anoop

They had all 4 powertrains from the get go with the 2nd gen, which was first released as MY2022.

Previous gen was underpowered.

anoop

It looks like Acura approved the replacement and they will be using a remanufactured transmission. Should the use of remanufactured part be any cause for concern?

Texasrdx21

I would not be concerned, it’s under warranty and they will have that data if anything goes wrong afterwards.

anoop

They expect the part to be in a week from now, so I'll probably get my car back by the weekend. I'm tired of the loaner. It has all weather mats which I find slippery.

russianDude

You dont have a choice anyway. This is standard practice for dealerships to use remanufactured transmissions. With this being said, in the ideal world I would prefer factory new unit for two reasons: all parts are new and less human factor involvement that can lead to mistakes. But you should have nothing to worry about, the odds are low for them to mess up, so you should be good.

Legend2TL

No, typically they're manufacturer rebuilt AT are solid and have good warranties. My main concern would be the dealership service tech getting all the AT installation steps performed correctly.

russianDude

I think with remanufactured transmissions you get 2 years or 24k warranty, or end of regular power train warranty (whichever is longest). In his case it seems like he would just have his regular power train warranty.

Legend2TL

Now sure what they are now, but a neighbor with a 1G MDX with the glass 5AT got something like 7 years 100K miles from Acura for their 1st replacement gearbox. Then Acura replaced it after it failed with ~120k miles and 10 years. Owner had to pay labor, Acura covered the 2nd rebuilt 5AT. I'm guessing for the RDX they'll extend to at least the RDX vehicle coverage and perhaps beyond.

This is not untypical, recent Accord, Civic and our CR-V have A/C related TSB/extended warranties issued. Honda has extended the warranties for certain parts to 100k miles and 10 years due to issues with some condensers manufacturing defects and compressor seals.

russianDude

Acura had issues with 5AT, and extended warranty to 100k/7yr. I had 2nd gen CL and they replaced it out
of warranty for me and I had to still pay $4k back in the day, and it only had 2yr/24 month.

anoop

Barring unforeseen issues, I don't plan to keep the car beyond factory warranty. Of course, I wasn't planning to keep my 2019 beyond factory warranty either but was forced to do so because the crazy auto market during the pandemic. I changed as soon as I could.

I just don't like visiting the dealer for issues outside of regular maintenance. Even with things covered, the whole process of going in, explaining the issue, getting talked down to by the service manager, playing the loaner availability game, etc. is not pleasant. Even for this service it took 2 separate test drives on different service visits, and a separate visit to swap out a loaner.

Legend2TL

YMMV, our neighbor only paid ~$2k (dozen labor hours to swap 5AT) in 2018 to swap out their 2nd 5AT (remanufactured 5AT which IIRC was warrantied to 7/100k, both of which were exceeded by then). Acura covered the 5AT unit costs.

russianDude

I am sure its annoying, they are probably acting like they are doing you a huge favor by doing it. It is true that dealer hates big warranty repairs. They are getting very small reimbursement for labor from
Acura and are doing a lot of paper work to get the approval. Its like your health insurance, they dont want to pay for anything and when they pay its always very little. the negotiated labor rate sucks.

anoop

There is NOTHING, not by a long shot, on the planet that is as twisted as healthcare (big pharma, insurance) in the USA.

russianDude

I know a guy who worked in financial part of a dealership (not Acura), and he told me the service department would not even be able to break even if all they did is warranty work. Very sad

anoop

I can believe that. The dealership business hasn't been very good for a while. That's why the smaller ones have all sold out to big giants (like AutoNation) that can engage in financial engineering at scale to make the numbers work, and which is why we receive such poor service.

russianDude

yup, I’ve seen my dealership slowly getting worse especially when it comes to warranty repairs. When I had by 2001 CL back in the day, that car had many small issues and annoyances, they would fix them no questions asked, now they are trying to say its not a problem or that they cant hear and or its normal. They really dont want to do any warranty work it seems

SilverJ

Facts. And I work in Healthcare.

Texasrdx21

That is the same experience I have had, especially in recent years while the vehicle is still under warranty. At least Acura offers a 4 year 50k warranty (beat by Kia and Hyundai). Once the warranty is over, then most will charge a "diagnosis fee" and be glad to do repairs and work on your dime.

Thus - once you get a reliable vehicle - drive it till the big things start going and then trade it in for a newer one. Repairs on heavy laden tech vehicles are super expensive, as parts and labor can drive an average repair over $1k. heaven forbid its a big item, then you are looking at thousands of $$$$.

SilverJ

I am glad I got a 7 year warranty on my 2023 by getting it with a few thousand miles on it. I know dealerships don't "want" to do warranty work...but not all dealerships are the same. I have a good one to go to that I travel a bit for for to do warranty work.

anoop

I got the car back yesterday. So far, based on what I've driven so far, the high pitched noise appears to be gone. Fingers crossed.

Is it normal to require an alignment when the transmission is replaced? They evaluated the alignment and found a few parameters off so they did that as well.

anoop

Yeah I wouldn't want to own any car these days without a warranty. However, I usually wait until factory warranty is nearly out before buying the extended one if I choose to keep the car. With inflation, buying it sooner rather than later may be the smarter move, but I'm still choosing to wait.