bluenoise

You've just described the main reason I've only gone skiing once in the 20 years since I moved from Colorado.

Lore

Since they replaced your parts as part of a $2000 fix, make sure you KEEP THE ORIGINAL PARTS! Demand all of it back! They don't need to send it in for warranty claim with Acura, so hang on to it and take it in to a third-party mechanic to see if they might be able to take a gander at what might have happened.

Legend2TL

I agree, in Maryland returning your old parts is required by law (if the owner insists). Get back the parts for Acura to inspect. I'd be suspicious of needing a new flywheel.

chazy777

yes I have told them that I want to keep all the old parts and they have them ready for me. I'm calling Acura everyday to get status of my case. They are closed Fri and Mon so I better have an update tommorow! Otherwise I'll ahve to wait till Tuesday.. ugh! they said it can take at least 1-2 business days to process my case.... but process what?

JetJock

Chazy...sorry to hear about your clutch problems. I can only say thanks for posting about your experience. Obviously, you know how to drive a MT car, so it's good for others who have to drive in similar conditions to know that the clutch in the TL isn't designed for constant low speed shifting especially up steep grades found in the Sierra or Rocky Mtn. areas. Now that I think about the conditions you had to endure, I'm suprized your left leg didn't burn out as well. Thanks for the posts! Next time I hope you wait until the storm ends before driving home. I had an experience several years ago driving to Telluride from Montrose CO. I got lost in a blizzard and ended up in Silverton. The experience of driving in those mountains during a snow storm is something I'll never forget.

chazy777

So I'm satisfied with Acura... but it took some major talkin.. was on phone for over half an hour with them.. They didn't consider 18,900 miles to be low miles at all so they were willing to cover 25% of it. After much more talking and pleading and not being demanding or upset in any way and being appreciative / straight forward, I got them to cover the cost of all the parts.. So I'm paying strictly for labor (which I know was a rip off anyways) .. BUt I was just told my bill was a little over $1800... the parts came out to around $950.. so it appears Acura is covering more than 50% of it!

I'm just so glad to have my car back in less than a week! Hate this Ford Focus car rental I've been driving around in...but at least I got a car from them.

Now probably my brakes will be next.... wear out item!! ugh.. <jinx - knock on wood>

mickey3c

18,900 miles is not low miles for a clutch!!! Acura is Fu54!ed in the head if they think that.

Well people be sure that you know the limits of your hardware. I wonder if the 2G clutches had this issue as well. This means under certain travel conditions you can cause excessive clutch wear resulting in total clutch failure. Check the documentation you got with the car on this. I would be interested to see that if you operated the car as you said, you should not have had to paid a thing... I understand how they sell thousands of cars and all but this is odd. Yeah maybe extreme, but often times it takes something like this to wake people up...

The 2G auto tranny was not properly tested either. It took about a year for it all to come to light. So I think people need to think that if they launch their car often enough maybe they will wear out their clutch by 40K and 2000 bucks. And to think a friend of mine was upset when his maxima's clutch had to be replaced at 70,000 at a cost of about 1000.

If I add up the expenses here not only is acura more to insure, but this guy had to shell out about 1000 bucks for a clutch... brakes, tires coming up.. or have they already...

SouthernBoy

70,000 miles on a stock clutch is very low mileage, indeed. You should expect at least twice that out of your clutch unless some unusual conditions exist. Actually close to three times that kind of mileage is more in line with expectations.

Legend2TL

Glad it all worked out for you.

FWIW a co-worker has a early year S2000. His clutch lasted until 90K miles and broke last year (it did not wear out but a fratured clutch hub).

Although the car was out of warrenty (5 years old), Honda agreed to pay for the parts and some of the labor.