Hello all, very recently purchased a pristine, low mileage 2020 MDX that is Acura certified. Noticed a couple of minor issues that I am asking the dealer to remedy through the certified warranty. The dealer is in agreement that the issues are valid and is being told by Acura that they are not covered by the certified warranty. The first issue is the driver seat. The seat feels like it moves back and forth under acceleration or deceleration. It is not related to the bolt down points on the floor but feels like it's either the seat back or what's inside the seat, which I'm assuming would be the lumbar support. I do know that there was a tsb for lumbar support creaking and popping. The service manager acknowledged this and said that the fix was add lubricant to lumbar mechanism. Also admitted that this is the first step but normally the seat lumbar mechanism would have to be replaced. Acura is refusing to cover it saying that only the electric motor of the lumbar would be covered but not the lumbar mechanism. Second issue is transmission surging between I believe third and fourth gear possibly. Definitely not smooth up shifts. It is usually minor but can be more noticeable. Technician confirmed this and service manager says Acura says they will not cover that issue. Service manager says there are no flash updates available for the transmission and are suggesting that I pay $400 for a transmission fluid change to be sure there are no metal shavings in the fluid. I explain to him that would be doubtful at best , but either way it wasn't my job to pay to diagnose /remedy an issue that is verified by their own technician. I also mentioned that in my research the ZF 9-speed was known to have an issue with searching for gears but that I thought it was a problem that was fixed long before 2020. Service manager suggested that I get in touch with the Acura certified because as a customer / owner I would maybe have more pull than they do as a dealer getting the issues resolved. Also, as a side note, I installed the oem remote start kit ( 38015-TZ5-A30 [assume this is correct kit] and supplied the dealer with all four keys and am being told by the service manager that they can't seem to program the keys. I asked him if they realized that it was a remote start system installation and not just programming four keys. He mentioned he would have the tech take another crack at it.. I'm not sure the procedure is different and they have to account for recognizing the remote start transceiver that I installed? Any help with any of these issues would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

Is there another dealer in your area that you could try?

If not then the best would be to call Acura client relations.

 

I have a 2019 SH-AWD with only 28k on the clock. Overall the transmission has been pretty good shift-wise, but given the age I had the ZF9 fluid drained and filled as a pre-emptive maintenance task. I was amazed how much the shifting smoothed out after just that fluid change. Guess it was just slowly getting lumpier that I didn't notice, but the fluid change was a good investment for me. So it might be a good peace-of-mind expense to have the fluid changed if you're planning on keeping the vehicle, especially if it hasn't already been done.

I also have the periodic seat back sensation from the lumbar support, even after the TSB was performed. I just sort of ignore it as it doesn't happen all the time, and I know it's not a "loose" issue with the seat itself.

Good luck - andy

 

Check for a PM.

 

So, after a two-week charade at my local dealership and getting the service manager, Acura Client Services, a (clueless) Honda case manager and the Acura regional parts manager involved... answer is sorry nothing we can do. The service manager, District parts manager and Acura certified representative indicate that the transmission issue should still be covered under the 6-year 70,000 mile warranty. The lumbar support is not covered under the certified warranty and the factory warranty has expired by only 2 months. Dealer cannot get Acura to pay for repairs because Honda America is saying that the transmission fluid change the service manager recommended (to see if there were metal shavings causing the abrupt shifting) , is considered "maintenance".. service manager is also parroting the fact that normally, when fluid changes are incurred, at least in his experience, it's always considered maintenance. After defending my position to the service manager and referring to the diagnosis they gave me, if the fix for the problem is changing the fluid it's considered a repair, not maintenance. Also, since the vehicle is only at 30,000 miles it's not anywhere near the recommended maintenance interval for a transmission fluid change. At least according to the Factory service manual. Considering it's still under the 6-year 70,000 Mi Factory powertrain warranty, I can't wrap my head around the fact as to how this would be considered maintenance. The service manager and the regional parts manager are in agreement but since Honda will not authorize the repair because it's considered maintenance, I'm stuck with a $450 oil change if I choose to do so. Speaking to the Honda case manager (young woman) was an absolute insult to my intelligence and completely disingenuous. She kept regurgitating the same thing over and over again to which I finally told her to pound sand and hung the phone up. So I have a like new condition, 5-year-old certified 2020 MDX with barely 30,000 miles on it with a shuttering transmission that American Honda refuses to do anything about. In regards to the lumbar support, the service manager stated in the diagnosis to Honda that the lumbar support needed to be greased and if that didn't fix the looseness in the seat the seat would need to be replaced.. sounds like a repair to me but getting through to the case manager on the phone was impossible. I literally felt dumber after having conversed with her.

 

If you read closely, it talks about the service interval for normal driving. But there likely is also wording around driving for other conditions, such as high or low temp environments, lots of stop-n-go driving, etc. And in those cases the interval may be earlier. Given this is a CPO, you really don't know how it was driven by the previous owner(s), and as such the transmission may have fluid that's less protective than it might be. But time can also be a contributing factor with fluid condition. As I said with my 2019 with only 28k miles, I don't drive in extreme conditions but chose to have my fluid replaced since I'm gonna keep the MDX for a long time. And that fluid change improved things, even though I didn't really notice bad shifting.

I get that it's frustrating to you, and I understand your logic of thinking it's a "repair" vs "maintenance". But you'd need to do a fluid change in the not-too-distant future anyway. If it were me, I'd do the fluid change, and if things improve then you just move on. If it's still a problem after the change, then you can use that as leverage with the dealer to address any other underlying issues.

Good luck - andy

 

Sounds like you need to use the info I provided earlier as a PM.