day weekend) and getting a loaner car. I chose to get it fixed this week.

The only question I have is how well are these replacement transmissions holding up? I've read the threads on the site and it seems that it is a mixed bag of results, some are have good luck with the remanufactured transmissions, but other not so much. Your feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Bubba

PS Is there a way to post a poll/survey for this tranny issue and collect the statistics/results?

 

The updated trans AFTER Feb of 05 have been holding up. all the ones before that that you have read havent had the updates.

Many have posted polls but they arent accurate results

 

fsttyms1,

Thanks. I thought that might be the case, and the service manager at Park Acura eluded to that, but I just wanted to be sure.

Thanks again,
Bubba

 

While many have had bad experiences, mine have been very good. I bought my '00 used in '04 with 77K. I immediately noticed a slight surging when driving slow in town and took it in - Zimbrick in Madison, WI. They treated me excellent, brand new TL for a loaner and put in a rebuilt tranny under warranty - I was very impressed. I had never been to a dealership like that before, as a matter of fact I have always avoided dealerships for service work. That replacement tranny went out at 163K - all those miles were trouble free - just had to do the timimg belt (got a new TL again for that work). Get this - at 163K they replaced the tranny again for lees than 1/2 price ($1200), another new loaner (RDX this time) and the warranty on this tranny is 36/36. For those of you slamming Acura - what other automaker would have done this? Perhaps another luxury line, but Ford, Chevy or Dodge would have laughed me out of the service dept at 163K. I will keep this until I break 200K and the current trans warranty is up, then will probably look for a used 3rd gen 6 speed.

Yes, Acura has some serious issues with that 3 year span of trans, but this car has been bullet proof otherwise and the dealer has taken good care of me. All I do is change the oil and filter every 10K (Mobil 1) and she just keeps going - pulls just as strong as when I got her.

 

My tranny just went out Thursday(August 23) with 137k miles. This is my 1st problem with my 02 TL type S since I've had it(....besides the brakes!!) and I wonder if I should have took it to an Acura dealership for repair. Tne nearest dealership to me is an hour and 20 minutes away!! I had all the tale-tale signs-VSA, check engine light, yellow triangle w/o flash, and the blinking D5 lights. I thought that since the mileage was over what was within warranty that I would have to replace or repair it myself.....is that true?? Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks guys!

 

I'd take it to Acura first since some "out of warranty TL owners have received goodwill coverage for part or all of the costs associated with a repair. Speak with the service manager and also call Acura's national Customer Care group. It doesn't hurt to ask.

Even if Acura won't cover it, you still might want to have the work done by Acura. That's one way to be sure that the new transmission will have all of the latest updates. You might not get those if you go to an independent shop. (There is some hope that Acura corrected the major reliability issues with design changes made in February of 2005.)

Good Luck!

 

I dropped the second installed trany with one prior replacement and one major repair on replacent tranny in my 03 TLS (81K miles) not coverd under the "extended" warrenty (VIN supposedly outside of problem area-HA). Car currently sitting in Richmond VA with dealer who doesn't want to acknowledge it's covered. Acura Client Services is waiting determination, doen't look good. I intend to prusue to limit- lemon law, 3rd time. First tranny went at 40K miles, locked up at 70 mph slid & almost took out the car next to me (Oct 04). Next day had to take back to dealer for faulty selenoid (Jerking and wouldn't run in 4th or 5th)? This time (25 Aug) doing 70 mph down interstate, tranmission starts slipping with smoke pouring out rear, other cars were slamming brakes becuase they could not see thru the smoke. Emergency lane change, stop, get family out of car, no fire, but close. Filed a second now repeat safety (NTSB) incident on same car orginal owner. Suggest all owners file NTSB safety complaint if failure occured while operating. FORCE NTSB to have Honda make a perment and lasting fix or remove all defective vehicles from highway (hazard to motorist). For Sale Soon: a "cheap" 03 TLS with fairly low milage and a new tranny?