Recently my driver side outer door handle extension fell off. This is the second time this has happened (the first time with the front passenger side -- it was repaired by the dealer under warranty). I have a 2005 5AT TL.

I just called my dealership (Acura of Serramonte) and they indicated to me that this service would not be covered under warranty. I currently have 98,000 miles on my car, so I'm still within my extended warranty of 7 yrs, 100K miles (technically 105K due to Honda's odometer lawsuit settlement).

I called Acura's Warranty Department and they indicated that my extended warranty does not cover anything like trim, or cosmetics. It only covers mechanical items like engine, suspension, A/C, etc.

Is this normal? When I bought my car, I was told that the extended warranty would extend the original factory warranty of 4 yrs, 50K miles to 7yrs, 100K miles.

The lady on the phone replied: "That's how the dealers do it.. It's a deceptive sales practice". Of course, I wasn't too happy hearing this.

So my questions are:

1. How many of you believe you actually have the original factory warranty extended? The lady told me that no dealer sells an extension of the original factory warranty as-is. Extended warranties only cover mechanical items (except wear and tear). I surmise I'm not the only one who thinks their original factory warranty was extended.

2. Given that this item/issue was detailed in a Service Bulletin and that it confirms a defective item, what can I do? The dealer won't fix it, and certainly I can fix it myself (but I don't have Page 20-9 or 20-20 in the 04-06 TL Service Manual).

F'ing A.

 

This should be covered under warranty....heck there was a recall for those !!!

mine did the same and i didnt know about the recall....i ended up paying like $70 out of my pocket....but this is a great opportunity to do a shaved door handle mod !!!

GL !!

 

do you mean the little piece that comes right after the door handle and is the color of the car right? if so mine fell off about two weeks ago and i thought somebody had stolen it. then i tried taking al of them of and they all come off so easy all it takes is is simply tug and there its off. i have been trying to buy it but all i could find online are chrome ones. i definately dont want chrome. if anybody knows where to buy these please PM me. and also i thought about putting some glue or something to keep them from falling? so that might be an idea to fix your problem.

 

Yep, that's the piece I'm talking about... You should be able to buy these quite readily. See here for the Service Bulletin, which also includes the part numbers of the part(s) you will need:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...YZyfIqEfSQZA_Q

 

oh wow, thanks a lot man. but how do i order these? should i call or what? and how do i know the price?

 

Just call an Acura dealership with the part number to make sure the correct one is in stock, ask for the price, then go pick it up.

It should be about $15-18 before taxes.

 

You can order it at here:

http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/...=1&catcgry1=TL

Enter in the part number as listed for the specific door/side and paint color in the PDF linked earlier.

$9.10/each before any tax/shipping

Does anyone have the link to the specific pages in the Service Manual detailing how to replace this part? The pages are 20-9 or 20-20.

 

Just snaps on unless you want to change the diecast part underneath

 

 

I had the same part fall off my '05...bought the part pre-painted and installed myself...would recommend small amount of super glue or epoxy at the two contact points just to be safe

 

If you have a 04-06 TL, the proper fix (per the TSB) is to replace both the base and the cap. Just replacing the cap is likely to lead to loss of the cap once again.

To the OP, are you sure the dealer followed the TSB and didn't just replace the cap? Do you have the receipt? What parts are listed on the receipt?

If they only replaced the cap (which I bet is what happened), then they should go back and do it correctly at no charge.

http://techinfo.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/B07-043.PDF

 

This is a different door this time. The first time it happened it was on the front passenger side. This time its the front driver side.

I got a hold of the service manual and it appears that I will need to remove the inner door panel just to remove the existing base?

Am I reading the service manual correctly?

 

Yep. That's why I'd try for a goodwill consideration.

Even though your car may be out of warranty, you can still print out the TSB and take it to your dealer and request they contact the District Manager or Zone Office for goodwill consideration (per the paragraph in the TSB on pg 2). Be firm but polite and you probably will get approved. This is a known defect in the design of the door handles.

 

I'll be contacting the DM soon. I've already contacted the GM of the dealership and while he was very friendly, I don't think he'll okay the goodwill fix. I told him that while I don't expect a free job, I would certainly appreciate the dealership "working with me" to provide a reduced cost. We'll see what he comes back with.

That said, how do I find out the contact info of the District Manager? I'm based in the San Francisco, Bay Area.

Edit: I should add that I'm actually still under warranty, but apparently the "extended warranty" (anything past the factory 4yr/50K) doesn't cover trim/door issues. I did mention to the GM that this is a known defect, and it even says to "get it repaired under warranty" -- it does not make ANY mention that extended warranties do NOT apply.

 

yup i actually paid 18 with tax and shipping. the part is 9.10 itself. i went of that website and ordered it through the delray acura but i should have listened to you and i should have called my local dealer. but i have grown so fed up by their ignorance that i dont think i ever want to step foot at this dealer. i love my tl but i have the acura dealer.

 

Just had my THIRD one of these fall off. Passenger door once, rear left once, and now rear right. WTF? Dealer replaced first one as goodwill gesture because I was convinced it fell off during service visit's carwash. Second one fell off in my garage so I was able to super-glue it back on. No idea when/where the third one fell off. The on-line parts suppliers have it for about 9 bucks -- but shipping is another 9-11 depending on the site. That seems a little outrageous for a one-ounce (at most) piece of plastic.

Why do these things fall off so readily? My TL is an '04 with only 70k on it.

 

You may have one of the few cars with defective cover bases which generated the TSB mentioned in post #4 above: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...YZyfIqEfSQZA_Q

You'll probably resolve your car's problem only after replacing the base along with the cap, per the TSB. The package includes both the cap and the base, but the base replacement requires some work.

G/L.

 

Front passenger door piece fell off last week. Looks like the base plate is secured with two screws and one of them is gone. Base plate is loose. Going to contact the dealer tomorrow. How hard is it to remove the door panel? Are the retaining clips reusable or do I need to pick up a handfull when I get the extension piece? Once the panel is removed is the back of the baseplate easily accessible?

 

Just did this myself. While not incredibly difficult for experienced mechanic, not for the faint of heart. Requires removal of inner door panel, and dismount of inner latch (to get to the tiny screw that holds the diecast base).

The difference between the old one and the new one are not small.

Shawn

 

The baseplate is attached by only one screw. This is so you only need one for both doors.

The baseplate is difficult to access, although I think I've figured out you can just take the latch loose after you've removed the inner door panel. You get to the screw through the hole for the child lock. I'm an experienced auto DIY'er, and it took quite a while.

Shawn

 

the same thing happened to my car all but the drivers side fell off it really pissed me off... so I acted fast n glued it with a caulking gun from the inside, you know the water proof stuff you put in the kitchen to seal cracks n its holding really tuff, almost one year now and its still stuck on there lol

 

Ok I thought someone purposely broke this piece off my passenger side door handle lol. Glad I found this thread. Mine fell off about 1 week ago.

 

I just lost mine last Friday! I too was convinced that someone either swiped it or banged their car door into it when I was parked. I have ordered a replacement along with a few other parts I needed from Del Ray Acura parts site. I was super worried about taking the door panel off, but am relieved to see the piece just snaps back on. I will likely be super gluing it like others have suggested. Hell, I may even super glue all the rest of them while im at it.

I was also freaked out by what appeared to be a missing screw. So happy to hear this is how it looks.

Thank you Acurazine and all the awesome members!