I am determined not to give Acura anymore money than I have to to have an obvious defect repaired. Has anyone ever replaced their own dash and is there a site with instructions to do this?

 

Have you client services and opened a case?

I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself, it's a mega bitch of a job.

 

call corporate and they may good will it. Complain a lot and don't be rude, but be persistent.

 

replacing the dash isn't an easy task, it's 18 hrs of labor according to Honda.

 

I plan on doing mine in the near future when time permits. If you can get a good deal on a dash I'd say go for it. Start Friday night & by Sunday you should rolling again. You don't have to remove the front seats, just be careful when you R&R.

 

What is the defect on your dash?

 

My dash is cracked. After speaking to Acura consumer line, it really pissed me off with the disclaimer they read me. My dealer, Fountain Acura in Orlando could not fix a flat tire and I do not have time to play the game. Acura/Honda has never been good about admitting to a problem. Their service does not hold a candle to the service that I received From Hyundai on a $15k car that I once owned. I am not about to engage in a marathon of phone calls with them on this. In the end it will be their loss. I am mechanically proficent enough to tackle this. As a owner of 3 Acuras, I can say there will be a Lexus in my future. Now back to my original post, does anyone know of a site that relates to replacing the dash.

 

Hello Rodss and welcome to the forums.

there are lots of threads on this issue. Ther eis also a facebook group on it. Here are somelinks.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ight=dashboard

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?ui...d=106173928650

We are also fighting for this to be a recall. I encourage you to call corporate and complain, and file a complaint with the Office of Deffect Investigations.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/

As for a DIY for the dash replacement I have never seen one here and I believe its a pretty involved task.

Fight for a goodwill, if they goodwill the part alone you will end up paying about $500- $600 on labor, which is less than the value of the dash alone. and they will not goodwill the part and allow you to mount it yourself, I tried that and they would not allow it.

Good luck.

Rolan

 

I can post up some caps from the service manual. Basically drop the steering column should be 6 main bolts & remove glove compartment, rear center console, kick panels & A-pillar cover as well. Remove mounting screws from the assembly & disconnect any associated wire harnesses. Then take care removing it.. take the old dash cover off & put the new one on & reassemble. There a few members who have done this and several techs on the forum who have done this as well. Good luck finding a cheap dash cover though.. the lowest I've seen is $400.

 

As soon as i found a DIY for the dash replacement i will fix mine myself.

 

Yea screw Acura service. I have to do everything myself. On the upside, My05 dash is fine with just some McGuire's dash spray.

 

First, thanks for your replies. Rolan, I get what you are saying but everytime you take something into Fountain Acura, very seldom is it fixed correctly of they break something else. On one trip I went to have a auto door locked fixed and when I went to pick up the car the door would not open. Another time the car would not start and this is just the beginning. At 120 mi. round trip not worth my time. As far as complaining, I let Acura know about it. Not that my time is anymore valuable than anybody elses, I do not see that my time spent trying to convince them of a problem they know exist is worth it. I would rather fix it and know that it is done correctly. As a "FORMER" loyal customer (3 Acuras, 3 Hondas) I feel I will have a greater affect when I replace my TL with a Lexus. It does not make me feel good about a company when I spend $40,000 and get ran around about a well documented problem, yet a car that I spent $15000 I was treated like I was their best customer.

 

Welcome to the club man. I had my dash replaced a while back. Between parts and labor they quoted me at over $1500 and I paid $550. Not a great deal but it wasn't full price and I didn't do any work

Post some pictures of your dash.

 

If you want a shot at getting it covered maybe 50% or 75%, or maybe 100% try going to courtesy Acura in Sanford. Speak to SA Justin or Angela, mention your from acurazine and it's a common problem. If they ask why you came to courtesy, tell them that Fountain couldn't fix a flat tire, let alone figure out how to fix this dashboard.

 

try coggin acura just south of you in Fort Pierce FL.,, they just replaced my girls dash no charge! her 05 ac is out of warrenty, they have ben replacing them their on site trying to "keep" their acura costomers happy?!?..

 

Ended up paying $130. So far no problems. Now that times are lean the dealerships are giving service that I was never used too.

 

Nice, did you just call back or what?

 

Did they have any suggestions as to how to prevent it from cracking again? I'm getting nervous with my 05. Dash isn't cracked but it just looks dry. No matter how much I clean and condition it, etc.

 

I understand. This will be the only Acura I own.

 

Can you give us some more details? Do you keep your car garaged? Do you use a sun shade? What color is the interior?

 

Damn only $130? You paid 1/4 of what I paid.

 

Yet he still overpaid by $130. Acura should be paying 100% of the bill.

 

Agreed.

 

Thanks everyone for posting this problem. It has helped in making an educated decision on what to do. I had a sorry ass sentra for 13yrs and nothing every cracked on it. It was 9000. So it surprised me when this happened to an acura tl, but that is my only complaint, I mean other than my over priced dealer. It has been coast-to-coast many times without any problems. However, this eye sore is stressing me the f_ _ _ out.

 

This thread has been very helpful! My dash is also cracked in 2 spots that are really big eye sores. Im thinking about taking to the dealership and seeing what they say about it.

 

My dealership tried to tell me that it was due to lack of cleaning and heat. The parts manager said he had NEVER heard of another TL dash crack. I told him about Acurazine but he didn't seem to give two shits.

I was born and raised in Orlando and all of my family lives down there and nobody has ever had a dash crack, no matter the year, make, or model of the car. My uncle has a 1983 GMC truck with 350k miles which has never been garaged and the dash is fine. I'm not sure why my $30k luxury car had a dash that didn't even last 6 years.

 

Sorry for taking so long to write. As I said earlier I have never had the service that I am getting now. They cannot do enough for me. As far as the $130 I think this shows that the dealerships have the option to do it for a fair price if they choose so. They said that to keep it treated with a vinyl protectant and this will not happen. It is just a poor design. Never have done much more than wiping off with a damp cloth yet this is the first car I ever had this happen too. The more I read about the TL, ther quality in the interior and trim is not there.When everyone has the same issues it is nothing but quality problem, plain and simple. And when you have a company unwilling to ever admit to anything, be ready for a long ride. If it was not for the economic times I feel they would of not been so accomodating. Now I am on to my new problem, the a/c coil. I love the car overall but it is the company I have my gripe with. These just do not measure up with the Hondas of the 80,s and 90's.

 

Anyone have any luck with a Houston Acura dealership replacing the dash?

 

Man do I hate my TL.

Now I have to go to the dealership and BEG them to replace my 5 year young dashboard or my car isn't worth SHIT. Of all the things that could happen to my car, this is definitely the most damning. You can take $4k off any price you're trying to get for it just because the dash is cracked.

I've owned Honda, Nissan, Infiniti, Volvo, BMW and now Acura ... this is my first cracked dash EVER. My 1998 Maxima had 12 miles when I bought it and 125000 miles on it when I sold it and there wasn't even an indication that the dash would have ever cracked. It was parked outside for most of its life, too.

I'm going to try my hand with the local Tampa Bay dealers, hopefully someone can be reasonable.

Sorry guys ... my first and last Acura ... ever.

 

^ Sorry to hear about that! Try Ferman Acura off Florida, myself and a few other members on here have had very good service at this location. I can't say what they will do, but it is worth a shot. What year is your TL? I assume maybe an '04, since you have been here for 7+ years and only a couple of posts. Let us know what happens, and Good Luck!

 

My car is an '05.

I did, in fact, go to Ferman off Florida. I brought my daughter with me to see if that would help - it didn't.

SM there got the ball rolling with Acura to see what/if they would cover. He wasn't very happy/positive/helpful, and he mentioned he didn't know of anyone who got 100% coverage.

Can someone in this thread who got it covered 100% post a picture or scan of the receipt of work they were given with the $0 price?

He also indicated that what/how they cover is related to the year of the car, mileage and whether or not you're the first/second/third owner of the car. I think this is BS and will be fighting anything but free ... I might be willing to pay the $130 the other guy paid, but that'd be my ceiling.

Hopefully Acura can come through. I'm willing to put up a stink, for sure - just hoping I don't have to.