Steven

I was planning to purchase a TL the end of this month. After reading about the problems with the tires however, I have changed my mind. I just sent an e-mail to the dealer, Ardmore Acura (outside of Philly) explaining to them that I will not be purchasing this vehicle until Acura resolves the tire issue.

Jss1

I;ve had mine 1 1/2 months and I don't have any tire issues.

neuronbob

I don't have a tire issue (thank goodness), but am still planning to switch out.

What you should do is to tell your dealer to switch your tires, at either their cost (as acuraddict and others have done), or add them to the purchase price with some appropriate deduction.

6spdzoomzoom

I have driven 2 6spds and 2 AT's they all had the vibration issue. the severity was just different. My guess is that we all have it.

rets

My EL42s are working ok so far. But 1 out of 5 TLs I have been driving has the vibration issue.

If you finally decide to have the TL, you may test-drive your new car with the salesman when picking up your new car. If vibration-free and rattles-free, you just sign the papers.

AcurRacer

Steve, did Ardmore react in any way?

That is my dealership. I've had my car for 2 weeks. It does have a slight vibration at 1500 rpm/50 mph and the flatspotting. It is fairly subtle. Without reading about the issue on this forum I would probably not even noticed it. However, I am planning on bringing it up with them. Just curious how they reacted to you.

Steven

I e-mailed them this afternoon. No reply yet, but I will let you know what they say.

Norse396

Every single TL I drove, and that was all but the A-Spec one they had vibrated. As mentioned before, some were worse than others, even the HPT ones vibrated.

Mine unfortunately was the worst so Acura better do something and soon.

557866

Alright. I just picked up my TL yesterday. I hate to say it but I was really hoping that all the problems described herein would not occur for me. Sure enough, driving home from work yesterday and today @ around 60, I notice a humming sound. I have a 45 mile commute each way and tend to drive @ 80mph on the major thruways.... at 80mph the sound is overwhelming. There is minor vibration but it's the hormonic type hum/buzz that is driving me crazy. I've got a 5spdAT. This sounds the same as most of you have experienced or are experiencing. Anyone buy their TL from Metro Acura in Philly? Have you reported the problem? Any success? I'm calling this in on Monday.

neuronbob

I think everybody has a "hum" when the tranny shifts into 5th at 35 and 50-55 mph. The difference is that some people have a noticeable vibration along with the hum. The "hum" is totally normal, and I have it only at the speeds above. I don't drive 55 on the freeway, so I don't experience it often. If there is a severe vibration with the "hum", that is NOT normal.

Novice

557866:

That sucks. After picking up my car, I dorve down to DC on NJ Turnpike at around 50-60mph due to heavy traffic. I really didn't feel any noise. In fact, it was so quiet inside, I almost fell asleep.

Something was rattling though at the beginning and I was all discouraged. I quickly found out that the dealer guy forgot to put the visors in the lock position.

557866

neuronbob,

I would agree that it may be normal to have some tire road noise but I would not agree that it should be this loud. Given the volume of the sound and the fact there is some minor vibration, I'm taking it to my dealer tomorrow.

neuronbob

557866, I totally agree with you. Your situation is not normal because you have the vibration and you should have it checked out by the dealer, I would! Let us know how it works out.

rets

I agree. Subtle vibration from tranny/engine without tires vibration should be 04TL's characteristic. It's not good, but it seems acceptable. Any other vibrations in 04TL should not be allowed.

Also, everyone has different threashold, some ppl may be able to feel the subtle issue, but others may not. Tires vibration or flatspot should be very noticeable for most of ppl, but a few of ppl just cannot feel it, such as my friend's boss, whose car has unbalanced tires and his boss doesn't know/care.

If you don't have tires issue, the subtle vibration from tranny/engine/drivertrain may make some ppl irked, too. But others may never think it's the issue.

Just like quake, some ppl feels any kind of unbalanced shaking is terrible, but others familiar to it may only think it's normal 'cause they have different standards in their mind, or they have been trained by numerous big vibrations already, or some one is really senseless to any slight shaking.

However, to ask dealers checking your car would be the good way to standardize "vibration".

My $0.02.

Steven

Here is their response:

Steven,
We haven't had any complaints here from our customers. The tires were especially designed for the vehicle according to Honda's engineering specs, so I doubt you'll see a change any time soon.
Brian Evans
Internet Sales
Ardmore Acura

Looks like the corporate run around to me. I'm glad I didn't purchase the vehicle. Frankly, I don't need the hassle.

Dlev

Steven,

I think you have to go into a dealer, show them you're all set to buy, however you will not do it unless they replace those tires for you at their costs. They will not waste their time unless you put some pressure on them in person, and by pressure I mean agree on a price and then walk out the door when they say they won't replace the tires. Replacing the tires costs them nothing, if you walk they will stop you!

This is what I'm planning on doing, there are plenty of dealers for me to go to to buy this car. My bet is they'll go for it if your there in person ready to sign, and if not screw em. I'll go elsewhere.

Steven

My response to Acura dealer:

Brian,
Thank you for your acknowledgement that you haven't had any complaints with the TL tires.
Based on your response, I am going to shop for a BMW 5 series and Mercedes E320 tomorrow. I love the TL, but the tire issue is not acceptable. Safety is of primary importance to me and money is not an issue.
I know I am going to spend 12-15K more. But safety is worth that to me.
In addition, I would hope you bring this up to Honda/Acura. This has ruined my trust for the brand, and I have had 3 of them in the past and been happy with them. The tires they are putting on the TL now are the reason I wouldn't buy a Ford. How they could do this is mind boggling...Unless this new car is the first in line of lesser quality products.
I wouldn't stay for dinner at a restaurant that serves stale bread. The tires on the TL are stale bread and I won't be staying for dinner.
Best Regards,
Steven
Bottom line is my trust in Acura products has been...in a word...zainoed. ENJOY!

jyg tl 3

it will out handle theTL, handle w/o thesurprises of torque steer. ,But from an e39 97-03 five series owner, sport package, with adaptive steering can be very scary, I suggest you look at both non sport and sport package cars, I've driven adaptive steering::straight car is more secure,

6spdzoomzoom

Steve,

Let us know what you get....

Steven

Update......
Ardmore Acura called me today and told me the sales manager said he would put whatever tires I wanted on the car at no additional charge. I guess it pays to be a squeaky wheel (no pun intended).
So I'm back in. What tires should I get?

557866

Well my dealership is well staffed with a$$holes! A couple of days of dropping off the car and taking a technician for a ride to duplicate my problem has led to nothing. My dealer acknowledges that there is vibration and a significant amount of noise. The Acura reps response is that there is no issue and my dealer agrees....."it is a trait of the 2004 TL". I've now waisted hours of my time and am still pursuing a solution from my dealer. The realization......I've just purchased a $36K car that has more road noise than my 1993 $4k Toyota T-100 pickup. Well I think my wife and I are going to reconsider purchasing her that TSX later this year. I think a 3 series BMW will be the option. Way to kick you customers where it counts Acura!!!!!

mitchdeerfield

Pennsylvania has a very strong Lemon Law. There are attorneys who specialize in this. it is time for you to go that route.