RhodeRunner

Just received word that there will be a recall on the EL42 from my service rep. Affected owners will receive instrucions from Acura in the coming weeks. Great news!

Update- getting the Pilots today- on Acura's dime, except I have to pay for the mounting and balancing. Dealer offered the replacement Bridgestones, said no thanks!

Majorhouse

That is great news. Hopefully, by the time I am ready to get into the TL of my dreams, I will get one with different shoes.

Tripp11

Hmmm, recall....wonder if they will merely put perhaps tweeked, new EL42's back on the earlier cars or swap them for another type (i.e. Michelin Pilot Sports A/S or Pirelli P-Zero Neros)? Wonder if that recall means that those who paid for their own, upgraded tires will get reimbursed? Wonder if the new Acuras rolling off the lines will still have new, tweeked EL42's or something else?

The drama continues......

RavenHwk

Great news! But I'd rather see a press announcement or something official ...

How can we confirm this info?

C5Racer

I also got off the phone with Acura and the Customer Service Rep confirmed Acura is aware of the problem and solution would be available shortly. That's good news, My TL have the vibration from 50+ with 55-70 being the worst. I plan on contacting my dealer this afternoon.

Tripp11

What dealer are you going to? Just curious as I'm getting mine through Superior Acura.

DavidNJ

Our car is scheduled for a late February build. I guess it will have the fix.

Z Factor

Here is hoping that it will happen sooner rather than later.

RhodeRunner

I don't know how it is going to work. My guess is that Acura will give a credit to be applied against the purchase of the new shoes. For those that have replaced them, Acura will probably require a receipt.

LED Master

Thanks RhodeRunner - but I have been down this road before, can you give us any more details, as to who you heard it from?

Was it:

A. A dealer person
B. Acura Corprate
C. Acura Customer Service

Your answer would greatly help in understanding the situation.

RhodeRunner

Raven- call your dealership's service department. They might or might not know. My guy found out just yesterday...

vtechbrain

I'll believe it when I see a TSB or recall notification.

jzinckgra

Will this also apply to the o30 HPT tires? I've not noticed any bad vibrations yet, but others have. If so, I'll be a little pissed as I just spent $400 for a set of falken 512's. Such is life.

RhodeRunner

LED I found out from my service guy...

Z Factor

The manager at my dealership has said several times that something is in the works, but doesn't have details. So I will just continue to bide my time and have faith that Acura will take care of this small, but annoying problem.

They have always done right by me over the years, so they have the benefit of the doubt with me.

C5Racer

I contacted my Service Rep (Lindsay Acura, Columbus, OH) this morning and he is well aware of the problem. He asked that when I contact Acura again to make sure the service rep takes VIN number and other other needed information for a consumer complaints. He did offer to rebalance the tires, which I said lets hold off until we hear what they are going to do at the corporate level. He is not willing to replace tires at this point due to concerns over his reinbursement from American Honda.

He idicated that he had rebalenced another '04 TL, which did not solve the problem for the consumer.

mengle

Has anyone brought this issue up in Nashville? (Gary Force Acura)
I spoke with my Service Rep the other day and he seemed unaware of any complaints about the tires. Offered to rebalance, but that was it.

Please let me know.....thanks!

nshvlltl

Mengle-
I'm awaiting a TL from the same dealer. If you figure out something can you please post it.

Thanks
Nshvlltl

RhodeRunner

Probably going to replace them with another set of crappy Bridgestones

rets

I just called ACS a minute ago. They declined any recall or TSB about EL42 at this moment, and said it could be done by the local dealers only.

I truly believe my stupid dealer won't give me the new tires unless Acura headquarters reach the agreement with them.

Bad...

VTEC=happiness

I hope this is how it will work...that way I can apply the dough toward bigger tires for new rims.

RhodeRunner

According to my service rep this is incorrect. We will be notified in the coming weeks of the fix. ACS isn't geared towards handling and resolving specific complaints...

svtmike

I wonder what that's supposed to mean. Are they only geared to handle general whining?

Mike

eneg

RR,

This is probably your dealer's way of side-stepping this problem for a few weeks.
As has been already said, until the word comes from Acura, you should take what your "service rep" says with a grain of salt. . .

Eneg

6spdzoomzoom

Hey Guy's


Acura Corp will deny any recall until they are ready to release the information.

If Acura plans to do a recall, Acura has 72 hours from the official announcement to start replacing the tires. This is to allow time for them to make sure they have the parts needed to do the repairs. I had this discussion with my Service Advisor.

Don't plan on any "Officia"l announcement until they are ready to make the repairs.

TLGator

This is not the first thread on this board where the original poster has been told by a local dealer that Acura is planning something nationwide, then other people try but fail to confirm the facts elsewhere.

I agree that Acura would be unlikely to release info about a recall or even a service announcement until they are ready to implement the changes. I also doubt that Acura will issue an actual recall for the tire issue, unless they've learned something about a safety issue. Many customers are probably not complaining or even noticing the problem; a lot of the people on this board are enthusiasts more attuned to such issues.

What Acura is probably more likely to do is start putting a different tire on the cars at the factory, or a reformulated EL-42 that passes more rigorous testing, and issue a service bulletin allowing the local dealers to replace tires for existing customers who come in with a service complaint.

This is a far less expensive and extensive approach from Acura's point of view than a general recall. Time will tell.

6spdzoomzoom

This is what I would expect as well.

rets

This is the good one... Agree.

RhodeRunner

Rets- I don't think this guy has any reason to string me along. He was going to replace the tires gratis (through the warranty) however, his regional rep is the person who told him about the fix. I think it's a done deal.

rets

I know I know. We didn't say it's the untrustful news. It's great to know more and more dealers beginning to swap tires. I'm eager and willing to see my stupid dealer doing this ASAP. As well as I'm glad to know you'll soon-to-be the one of the happy 04TL drivers soon.

However, for whatever reasons Acura refuses to publicly address this issue, hopefully dealers everywhere would do the same thing to us prior to Spring's coming.

DavidNJ

It is unlikely Acura would publicly announce the fix unless it was a safety issue.

Our BMWs have had lots of these. In one case the power seat broke. We brought it in and they replaced the entire motor assembly in both seats. There was service bulletin.

Once Acura decides what the problem and fix is, the dealers would be able to fix the problems on an as needed basis. The service reps would have a job of preventing dealer abuse.

For a cost issue, if there was a tire problem, it is nearly certain that Bridgestone is footing the bill. These tires are probably coming out of a US Firestone plant anyway (why ship tires from Japan?). So I would expect either another EL42 or some other mid-range Bridgestone tire. Bridgestone has two other all-season tires in this range: the 950 and the LS-Z.

rybocf

Right, but your Bimmer had a TSB that could be referenced, even thought it wasn't being prominently displayed.

So, Acura may release a TSB and those people who bring complaints to their dealer will get replacement tires.

Because it is not a safety issue they won't be publicizing it. If people aren't complaining, then why give them new tires?

So, (if this happens) at some point someone on this board will go in an get this word from his or her dealer, post to the board, and then we'll all receive the same news when we call our dealer as well. I guess we wait until it is official.

Ryan

frqwntbyr

If true, this is the kind of corporate clear thinking that wins the close call "what should I do" next purchase decision. If they'll step in and fix the problem, I'll continue to give 'em a fair shot at my next purchase. But if they limit a "recall" to a small series of VIN's in attempt to only resolve the flat spot/vibration/hum, but NOT address the other issues (POS tire, hydroplaining, etc.) then we'll have a public relations problem.

frqwntbyr

OK. JUST FIX THE TIRES PLEASE.

Teh Jatt

What about the people who haven't reported or dont sense the vibration.... are they going to get new tires if recall happens.

bluenoser

That's me. My EL 42s are great, no vibrations at any time, they handle fine, are a little noisy but acceptable, they track well and worked fine in the rain and snow. There's probably better tires and at their price, $530 Canadian, I never buy them as replacements. Other than price my other real negative is the EL 42s don't wear very well, but if Acura is going to replace them I'm in.

TLGator

This is precisely why I doubt there will be a recall.

LGG

I'd take anybody's bet that this will be a "recall."

Recalls are very expensive propositions and involve them having to call owners to get cars in and account for compliance for all the affected vehicles and so on. No manufacturer volunteers for this unless the safety case is profound.

IF they do anything, it will be some kind of TSB (to make the rules clear to the dealers what they'll get reimbursed for) and (big maybe) some kind of a "customer satisfaction" campaign with letters to owners saying "there really isn't a problem here, but because we care..."

stargate

Has anyone heard about new 04 TL's which are currently being built? Will they still have the EL 42 tires or will it (hopefully) be something new and familiar (i.e. Michelin's)?

BTW has anyone heard if the ealry build problems have been addressed with the cars that are now coming off of the assembly line?

csrx

Just got off the phone with the service manager. He told me that Acura had issued a bulleting as a "heads up" that a handful of TL's have EL42s with flatspotting problems. Service would have to verify that your car is one of them, and they would swap the tires with another pair of EL42s (he's saying its not every EL42 tire, just a handful).

So far he's had no customer complaints. He said Acura might be getting ready to release a tsb or recall, but only on a small amount of vehicles. If your vehicle is one of them, you would get a letter from Acura in the mail.

So heres another service manager that states Acura is aware of the problem and is getting ready to issue a tsb. Lets hope its true.