The amount of things that I recently had to go through in my 90K TL stirred some memories and popped questions regarding whether Hondas/Acuras are really that great reliability-wise...

I've owned two Accords, and one TL, and frankly all of them required quite a bit of repairs. Specifically:

Accord '99 over the course of 150K:

1) A/C stopped working due to failed A/C clutch, was replaced under warranty
2) Idle Air Control Valve went bad right when I was picking up my car in JFK at midnight, scared me badly with that idle roaring up and down
3) Alternator had to be replaced twice
4) Intermittent starting issues during hot weather were blamed by the dealer on some relay
5) EGR port got clogged, causing some error code (P0406??), a very common problem in '99

Accord '03 over its life of 190K:

1) A gasket where PS meets the block started letting air in, which caused massive PS liquid leak
2) Door actuator had to be replaced
3) Starter solenoid started acting up in hot weather preventing the car from uhm... starting
4) PS hose cracked causing leak on the engine block and profuse smoking, a common problem
5) Ignition lock started showing intermittent contact problems, and got replaced

TL '08 still around 90K:

1) Rotors needed resurfacing right after taking delivery
2) Crankshaft pulley split
3) Oil leak from top of oil pump
4) Oil leak from edge of oil pan
5) And there is yet one MORE small leak from between the transmission and the engine, presumably rear seal.

TL actually wasn't that bad compared to '99 Accord until suddenly it started having these issues literally a few months ago.

So, is this statistically expected from Honda/Acuras, how's everybody else's experience, would I get even more troubles from German cars, or would they instead offer me some break?

 

Having owned a 96 prelude for 6 years, and my TL for 3. I would say they have both been the most reliable of my autos. I'm comparing them to Ford and GM having owned both brands along side Honda.

The only major problem I hade with the prelude in 148k miles was the rack and pinion and some oil leaks. All together it cost me about $1400.

The TL is 130k and counting with no major problems. Only issue I've had so far is the starter.

My thunderbird shit out on me at 74k miles. I'm talking about back to back repairs and problems. The damn ODO broke at 78k miles and stopped ticking. The tranny finally went out shortly after that.

My Saturn finally had tranny problem at around 200k miles, but it had collapsed rockers at around 150k miles. That was the only major issue I had with it.

Maybe it's the brand, maybe it's the chance we take on buying cars.

 

I agree with the OP. I really thought Honda/Acura was going to be more reliable. Keyword being more. While it's not unreliable I just thought a lot of parts that I have replaced would have lasted longer. The car is a 2008. Currently it's running amazing and like new but I have put quite a bit of $$ into it.

Our 14 year old Lexus RX 300 has been trouble free. Aside from routine maintenance, numerous power antenna's & a HVAC blower motor its needed nothing. Currently though we are faced with a large repair....it requires 02 sensors....but I can't fault the car as it's almost 15 years old.

We have had excellent luck with GM trucks and Cadillac (i know some of you might be rolling your eyes) but it's true. GM has been rock solid reliable for us.

 

the power steering seals is a common problem on all accords/tsx/tl, only $15 for new seals and about an hour of labor. I dont consider this a problem, just normal wear and tear.

And if you bought a TL with 90k miles did you really think the original rotors would still be good? they should have been replaced before you bought it. In any case, resurfacing rotors is cheap so no biggie.

The rest of the items are just bad luck.

I maintain my car very well and always replace things as soon as I see any symptoms. This way there's no room for random surprises. I consider my car very reliable. It's got about 154k miles now and still running perfect. I recently took it on a 3000 mile road trip and it ran like a champ the whole way.

 

Nah, I bought all cars brand new, hence I know everything that happened to them, so correct, resurfacing rotors within days after buying. Interestingly, those were rear rotors.

As far as the bad luck goes, let's see... EGR port clogging was bad design, there was even a TSB on it. Relay was bad solder. PS hose smoking had a recall. PS gasket - yeah, known issue, which doesn't make it a non-issue. Ignition also had a TSB, as far as I can remember. A/C, alternators, actuator, IACV and starter all broke down, and together with TL leaks and pulley they all must be because of my karma

The luckiest car for me is apparently Accord '03: has the least issues per 1K of miles driven. But a friend of mine had it too, and for him it was not so lucky: right upper control arm decided to disconnect on a highway, luckily at a low speed, so the wheel pretty much turned sideways. And guess what, he actually heard the knocks, and actually visited the dealer twice to get it fixed

 

I've always owned Hondas/Acuras and my 06 is only my 4th new car in 33 years of driving:
1986 CRX-Si
1994 Civic Coupe
2000 TL
2006 TL

none have needed any work not covered under warranty. My 06 is at 102K and is extremely reliable- has only needed appropriate maintenance and really nothing more.

 

Mine have all been extremely reliable. My wife had an 04 Accord V6 bought at 36k miles, sold with 105....zero problems.

 

to answer your quested, yes these are expected problems.... IMHO '97 was the last year you could get a pretty much trouble free as in 98 you got things starting to show up like

Alternators made by Delphi

Transmissions with substandard parts and design defects that persist up to this day if the car uses anything other than a manual or 6at (reliability is not really known yet but they seem to be holding up well

Fuel Pressure regulator issues on some V6
fitment issues
Suspension issues (RX clunk in '13 up)
ILX head lights catching FIRE (awesome, not)
Accord radios (expecially the 03-4 models)
Brakes (newer Accords)

 

I disagree with you and the OP, must of had bad luck with your cars.

My 05 TL has been trouble free for the most part the only major thing I had address was the leaking from the power steering pump, I did a rebuilt kit for mine and that was it. A $20 dollar value compared to replacing for $350 new.

And replacing my tensioner pulley for my serpentine belt.
Normal rotor/pad resurfacing, fluid changes, pressure switches and using premium fuel.

I will not say I have owned GM trucks, but they are not reliable. My mom's 2003 GMC Envoy XL, bought new has had major issues with AC clutch failing, tranny failing around 80k miles, numerous oil leaks, Coolant leak all before 100k. Now she is having problems with check engine light on due to the gas cap/fuel leak issue that seems to be a known problem by other owners. And O2 Sensor has gone bad.

We tried to get GM to fix the issue as it had to do with fuel leak smell coming through the air vents. The gas tank is part of the assembly and GM says we were suppose to receive an extended recall notice for it, but out dealer never did and went under new management a couple years ago so they have no record of our services.

So my mother has had it with GM products as my dad had an 1994 Chevy Silverado that had numerous problems as well. Along with a 98 Dodge Durango my mom drove prior to owning the Envoy, spark plugs failed early, and tranny failure as well.

My parents took care of all their cars with normal recommended maintenance so quality was not there. They both drive a toyota, mom has her 2010 Rav4 and my dad drives a 1999 Toyota Tacoma. Both have been great.

Sorry for your issues, but older GM products were not the best from experience in taking their vehicles in for service only to find major issues with them.

 

I have owned my car since new (2006) and it has been a great experience for 8 years of ownership. There have been two things I would complain about :

1. cupholder cover breaking a couple years ago.
2. trunk wire harness issue caused by a tight clip breaking wires which caused my reverse lights not to function.

Those two items set me back $50 and perhaps 8 hours of my labor fixing. Not a huge deal for 8+ years of ownership. I had one warranty claim the first 3 months due to a blown speaker which might have cost me 2 hours of time. So I figure I have spent 10 hours and $50 on 3 events that in the perfect world would not have happened. That unplanned work was perhaps 1% of the time I have spent actually driving the car. So if you compare cars this way, I bet you'll find yourself spending much more time with other makes. Much of the time will be messing with warranty issues while a car is under warranty. You will then get kicked later after the warranty expires in which it starts costing money. I bet even a Lexus driver will spend 10+ hours on unplanned work in 8 years of ownership too.

Besides these issues, it's been pretty normal maintenance: oil, filters, and ATF. I did change my front brake pads and rotors recently, but that was after 65k miles of driving and there was ample pad left- the rears are still original.

This car has been very reliable and has never been towed or parked in a shop over night, so there's little to complain about.

 

No offense, but if you think the issues you had on the Accords are major problems for 150 and 190k, I'm not sure you're being realistic. We're talking about gaskets, hoses, clutches, valves, solenoids, actuators and alternators. Pretty much all minor wear and tear items.

 

^^^ i read the post and im like... "Wait is that really a problem?". Seems like typical maintenance on any aged car lmao.... Shoot i have low compression and bent valves on my 155k tl now and i still see it far more reliable than almost all of my nissans where ive went through a total of 2 motors and 11 transmissions over 5 cars... All those things im reading seems like just maintenance... Changing brakes over time isnt an "issue" its a requirement.

 

yea man doesn't seem bad at all. I owned a 02 tl-s until a few months ago from new with over 300k on it and its still going hard for the new owner. only major issue over 12 yrs was a rotted front subframe. my new 06 tl has been nothing short of excellent so far

 

I can foresee the problems with your '03 Accord not being out of the realm. That was the first year of the 7th gen, and as we know, the first production year generally has it's issues that need to be worked out.

Your other problems aren't really all that bad. I myself feel that honda/acura has gone downhill with its reliability, but, the cars are also way more jam packed with features that have the ability to go bad. For example, comparing a '90 accord to a '08 accord wouldn't really be fair simply due to the features and options one has over the other. People want more and more standard gizmos while paying as little as possible. Something's gotta give.

Sure the '90 accord still runs great, but it was considered fully loaded with just power locks and windows, lol.

 

These are the unrealistic expectations from someone who believes that reliability is somehow defined by having zero issues during ownership.

 

If not having issues does not equal reliability, what does reliability mean then, lol?

What else would reliability mean?

I understand that wear and tear items will fail over time, but things such as the Bluetooth module in the TL should not be failing as frequently and as early as it does. That item should last the life of the car.

Also, wear and tear items that fail earlier then expected (such as having to resurface rotors on a brand new car) would indicate some bad reliability. Who knows what caused those issues.

That being said, the OP never actually said at what mileage the issues occurred at. All he said was what the cars ended up being at. Just because the Accord got to 190k miles does not mean all of those issues happened at 190k.

I will agree with everyone here though, you did a lot of driving in your time and you can essentially count all of your issues on one hand for each car. Not too shabby.

 

reliable = something you can rely on to get you from point A to point B.
Most things that fail on hondas are little inconveniences, but in the end it will still run and get you to your destination.

 

wanna talk about problems... look at nissan with their 13 and up altima pathfinder and sentras and other models.. just google it. cvt issues after drivin off the lot, and ecven after cvt reprograms and replacements.. air bag lights that there is still no fix for after numerous reprograms and ocs replacements. timing chain recalls for failed parts. pieces not fitting correctly and numerous squeaks and rattles.. and i work for nissan too so there good cars.........

 

Own a Pontiac or a Ford and report back on Acura's "reliability".....

Our TL has been pretty good. I've had a few things go wrong on it but it's ten years old. The downside to these cars is definitely the price of parts. My Pontiac was about cheapest/easiest thing to work on but who wants to fix their car every other week?

I know this is blasphemy on this forum but I still think Toyota's are hands down the most reliable vehicles you can buy. With that being said, all cars can have issues. Obviously a lot of it has to do with how its driven and maintained. When my brother worked at a Ford dealership in AZ they had brand new F150's F250's ect rolling off the delivery truck that wouldn't move an inch because their transmissions were junk.

My friend had a F250 diesel and although the engine was pretty solid, just about every other thing that could go wrong with it did. Including the 4wd several times, both costing him 1k+ in repairs.

GM, just read the news headlines....

 

seems like today most people complain about routine maintenance. and claim it as problems... "damnit my car needs an oil change.. better call lemon law"

 

this thread sucks!

 

Honestly, none of the issues listed strike me as "OMG so unreliable" problems. It's a car, it's made up of thousands of parts, and a lot of those parts have a defined life... and that service life can change based on driving style, climate, etc.

The leaks are annoying, no doubt about that. But a lot of what's listed is just "maintenance" that needs doing. Pulleys can fail. Tensioners can fail. Rubber dries out. Ball joints will need replacing. Your 190k miles could have been on cobblestone roads for all we know.

"Unreliable" to me is the V6+automatic transmission combo that Honda couldn't get right for however many years. It's the serpentine belt tensioner on my 1-series that lasts 30k and threatens to shoot the serp belt through the crankshaft seal. It's the chipped key sensor in my mom's Crossfire that de-soldered itself at 10k miles and caused a no-start condition.

Maybe I have a higher tolerance for maintenance/repairs, but once a car gets past 5 years or so, I kinda expect to start spinning wrenches beyond oil and brakes.

 

Since I bought my TL with now 63k miles, in May or June of this year, I've put about 3k into it.

I'd say 350 of it was for shit that failed that really shouldn't have (blue tooth, interior bulbs, etc), while 2650 was for maintenance items, including 1100 for tires. In those terms, it's really not bad. The rest was on the 105k service and other miscellaneous crap that I wasn't 100% happy with.

I'd like to see what the price would be if it were on a BMW lol

 

 

We don't have timing belts to worry about... but the newer BMWs use an electric water pump that is a $400 part (before labor). Oy.

I don't really consider lightbulbs burning out a reliability thing (because you'll still get to work or home from vacation if you can't see the heated seat switch)... but I do think it's a weird thing to fail. A lot of the touch points in the car haven't held up well to age. I've got bulbs coming in an order I just placed, so I guess I get to rip the steering wheel apart soon.

 

A friend of mine studied business administration about 10 years ago and went to Detroit, Germany, and Japan (yes, mommy and daddy had bank) to study car companies. The German and Japenese companies were not happy unless less than 1% of random car pull testing (where they take a random car off the line) has problems/issues. So, out of 100 cars that get pulled to test, only one could have a defect or problem.

On the other hand, the "American" car companies were happy with less than 10%. Yes, 10%

Now, this was about 10 years ago so I'm sure things have changed since then but still...

My Ford Expedition turned 100,000 miles and literally the engine spit out a spark plug, the driver's power seat stopped working, the over head temp/compass stopped working... all unrelated all within months of each other. I replaced the engine and got rid of it, quick.

I am now on my 5th Honda/Acura. My TSX had 235,000 miles when I totaled it and every single item/feature worked and worked well. The car looked brand new, no one ever believed how many miles it had. I never did ANYTHING to that car but regular maintenance and a clutch. My 2005 Odyssey needed an A/C clutch done and now the passenger sliding door makes a weird popping noise when you open it.

I personally have owned over 20 cars and have found that my foreign cars were far less troublesome. Are there some issues all manufacturers face? Of course. Acura was the first to do the whole bluetooth thing and really screwed up on that whole putting it on the roof idea but overall, they're good cars that have typical wear and tear issues like all cars.

 

As far as being able to get to where you're going without a few interior bulbs, yeah, you'll make it without issue. But being an anal car guy, it drives me bananas when little things like that crap out. In my mind, it still is a reliability thing. Would it keep me from buying another Honda? No, not at all. It is small beans in the grand scheme of things. But I do like keeping my cars in tip top shape, all around.

If the window mechanisms, AC, cup holder slider thingy, glove box, switches and interior dash bulbs, power seats all crapped out, trim fell off, seats ripped like no ones business, dash cracked, etc, etc, would you still call it a reliable car? I mean, it still gets you from A to B without issue. It's just everything else is busted lol.

 

TacoBello, you're right about BMW. I had the opportunity to own a used 535i. One month of ownership put a big hole in my wallet to the tune of $1575 for alternator and battery. Go figure. Five minutes after picking it up from the shop, it started to overheat - verdict? water pump! It will run me over $1k. So I limped it in to the nearest Toyota dealer and traded for a Camry SE. So far so good.

 

...this is why I just spent $77 to fix piddly stuff on a car that I don't own

Now you're just describing my E36, aren't you?

...well, aside from the drivetrain, I don't know if I'd call the E36 a "reliable" car. They had horrendous build quality compared to the E30 and E46.

There are definitely some cars that should not be owned out of warranty by a complete non-enthusiast. Willingness to research online, connect with other owners, and perhaps spin a wrench or two will make cost (and pain) of ownership a lot less.

 

Lol, that bad eh? I was really getting into Audi's before I bought my TL, but man, those things scare the shit out of me. Even within warranty, they still seemed like pieces if shit. Beautiful, pieces of shit.

I don't understand how a company like that stays in business. Granted, you do hear about some of them that never have issues, but it seems for everyone of those, there's 19 that have problems. My pockets aren't deep enough to support that.

 

OP, if you think any of those are considered unreliable, definitely do not purchase a mid 00's Audi. I looked at one and the damn carfax was 13 PAGES long, with pretty much every single item you could think of having been replaced. The car only had 65K miles as well. And Audi has a reputation for reliability!?!

 

Let's talk about Mopar. My sister's boyfriend has a 2011 Chrysler 300C with the Hemi. It has 60k highway miles and has had multiple major problems. It's been at two different dealerships a total of 17 visits since its purchase in 2012.

In fact, they recently had to replace the short block at 48k (the entire engine, minus the heads and intake, for those who don't know) for a misfire/hesitation it had from day one.

My 101k '06 TL had a power window regulator go bad under warranty back in '08.

Oh that's right, I forgot that a few of my interior dash bulbs blew last year, so I replaced them all.

 

I'm not sure what you've been hearing, but Audi does NOT have a reputation of reliability. They are some of the worst cars out there. Even Audi knows that Audis are shitty. No wonder they only come with a 4 year/80k km warranty.

 

This pretty much sums it up. Because they have a much higher yield requirement, a lot less of their cars will hit the road with problems or susceptibility to problems due to assembly or design flaws. Statistically speaking, we all know that our cars are far more reliable than any others. The expected value of repairs is so low. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expected_value= probability of something going wrong (low) * the cost to repair it (much lower than almost every other manufacturer). OP is actually adding to the body of evidence that these cars are reliable, not the opposite.

Bruh, don't you change the light bulbs in your house? Those OEM bulbs are absolutely a wearable item. An anal car guy should know that and immediately replace all bulbs with LEDs within the first week of ownership.

 

My old roommate was considering a late-00's A4, until he looked at the suspension layout. They have approximately 17 front control arms, and you know all of them would have worn balljoints that would need replacing by 70k miles.

Granted, he bought a Mk5 GTI, so the allure of the VAG still got 'im. That said, aside from some sensor on the intake manifold needing replacement, it's been a very solid car for ~20k now.

Underbuilt automatic transmissions, by the way, mystify me. My parents had a 2001 Ford Escape. I drove it for a few years, put maybe 20k on it, gave it back to them. They always followed the maintenance schedule for fluid changes and such... and the trans gave out at 92k. Just *ping* no forward gears.

I guess that's what you get for taking the 4-speed from a Contour and shoving it into an SUV with AWD, two more cylinders, 100 more horsepower and a crapton more weight to lug around.

 

Hmmm...reliability is quite often luck of the draw as well as what the owner views as "reliable".

My summary of cars over the past 15 years. Anything prior to my Cavalier were for sure not reliable at all....I don't think any domestic car from the 80s and 90s were reliable. My TL has not been the most "reliable" out of all cars, but it for sure has been the most enjoyable and the issues so far have been very minor.

1999 Cavalier Z-24
- purchased new, sold after 9 years with 140k miles
- 3 sets of front strut mounts
- broken spider gears in diff at 110k (my fault)
- 2nd gear synchro very weak at 120k (my fault)
- 1 set of sparkplugs
- replaced seals on AC compressor at 100k
- 3 batteries
- 1 seatbelt tensioner
- 1 blower motor resistor
- cracked coolant neck
- lots of rattles over the years

2002 Pontiac GrandAm
- purchased with 32k miles, sold after 8 years with 188k miles
- replaced one strut
- 2 ignition modules
- 1 coil pack
- 2 sets of sparkplugs
- 1 front hub (bad ABS sensor)
- 3 batteries
- failed serp belt idler/tensioner
- multiple front tie-rod ends

2006 Scion tC
- purchased new, sold after 3 years with 26k miles
- stanky A/C condensor (3 times)
- two recalls related to sunroof

2005 Acura TL
- purchased in 2008 with 40k miles (currently has 135k)
- HVAC oddities (warm/cold on one side)
- notchy 2nd/6th gear (change fluid)
- driver's power seat issue (flex cable came loose)
- e-brake stuck (cables replaced)
- door lock actuator stuck (replaced)
- sticking power mirrors (lubed, but issue returns)
- failed rear-view mirror (replaced)
- battery case cracked and ate away main power cable clamp
- blower motor transistor

2008 Chevy Equinox Sport
- sold after 3 years with 88k miles
- odd electrical gremlins
- rear main seal leaking (replaced at dealer)
- failing transmission at 84k miles (replaced at dealer)
- new timing chain and water pump at 50k miles (replaced at dealer)
- leaking heater core at 50k miles (replaced at dealer)
- leaking seal on tailgate (water in spare tire well)
- lucky enough to have purchased ext warranty so not out big $$$ for all the repairs

 

OP those are very minor issues that most cars would have no matter the make. I didn't see you list any batteries at all, did you ever replace any or did you omit that as normal maintenance?

I really don't think Ford and chevy are as bad as some of you say they are. The most reliable car I have had to date was a 92 Taurus. The trans went with 168 miles on it and besides new tires and a battery it never had a single issue. The AC was starting to go at the time as well, but this was in 2002 and I was surprised the AC never needed a charge prior to that.

My 2012 Ford Edge on the other hand was a nightmare. Two power steering pumps, two fuels pumps, new fuel line, two new driver seat motors and mounting frames and numerous other issues, it got traded in at 27k miles for my TL.

The TL hasn't had in mechanical issues, but the paint issue is insane. Four months to fix the paint issues and my TL is in the shop as we speak, getting new chrome moldings, a new front bumper and passenger headlight and a new grill. All things that were damaged from being taken off the car numerous times by the dealer and body shop.

 

The rotor thing is more like a manufacturing defect to me. I can't remember a time when the front rotors on our 07 Odyssey weren't warped.

Oil leaks are to be expected I guess, but might seem a little early at 90k miles. In the grand scheme of things, nothing major has failed yet.

Here's the story of my MT.

I bought a used 06 in 09 with 77k miles (mostly highway - it was only 3 years old). I'm at 128k miles now. In the last few years I've spent over $11,000 in repairs and maintenance NOT including the price of brake pads and rotors all around, three sets of tires and other small stuff like the battery.

Here's some of what's been done:

-104k Clutch/flywheel (doneat the dealer - never again will I have this done at the dealer - the new clutch did not have the bite the old one did)
-105k Front axles replaced (seriously? It seems to be a common issue with TLs. On what car is this done this early in its life?)
-108k Power steering pump rebuilt, $2800 for headwork (mishift resulted in overrev which caused pistons to hit and bend exhaust valves - my fault, but a common issue - it is in my opinion that the engine should be designed so that this cannot happen - I upgraded my exhaust valve springs so that this will never happen again to those valves)
-122k $4425 Transmission work at an independent shop, new front engine mount, rear main oil seal (they didn't charge me labor to change the seal - and if I recall correctly, I think this was done because the transmission was out and not because it was leaking), new clutch/flywheel (might as well replace it again since it's out, and this one (Luk) felt so much better than the Honda OEM unit the dealer used). The cost of the gears and synchronizers was $1146. The labor for the job was ~$1400. Everything else was hard parts and tax.

Despite that, I still love my TL. It has been reliable for the last year.

Though if maximum reliability and/or "least amount spent on car" was my goal, I should have gone with a Toyota Camry. In addition to the above, I've also purchased Tein coilovers, SPC rear camber arms, new wheels, custom wheel adapters, Aspec body kit, and other various goodies for it. Oh, and I bought a new jack because I was tired of driving onto pieces of wood (old jack wouldn't fit under after Teins were installed).

And back to our 07 Odyssey...the transmission died shortly after we bought it brand new. The AC compressor died a few years later. This should not happen.

If you have an automatic, the only problems from my list that you might experience are the front axles, power steering pump and front engine mount. I'd say your TL experience has been pretty good so far.

Did your dealer tell you about those oil leaks? Mine did, and when I took it to an independent shop a year ago, they didn't find anything that needed immediate attention. My TL doesn't drip oil, so if anything is leaking, it must be a really slow leak.

 

Awesome read! Despite some "this thread sucks" comments, I enjoyed it a lot. The spread of opinions, and especially shared experiences with Honda/Acuras and other vehicles.

My big-big thanks to everybody who took time to type what happened to their cars.

Also good luck to all the Rambos who call rear main seal a maintenance item

 

I mean, if you keep the car long enough, everything is a maintenance item Remember the whole "rubber dries out" thing.

To hijack slightly, I do wonder about people who replace one major part and ignore the little stuff right around it while they're in there. A guy I work at the racetrack with has a Celica GTS that needed a clutch. He replaced that, resurfaced the flywheel, and put it all back together.

The rear main seal lasted another month and gave out, got fluid all over the brand-new clutch, and he had to do it all again. All for the sake of ignoring a $4 seal "while he was in there."