Acura TL Quality? (My Experience so Far)
05-27-2005 | 02:54 AM
#1
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Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2005
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Acura TL Quality? (My Experience so Far)
After reading many of the reliability threads, I thought I would weigh in with my experience with my new G3 TL.
I purchased a 2005 non-nav auto TL thirty days ago. At 2,000 miles I noticed the brake pedal squeaking. I thought the linkage just needed a squirt of silicone and I took it to the dealership. The dealer tried silicone to no avail and asked me to leave the car so they could troubleshoot. Later that afternoon they concluded it was a faulty brake booster, a problem which "they had never seen before." They told me they couldn't overnight the part, and said I had to bring the car back the following week. I explained to the service writer that I had a couple of important meetings (where appearances mattered) the day of my appointment, that I was going to be doing a lot of driving, and that I needed a nice loaner car.
While waiting for my appointment the following Thursday (today), we had a couple of days of rain. I noticed that the windshield wipers were making a lot of noise. I then noticed that over time they were leaving a thick black rubber deposit on my windshield, which I have to scrape off with my fingernails after stopping my car.
Well, when I dropped off my car this morning the service writer told me that he didn't have any loaners available. He, of course, used the "the guy who was supposed to drop off the loaner never did" excuse. He called Reliable rentals, asked them for something nice and I wound up with a base model Civic (roll up windows, manual door locks, no cruise control). Adding insult to injury, I had to go through all of the rental car paperwork crap, which drives me nuts. The car reeked of something and practically shook me to death during my ninety mile drive to my meeting in Virginia. It wasn't exactly the image I wanted to portray or the comfort I expected.
Late in the day I received a call from the service writer, who asked, flippantly, what I had done to the TL. I was already in a bad mood and explained to him that I had simply driven it and that I was not too pleased that there was already a serious problem with my brand new, upscale car. He then said the technician had never replaced a brake booster in a G3 TL before, that he had the manual out, that it was taking him forever to figure out how to do it, and that I would have to leave the car for a few days, thereby being deprived of my car over the holiday weekend. Not only will I have a crappy rental car for the next few days, but I have this nagging vision of the technician with repair manual in hand surrounded by the removed parts of by brand new TL trying to figure out what the
heck he is going to do.
Initially I was thrilled with the car, but now am very upset not only with the car, but with the quality of the service. I realize that a car as sophisticated as the TL is more likely to have issues, but a brake booster and windshield wipers are pretty basic. I previously had a Honda CRX that I drove for 175,000 miles and a Honda Accord that I drove for 235,000 miles, both with absolutely no problems. My wife has a Honda Civic EX with 70,000 miles which has never had any problems. With the TL, I am now to the point where I am wondering what's going to go wrong next. It just doesn't seem to have the level of build quality that the Hondas do. I drive a lot and will probably be out of warranty in a year and half, so as much as I hate to do it I'm thinking I may have to buy the extended warranty.
The good news is there are no rattles or vibrations (so far).
I purchased a 2005 non-nav auto TL thirty days ago. At 2,000 miles I noticed the brake pedal squeaking. I thought the linkage just needed a squirt of silicone and I took it to the dealership. The dealer tried silicone to no avail and asked me to leave the car so they could troubleshoot. Later that afternoon they concluded it was a faulty brake booster, a problem which "they had never seen before." They told me they couldn't overnight the part, and said I had to bring the car back the following week. I explained to the service writer that I had a couple of important meetings (where appearances mattered) the day of my appointment, that I was going to be doing a lot of driving, and that I needed a nice loaner car.
While waiting for my appointment the following Thursday (today), we had a couple of days of rain. I noticed that the windshield wipers were making a lot of noise. I then noticed that over time they were leaving a thick black rubber deposit on my windshield, which I have to scrape off with my fingernails after stopping my car.
Well, when I dropped off my car this morning the service writer told me that he didn't have any loaners available. He, of course, used the "the guy who was supposed to drop off the loaner never did" excuse. He called Reliable rentals, asked them for something nice and I wound up with a base model Civic (roll up windows, manual door locks, no cruise control). Adding insult to injury, I had to go through all of the rental car paperwork crap, which drives me nuts. The car reeked of something and practically shook me to death during my ninety mile drive to my meeting in Virginia. It wasn't exactly the image I wanted to portray or the comfort I expected.
Late in the day I received a call from the service writer, who asked, flippantly, what I had done to the TL. I was already in a bad mood and explained to him that I had simply driven it and that I was not too pleased that there was already a serious problem with my brand new, upscale car. He then said the technician had never replaced a brake booster in a G3 TL before, that he had the manual out, that it was taking him forever to figure out how to do it, and that I would have to leave the car for a few days, thereby being deprived of my car over the holiday weekend. Not only will I have a crappy rental car for the next few days, but I have this nagging vision of the technician with repair manual in hand surrounded by the removed parts of by brand new TL trying to figure out what the
heck he is going to do.
Initially I was thrilled with the car, but now am very upset not only with the car, but with the quality of the service. I realize that a car as sophisticated as the TL is more likely to have issues, but a brake booster and windshield wipers are pretty basic. I previously had a Honda CRX that I drove for 175,000 miles and a Honda Accord that I drove for 235,000 miles, both with absolutely no problems. My wife has a Honda Civic EX with 70,000 miles which has never had any problems. With the TL, I am now to the point where I am wondering what's going to go wrong next. It just doesn't seem to have the level of build quality that the Hondas do. I drive a lot and will probably be out of warranty in a year and half, so as much as I hate to do it I'm thinking I may have to buy the extended warranty.
The good news is there are no rattles or vibrations (so far).
05-27-2005 | 03:29 AM
#2
05/5AT/Navi/ABP/Quartz
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 3,348
Likes: 53
From: Central CA
Kevin, I feel your pain. Month old car with brake problems and a PIA dealer is not a good start.
#1 spend some time in the link below for possibly some ideas.
#2 If you have time, complain to the dealer about the POS loaner and request/demand an upgrade to something = or better. OR
#3 Time permitting, just go switch out the rental and make an attempt to bill it to the dealer.
I have a 93 delSol and have had a few other Civics most problem free. I think you are partially correct about TL buid quality. The Hondas don't have as many things on them to go wrong however. Best wishes and keep us posted. Glad you don't have vibrations, squeeks and rattles.
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115805
#1 spend some time in the link below for possibly some ideas.
#2 If you have time, complain to the dealer about the POS loaner and request/demand an upgrade to something = or better. OR
#3 Time permitting, just go switch out the rental and make an attempt to bill it to the dealer.
I have a 93 delSol and have had a few other Civics most problem free. I think you are partially correct about TL buid quality. The Hondas don't have as many things on them to go wrong however. Best wishes and keep us posted. Glad you don't have vibrations, squeeks and rattles.
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115805
05-27-2005 | 04:12 PM
#3
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 975
Likes: 1
That sucks. Re: bad dealer service, you may want to try a different dealer. I had a similar prob. re: a loaner. The key is to stick with a dealer that is big and possibly a Precision Team Award winner if possible.
05-27-2005 | 05:16 PM
#4
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
Thanks for the replies.
I checked out the "My Wife Almost Died Today" regarding faulty brakes and found it very interesting.
My saga continues, however. When I went in to exchange my rental for a loaner today, my service advisor told me that the tech had managed to install the new brake booster. (This after he told me last night that there was no way he was going to be able to get it in by today.) He then went on to tell me that the new booster had not solved the problem. He said they had ordered a new master cylinder and that I would have to bring the car back in again the following week. He said the car was safe in its current condition and that I could take it home. I have to ask myself how he knows it's safe if he doesn't know what's wrong with it; however, I did take it home.
To make matters worse, when I took the car in yesterday, I asked them to do an oil change. When I picked it up today, they told me I owed them $30 for the oil change. I have now been to the dealership three times with the problem and will have to go back again next week. It's twenty miles each way to the dealership. In addition, I was saddled with a POS rental car for two days. I told them the least they could do was comp me the oil change and they refused. The tech said they had not done anything wrong. I told him they had failed after three visits to properly diagnose and fix my problem. I further told him there is such a thing as customer goodwill, that there are three Acura dealerships within my heavily travelled weekly routes, and that it didn't make sense to create a pissed off customer over a $30 oil change. They didn't care and charged me the $30. I told them I wanted a new service advisor and then went to complain to the general manager about the quality of service, but he was not there.
This problem with the brakes has cost me at least ten hours of my time and half a tank of gas. I have a brand new car which has been torn apart unnecessarily to replace a brake booster and will be torn apart again to replace a master cylinder, which may or may not solve the problem. All I really wanted was someone to say "Sir, we know this is a huge inconvenience and we will do what we can to make it as pleasant as possible for you. " Instead my advisor asks me what I did to the car, tells me that the tech basically doesn't know what he's doing, and then confronts me on comping an oil change, which dealers typically give away like candy. I am certainly going to change dealerships, but think I should stick where I am until the problem is either fixed or not fixed.
I checked out the "My Wife Almost Died Today" regarding faulty brakes and found it very interesting.
My saga continues, however. When I went in to exchange my rental for a loaner today, my service advisor told me that the tech had managed to install the new brake booster. (This after he told me last night that there was no way he was going to be able to get it in by today.) He then went on to tell me that the new booster had not solved the problem. He said they had ordered a new master cylinder and that I would have to bring the car back in again the following week. He said the car was safe in its current condition and that I could take it home. I have to ask myself how he knows it's safe if he doesn't know what's wrong with it; however, I did take it home.
To make matters worse, when I took the car in yesterday, I asked them to do an oil change. When I picked it up today, they told me I owed them $30 for the oil change. I have now been to the dealership three times with the problem and will have to go back again next week. It's twenty miles each way to the dealership. In addition, I was saddled with a POS rental car for two days. I told them the least they could do was comp me the oil change and they refused. The tech said they had not done anything wrong. I told him they had failed after three visits to properly diagnose and fix my problem. I further told him there is such a thing as customer goodwill, that there are three Acura dealerships within my heavily travelled weekly routes, and that it didn't make sense to create a pissed off customer over a $30 oil change. They didn't care and charged me the $30. I told them I wanted a new service advisor and then went to complain to the general manager about the quality of service, but he was not there.
This problem with the brakes has cost me at least ten hours of my time and half a tank of gas. I have a brand new car which has been torn apart unnecessarily to replace a brake booster and will be torn apart again to replace a master cylinder, which may or may not solve the problem. All I really wanted was someone to say "Sir, we know this is a huge inconvenience and we will do what we can to make it as pleasant as possible for you. " Instead my advisor asks me what I did to the car, tells me that the tech basically doesn't know what he's doing, and then confronts me on comping an oil change, which dealers typically give away like candy. I am certainly going to change dealerships, but think I should stick where I am until the problem is either fixed or not fixed.
06-02-2005 | 12:58 AM
#7
Team Nighthawk
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 401
Likes: 0
From: Naperville/Aurora, IL
Originally Posted by KevinB656
Thanks for the replies.
I checked out the "My Wife Almost Died Today" regarding faulty brakes and found it very interesting.
My saga continues, however. When I went in to exchange my rental for a loaner today, my service advisor told me that the tech had managed to install the new brake booster. (This after he told me last night that there was no way he was going to be able to get it in by today.) He then went on to tell me that the new booster had not solved the problem. He said they had ordered a new master cylinder and that I would have to bring the car back in again the following week. He said the car was safe in its current condition and that I could take it home. I have to ask myself how he knows it's safe if he doesn't know what's wrong with it; however, I did take it home.
To make matters worse, when I took the car in yesterday, I asked them to do an oil change. When I picked it up today, they told me I owed them $30 for the oil change. I have now been to the dealership three times with the problem and will have to go back again next week. It's twenty miles each way to the dealership. In addition, I was saddled with a POS rental car for two days. I told them the least they could do was comp me the oil change and they refused. The tech said they had not done anything wrong. I told him they had failed after three visits to properly diagnose and fix my problem. I further told him there is such a thing as customer goodwill, that there are three Acura dealerships within my heavily travelled weekly routes, and that it didn't make sense to create a pissed off customer over a $30 oil change. They didn't care and charged me the $30. I told them I wanted a new service advisor and then went to complain to the general manager about the quality of service, but he was not there.
This problem with the brakes has cost me at least ten hours of my time and half a tank of gas. I have a brand new car which has been torn apart unnecessarily to replace a brake booster and will be torn apart again to replace a master cylinder, which may or may not solve the problem. All I really wanted was someone to say "Sir, we know this is a huge inconvenience and we will do what we can to make it as pleasant as possible for you. " Instead my advisor asks me what I did to the car, tells me that the tech basically doesn't know what he's doing, and then confronts me on comping an oil change, which dealers typically give away like candy. I am certainly going to change dealerships, but think I should stick where I am until the problem is either fixed or not fixed.
I checked out the "My Wife Almost Died Today" regarding faulty brakes and found it very interesting.
My saga continues, however. When I went in to exchange my rental for a loaner today, my service advisor told me that the tech had managed to install the new brake booster. (This after he told me last night that there was no way he was going to be able to get it in by today.) He then went on to tell me that the new booster had not solved the problem. He said they had ordered a new master cylinder and that I would have to bring the car back in again the following week. He said the car was safe in its current condition and that I could take it home. I have to ask myself how he knows it's safe if he doesn't know what's wrong with it; however, I did take it home.
To make matters worse, when I took the car in yesterday, I asked them to do an oil change. When I picked it up today, they told me I owed them $30 for the oil change. I have now been to the dealership three times with the problem and will have to go back again next week. It's twenty miles each way to the dealership. In addition, I was saddled with a POS rental car for two days. I told them the least they could do was comp me the oil change and they refused. The tech said they had not done anything wrong. I told him they had failed after three visits to properly diagnose and fix my problem. I further told him there is such a thing as customer goodwill, that there are three Acura dealerships within my heavily travelled weekly routes, and that it didn't make sense to create a pissed off customer over a $30 oil change. They didn't care and charged me the $30. I told them I wanted a new service advisor and then went to complain to the general manager about the quality of service, but he was not there.
This problem with the brakes has cost me at least ten hours of my time and half a tank of gas. I have a brand new car which has been torn apart unnecessarily to replace a brake booster and will be torn apart again to replace a master cylinder, which may or may not solve the problem. All I really wanted was someone to say "Sir, we know this is a huge inconvenience and we will do what we can to make it as pleasant as possible for you. " Instead my advisor asks me what I did to the car, tells me that the tech basically doesn't know what he's doing, and then confronts me on comping an oil change, which dealers typically give away like candy. I am certainly going to change dealerships, but think I should stick where I am until the problem is either fixed or not fixed.
Good Luck and keep us posted.
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06-02-2005 | 01:43 AM
#8
Messaging Architect
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
From: Toronto, Can
Was going to help you out and spam Norris Acura West with our distaste for their dead poor service to all their management people. Guess what? Even their website doesn't work at present time, http://www.norrisacura.com, with a lame message, "Websites are currently being updated. Please try again in a few minutes." Will try again tomorrow.
Are they going out of business? They should be if not already.
Are they going out of business? They should be if not already.
06-03-2005 | 11:47 AM
#9
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
Still not fixed. I did talk to the service manager, who seems interested in keeping me happy. I have to take the car in again next week so they can put in the new master cylinder.
I haven't received any surveys or customer satisfaction reports yet, but will certainly fill it out appropriately when it comes in. Acura West does not advertise on its website that it has ever won the precision dealer award. I can only assume that is because it never has. If that's the case, I certainly know why. Criswell Acura in Annapolis is only twelve miles from me and has won the award seven times, so I think I know where I'll be taking the car from now on.
Sixteacup, thanks for offering to help with the spam. I think you keyed in the wrong address, however. Their URL is www.norrisacurawest.com. I was on the site a few minutes ago and it was fine. As much as I appreciate your thought, it might be better to hold off until we see how this works out.
I'll post updates as I have them.
I haven't received any surveys or customer satisfaction reports yet, but will certainly fill it out appropriately when it comes in. Acura West does not advertise on its website that it has ever won the precision dealer award. I can only assume that is because it never has. If that's the case, I certainly know why. Criswell Acura in Annapolis is only twelve miles from me and has won the award seven times, so I think I know where I'll be taking the car from now on.
Sixteacup, thanks for offering to help with the spam. I think you keyed in the wrong address, however. Their URL is www.norrisacurawest.com. I was on the site a few minutes ago and it was fine. As much as I appreciate your thought, it might be better to hold off until we see how this works out.
I'll post updates as I have them.
12-03-2008 | 04:32 PM
#12
AZ Community Team
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 32,488
Likes: 7,771
From: N35°03'16.75", W 080°51'0.9"
12-04-2008 | 12:35 AM
#14
... dove deep for this one though 
Thanks for spelling "whine" correctly Bearcat 
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