This is just a warning to all you guys that are in the market for an Acura. more then likely they will try to sell you a safe-guard Tire & Wheel protection warranty. My advice is to decline this coverage because it is basically worthless. I usually don't buy warranties, but after what happened to my mustang rim, I decided it would be worth the $215. Well I was wrong. I have a little curb rash on my right front rim from parking close to the crub this mornig to avoid the car next to me dinging my door. Anyway I checked the warranty limitation and it basically excludes anything that may happen to you rim. This thing is not worth the paper its printed on. Oh well, I learned my lesson, I will never buy a warranty again.

As for my rim, I will deal with it, its not really that bad. If it starts to bother me I'll just get it repaired, certainly cheaper than buying a brand new rim. Also, I was planning on putting some aftermarket rims on it in the future anyway; I guess this just speed up the process a little.

 

Maybe mine is different, but I asked specifically about that when I signed up for the Tire & Wheel protection and they said it was covered.

But I didn't actually read all the fine print, so who knows for sure....

 

yeah I did the same thing before I bought it and the lady told me that curb damage is covered, which is why I bought it, but on the back it says

Limited Agreement Exclusions
Tire or wheel failure out the continental United States or Canada. Any vehicle involved in an accident. Tires with elss than 3/32" thread depth, damage due to curb impact, sidewall damage, damage to to operator error, dry rot or manufactuer's defects. Recapped tires. Racing Tires. Acts of God, vandalism, floods or fires. Driving on roads not regularly maintained. Commercial vehicles. Administrator will not accept paid bills for reimbursement on authorized claims without a claim tracking number. Aggregate limit for tire and wheel services is limited to $2,500.00 or $4,000.00, dependant on coverage election on front of this Agreement.


I have no idea why I didn't see this when I read over it before signing it. But it sure is there now. I just called them on the phone and they confirmed that they only cover major damage (ie, failure to seal that causes the tire to leak air), they don't cover cosmetic damage.

 

Seems like I fell for the same scam. I specifically said, with my wife sitting there as a witness, that I would buy it because my wife has curbed every car I've owned. The finance lady specifically said that is covered. I told her I was planning to put the 18" accessory wheels on and she said those would be covered too as long as they met OEM specs.

I never read the fine print hidden on the back of the agreement since she specifically told me ("lied") that it was covered. Now reading it, it plainly says curbing is not covered.

It also says on the back that you have 60 days to cancel for a full refund. After 60 days they prorate the refund. I've got time and I plan to go give the dealer some crap for lying to me. I'm sure that will do me some good, right.

They also have a section on the back stating that the obligor can cancel "if there has been a material misrepresentation or fraud at the time of sale of the AGREEMENT". I guess the dealer is just hoping you'd forget about it and never need to use it. And if you did need to use it, it would be so far past the 60 days it wouldn't matter.

By the way, my wife curbed the car within 48 hours of the purchase. Nice.

 

yeah, I know, that $215 I spent could have paid for the rim repair I got today. and I could have pocketed the other $115.

I have come to the conclusion that dealer warranties only cover things that never happen and don't cover things that do.

 

I was suckered also. Curbed my stock rims @ Mickey D's drive thru. Called the dealer and found that it WASN'T covered. Solved that problem by buying the Enkei's.

 

Bought an '05 TL in Jan. and curbed it twice in the last 3 months, BOTH times visiting the same friend's house in Chicago. (I think his street dips down in the gutter, raising the chances of curb rash if you misjudge the distance.)

The first time was pretty minor, and on the passenger side, so I didn't have to look at it every day as I got in the car. This last time left a major scratch, plus it's on the driver's side front tire -- gotta look at the thing every time I get in and out of the car!!

Called my dealer and was told they can resurface the wheels for $75ea. or sell me clean refurbished ones for $133ea. Was thinking to do the resurfacing, but to tell you the truth, my parallel parking sucks. Been living in Osaka and Tokyo the last 8 years, no car over there, and my parallel parking degraded to the level it was at when I was ohh,,, 16 or so. I'm struggling to get an instinctive feel for where the car ends and curb begins... doh.

There's a WDP '04-'05 TL at work here with some sweet 3rd party rims. Thinking to leave a note on the guy's windshield and find out where he got 'em. But not sure my parking skills will live up to it!

So quick question: can you get minor curb rash buffed out of 3rd party rims, too? Or are we talking major $$$ every time there's a slip-up?

AW

(gpelczar: feel the pain. I don't even let my woman drive my baby yet. Bad enough when it's me, but I see major curb rash in my future when she takes over. )

 

Wow according to that fine print it basically covers nothing.

 

So, does the warranty cover damage from hitting a pothole?? If so, you might want to accidentally hit a pothole - over and over again until you damage the rim(s). Not necessarily ethical, but neither is that warranty they sold you.

 

so true!

 

What the hell DOES the warranty cover? I mean, would the car have to "magically" have scratches appear without driving the car in order for the warranty to take effect (even then that would be an act of God). You could have used that warranty for other things.

 

I also bought the warranty but my dealer specifically told me that curb damage wasn't covered when I asked. I decided it was a good idea to buy it since the roads in MA are pretty crappy and if you hit a pothole and damage your rim, that is covered, as well as blowing out a tire and damaging your rim. I figured if I damaged one rim from a pothole and got it replaced, there's the cost of the warranty...

-LOD

 

Give me a break! I'm not trying to minimize your pain but what the heck are you expecting from the warranty? Cell phone companies offer warranties for stupid things like dropping your phone in the toilet and running over your phone with the car. Car warranties are not the same. If you curb or damage your rims because you can't judge distance then why should Acura pay for it? If you drive on the freeway or in town and damage occurs due to a pothole then it is covered according to the warranty. These roads are maintained and thus it is covered. NEVER NEVER NEVER trust what someone says without reading the fine print! Basic contract 101! Let's face it the sales people are not trained to sit and read the fine print with you. There are trained to sell you as much front end and back end accessories/warranties as they can to make the most profit. I know this because my wife works at a Honda/Acura dealership. Personally, I will sit in that sales office for an hour and read everything even it pisses off the finance or sales person. It's easy to get distracted in your excitement of purchasing a new car but common sense has to still be formost in your mind. That's just the reality in today's society.

 

I just bought my new TL and bought the wheel warranty, my main reason for getting it was not scratches but for breakage. I cracked to rims on my '01 CL-S because of pot holes. As long as it covers that I will be happy.

 

My point is that if the sales person knows that a warranty doesn't cover something, then why would they lie and say it does? I turned down all of the other warranties she offered me becuase I know that they are pretty much worthless. The only reason I caved in and bought the tire and wheel protection was that she specificaly said that cosmetic damage is covered (ie curb damage). We even had a dicussion about how my Mustang Bullit rims were curbed, and she then told me that something like that would be covered. You are right though I should have thourghly read the contract instead of skimming through it, but its still a shame that I have to do that due to lying sales people. From now on I won't be purchasing ANY warranty from the dealer; I learned my lesson.

I got the rim fixed for cheap, and will be more careful on curbs, I usually am and in fact this is only the 2 time I curbed my rims since I started driving back in '94.

 

i just bought my tl a few ago... and paid 700 for the tire and wheel protection. the person who sold it to me said as long i say i hit a pothole everything would be covered. its been 3 weeks since i bought my car and i feel the car is swerving to the right and may need a re-alignment... will that be covered under the warranty? I called the dealer and spoke with a service rep and he told me to check with the company the warranty is under. if alignment is not covered, then i'm thinking of returning it. the sales rep when i bought the car told me i would get unlimited alignments or a new rim if something goes wrong, but if its actually not covered, i want my money back!!