Gary Force Acura, Brentwood, TN. I seriously think that if my car were on fire, they would call me back and say that they could not reproduce the problem.

I am 2k from warranty expiry and I can promise you that if I took my car in afterwards with a 'flux capacitor not fluxing' they would bill me several grand in found issues. Just. Not. Under. Warranty.

I am on my 3rd trip to them with issues and never has one been resolved.

I get in my car after work yesterday and become irritated at the rough idle I have at startup. They cannot reproduce, no loaner cars to attempt to reproduce when it is cold. Anyway, enough about previous unresolved issues.

After about 10 minutes of city driving, it starts shifting so hard I feel that the car is going to come apart. Upshift, and downshift, through every gear, a LOUD clunk from the rear. It is a 10 minute drive to the dealer and I felt that I may not even make it. My 4 year old in the back seat was crying the sound was so loud. At one point it would not even shift gears. I had to go back and forth between manual and auto to finally get it to respond.

I make it to the dealer, no one is avail to drive it at that time, they are closing. They have no loaner. They NEVER have a loaner. I am single and have no other transportation. They don't care and give me several lines of combativeness. They call in a rental and tell me there's a chance I will have to pay for that.

I call today and they cannot reproduce. Asked me if it were ok for a tech to drive it home. Not really the situation I want to put my 'baby' in, but what choice do I have? Take these risks or fork out $2k in tranny issues later down the road. But, to be honest, I probably won't get resolution and have some tech driving my car for no reason at all.

Great people on this forum, beautiful car, but most likely my last Acura simply due to GARY FORCE ACURA.

I feel like I am talking to a cop everytime I go in there.

 

There are no other dealers in your area?

 

I wish, bud. The nearest one I could find is 3 1/2 hours away. Tennessee....

 

You could find out if a Honda dealership near there would do the work under warranty... I pulled up Gary Force Acura in google, type Honda, and it looks like there's a Honda dealership (Cool Springs Honda) a few miles south. The 2 reviews on google maps aren't promising, but if they can repoduce and warranty the issue for you, it might be better than the Acura dealership you've been fighting with. I'd call first to make sure they would do the warranty work.

You can also try calling Acura Client Relations at (800) 382-2238 (M-F 6 a.m. - 5 p.m. PST, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. EST) and letting them know about your experience. I have heard of Acura not covering the rental car bill if the repair ends up being out of warranty, but a lot of dealerships would cover the rental out of good will, especially if they want to keep a customer. Anyway CSI results (survey results and customer feedback) weighs heavy on dealerships... even if the service manager doesn't care about negative feedback, the GM of the store will see it, and it's posted in regional comparisons. Giving negative feedback may not resolve your issue directly but it definitely stings the store, especially if a lot of people who have negative experiences report them.

That's what I don't get about some of these service departments... you have someone standing in your service drive with an car that's either out of warranty, or soon to be out of warranty, and you're going to treat them like garbage? Throw in a rental and more than likely they'll come back. I don't get it, but then I'm not a service manager.


Anyway, good luck with your car... hopefully if Gary Force Acura can't do anything for you then the nearby Honda dealership can.

 

Thank you very much for that phone number. I had seen it posted in here before and was about to search for it.

There are several reputable Honda dealerships around here. I have heard good things about Crest, Darrell Waltrip (nascar) and Trickett. I will start calling them to see if they can handle the warranty work.

I am about to be at my service mileage - you'd think Gary Force would roll out the red carpet.

Thanks again for the insight!

 

Usually Acura will not allow Honda to do warranty work unless it's an emergency (i.e. stranded away from home) or unless there is no Acura dealer within XX miles.

It's worth a try, but don't get your hopes up.

As far as "cannot reproduce the problem": whenever possible YOU take the TECH (not service advisor, the actual tech who will work on your car) for a ride. YOU show THEM the problem, what makes it happen, etc. This is usually more successful than hoping the dealer can hear/see/feel what you see/hear/feel.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems... I've had similar issues with Gary Force... worthless. When I first bought the car, I paid them an hour's labor to "inspect" since there were about 400 miles left in the warranty. Anyway, I'm sure they didn't do anything because a month later, I checked my air filter -- dirtier than any air filter I've ever seen. On another note, I called to request a quote for them to simply press in new compliance bushings... I bring in the bushing and control arm and they press.... quoted me over $400. Yes, I confirmed and that's what they would charge to just use the press. Terrible. Oh yeah -- and I swear they dented the black plates on by B-pillar with a pressure washer when they washed my car after my "inspection"...

 

This. I've wasted too much of time on trips to stealerships because they "can't reproduce" the issue. I'd ride while the tech drives (so they can't say it's operator error) and if you have a phone or camera that records video, maybe have it rolling. I know it's a major pain in the arse, but if it's a major issue like with the tranny, your time will pay for itself to get something covered under warranty vs. out of pocket. Good luck.

 

well now that you have the problem recorded before your warranty expired, if they dont find anything wrong with it, then later on down the road if anything were to go wrong, i think you are in a better position to have it good willed

 

Excellent point... even if you do end up having to go to another Acura dealership hours away, a repair order showing that the issue was reported should cover you (even if it says no problem found).

 

Spot-on, man. That's why I felt obligated to let a tech drive my car home last night. I felt sure if I did not, they would come back on this 2,500 miles from now and say they would not cover it due to my stubbornness.

None-the-less, I got a call this morning stating they were ordering me a new transmission. I am so elated and relieved. The tech said once the issue appeared, it was clear what was going on.

Now that I have gone through this 'cannot reproduce', then tranny hosed (wow, never said that before (in public)), hopefully it will bring more validity to my complaints. Eh, doubt it.

I will for sure start riding with the tech when I bring it in.

Thanks people.

Mo.

 

good to hear that they figured out the problem and you will be getting a new transmission.

 

when they are replacing your transmission ask them to do your rear main seal as well so you can avoid having to pay for this in the future since they are already there

 

Mo, what kind of car is it?

 

Wow. I wish I would have been able to check this thread over the past 2 days. I called and they are supposed to be finishing up today. I will be getting that done at Honda someday - not here.

2007 tl-s. I have not read much about these transmissions going out pre-50k.

While I am happy I am getting the transmission done, still not happy with these guys.

Me: What about the sunroof leak?
Service rep: Dunno. Does not say anything about it.

Me: What about the rough start?
Service rep: Dunno. Does not say anything about it.

Me: You said it would be Friday. It's noon now and I am not rushing, just need to know if I need to plan on taking this rental out of town for the weekend or not.
Service rep: Dunno. It's in the shop.

Me: What exactly is your job, service rep? Wait?! I bet you are gonna tell me "Dunno", right?

Missin my car. Hard to be without for a week. It is family, after all.