Long story short, my service advisor notifies me today that I will be needing a new transmission due to the current leak that I have. He spoke to his manager and he has refused to do a goodwill repair. He told me to call corporate acura to pled my case and have them pay for the goodwill repair. I was surprise that they had refuse to do a goodwill due to the fact that I’ve only been out of warranty for 4 months and the car only have 48,xxx miles on it. But this is the case and I will need to contact corporate.

Can someone please advise me on what is the best strategy to accomplish this? Should I call them directly? Should I write them a letter, email etc? If anyone have a sample letter that they have successfully written and gotten goodwill repairs done through corporate, please provide me a copy.

Car Info:

04 TL AT
Purchased Date: October 2004
Mileage: 48,xxx
Mods: none, except than a-spec suspension and kit
Owners: family owned, mom was the first owner
All service has been done at acura dealership on-time

 

where is the transmission leaking from? When exactly did you do the transmission fluid change?

What you could do is call Acura cooperate, and explain to them that you have been a good customer, done your service on time at the dealership and that you have done nothing but take care of the car. Explain to them that a transmission repair shouldn't have come this soon, being a Honda product that should last for 100,000 miles.

 

I am def interested to know where it is leaking too. Fix the leak. Dont replace the trans. Short of a diff that is trashed and allowing the axles to float around and REPEATEDLY taking out axle seals I cant see why at 48k the trans just started leaking from an unrepairable place.

 

maybe its something called a banjo joint, I had to have one replaced on my TL since it was leaking, covered under warranty...

 

The service advisor said that one of the main gasket seals are leaking. To fix it they would need to take apart the entire transmission and do a overhaul on it. The cost of repair for the seal will probably cost about $3-4k and to replace the transmission will cost about $5.2k. I do not believe the transmission fluid has ever been change. I asked the service advisor this and he told me that the car will not need it until 50,000 miles. When I brought my car in to check the leak, I went ahead and requested for a transmission fluid flush at 48,xxx miles on the odometer.

 

call acura corporate and ask them

do you have your car regularly serviced by acura dealers?
do you have maint records?
are you original owner?

 

I am kinda worried that since their sales has been in the slumps in the past few months, they will be stingy on doing the repair.

 

start with a phone call- ask for a manager to call you back 1-800-382-2238 x5
There is no reason for them not to help you out, sounds like a lousy service dept

When you get a real manager on the phone make sure to explain how the service writer was suggesting they take the trans apart at the dealer!!!
Thats not a job they do!!!

One symptom (based on gen2 failure items) fluid leaking from the trans is cause for replacement of the trans, assuming not an external connection

 

the phone person is not an acura rep- they answer phones- do not listen to them saying you are out of warranty
just state your complaint and ask for a case file to be opened and a manager from acura to call you back
May take 24-48 hours as that person needs to call the dealer and get their side

 

The service advisor did not suggest to take apart the transmission at the dealership. He was only stating that if I want repair, the transmission will need to be taken apart. I will keep in mind tomorrow when I call to ask to speak to the manager to plead my case.

 

the service manager is supposed to be working on your behalf- the service writer is there to make money
Explain your side, preferably in person, and understanding of gen2 TL and the special extended trans warranty they got - and you didnt even get a reasonable amount of life from your trans

Service writers- some have no clue about cars- yeah no kidding it has to come apart to replace a main seal and fix leak---
and the point is ..there should not be seal leak at this mileage and age
Good luck- check my post in the last few pages of gen2 thread titled- tranny failure-
I worked in the biz a long time~

 

Goodwill is not automatic--sometimes you have to ask for what you want!

Corp does prefer you do all possible with the dealership- call in corp only when not able to resolve a situation

 

I know what he is saying. How bad is the leak?

 

Every morning I would have a puddle about the size of a cd-rom.

 

Write a letter to Honda Corp. explaining the situation and how good of a customer you have been, and the expectations that a honda trans should last more than 48xxx. We had to do this IOT get a second transmission replaced after the first replacement covered under warranty crapped out. The replacement was out of warranty and they ate the cost.

 

Try a different dealership. I used to have a service guy who worked at tustin acura who would always hook me up with warranty work (?since he was a nice guy?) even tho my car is modified out the wazuu. Other dealerships would just blow me off.

 

I heard that corporate is cutting back on goodwills. That's what my SA told me.

 

whats todays update??- waiting to hear back from corp rep at the 800 number?

 

Nothing to really update except to wait for the case manager to call me back. A case has been opened and the case manager will contact the dealership to get their side of the story and will make the decision then. I will update as soon as I hear something back. I they will cover it 100%.

 

After 3 days of waiting they finally called me back with an offer to take 25% off the cost of the replacement. I was not happy with the decision and told the case manager to keep the case open to be look at further. The cost with the 25% off would be $2400 out of my pocket.

Any advice on how to fight this further? Please help...I don't have $2400 to spend on replacing a transmission that fail at 48,000 miles especially on a $32,000 car!

 

Well I hate to hear it. Unfortunately, just like everyone else, Acura is feeling the pain of the recession too. Its definitely a crappy situation. Calling into CR will not yield the same results as it did a year ago.
I will play devils advocate and remind everyone... your factory warranty is good for 4 years 50k. You are not ENTITLED to anything past that point regardless of whether its right or wrong. I have not met a person who wasnt offered the purchase of a extended warranty when they bought a new car. Most people opt out. That extended warranty woulda been key right now. Paid for itself two times over on this repair alone. I know I sound like a douche and I am ok with that. I feel obligated to provide some level headed perspective here on AZINE since I live the drama I read on here EVERY DAY!
Now on a lighter note...should you pay any percentage of that transmision replacement you will have a 3 year 36 month warranty on the trans. Not sure if anyone mentioned it. If you are dropping that much liquid each day you may wanna see if there is some way you can seal the leak. Since your trans internals are ok, if you can stop the leak you can buy yourself some time. A word of caution in regards to pushing CR too hard...they made you an offer, I have personally seen those offers revoked for people who push and push and push.......

 

After 3 weeks of pleading my case and negotiating, I finally settled with paying $1400 for replacing the transmission. I am however still disappointed, since other members on this forum had much better results with their case. But it was a lot better than paying the MSRP $3200. Thank you everyone for the help!

 

well $1400 is better than $3600

Things I have had to pay for that I should not have had to pay for with my Acura

1. 4x Trans fluid changes between 40K and 70K
2. Two sets of lower ball joints between 45K and 65K (fudge that I was pretty mad)
3. Coolant crossover pipe and rear brakes at 55K (rear brakes should have lasted longer IMHO).

 

my rear brakes lasted 60, thats normal enough life that you got
ball joints and other parts get worn thru spirited driving and lowered car~
who made you have trans fluid changes