Is it me or does Acura TL have more issues than most luxury sedans?
04-29-2012, 04:26 PM
#41
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^^^ Gee, throw Acura a bone..."it's a safe car".
Sparx, if you don't like the car, quit bitching about it and get rid of it-irregardless of the loss. You won't be happy until you do-you realize that, right?
By the way, I highly doubt a new car is going to strand her, so "chit will hit the fan"....it's a Honda-they run and run and run.
Nag, nag, nag......
Sparx, if you don't like the car, quit bitching about it and get rid of it-irregardless of the loss. You won't be happy until you do-you realize that, right?
By the way, I highly doubt a new car is going to strand her, so "chit will hit the fan"....it's a Honda-they run and run and run.
Nag, nag, nag......
Last edited by Steven Bell; 04-29-2012 at 04:29 PM.
04-29-2012, 05:57 PM
#42
No doubt I made a mistake getting this car.
I most definitely would have walked away from the Acura if I had hear the whiney trans, but I did not. Not sure why I did not hear it but that is history.
I will be going to another Acura dealer to have them address the whine in the trans and the moan-groan sound I have at 50 and cruising steadily. I have been looking here on this Forum to see if anyone else is having these issues, so far have found nothing as yet.
sparx
I most definitely would have walked away from the Acura if I had hear the whiney trans, but I did not. Not sure why I did not hear it but that is history.
I will be going to another Acura dealer to have them address the whine in the trans and the moan-groan sound I have at 50 and cruising steadily. I have been looking here on this Forum to see if anyone else is having these issues, so far have found nothing as yet.
sparx
The moan/groan you are referring at 50 is also present in mine but its within a 5-10 mph range then goes away. It was bothersome for me at first when I took it for a test drive but at the same time, not a deal breaker and something I have gotten used to.
As for the myriad of buttons, that is one thing I love about my TL....at night, it makes the cockpit of the TL just a beauty to look at but its relative.
Hope your issues will be looked at by Acura and you can regain your love for your TL; If not, do like others have suggested...sell it
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sparx (04-29-2012)
04-29-2012, 06:15 PM
#43
Sparx...I am sorry to see that you are disliking your TL so much. With respect to the transmission whine, would you be experiencing what others have had and linked to the "propeller shaft"? Its quite common in TL that have SH-AWD.
The moan/groan you are referring at 50 is also present in mine but its within a 5-10 mph range then goes away. It was bothersome for me at first when I took it for a test drive but at the same time, not a deal breaker and something I have gotten used to.
As for the myriad of buttons, that is one thing I love about my TL....at night, it makes the cockpit of the TL just a beauty to look at but its relative.
Hope your issues will be looked at by Acura and you can regain your love for your TL; If not, do like others have suggested...sell it
The moan/groan you are referring at 50 is also present in mine but its within a 5-10 mph range then goes away. It was bothersome for me at first when I took it for a test drive but at the same time, not a deal breaker and something I have gotten used to.
As for the myriad of buttons, that is one thing I love about my TL....at night, it makes the cockpit of the TL just a beauty to look at but its relative.
Hope your issues will be looked at by Acura and you can regain your love for your TL; If not, do like others have suggested...sell it
Do you know what causes the moan/groan sound?
Not selling the car now, again would lose too much money and have nothing in mind to replace it with anyway. Maybe the new line of Lincolns in the future, but who knows how good or bad they will look/drive.
sparx
04-29-2012, 06:20 PM
#44
I have two wheel (FW) drive only, not sure if you have AW or front wheel. Thus not sure if whine is the output shafts.
Do you know what causes the moan/groan sound?
Not selling the car now, again would lose too much money and have nothing in mind to replace it with anyway. Maybe the new line of Lincolns in the future, but who knows how good or bad they will look/drive.
sparx
Do you know what causes the moan/groan sound?
Not selling the car now, again would lose too much money and have nothing in mind to replace it with anyway. Maybe the new line of Lincolns in the future, but who knows how good or bad they will look/drive.
sparx
I'll keep watching this thread to see how Acura will deal with your problems. I do hope you will be able to have them rectified. I also understand how losing lots of money is never a fun situation.
05-04-2012, 10:34 AM
#46
It's funny how different things bother different people. That's what makes the world go around, I guess.
I conducted a 15-year-long experiment, purchased (had an unusual opportunity at the time, allowing this) two new cars at once, a '97 Prelude, and '97 Avalon XLS. Both have been great cars. But here's the relevant-to-this-thread part (just picked up a 2012 TL-SH-AWD, btw... love it!):
Within weeks, the Avalon XLS had weird clunking sounds particularly on cold days coming out of the passenger front wheel well (at first I thought it was glove-box). Brought it to dealer; they could never "figure out why". Assured me it wasn't dangerous, tried a few times, no results, figured: okay, then; I'm not fixing it! Learned years later that Avalons (and many other Toyotas) have problems with the struts and specifically the strut mounts. You can replace the struts, but if you're not careful to insist replacing the strut mounts and related rubber parts... you're going to continue to get clunking.
Within a few years of getting the Prelude, had a weird buzz coming from under the car at 2300RPM, particularly on cold days. Found out -- and Honda issued a service bulletin around that time -- that the heat shield near the exhaust pipe tended to vibrate at certain RPMs in resonance with engine. Worried OMG! Heat shield will either vibrate to pieces, or put hole in exhaust! BUT: decided NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT (key concept here).
So here we were, 15 years later: Avalon still clunks, Prelude still buzzes (well, no more... it's metamorphosed into a TL! <BG>). Honda caught the problem and provided a solution if you wanted it, for free; Toyota never said boo and wanted to charge $1400 for strut replacements (!!!).
My choice after this 15-year experiment: Honda. Better dealer service, everywhere we lived in the interim, too. For some reason I've always had to wait HOURS at Toyota dealerships, no idea why. Last one we used for Toyota service did stupid things like leave hood unlatched, knock off driver power seat buttons (made them find it and put it back on), damage wheel nut caps ("oh, they rust off after awhile..." "then why aren't they all gone?!), do enough to leave me suspicious of any other non-standard service recommendations they subsequently offered (brought car in for PS flush; they flushed, turned out didn't refill, wife found out when PS pump made noises on near-empty!... they only partially apologized subsequently, then magically, next service, my "steering rack was leaking, that was the problem" -- except I refilled it myself and it didn't go down....?!? etc.). I know, just one dealer, but biggest one in a big state. Ugh.
Honda service, nationwide (US), always timely, careful, trustworthy. Work with you, instead of against you.
Same thing when it went to looking to buy a new car: Acura dealer, objective, responsive, great communications, never felt pushed into anything, whole process was lock-step simple. Local Toyota dealer, by contrast, I felt like I was dealing with an over-multi-tasking teenager too busy playing Angry Birds on their smartphone to notice I was there, barely responding to questions, disappearing and then coming back with emails that made no sense and suggested they were never listening in the first place.....
Basically, goodbye, Toyota/Lexus. Honda/Acura, I trust you and intend to stay with you the next 15 years. Thanks for such great service over a significant part of my adult life.
BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW? Porsche? Fun to read about in magazines and play with in Gran Turismo, in RL? Great toy if you have so much money you're happy to throw it all away at dealer/SA whim, but plan to make repair of your car your most favorite and expensive hobby. Fine if that's what you want to do: not for me.
I conducted a 15-year-long experiment, purchased (had an unusual opportunity at the time, allowing this) two new cars at once, a '97 Prelude, and '97 Avalon XLS. Both have been great cars. But here's the relevant-to-this-thread part (just picked up a 2012 TL-SH-AWD, btw... love it!):
Within weeks, the Avalon XLS had weird clunking sounds particularly on cold days coming out of the passenger front wheel well (at first I thought it was glove-box). Brought it to dealer; they could never "figure out why". Assured me it wasn't dangerous, tried a few times, no results, figured: okay, then; I'm not fixing it! Learned years later that Avalons (and many other Toyotas) have problems with the struts and specifically the strut mounts. You can replace the struts, but if you're not careful to insist replacing the strut mounts and related rubber parts... you're going to continue to get clunking.
Within a few years of getting the Prelude, had a weird buzz coming from under the car at 2300RPM, particularly on cold days. Found out -- and Honda issued a service bulletin around that time -- that the heat shield near the exhaust pipe tended to vibrate at certain RPMs in resonance with engine. Worried OMG! Heat shield will either vibrate to pieces, or put hole in exhaust! BUT: decided NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT (key concept here).
So here we were, 15 years later: Avalon still clunks, Prelude still buzzes (well, no more... it's metamorphosed into a TL! <BG>). Honda caught the problem and provided a solution if you wanted it, for free; Toyota never said boo and wanted to charge $1400 for strut replacements (!!!).
My choice after this 15-year experiment: Honda. Better dealer service, everywhere we lived in the interim, too. For some reason I've always had to wait HOURS at Toyota dealerships, no idea why. Last one we used for Toyota service did stupid things like leave hood unlatched, knock off driver power seat buttons (made them find it and put it back on), damage wheel nut caps ("oh, they rust off after awhile..." "then why aren't they all gone?!), do enough to leave me suspicious of any other non-standard service recommendations they subsequently offered (brought car in for PS flush; they flushed, turned out didn't refill, wife found out when PS pump made noises on near-empty!... they only partially apologized subsequently, then magically, next service, my "steering rack was leaking, that was the problem" -- except I refilled it myself and it didn't go down....?!? etc.). I know, just one dealer, but biggest one in a big state. Ugh.
Honda service, nationwide (US), always timely, careful, trustworthy. Work with you, instead of against you.
Same thing when it went to looking to buy a new car: Acura dealer, objective, responsive, great communications, never felt pushed into anything, whole process was lock-step simple. Local Toyota dealer, by contrast, I felt like I was dealing with an over-multi-tasking teenager too busy playing Angry Birds on their smartphone to notice I was there, barely responding to questions, disappearing and then coming back with emails that made no sense and suggested they were never listening in the first place.....
Basically, goodbye, Toyota/Lexus. Honda/Acura, I trust you and intend to stay with you the next 15 years. Thanks for such great service over a significant part of my adult life.
BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW? Porsche? Fun to read about in magazines and play with in Gran Turismo, in RL? Great toy if you have so much money you're happy to throw it all away at dealer/SA whim, but plan to make repair of your car your most favorite and expensive hobby. Fine if that's what you want to do: not for me.
05-04-2012, 02:17 PM
#47
Drifting
Your email got me thinking about this. I believe it's difficult to make generalizations since time changes things, companies improve/regress, dealers change and get bought and sold, but all that said, my experiences parallel yours. We've had Toyotas, Nissans and Honda/Acura products. All were very reliable (except for a Nissan Stanza that started out fine but went off the cliff prematurely in our ownership period).
We did, however, have a terrible time with several Nissan dealers when the cars needed servicing or the occasional warranty fix. Toyota was a little better (although a recent experience with my dad's Camry has me second-guessing them again). Honda/Acura has been mostly excellent, and this experience is spread across 6 dealerships in three cities. My main takeaway is the same as yours - Honda seems willing to stand behind their products, even if the problem is past warranty. My wife's Accord has 147K on the clock and has been pretty rock reliable. We did experience an A/C clutch problem about 4 years into our ownership. Out of warranty, and -- I thought -- out of luck. But we worked with our dealer, they worked with Honda, and the problem was fixed, with only a small payment from us (I can't recall now what it was for).
When manufacturers/dealers stand behind their products like this without being threatened, they have me for a loyal customer.
We did, however, have a terrible time with several Nissan dealers when the cars needed servicing or the occasional warranty fix. Toyota was a little better (although a recent experience with my dad's Camry has me second-guessing them again). Honda/Acura has been mostly excellent, and this experience is spread across 6 dealerships in three cities. My main takeaway is the same as yours - Honda seems willing to stand behind their products, even if the problem is past warranty. My wife's Accord has 147K on the clock and has been pretty rock reliable. We did experience an A/C clutch problem about 4 years into our ownership. Out of warranty, and -- I thought -- out of luck. But we worked with our dealer, they worked with Honda, and the problem was fixed, with only a small payment from us (I can't recall now what it was for).
When manufacturers/dealers stand behind their products like this without being threatened, they have me for a loyal customer.
05-29-2012, 12:39 PM
#48
People normally don't come on forums to make threads about not having problems.
Imagine threads all over the place where all it said was: "My car is running perfect, no squeals or noise". It would be silly.
It's like that with pretty much everything, people come on line when they have questions and issues.
Imagine threads all over the place where all it said was: "My car is running perfect, no squeals or noise". It would be silly.
It's like that with pretty much everything, people come on line when they have questions and issues.
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birdy*feet (06-03-2012)
06-02-2012, 11:13 AM
#49
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Interesting to read the moto-mags and their views of cars (and motorcycles). While they talk of performance, convenience, fit and finish, they rarely *own* them for more than 1000 to 5000 miles.
That's a healthy test drive, yet not the same as living with it for 4 seasons and all we as owners put our vehicles through. I'd take the broad spectrum of opinions from a forum over a moto-mag for a more accurate representation. Excluding the out-layers whom at one end of the spectrum, their cars are absolute shite, to the other end where they are built by angels, get 100 mpg and never require refuelling.
That's a healthy test drive, yet not the same as living with it for 4 seasons and all we as owners put our vehicles through. I'd take the broad spectrum of opinions from a forum over a moto-mag for a more accurate representation. Excluding the out-layers whom at one end of the spectrum, their cars are absolute shite, to the other end where they are built by angels, get 100 mpg and never require refuelling.
06-02-2012, 11:20 AM
#50
People normally don't come on forums to make threads about not having problems.
Imagine threads all over the place where all it said was: "My car is running perfect, no squeals or noise". It would be silly.
It's like that with pretty much everything, people come on line when they have questions and issues.
Imagine threads all over the place where all it said was: "My car is running perfect, no squeals or noise". It would be silly.
It's like that with pretty much everything, people come on line when they have questions and issues.
01-10-2013, 11:56 AM
#51
I agree with most of what's been mentioned. When you go onto a forum, you'll quickly get the impression that your car is a POS, just because of all the postings about issues, noises, etc.. People are going to post much more often about an issue compared to not having an issue. Pick your make and model of car.....Hyundai...BMW...Nissan, etc and do a google search for issues. You're likely to see the same types of things. There's some imperfections with my '09 AWD that I'm not thrilled with, and a community like this will amplify that if you spend enough time here. Just keep in mind that all other car forums have the same number of posts, and probably the same percentage of people questioning if the car in question is a POS or not, lol. Acura/Honda is still in the top percent when it comes to resale, reliability, customer satisfaction, etc.. But none of these machines are flawless.
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