w1n78

It was time for my first oil change so I also had the dealer investigate the brake pedal clicking (again), plastic piece to the right of the shifter coming off and the rattling sound in the back right of the car. To make the long story short they did everything except fix the rattle in the back. They called Acura up and they said they don't know how to fix it. They also said it's not the common rattle that many people have but more of a tapping. I was without my car for 2 days and worse they don't have any loaners so they stuck me with an 05 Focus (lowest model possible). I got fed up so I said put everything back and I'll pick up my car. I'll come back once you have a loaner available for me - which won't be for another month and might be a non-navi TSX. The guy said if I wanted a navi TL as a loaner it would take longer :sqnteek: .

So I started to inspect the car and what do I see? Deep scratches on the inside door and on the plastic next to the back seat. Not only that but my back seats got some creases on them. No one really sits in the back seat. I mean if they were removed how can they get creases on them? The maintenance manager appologized and he said they'll take it to the body shop when I get a chance to leave it again. I told them the only way I'll leave it again with you guys is when I get the same car as a loaner . Told them that it's ridiculous that they are a DEALER and yet this is the type of quality of service I get? If I can't take it to the dealer where I bought my car, where can I take it?

I'm planning on 2 trips soon, Vegas in July (which I won't be using my car anyway) and San Jose in August (which I would love to take my TL). You think if I eventually get a loaner they would let me use it on those trips? Also for anyone who lives in souther California and know/experienced good service at a dealership can you please let me know. Thomas Acura in West Covina did this :sqntfawk:

rynpamn21

dude..you probably do too many naughty stuff in your car thats why you've been getting all of this bad luck...get your car BLESSED(BY A PRIEST) not by you:P....btw, pics dont work....

w1n78

oh man a priest did bless it the second day i owned it i'll get the pics to work. and i pamper my car. i treat it like it's my baby

w1n78

DaT1PiNoYduDe

Damn Thomas Acura did that? They keep calling my house to get our TL from them...im having second thoughts now advising my parents on getting it from them. We're heading out this weekend to Metro to put our name down and get a TL.

Really sucks hearing this happening from a fellow 909er, hope you get it fixed soon as the dealer said they would do. Good luck.

Dutchml

win, sorry for all the body damage....but compared to what you went through with the fender and all , this looks like a walk in the park. Those look more like scuffs in the clear coat that you might want to work on yourself instead of letting those monkeys work on, but it's hard to tell from the pictures. It was a nice catch to find it as they probably thought you'd never notice them. Sure is a bitch to take your pride and joy to the dealer and have them treat it like that. Good help must surely be hard to find in your neck of the woods....I'd personally never go back to that place.

w1n78

Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to, to get that fixed. It's pretty deep. The plastic has to be replaced and as far as the body goes it has to be taken to a body shop. But think about it though, if you were to have something done to your car that you can't do on your own (especially warranty stuff) you have to bring to the dealer. I had a different view about dealers until today. Ya and you're right it's not compared to the fender damage I had a month ago. Could this be a trend with my car? A different damage every month :'( .

The worse part about it is leaving your baby and getting POS while they work on it. I may feel better if there's a loaner that's either another TL or a TSX but navi is a must.

w1n78

Ok it's gonna be 3 weeks tomorrow and I still don't have my baby back and I'm driving a loaner . I finally called Saturday and it turns out that the Service Advisor forgot to call me to keep me informed, WTF. I'm totally disappointed by the way this dealer is handling the situation! I really don't know what to do. Initially, I was gonna get an Accord V6 EX fully loaded but changed my mind since IMO Acura was a more sophisticated brand and thought I'd receive a higher quality service. After all isn't that why we pay so much more for cars by Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, etc.? Now I feel that I could've saved at least 10K and stayed with a Honda or saved another 5-10K and bought a 540i. Ya ya BMW's seem overpriced but I don't hear people complaining about their dealers or how their car is treated while with the dealer.

The service manager doesn't even know about my situation (found out on Saturday) and it has been 20 days!!! Before getting off the phone, the advisor told me that he will inform his manager and I "should" get a call by 2PM - he's running around all day and it's hard for them to contact me. What! I AM THE CUSTOMER, you have to make time to call me! He said to call them if I don't hear from them by 2PM. Wow, is it this hard to be an Acura customer. I mean I didn't hesistate paying over the the sticker price, but this is the crap I get after I bought it.

Can someone advise/suggest on what I should do. This is purely BS especially for the this type of car.

1hottl

Have you tried the 1-800 Acura number yet? I would talk with them about it and see what they can do to help the situation. I would let them know that the level of customer service being provided by your dealership is clearly below what you would have expected from an Acura dealer...

Good luck!

w1n78

thx, i went ahead and called them and had them document my issue. they said that he'll pass it along to one of the managers and call the dealership to see what the status is on the car. wow, i feel a little better. i've always thought once the car hits the dealer the manufacturer has very little control over it. well they'll get in touch with me tomorrow (Acura) and we'll see from there. still miss my car :'(

Eduardo

I might also suggest writing a letter (be nice! ) to the manager and owner of the dealership and also sending a carbon copy to Acura headquarters.

Umm, not to sound snobbish (after all *I* might buy a 2005 TL) but Acura, for me, does not have the cache (for better or worse) of a BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus etcetera. I honestly feel I am paying for a higher line Honda (I had a Honda and I **LOVED** it). I am very inclined to buying a BMW 330 xi but here's the rub: its a luxury line automobile and I will be paying for that cache.


Acura marketing should be revamped to really play up the whole "Luxury" aspect so that your car receives the respect that it should and not be seen as 'wanna be', 'aspiring', 'entry level'-luxury automobile. If Acura's were to be seen as a 'true' luxury line I think that your dealership would not be treating you the way they do (just using my sister's experience with her 325i). Acura would then need to re-teach dealerships that customers are be treated with respect!


The new TL is an amazing value-packed automobile. Come the 2005 MY I will probably buy one.


Sorry to hear about your experience's (as well as all those who've encountered problems with their new TL's).

w1n78

man i so wished i would've went for the bmw. but i still love my TL. only thing turning me off is the damn customer service! i'm looking into an mdx in the future but now i don't know. i usually look into how well the company treats its customers after buying the product, but dunno why i didn't with this one. i guess just coz oh how well my family's hondas held up we hardly go to the dealers. well it's pass 2pm and i'll be calling the service manager

1hottl

While I know that not everyone's experience is the same, Acura has provided me with an excellent level of customer service. And I am willing to tell anyone that asks me about my vehicle how much I love it. The moment that they fail to meet my expectations I will let them know that too. I practice that with whatever I am buying...from Walmart to my Acura dealer. The fact is I am a paying customer and as such, I expect a reliable product in return.

By the way Eduardo...I repectfully disagree with the cache thing...to each his/her own.

w1n78

i am the same way, which is why any small detail i see unfit, i definitely will inform the people where i bought it from as well as people who have bought similar items. i finally got a call from the service dept. manager and he still wasn't aware of my issue until i left him a message today. hopefully he can give me an estimate of how much longer do i have to miss my car. at least this time it's coming from the manager

1hottl

Win..If you have not been doing it already, take notes of all of your contacts with the dealer and with Acura, who you spoke with and a brief summary of your discussion. It may help you in the future.

w1n78

i have been keeping a journal with dates, times, names, and a summary of the conversation. a friend of mine is having a similar problem. he doesn't have a TL but a C230 Kompressor. i guess this happens at any random dealer. his is a bit worse since he left his car for some speaker harness and he got it back with engine trouble ROFL, sad i shouldn't laugh. he's been dealing with it for over 3 months now. but same situation, the run around and customer what, oh service.

anyways, the supposed conversation tomorrow with the service manager may be interesting.
thx for the feedback/suggestions. you peeps are the best, i may not have enjoyed my car for a consistant month but i have been enjoying everyone's company here

Neogeek

damn that sucks... well when i bought my car from Pasadina and had a couple things installed, they were very prompt and called me 30 min after opening telling me that my part was in and to stop by and have it installed...

sometimes you have to baby these flakey managers and keep on reminding them to get off their asses and actualy help the customer...

Well if you got a BMW, watch out for bob smith in calabasas... When they moved, they left their hospitality behind them... when my dad has had enough with his 540i, he'll prb end up with a benz, since the benz dealer in calabasas is the only good car dealer (Acura 101 west sucks, bob smith BMW sucks, something Volvo sucks)

hope you get your car back soon!!

trube78

FWIW, BMW has some of the best dealers and some of the worst. Visit a few of their forums for some real horror stories. BMW USA recently hired a QA company to "fix" their bad service reputation. MB has had similar problems.

w1n78, Sux that it happened to you just make them fix it right. I would check the lemon laws. Most states 30 days in the shop is the number.
ATB,
Tom

Mylriahd

I just had something very similar happen to me yesterday, only it's my own fault. Rather, my dog's fault. I've been dreading the day I give her a ride, and that was just because I'd have to get the dog hair out. (She's just a little beagle, so no big deal really.)

She got in but slipped on the towel I had in the passenger seat and her toe nail dug a scratch in the paint, pretty much the same place as w1n78's. It had to happen eventually I guess, I'm just glad it isn't visible. Thats my big thing is making sure she doesn't jump on the car when I get home cause she's excited. Painful love...

w1n78

i got a call from the service dept. manager and it seems that he finally knows what's going on with my car. unfortunately, he still doesn't know how long and how to fix the problem :sqntfawk: . so if i fall under #3 and it says cumulative and today is day 21, couldn't i add the other 3 days that i left my car for the same problem but took it back coz i wanted to wait for a loaner? so it would actually make it a total of 24 days? or the lemon law doesn't apply to my case?

yield2s

Your in the perfect state to get your car bought back. Call a lawyer if thats what you want.

w1n78

i've called Acura directly and the person assigned to my case haven't called me back. i've already called twice and still nothing. i call the dealership and can't get a hold of the general manager. the highest person i ever got to talk to was, i'm guessing, the assistant manager. and you're not gonna believe what he told me...

me: i haven't had my car in over 3 weeks and when i left it there it's a little over 2 months old. after all you've done to the car, i do not want it anymore. i'd rather have a new car.

dealer: we are sorry for this but this decision cannot be made by Thomas Acura. it is more of an Acura decision.

me: WHY? when i bought the car, i gave you my money, not Acura!

(paused)

dealer: (a silent )

me: who can i talk to there that can make this decision?

dealer: well the general manager will not be here until tuesday (tomorrow)

...

what the hell! man i've never, ever received such lack of customer service, especially for a product at this price, (:every_cuss_word . what should i do? i've tried everyone's suggestions, anymore?

1hottl

Win, I don't believe they (local Acura dealer) are the ones to make the lemon law decision. It would be Acura corporate. I would do some research on the lemon laws in your state. Then I would contact Acura corporate to let them know that you intend to file for lemon law status. You may want to search on this in the forum because I remember reading where someone else was contemplating lemon law filing recently. Make sure you do your research first so that you are ready to speak with facts in hand to Acura. Sounds to me like you need to take a deep breath. We all approach things better when we have had the chance to think things out. You will not get anywhere with them by getting hostile. I am not saying you don't have good reason to be mad as I would be too. Good luck! I know this is frustrating but I hope it will work out in your favor.

w1n78

thx 1hottl,
i called acura again and complained that no one from their offices called me back. i've called 3 times after the initial complaint and still no call. i was told it was already assigned and is being taken care off. i told them at least a call back to acknowledge that it was assigned or something.

this totally changes my view on acura. told them that they should give their cars for free so that when their customers receive such treatment that it wouldn't surprise or anger any of them. totally ridiculous and unexpected service experience for a car at that price. i should've bought another civic. never did i have to deal with honda coz my 00 civic never had problems and it still doesn't with over 105K miles on it.

evoman

I feel for you man. I just bought a new 2007 TLS and it already has so many factory defects. Now i am starting to play the game that you are playing...the acura dealer bullshit game where the customer never wins...Haahahha..

I mean, i have a honda civic with no quality problems too, i guess i was under the impression that Acura was supposed to have higher quality then honda does...boy was i wrong.