my tranny died, i have a 2004 TL, with 141k miles

is it worth it to get a new tran replace by dealership for $3600? with 3 year 36k miles warranty

or go with a repair shop for $2000? 1 year 12miles warranty?

 

I'd get a quote from a wrecker on buying the car see if that adds up to more than just buying another. Car should be worth quite a bit more than the transmission cost, but I'm not sure what a TL less a transmission is worth.

 

IMO that is up to you. Whatever gives you peace of mind. If an extra $1600 for a new transmission and longer warranty gives you peace of mind then do that. If not then pay $2000. Personally if you know the repair shop is of Excellent quality I would go with that.

 

I would just get it worked on, since knowing that the engines can hold up for lots of miles. Unless you just want a new car then leave it.

 

he's asking whether he should pay the dealer $3,600 or a trans shop $2,000.

i would lean towards getting it done by the dealer if you can afford it. the longer warranty is more assuring

 

If you have to ask, that means you don't trust or don't know the reputation of the shop. I wouldn't spend a dime there unless I was familiar with their work.

 

I am leaning toward the dealer since they offer you longer warranty, that dam cheap for a trans replacement since Acura want $4500 for 2nd TL.

 

I don't know...if it were me, I would probably put the money towards a new TL but if you have a lot of mods, might be worth the fix. If it were my car, I would have the dealer fix it.

 

I think acura needs to have a recall on trannys... i see alot of people with complaints or tranny problems. i love my TL-S but if mine goes out.. im done. it sucks to have a nice semi expencive car and have to worry about problems like that.

 

I'd have the shop do it. If its a dedicated transmission shop and they know what they're doing I wouldn't worry. $2000 is a good deal.

 

OP you don't happen to be in/around Orlando are you? I could recommend a shop.

I look at it this way. If you pay the $1600 not only is the problem that occurred solved, but you also have BRAND NEW other components, bearings and so on.

With the 2k option of fixing it, everything else still could have wear and/or failure down the road.

Lastly, are you planning on keeping the car quite a bit longer?

 

Recently somebody posted an article that the 3G was voted most reliable car. Apparently in the grand scheme of things considering the total population of 3G sold, tranny failures were not significant.

Check to see if the tranny shop will give you warranty on their work, most shops will. How many years warranty is the dealer giving? The problem I feel with these TL's is you really need a person who knows how to work on these cars to put it all back right. Otherwise other problems arise cause they didn't put everything back right. I'm sure any tranny shop can fix the tranny good enough, but putting your car back together properly is another story. The TL has so many odds and end pieces in the dissembly process, minor things like clips, hangers, covers etc..

 

$2000 is the obvious choice. Nearly 2x the price for the warranty. Time value money and the fact you could get it done again in the additional 24 months and still maybe have a longer warranty. Plus, the transmission will be cheaper in the future most likely and that is assuming you start at zero which is unlikely. I don't KNOW I will have any car 3 years, lots can happen especially at 141K. Good independent mechanic is FAR greater the the Acura stealership. At the dealer, you pay for the moronic service consultant, the extra up charges, and corporate, Chuck Kendig to send you the survey.

 

Ahhh. In that case I'd see if the transmission shop offers a written warranty on their repairs. If they don't do it right the first time I'd hate to pay for them to drop the tranny again. If they won't stand behind their work, dealer all the way. They overcharge, but on such as expensive repairs I don't want them trying the shotgun approach to diagnosis on my dime.

 

I think one of the reasons may be shifting the automatic transmission manually too much, especially in Sport mode. I was told that in my Altima (recently traded it in for an Acura TL/2012 FWD) I should only downshift in inclement weather vs using it to save on brakes because it is hard on the tranny. Most dealers don't tell you this because Sport mode is a major selling point. It's okay to use sport mode on occasion but using it everyday is hard on the tranny. If you prefer sport mode all the time, it is probably best to drive a manual. The Acura trannys are build to withstand the stress put on it by sport mode but it still is extra stress that over time with excessive use can kill the tranny.

 

Acura knows their trannies have issues so much that they won't even sell you a new one because they're "saving" them for all their warranty replacements. Even still they'll still blame a tranny failure on an aftermarket mod if you have one. [/rant]

 

thanks for all the input.

i decided to go with the shop where i dropped my car off originally...it ended up being about 2600, they said i needed to add some sort of tranny cooler in order for them to give the warranty of 12000 miles and 1 year. the tranny cooler parts cost about 400 extra, yikes!

i felt like i had no other choice but to have the shop do it, should be done by friday afternoon, hopefully all goes well.

i guess my next question is whether i should keep the car for awhile, or sell it before the warranty runs out, lol.

 

You put this much money into it just keep it.

 

just a cooler or .... cuz my B&M cooler costed me $60 parts...

 

update on transmission repair:

so i got my car back on friday, and was very disappointed, here are some issues i have:

1) transmission shift very rough and half the time it the RPM would flare up to 4krpm -- the repair shop said it would require a break-in period before the hard shifting stop and be back to normal, could take up to 2 months for break-in. Is this BS or what??

2) my sport shifts/manual shift mode does not work

3) my check engine light came ON and the D light on the dash started blinking -- they hook up to the computer and code say "Solenoid C stuck ON"

the shop offer a 12,000miles/1year warranty, so i will have to bring it back to the shop for another look.
anyone have thoughts on the "break-in" period??

thanks in advance.

 

They are dicking you around! I would personally demand my money back. They did not fix your car as they were supposed to. You held up your end of the bargain - you paid them. They didn't fix your car. On to the next one. Good luck bud. I 'm not sure about the solenoid problem. Sounds like it might be one of the pressure sensors that needs to be changed out. I doubt they did that.

 

Sounds like they cut some corners.

 

Definitely bring it back and get them to fix it the way it should be. They should not have returned it to you in the condition it is in.

 

Agree!

 

I would not trust that shop to fix your car correctly at this point. ask for a refund and get a referral on a mechanic in your area. if you paid them with cc, you could inform your cc company.

 

Get all your paperwork, reciepts, estimates, warranty etc. You may end up in small claims court trying to get your money back. Take the car to the dealer and get a written opinion of the job you had done and an estimate to fix it.

 

Some of the issues with rebuilt units is that they sometimes do not change everything.The internals may be new but if sometimes they try to save a little change and not replace solenoids. On the other hand, they could have done something as simple as forgetting to plug the solenoid in which would give you those kind of symptoms.

None the less, take the car back to them and let them know what the issues are.
Be calm, you have the right to be upset but don't go in there yelling like a mad person. It will be a lot harder to get any positive results that way.
In terms of a full refund, it is going to be really difficult trying obtain that. I think they are going to try to fix it right.

Keep us updated

 

What performance mods do you have? My rebuilt tranny started having issues again after about 9 months.

 

update on the repair:

oh btw...there are no mods on my car other then the aspec ground spoiler kit.

i dropped the car off on monday and got the car back friday:

the tranny shift alot better now like how it should be. so im much happier now that i feel the job was done right. i was a bit suspicious about the whole break-in period, i thought it was total BS.

but either way, the guy say to bring back in a few weeks so they can do a routine check-up to make sure everything is still OK. (im not sure if i want to bring it back, lol, the car drives fine and i dont want them doing anything else to it)

one problem i did notice when i got the car back is that if i step on the gas slowly at the beginning to get the car going, i hear a short rattle/grind noise at the front passenger...i think it may be my front right bearings is going bad

i hate to sell this car, but it sounds like im starting to have one problem after another... sigh.

 

trade it in on a type s

 

Did they fix the sport shifter?

 

i havent check the sport shifter yet, but i just notice another problem today! arrrggghhhh

i smell something burning coming from outside the car near the rear right wheel. smell like burnt rubber. and i notice a tick noise coming from the wheel, it make a tick noise about every 2-3 seconds. sigh...

i also notice that my windows take forever to defrost/defog, im in michigan so its in the 30s now, take a good 15-20 min before my backseat windows would defog.

looks like i will have to start looking for another car soon.....

 

do the 2k, then keep it till summer, then trade.

 

The ticking might be the tpms.

 

sport shifter works fine.