I just got off the phone with the service manager from my Acura dealer. Acura has officially announced that the tire problem is really Bridgestones and they will be replacing the Turanzas with a yet to be named Bridgestone tire they will ship to the dealer. At this time the dealer is not allowed to simply replace the tire with something else. I asked my service manager if I could make a substition and pay a difference, his reply was NO! The tires will be shipped to the dealer early March and replaced asap. My service manager was kind enough to imply that if there was anything he could do he would, but that he has to wait until the tires are shipped and we get together. This really sounds like I have no choice but to accept what they offer. He doesn't even know what tires are going to be shipped! I can't believe Acura won't just let the dealer handle the problem. My car is 3 months old and sits in the garage most of the time becuase I hate the THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! that happens every time I drive it. Luckily I have 3 other cars to drive and don't really need this one. It wouldn't even have any miles on it if I didn't take it on 2 long trips. Just thought you guys would like to know the latest.

P.S.
This is my only issue with the car and I really love it. It has been so cold here in the northeast that everytime I get in the car it thumps! I was waiting for Acura to do something before replacing the tires on my own. I will take what they give me and order some Pilot Sport A/Ss asap.

 

I just received the same information from my service manager. He reported my VIN# to Acura Corporate last week and will get the new tires in the begining of March. Acura claims that the issue only affects about 1% of the vehicles sold. (Sound familiar). So I guess I have t o wait another 2-3 weeks.

 

I think 1-10% might be reasonable. Remember, the owners on this forum are a small percentage of the overall total, and the ones with issues, even smaller. So again, I don't have a hard time believing that.

 

Is Acura planning on being proactive and approaching the people with known problem vin #s?

 

Acura will only be replacing tires for the people who have complained. Apparently very few people notice that there is a problem or they live in warmer climates. I find it hard to believe they would want to replace tires for all the new TLs.

Mark

 

How do you guys think that people who bought their cars from far away dealers take care of this problem? Do you think Acura will be nice enough to let us go to the neariest dealer to get those ugly tires replaced?

 

My dealer has not heard of this news, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

I've called my dealer twice. "We don't have much information yet." I spoke to Acura customer service today. "This is the first I've heard of it." Obviously, this is bs. They just don't seem interested in resolving it. I will get new tires from my dealer one way or other. These tires, quite frankly, suck...

 

ACS always refused to tell you the first hand news. I just called, and they said Seat Memory & Tires are still two of major issues they don't have the detailed answers yet.

Plus, the vibration/resonance of 5th gear/1500RPM is no TSB yet.
(This guy seemed to be aware of more news, he confirmed with me that MDX has the similar issue in higher RPM range, and Acura engineers are still working on these now. Also, they really don't know if 05TL/MDX would fix this issue, but they have been fully aware of this problem now. Some of dealers come out with hangers or damping solutions, but ACS believe this is not the offical soultions from Acura at this time... )

(Not all of ACS staff would tell/understand the whole issues. I always called twice in order to squeeze more info from them. It's lucky for me that one of them usually brings up something detailed for me.)

 

I took care of the problem myself by swapping the oems for pilot sports before I even have taken delivery.

 

Any Acura dealer has to repair cars under Acura warranty no matter where you bought the car. (Doesn't apply if you somehow bought a Canadian model in the U.S., however, as some MDX owners have found out). Acura (corporate) reimburses dealers for parts and labor cost under warranty. The labor reimbursement is usually less than the dealer would get based on their regular hourly rate. But the work is still profitable for them. A non-selling dealer, however, might not be quite as nice to you in the areas of loaner cars, priority for appointments, etc. That's one thing to consider when weighing different offers when buying a car.

 

fig32 & jdimaria,
Which dealer did you get this info from?
I'm picking mine up from Montclair Acura
on Friday and the last time I spoke with them they had no new info.

 

Firestone owns Bridestone....

 

I got the info from Precision Acura in Princeton.

Mark

 

rlb

Like fig32 I got my info from Precision Acura also. That's were I got my car.

Joe

 

Who will tell me the info?

Between Nov and Feb, I have called ACS 10 times.

7 times ACS said Acura (company) will call me when the issues I've reported come with the solutions.

Other 3 times ACS said I wouldn't get the calls from Acura but my dealer should call if I have my dealer known what's going on with my car.

I'm not sure if I would get calls when TSB is ready, but I always make sure ACS's computer system has documented my issues clearly and detailed-ly.

Then, I call to the dealer monthly to make sure there is no fix yet...

 

Rets,
Your dealer should be calling you once they receive the info from Acura. My service manager was made aware of the problem and promised to call me when he had information. He did exactly what he promised and has kept me in the loop. This is why I purchased the car from them. If you have made the dealer aware, then they will/should call you.

Mark

 

spoke with acs:

they say the tires will definitely be replaced. however, acura will NOT offer any fix for the highway speed associated vibration. they indicate it does not affect the safety or value of the car. not a good outcome at all!

 

Mark,

Thanks... After a couple of visits to my prestigious dealer's service department, I lost my failth in their "words". Anyway, I'll keep calling them twice per month to make sure they do not forget me.

 

I don't take delivery until late March but my car will arrive at the dealer this week. Does anyone know if this solution will apply to Canadian cars?

 

The service manager just called me as well to give me a service update. He just talked to his factory rep and found out that my new tires are coming in about 2 weeks and they are the same Turanzas but a different compound. He said the factory is only sending one set of tires for my car (I guess since I was the only customer that complained) so maybe it is a case by case situation?

 

Actually, Bridgestone owns Firestone. I know, I'm nit picking...sorry.