eduardmc

iTrader: (1)

my car is a 04 tl with 137k, i have not seen any crack dash but now after reading this i might have to take a look. Also do anyone know if sub vibration my cause this cause my type r is hitting hard in the from with those 30hz tone and i would hate to have my dashboard crack.

Majofo

I'm pretty confident it's thermal stress that's causing the polyu to crack.

I hate cars

Yep. When I had mine half in the sun, half in the shade it looked like it was going to rip at any second. I've never seen it do that before.

SRT-11

I'm about 110% sure that's correct. If you look at the dash it's one huge piece, and not a rigid material either, and it's also not real leather, it's some sort of vinyl. I'm amazed that Acura didn't think about that when they built the car.

That being said I would love to see someone's dash reupholstered (sp?), but I can't imagine it being done (and looking good) without removing the dash, which is the enormous PITA to begin with, and if it were easier I'd be more inclined to just buy one and install it myself. this MFing car isn't worth two days of my life at this point.

Schulminator

iTrader: (2)

You must of rode the small yellow bus to school, that's the way I see it..
I had had a sunshade since new, and it's garaged kept....so it's abuse to park in the sun????

winson4evr

Guys I'm so happy. My local dealer agreed to use acura good will money to replace my dashboard. They will cover 80% of the cost. The total replacement costs $1200+tax.

Slpr04UA6

Thats Great!! What dealership, and where? Have they had to replace a few, or did you have to do anything to prove it happens often?

sprkyspe

iTrader: (1)

Just started a poll on this guys, trying to get an idea of what years and how many people are having the problem. Please come and take the poll:

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/poll-dash-cracking-793373/

sprkyspe

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys, I just started a poll about the dash cracking, please take the time to take the poll here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=793373

05TLdcc

wow you must be fucking albert einstein with how absolutely brilliant that comment was. Im so stupid to live in Texas and buy an Acura

add another 05 to the cracked dash list. gunna try gillman acura. and if they dont wanna do it i'll go to john eagle, i heard they have great customer service. ugghhh

winson4evr

Its Columbia Acura. I am the first case to them. I just went to dealer and asked for their server manager. I asked him to call the acura field manger and have a representative from acura to look at the dashboard. and Immediately he told me they will use Acura good will money to cover 80% of the cost!

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Nicely done sir. So you are paying ~$240 out of pocket for the repair?

winson4evr

Yes, and i will post the old dashboard and new replaced dashboard when I get back my car!

sk8ter4life

iTrader: (3)

didnt read thru the treads..but known problem that corporate knows about.. I guess dont use Armour all..thats what they told me.

big_ham

So my dumbass dealer tells me that they will goodwill half of the fix. There's NO WAY I'm paying $700 to fix a problem that was NOT CAUSED by a human or the sun.

This is a straight up factory defect. I will NOT pay a dime for this fix period. I'm inquiring with a lawyer on Monday because I know I can find at least 8 people to start a class action suit. I just have to see if the lawyer thinks it's worth his time money wise.

Let's not forget about the potential safety issue here. What's going on with the airbag under there? My cracks are right around the airbag chamber, who's to say that's not affected? Nevermind the hundreds of people who are having this problem.

Additionally your car has NO VALUE on the open market ... who buys a car with a cracked dash.

Unless Acura does the right thing, I can promise this will be my last Acura/Honda ever.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

^You sound as upset as I was when mine cracked. Well I'm still upset but I don't have to look at the cracked dash every morning anymore since I had it replaced.

The guys at my local Acura dealership said the cracks will not affect air bag deployment but then again those same guys told me that Acura didn't make a 6-speed TL in 2005

big_ham

Yeah like I'm going to take their hearsay as the bible. I need an explanation ... either a demonstration of logic - which *might* help to ease my mind a *little*, or some kind of test involving multiple affected vehicles where airbags were deployed. Their dash seems to disintegrate, so why wouldn't I have the same expectation of their airbag?

I'm telling you, I'm beyond mad.

I didn't go running to the dealer and demand a 3rd gear sync ring replacement, nor do I run to the dealer to have them polish my plastic headlights when they fog up - those are both problems I'm willing to chalk up to wear and tear. A cracked dash in a $35k car after only 5 years is completely unacceptable.

Vexed, fuming, I've had it up to here.

I hate cars

I agree with you but I think chasing airbag deployment as a potential problem is going in the wrong direction. The dash is purely cosmetic as far as the airbag is concerned. It's going to deploy exactly the same whether the dash is brand new, cracked, or you cut a big hole around the bag.

The Blue Abyss

iTrader: (1)

Early this week, I had the same exact vertical crack form on my dashboard along the right side of the rectangle with the rounded corners that is obviously the cover for the airbag. I called the dealership to see if there is a cheaper way to replace the airbag cover and blend it in with the dash without having to replace the whole thing. The guy at the dealership said I would have to replace the whole thing, and I told him about Acurazine and how this cracked dashboard problem is a known issue and Acura should fix it. He tried to blame my lack of using cleaning products on it and sun exposure when at work and at home. I told him I park my car in a dark parking garage at work, and I have covered parking at home. I don't use cleaning products on it though. He tried to convince me to buy a cheesy dashboard cover. I complained to him about it, because he knows how much money I've given his dealership over the past couple of years upgrading things on my car. Not a satisfied customer right now, because I can't justify dropping $1k+ to fix just one crack. I've got a nice OEM black carbon fiber interior. If I could find a material that matches it (stuff I've seen on A'zine doesn't match it exactly), I might consider going that route.

HondaFan81

Perhaps I can shed some light on this being a northerner.

My 04 TL (72K miles) has parchment/tan interior and I'm 3rd owner. First owner from Illinois, 2nd from Minnesota and I am from Michigan.

Since my purchase date, this TL has had a vertical 2-3 inch crack right of Acura emblem in center of steering wheel and no other dash related cracks. Based on this thread, the crack is probably along the edge of the airbag compartment. This plastic is black, along with entire steering wheel. Also, I've wondered if this crack is a result of the sun or the heat given off by the steering wheel controls that I've noticed given my residence. The front of my dash is parchment/tan color and only the top section is black near the windshield. To this day, I have no cracks besides the steering wheel cover.

In reading a majority of this thread the commonality is hot, sunny climates such as Hawaii and southern U.S. states. Also, the locations seem to be near airbag compartments. I agree with the thermal expansion concepts between the differences in material behind the dash and I bet it is at the 90 degree angles in combination with thin material. They probably should have increased thickness and the radius angle of these areas to prevent thermal stress fractures/cracks.

Now, I also am thinking that the common interiors with cracks are the ebony/black interiors?

I believe that my TL's history in IL, MN and MN in combination with a lighter color interior has decreased my chance of dash cracks.

FYI...

I actually was looking for lighter color interiors when researching TL's because I wanted less stress on the interior and not to burn myself with hot black leather. This was coincidental to this thread, I was unaware of this.

Also, I only apply Armor All on the plastics and Meguiars leather conditioner on leather every couple months.

The steering wheel cover crack does not bother me and I would only consider fixing it if I can simply replace the cover. Otherwise, it's not worth the hassle.

I hate cars

I think you have a very good point. It would be nice to see a poll of what color is most prone to cracking. I would bet it's the ebony interiors.

Obviously the spots that are cracking are the break away lines for the airbags. These are about half the thickness of the rest of the dash to give it a controlled break point instead of ripping up the entire dash.

Mine has not actually cracked yet but the time I went outside and half the dash was in the sun, half was in the shade scared me pretty good. It had a large indention near the bottom right corner of the passenger side airbag cutout. It looked like it was trying to tear itself apart. I rolled the windows down but did not turn the air on until the temp had gone down a bit. If I look carefully I can still see the indention but it's nothing like it was that day.

Off topic but I try not to use the horn unless I really need to just so it does not flex the airbag seam. I got really pissed this morning when I got cut off badly and layed on the horn (I'm sure a little harder than I had to) and then felt bad for probably speeding up the cracking process.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

I have Parchment interior and my dash cracked like crazy.

Come to think of it, my steering wheel air bag cover has a crack in it too

HondaFan81

I retract my statement of the parchment interior in regards to direct sunlight to dash. I'm still getting used to this car and "memorizing" it overall. The passenger airbag, as in photos above (I can see now at home, not at work) is in the common black portion of the dash near windshield.

Also, it was sunny most of day today and my car parked in no shade. As I was driving home, thinking about this thread I saw an indentation at the same right side breakaway area of the passenger airbag compartment.

It is definitely a flaw in design that was compromised with the airbag addition. I'm sure it could be improved though.

Is this issue only relevant to certain model years then? Did Acura improve later?

For those considering dash mats, would this defeat purpose of airbags or does it allow for its functionality?

Another random thought is perhaps Armor All is better to use to protect from UV and for what some do not like, the gloss look. It will also help reflect heat radiation. Also, maybe the ebony/black interiors do allow or the cabin of the car to heat up more so than parchment. Perhaps our dash crack issue is in relation to both cabin temps and direct sunlight. I have also noticed our TL's cabin area is very quiet in relation to older Hondas, it all seals very well. Maybe too well and needs better internal to external ventilation so cabin temps do not increase ridiculously? Have we also considered that heat may be generated under the dash and perhaps that is why those that have taken care of their car still ended up with issues? I have not looked into this.

05TLdcc

no Armour all only heats up the surface, causing it to dry out and crack. Yes some have brought up the heat underneath the dash. I think its more so the extreme (relative) temperature variation that kills the dash. It also happens to be that acura didnt use a high quality product to make their dashes, probably to save costs. the thing about the different color interiors, the dash is black in every single TL. so that cant really be a huge factor, valid point tho.

2005TL-ohfl

I have had my 2005 TL for about a year and a half now. I bought it in Florida and earlier this year I started noticing the crack on the passenger side. It is now over a foot long just like many other pics I have seen on here. There is also a crack in the middle as well as over the driver area that extends from the windsheild to the top of arc over the speedometer. I called my local Acura dealership and they took pics of it and said that I needed to replace it and that they have never seen this before. So I decided to call the Acura dealership in Florida where I had it inspected before I bought it and they said they had never seen this before but to call Acura client relations. I spoke with a lady who was very nice and set me up with a case manager. I was not so impressed with him. He told me to go back to my local dealership so they could take pictures of all of the cracks and show the dealer representative who would then decide what, if anything, they could do. The case manager called me back a few days later and said my claim had been denied. I was not happy and asked why it was denied and he said that it was because the car was out of warranty. I promptly responded that that was information he told me before they even looked at the car so that was not going to work for me. I told him I needed to speak with his supervisor or manager and he tried to convince me that there was nothing that they could do but I insisted and he gave me his name and said his supervisor would call me. The next day, the case manager (not the supervisor) called me back and said he spoke with his supervisor and the representative and that the representative wants to personally inspect the dash when he is back in town. I am not sure why he didn't do that the first time and had pics taken of it but oh well. After having to go through some hoops, I decided to research this online and I am so gald this forum is hear because now I have proof that this is a true defect and I should absolutely not be responsible for replacing it and covering the costs. I have accrued 31 pages of posts on here that I will take with me when I see the representative so he knows I'm not one he's going to fool over and that I've done my research. Good thing is, being in central Ohio, Honda headquarters is only a few miles away! Once I make anymore headway, I will let you all know!

bimmerman

Good luck, some have good luck others don't. Sold my TL due to this issue at a large loss. Sucks cause I really loved the car outside of this problem.

2005TL-ohfl

It's clear by testimonials on this forum that some people have had great service and had it replaced free of charge. The funny thing is, it is not up to the dealership if it's replaced or not, it's up to Acura/Honda corporate (i.e. dealership representatives) so as to why some are being replaced and not others depending on where you go is interesting. My advice to everyone, start with Acura Client Relations first which will then contact the dealership so when you walk in the dealership, they know you've already gone above their heads which will hopefully put an end to the foolish games they are trying to play.

nfnsquared

Oh brother, here we go again. I missed this one.

Where did you get that from? Oh wait, let me guess...Some guy on a car forum...This is exactly how urban myths get started and perpetuated.

I would love to see just one published, standardized study that proves this statement.....

jr-type-R

i bought my 04 2 months ago and the dash looks horrible its supposed to be black and it looks gray not to mention the cracks on it. I went to my local acura dealer and they told me that they wont replace it since im not the original owner so i commented that other people are having the same problem and they said that they would only cover half of the cost and still is too expensive since i live in P.R. From 1200 in the states it costs 2000 here in P.R. so they want me to pay 1000 dollars for the dash. I'm planing on buying vinyl and cover it

2005TL-ohfl

If you have the time and energy, I'd keep pushing. They obviously know this is a problem and the fact that after you brought this information up, they agreed to pay half probably means that if you push more there's a chance they may do more for you. Just a thought...I hate to see them get away with their obvious defect!! Good luck!

ParaSurfer1979

Didn't u know it it was cracking when you bought it? Couldn't have cracked that bad in two months no?

phampau

I just bought a 2004 with the dash cracked, trying to figure out the best solution to fix it without having to pay a fortune.

nfnsquared

Everyone reading this thread who has a cracked dash should go to this link and "share your Acura experience" :

http://celebrate.acura.com/

Atl_MissTheary

I had the same problem! A a little over a year ago I've took my car to Acura. They said they couldn't do anything about it since it was out of warranty but did tell me to contact corporate, in which I did. They still didn't do anything about it so I left it at that. Summer of 2010, made it worst and started cracking in more places. I got scared cause it was above my air bag so I called corporate and complained again! They told me to take it to a Acura dealership and have them take a look at it and take pictures. So which I did and I also took it to my old co worker who now works at Acura. He took great care of me and got them to cover 90% and I pay the 10%. Which I couldn't complain too much about that cause I paid $153 OTD. =) But wouldn't you think that as much as most of the 04 models are having this problem they would cover it 100%...yeah right! Acura service sucks!

BoxOn20s

Which dealership did you go to Atl_MissTheary? I moved to the ATL not too long ago and my dash is messed up. I have no clue who to go to. I was planning on doing it myself in Feb.

2005TL-ohfl

Update: I met with the dealership representative today. I went equipped with 30 pages of printouts of posts from this forum and 15 pages of printouts from the facebook group that was created because of this defected dash. I also decided that if that evidence did not work that perhaps a visual printout of a complaint form for the Ohio Attorney General's office would help my cause because I would submit it if the situation escalated. However, the representative was very nice and helpful. He looked at my car, made sure it had not been in an accident that could have caused the cracks (which it had not been in any accidents) and he said that they will "goodwill" it because this should not be happening to the dash. He said he had never seen this before and I told him that Acura/Honda knows about it because there are many other people who are in the same situation as I am. I shared all of my info with him before I left, including pictures of other TL defected dashes that look identical to mine, and told him I hoped he would share the info with Acura/Honda because although people are not happy that their dashes have large cracks in them, they are much more upset with the the way Acura is handling the situation and denying the problem, and in some cases, refusing to do anything about it. I hope my experience helps any of you out there who are fighting to get your dash replaced too. Good luck!

ParaSurfer1979

Awesome job. This is a prime example of how this site can help. Is there an[ything out your pocket like labor?

Atl_MissTheary

Hey I went to Jackson Acura. The nicest Acura dealership I've ever seen! Anyways I suggest you call corporate and complain first. Then they will give you a case number and tell you to go to an Acura dealership so they can take pictures and go from there. good luck!

2005TL-ohfl

Not a dime has to come out of my pocket!! I'm also getting a loaner car for the time they will have my car, which I should get ofcourse!

ParaSurfer1979

Great... They (Acura) did you right. Good news. Take b4/after pix. I'd like to see hoe bad the cracking was.