^^All good suggestions and good advice. Keep us posted. I actually signed up for twitter JUST so I could post on the acura page about how my dash is cracked etc. They don't want bad publicity, obviously. But they ain't going to just lay down and fix ALL our dashes, unfortunately.

 

Update:

I went in a week ago to get an alignment done my car since I got new tires. I brought up the dash issue and asked my advisor to contact the corporate for me. He called me a couple days ago offering me 480 out of the 1800 that he quoted. I took the offer since I’m out of warranty and the second owner.

 

$480 isn't bad...
I still don't like that they are pawning any of this off on a customer. A cracked dash is ridiculous.

 

Damn, not even half. But hey, as the second owner I guess they don't have to do anything. Good job!

 

I was unclear with my wording, sorry guys. Ill be paying 480 out of the 1800 I was quoted. If a mod could update that I would appreciate it.

 

How many miles on the car?

 

No, you were clear...poster probably wasn't good at fractions err something

LOL.

 

If your asking me, it cracked with 77k on it.

 

72K on mine when it happened...

 

I guess miles don't really matter when it comes down to how old the material is in the car. Mine just opened up its 3rd crack two days ago. Was tolerable until then.. I plan on starting the process of dealing with the dealer soon. Not looking forward to it.

 

Try courtesy acura here in sanford, since your location says FL. They took care of the whole process for me. For some reason it wasn’t as much as a pain as I expected. They called me a week later with the offer and I took it. Good luck

 

Filed complaint at https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

NHTSA Your Confirmation Number (ODI Number) is: 10438***.

Called Acura @ 800-382-2238 and got case number: B01201-**-***-****

Was told to take it to dealer to diagnose.

 

Are there any signs before the dash starts to get a real crack? I noticed some dark lines in the center of the dash and am really worried it's the start of cracking. It is an 08 TL. I thought it was from the UV rays, but I think someone said it's more from extreme temps? So I guess a sun shade wouldn't make it uncrackable.

 

I remember lines showing before the cracks came, I just don't remember if they were lighter or darker than the rest of the dash

 

I know I could see the outline of the airbag starting to show...that was before. But I did all I could to stop it to no avail.

Get a dash topper and call it a day. My honest advice...

 

My car is currently at the dealer getting the dash replaced. This was my thrid trip there since dealers frown upon anything aftermarket in the car. I did half of the tear down myself becuase I had to take out the alarm, and part of the audio system. All I gotta say is cant wait till I get it back.

 

Have you done a lot of business with them? It seems that the more history you have with Acura or, more importantly, that dealership then they are more likely to work with you.

 

This will be my third with this in particular dealer. First time was my trans which I had to call corporate for goodwill. Second was an alignment and at that time I brought up my issue with the dash and my service advisor dealt with issue. Replacing the dash is the third time. Im usually pretty good about doing all my own maintenance.

 

OK, my car is currently at the dealer getting the dash replaced. Out of pocket for me will be $250 when I pick it up this evening. I'll give details once I get the car back as I don't want to jinx it until it is completely finished.

 

Wow...MAS, congrats. I would have considered paying THAT...but not $700. I'm happy with my dash topper though...so I won't look back at this point.

 

I actually went to the dealer three Weeks ago for an oil change for the first time since I got the car four months ago. The service guy there looked up the car since it was purchased from that specific dealership and all the service was done there. He told me that the previous owner actually paid to swap out the dash prior to trading it in five months ago.

I was sooooooooo excited to hear that it happened already and was fixed. I remember reading this thread from start to finish two months ago but I don't think anyone addressed the failure rate on the replacement dash.

Anyone?

 

is this a particular year that teh dashes r cracking or all 3rd gens?

 

mostly 04 years but there's no reason to believe that all other years are not affected. It seems to be just a matter of time

 

^^^I agree with that a lot. It's probably going to happen up until the part number change in 07 (IIRC).

Sorry.

 

Congrats Marco, which dealer did you go with? Also did you contact corporate yourself? I feel like I got shafted paying 480 lol.

 

I have an 04 TL without Navi, with about 85K miles on it. I'm the 2nd owner, bought it as CPO about 3 years ago, and the cracks showed up this summer.

Has anyone here dealt with any DFW area dealers on this issue?

I have had bad experiences with David McDavid in Plano, so I'm planning to go back to Goodson, who have a good reputation. Any other dealers worth trying?

 

Since this thread is one of the most viewed for 3G TL's, I wanted to bump this post. Is it still the case that most cracking dash's are in areas with heat/humidity? Any other thoughts on potential causes, outside of bad production from the factory? My 2005 has been in the bay area most of it's life, so I'm hoping it will be safe from this problem...

Good luck to everyone in the Southeast!

 

I just got the call today. Acura offered me 60% off the total cost, making it $591 out the door to replace my dash. Needless to say, I'm taking it in next week to go under the knife!

 

Mine is doing the same... Cracking in all the same places, but now those cracks are starting to connect!

 

^ Nice to see somebody else in Tampa bay! Did you buy your car from the dealer? Or have you had service there and bought parts etc? They look at that kind of stuff when considering the discount given on the repair. Since you're in Clearwater, I'm assuming that you visit Crown more than Ferman.

EDIT - do you still have the same car you're selling in your sig? It says in the FS thread that you got the dash replaced in september of 2010? If so, is your new dash already cracking?

 

I've seen ask good as 25% on here...
I do ALMOST all my own work, unfortunately. Although the parts department, some of the service dudes and a few of the sales guys do know my face pretty well.

-J

Let us know how it goes...
I'm super happy with my dash cover.

 

any word on the reliability of the replaced dashes?

 

If anyone here is replacing their dash and has the old one or will have the old one, PM me and lets see if I can work out something to buy the old dashboard!

 

I haven't been on here in a long time... So the story goes like this.

I brought my car into the dealer "Crown" and they said they were going to Goodwill the dash for me. Droped the car off and got a rental and then Mid day they called me and said that they were only going to cover the Dash 80% not the full like we thought was going to happen. So I told them to forget about it... I was un able to spend the cash at that time to get it replace... Ive been back 3 times to try to work with them on this issue and still nothing.

in fact I called Corp yesterday and filled and they are still having me go back to the dealer to file another claim and try to get it resolved that way... The issue that I have is that I brought the car in with 80k when the cracking started and not that I have 112k they are saying that the high miles might be an issue now.... Im really fed up with Acura and I may not buy from them again after this... its completely ruined the resale value of my car which is why I still have it... I dont think that I should be responsible for this fix...

 

Almost makes paying the 20% worth it after all this time.

 

Well, he didn't have the cash at the time. I would have charged it, at $300, I MIGHT have considered it...at 700, that was a no go.

Csmeance, have you contacted any of the dealerships that are doing these replacements to see if they will sell you one of these old ones? There was a dude that posted on here somewhere that he changed the dash himself. I know why you want it and would LOVE to see what you come up with.

 

I think I'm the first Northeasterner (New York) posting on this thread? I'm not sure, I've been skipping thru the threads. So far I havent had this NOTORIOUS dashboard crack issue problem which occurs esp. in 04s..but I'm really worried...I have an 04 NBP parchment interior 37K miles and I'm considering using Armor-All and a sun shade to prevent this from happening but if its defective then its no help right? Also, is it a recall as of 2012?





Also, a little off topic but I'm not registered to any Acura dealers and warranty expired. Is registering free to a dealer or any specifications? Becus I'm the 2nd owner and I'm kind of new to this scene. Thanks!

 

Word of advice: Sunshade- definitely
Armor All- do not use (apparently it actually dries out the dash material)
Most people here use 303 Protectant

 

^^^done, done and done...
1. sunshade every day at work and garage at home for it's whole life
2. armorall never (although this is bs now, this was a problem with a formula of armorall from the 80's)
3. I put this one every time I washed the car...it's awesome.

NOTHING stops the crack. If it's gonna happen you can't stop it. Sorry to say.

 

There's really no science behind the dash crack in these cars. Taking care of it properly (imo) will make the material last longer IF it is inevitable. Otherwise, there's really no proving that certain people's dash will crack but certain people's dash will not. The only thing that can be proven is that many people have had this problem and the material is obviously defected in some unknown way. Furthermore, it's certainly easy to say that it was bound to happen (since it's a well known issue) after the dash has split. Let's face it, they're all made from the same material but are put under different circumstances.. I feel that is why some people have the problem and some do not. The truth is, we'll never really know!