chavez

I got a call this morning from some guy at Acura. He asked me about the rattles (front driver and passenger door area, glove compartment, and rear deck) that I have previously complained about in some survey that they sent me. He asked me if they are still there. I told them that the rattles are worse now. I asked him if Acura knows about these problems and he said that they do acknowledge that there are problems. However, they are not sure what is causing it or how to fix it yet. That is why they are calling peole to find out more. They are working on a fix though. Did anyone else get a call from Acura regarding this?

Novice

The only way Acura can fix all the rattles is to take every single plastic piece removed and put some more felt material all around. Conclusion=no action.

VelfarreClubber

What they can do is SEARCH in the forums!

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

Solution -- increase cost of TL by $3000.00 by making these quality contol adjustments, and suffer a slight drop in sales... but have cars that don't rattle as much.

TL1999

are these rattles for 2004 models?

Ken7

The interesting thing is that I jumped over to look at what the new RL owners were saying, and it's the same over there. Rattles galore. Here I thought that the fact that my 04TL was made here as opposed to Japan was the cause of the rattles. I guess not. It's an "Acura thing".

cliff

some dealerships do monitor this forum...as far as i know

the tech at acura of ocean said thanks to me today when i dropped off my car, i was like huh?? then he said that the manager told him that i gave them a good review on this site. (not the tech himself, but the dealership as a whole)

that paragraph above sounds really confusing to me lol

Road Rage

I am not so sure, Peter - my TL is quieter in the interior than my bro's E55 AMG, which cost $80k. Except for the glove box, I have corrected every other rattle, and my car has become quieter over time, as the plastic parts "hone" in. Temperature also plays a role gere - I find that unlike my other cars, the TL gets more racket as temps increase.

Everyone else: These "rattles" are not what i would call rattles, but buzzes. I have not found my TL to be worse in this regard than any other car I have ever owned, including the LS400 I had for a short while.

Sherlock

Too bad the RL is doing it too. I used to think it was the made in America option that made our TL's so "quiet" </sarcasm>. As entertaining as the RL is, after being 3G TL #259, I will NEVER buy any 1st or 2nd year honda product ever. That is if I go back to them in the first place. Boy they have screwed up.

castre

No more Hondas/Acuras for me... I am done with them. They have proved me of their incompetence. I think they have great designers for the interior and exterior of their product, but they just cannot do the BASIC tasks of putting the car together and that is to put part A and part B together without making anymore complications.

nednj36

This is my last Honda product also. I have a cheap sounding rattle from the left radio tweeter that is intermittent and temperature related. When I bring it to the dealer I can't duplicate it for them or they just don't hear it. It really takes way from driving pleasure.

Also, why can't thse people center a steering wheel? Both my 2003 & 2005 TL's came from the factory with the steering wheel off center to the right. I've had the 2005 in 2X and now it's off center to the left. Very annoying. Dealership claims that airbag interferes with spindles and getting the wheel to be perfectly straight. I don't buy it. Nor will I ever buy another poorly aligned Honda rattlebox.

chavez

Yep, I think I'm done with Acura also. With the rattles, the Acura is just like any other car. Yes, I like my TL, but with these rattles it's just not the same, especially when the dealers just pretty much tell you to live with them because they don't know what to do.

mickey3c

It appears the older folks 40+ are the ones that are not happy with the acura rattle box while the youngins are... I know that is why I did not go back to them this year.. But then when you are used to driving a car in this class and you start seeing the issues with rattles and what not, you decide to not stick with the brand..

Where if this is your first 30+k car you have a tendency to put up with a lot more since it is much better than the old clunker you were driving around...

chill_dog

I have to agree, somewhat. Overall, my TL is a 100 times better than my old car, but my old car didn't rattle. Of course, I only notice slight rattles here and there once in a while (glove box, dash). I just wish they could figure out how to keep the heat shield in place (keep coming loose). I still think it's a great car, and with the exception of some exotics, arguably the best looking on the road. I think the older folks notice the rattles more because they don't have the radio cranked like the younger folks.

onalake

It would be interesting to determine which drivers get rattles more often because of:

1. The type of roads they drive on. (Lots of pot holes and old concrete roads that are now asphault but still have the thump every 20 feet still under the asphault vs newer paved roads)

2. The speeds at which they drive (maybe faster drivers hit bumps harder than those that driver slower and cause more rattles?).

3. Climate (are those in more seasonal areas more prone to rattle because the parts expand and contract with the temperature)

4. What crew was working that week that built the car vs last week's crew type of thing. (One crew having a good week and the other a bad week)

Did mean this as a poll but just questions that come to mind when reading feedback on rattles.

GQS

Maybe this is unfair, since I haven't taken delivery of my TL yet, and I may feel different if my car suffers from rattles, but COME ON...you won't buy another Honda because of a tweeter rattle??? An off-center steering wheel?? (My '85 CRX had an off-centre steering wheel the dealer couldn't fix - so what? That car gave me over 100,000 trouble free miles before i sold it)

God help you if you were driving a GM, Ford or Chrysler product or even Infiniti or BMW for that matter...check out the various forums related to their vehicles and you see lots of griping about many more serious build quality issues - we're talking major driveability problems, major component failures, bad wiring harnesses, etc.

I've owned various Japanese-built (Honda, Mazda, Nissan) products over the years, and more recently domestically-built products of both American (Ford) and Japanese (Honda) manufacturers. My experience is that Honda/Acura builds quality vehicles, regardless of the country of assembly. If I thought any different, I never would have bought another one.

Every manufacturer is capable of producing a lemon car, some just build a higher percentage of them. I think reliability statistics show that Honda/Acura builds more reliable vehicles than many other manufacturers. Are they perfect? Of course not, but you're probably much less likely to end up with a lemon car.

Novice

GQS. After you get your car, you will understand many complaints re: rattles.

hp1kw

I would definitely wait until you get your TL to decide whether people are overreacting. I know, having owned several Honda products in the past, I expected a near flawless car mechanically speaking. It is very disheartening though to have a $35k car sound so cheap due to all the rattles. It is embarrassing to let people drive my car or ride in it with all the noise it makes. Again, I love the car and the way it drives, but whenever I hit any type of pothole, or reflectors on the road, I feel as though I'm driving a 10-year old car and definitely one that shouldn't have cost $35k. Keep in mind, this is AFTER the dealer has fixed the center channel speaker rattle, the A-pillar rattles, the window-frame rattles, etc....

Spingrinder

I only have 1300 miles and no rattles yet

The only reason I came back to Honda/Acura was because the string of cars I had in between a CRX and the TL were rattletraps that continually broke down

Mazda - BMW - Ford - VW

I was hopeful that returning to Honda/Acura would result in the same performance I had with my CRX (130k miles and only had to replace a headlight and brake pads. No other problems).

hp1kw

Well, hopefully the TL won't break down, but in my experience, "rattletrap" sounds like a pretty accurate description of my TL. However, my rattles started appearing within the first 500 miles or so. You may be lucky.

GQS

No, you could have spent $5-10k more on a comparably equipped car by another manufacturer, and still had issues with it...

Basically what I am saying is that lot's of people seem to be very happy with their cars ( eg. check out the Acura TL page on Edmunds.com http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...Acura/model=TL -

owners give the 04 a 9.3/10 and the 05 a 9.2/10) and that, while vocal, the complainers seem to be in the minority. While it is frustrating to be the one who gets stuck with a problem car, it seems unreasonable to condemn the entire company because of it.

hp1kw

Well, some of that makes sense. My brother has a E500 and has his share of problems and in fact made him vow never to buy another MB product again. He just bought a BMW. So while many people may be completely satisfied with their TL, that is terrific for them. All I know is that my TL rattles like crazy and it makes the car feel very cheap. Also had a friend buy a MDX around the same time as me, and his MDX rattles as well, although not as bad. So yes it is frustrating to get stuck with a problem car, but it hardly seems like I'm alone on this one. So to me, it isn't entirely unreasonable to condemn the entire company.

GASNET

My O2tls Had Lots Of Minor Problems. Wind Noise Sunroof, Heater Motor, Headlights, Not To Mention 2 Transmissions.my 99 Mazda Millinia S Was Flawless Not One Problem.but I Would Choose The Acura Anyday.it Looks Great In And Out And Is So Fun To Drive.yes The Tranny Blew Twice But A Loaner Car And 2 Days Latter I Was Cruising Again.acura Service Was Great.i Could Care Less About A Few Plastic Rattles.picking Up A 2005 Tl This Week And Cant Wait.270 Hp, Navi, Bluetooth,voice, Good Looks And Nice Interior.1st Year Cars Always Have A Few Bugs.looking For A Quiet Car Buy A Lexus Ls430.nice But Not Fun.do You Think Bmw's And Mercedes Are Perfect Think Again.i Lease A New Car Every 3 Years So Buying A 35000 Dollar Means Nothing To Me.if I Did Maybe I Would Think Different.a Car Is Not An Investment Just Have Fun Driving It.

GQS

I hope he has good luck with it, because I know a few Beemer owners who feel the same way towards BMW as you feel towards Acura...

nednj36

where in the "A" pillars were the rattles?