I had a suspension failure 2 weeks ago. Not due to poor maintenance or neglect. In the words of the Acura service manager, "The ball joint showed no sign of wear or damage, it just broke." Given that statement, one would think the dealer would cover the cost to repair the resultant damage (the car has 61K miles so is out of warranty). But no, I am stuck with the $2200 repair bill (includes the body shop estimate from where the wheel damaged the fender). I just added up all of my maintenance costs on this car. $4,100 not including tires. I tend to believe that's too much for a car that is just shy of 4 years old and has been driven almost exclusively on the highway (hence all of the miles).

In retrospect, I really wanted to love this car. It has the most comfortable seats short of an Audi A8 that I've ever sat in. The performance level and amenities top every other car out there. I drive a lot and it is effortless. I get between 29 and 31 mpg on the highway at 78 mph indicated. But the downside is starting to make me think that this car is really a piece of crap.

It rattles something fierce. I know all of the fixes are in this forum but WTF?!?!? This thing sounds like a $35,000 Yugo. I had to have the dealer replace one of the sun visors because even the radio couldn't drown out that vibration.

I had the transmission oil jet installed. This is not a new problem for Acura (see the MDX).

I had the vibration dampener (TSB 05-017) installed. It doesn't help with the engine drone at 45-52 mph. Not even a little bit.

The seat memory has never worked for more than a week.

The button lights for the outside mirror controls went out in the first year.

The trunk release button just stopped working.

The passenger side seat heater works sporadically but always at the dealer.

I've had Hondas, Volvos, Chevy/GMC trucks, a used Lexus with over 200,000 miles on it and I've never had such a close personal relationship with the dealer service manager as I have with the one at Crest Acura. Well maybe with the Dodge dealer that sold us the "lemon" Grand Caravan in 1993

I was actually considering moving up to an RL, but I have to admit I'm really thinking a Lexus GS has to be better.

Rant over.

 

I can see and understand your frustration...Maybe you just got a lemon?

 

You buy a car made in america and look what happens- hope they take it as trade in and get you a different brand that serves you with less trouble.
Come visit and let us know how they compare!

I would keep that broken part and start a file with acura 1-800-382-2238 x5
You just file a report to get past the initial minimum wage person, and a real supervisor calls you back

Maybe you should contact the NTSB as this is a major safety issue- sudden unknown reason part failure!!! recall!!!!!
Acura may just hook you up on the repairs- its the Regional rep your service manager needs to be talking with on your behalf, especially if you have documented many trips into service dept for all the probs over and over again

 

Wow man...that sucks! I imagine all of the earlier issues were fixed via warranty and not out of pocket? As long as there are imperfect humans, there will be imperfect machines building imperfect cars. I know it doesn't aid your cause, but there are some baskets with a bad apple in it anytime you go mass production!

 

Part of the problem is that I don't have the broken parts. Supposedly, they threw them away even though I asked for them. I know that in some states, that's against the law. Not sure if that's true in NY but I plan to find out.

I did get the 93 Grand Caravan replaced under the Lemon Law in Tennessee. The problem is, you have to take something from the dealer or manufacturer of your lemon. Every state has different laws, but that's how it worked in Tennessee. We got a 96 Grand Caravan for free and traded it within 6 months for a Suburban.

I suspect the SM will change his tune once I start talking to him about eating the $2100 repair bill. I doubt he will be an advocate for me with his boss.

 

Actually, I couldn't afford the time away from work to get all of the problems fixed. I burned a lot of vacation time sitting in the waiting room at Crest Acura as it was. I never got around to the seat memory issue or the button lights issue.

 

read the invoice- if it has a box check- return old parts to customer - and its checked- and they didnt- something is fishy and they are trying to hide it from you
You have rights and sometimes you have to write letters to acura- but it can be well worth it
You can be sure NY is going to have a Bureau of Automotive Repair- probably a division of Consumer Affairs dept- that licenses all repair shops and handles problems-complaints

There are members here with gen2 99s- out of time and mileage limit on trans special warranty- and acura is replacing them at labor only- thats a $4000 job normally for somehudreed $
Its worth it to go deeper- especially look up NTSB and report the failure

 

Good suggestions here. I would certainly go further up the food chain. Tossing the parts was a big mistake on their part. Give them $4000 worth of fight.

 

Aside from mechanical failure/problems, I think their customer serivce cannot be compared to Lex, Infiniti and BMW at all even though they consider themselves (Acura) to be on the same level as Lex, Infiniti and BMW.

Anyway, this could be an isolated incident.

 

Wow, I hear your frustration and don't blame you one bit.

As mentioned by 01tl4tl, I think sudden breakage of a ball joint is a major failure and I really suggest that you contact the NTSB and Consumer Reports. Do this whether or not you have the parts - there may be other similar reports.

I can't imagine how steamed I would be to have to pay for this on a 3-yr old, 60k car. Definitely call Acura.

 

Luckily, I (not the dealer) discovered one of my lower control arm bushings was cracked at 11,000 miles. Despite your mileage, Acura should at least do the ball joint gratis. There's always your collision insurance for the fender, so the worst out of pocket expense should be your deductible.

Think you've had problems? Toke on this:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...21&postcount=6

 

Except for the damage done by the dealers, I suppose I could have listed all of the same issues. I've heard that Acura's voice recognition is among the best. When I say "Shelby Office" it comes back with "8-0-6". I've just given up on the Bluetooth phone and use my Garmin C550.

And don't get me started on why a $35,000 car doesn't have a low windshield washer warning light....

Looking at a G35X tomorrow....

 

My dealership endeared themselves to me by doing this with my 03 TL-S!