CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Honestly, I'm sort of in the same boat. My lease has plenty of time on it, but I am ready for a new car and want something to accommodate more stuff, with some potential lifestyle changes coming up in the next few years. I am torn between waiting it out to see or just moving ahead with a car I am genuinely impressed with.

wreak

Honestly I'm not concerned about what any automaker did 50 years ago I'm concerned what they're producing now...Time will tell I guess but my money is on a high failure rate.

4thaccord

The internet is full of this type of misinformation: if it happened to me (e.g. transmission failure), then it has happened to everyone, and all Honda transmissions are bad. Conversely, if it hasn't happened to me, then it's not true ("I've driven my Ford Crown Victoria for 125 years and never even changed the oil; Fords are the most reliable cars ever made").

Rocket_man

The delay is not necessarily bad news.. unless you were planning to be one of the first purchasers. There have been some monumentally botched car roll outs recently. The MKZ was delayed, then cars that were build in Mexico were shipped to the US to be reworked. The Q50 was an awful roll out. Cars that customers had bought were sitting in dealer lots an unable to be delivered until new software was installed. Some cars didn't steer straight and others slammed the brakes on for no reason. They are still sorting out software. An unusual number of early buyers had their cars bought back by Infiniti. Surprisingly though there is not much evidence that these problems have kept buyers away. Apparently the vast majority of buyers are pretty ill informed.

Acura says the TLX is one of the most complex cars they have ever built. If they are taking more time to get the production line right, the software working properly, THE REAR DAMPERS FIXED!!!!, or the transmission shift logic optimized (to make EPA numbers), and deliver a more reliable car than I'm okay with that. The Advanced Trim looks especially software intensive.

I can't see any design changes happening, way too late for that. Tooling is probably 99% done, suppliers are signed on, manuals and documentation, parts etc are being finalized (if not already). There is just no time. Maybe not even time to get better wheels. The last thing that Acura needs is to roll this car out and have problems right off the bat. If Acura doesn't have reliability as a feature for this car, then the selling points are going to be lacking.

I do hope they still deliver test drive cars in Late May, but that may also be pushed back. When I drive by my local dealer, the lot is full of cars. I bet TL and TSX production is already ended, so the pipeline will empty at some point. It would not be good for Acura to only have the ILX and RLX as the only 2 sedans for sale. Hopefully there will be a large supply of new TLX's to flood the market and that may allow prices to soften earlier.

Oswald Vater

In my case Lexus, Toyota or even the Koreans. I test-drove an Avalon recently and was impressed as I was with a Cadenza. However I still plan to drive Genesis (R-Spec) and Lexus ES. I am not leaning towards anyone of these in particular at the moment. I have 6 months to work on it! Of course if the TLX enters the market sooner than projected it is also in the running.

reddogTL

It looks like the primary reason why I havent considered the IS is now rumored to get a new turbo 4 powertrain. It looks to be similar in power to the BMW 328 with 238hp and 250lbs tq. Something to keep an eye on now when cross shopping.
http://m.autoblog.com/2014/04/22/lex..._river_article

Nedmundo

That rumor/speculation has been around ever since that engine was announced, and it's definitely something to watch. I think a turbo four IS variant could be fantastic -- especially with a manual transmission. Lexus probably won't offer one, but if they're serious about poaching enthusiasts from the 3 Series, A4, ATS, and maybe even WRX and Focus ST, they should.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

You bring up a good point. Most statements are going to be extreme based on personal experiences and sometimes exaggeration. It's hard to know what to believe and discern the truth. The real truth is that only hard numbers can back it up to make it a fact. The problem is that the auto companies don't advertise these numbers and study it internally, if at all. But I would be interested to hear some real numbers. But even their numbers will be off. Plenty of trannys get replaced/refurbished outside of the Acura service dept. So where would you ever get real accurate numbers?

We'd like to think the industry regularly does recalls because they want to do the right thing. We see all those TSBs. But as we saw with the latest GM fiasco, oh yes, they cover stuff up. If they have too much to lose or they can escape liability and save money they will. We're not talking about a minor hose or a clip here. The transmission is a major component of the car. They have a lot of reason to defend against claims. It's nice that they fessed up with the 2GTL transmission. It would be nice to know what event helped reach critical mass for them to admit to it. Maybe owners in a class action suit? I don't know. But so far they straight faced deny anything wrong with 3G TLs.

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

Wasn't there a recall for the 04 Tranny?

Edit- https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...5&postcount=11

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

I don't think they need to worry. I'm sure there are plenty of 2014 TLs lying around waiting to be sold all the way to Dec 31st.

They should just stop trying to give em away for $299 lease, that should keep inventory in check.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

The recall was in 2004 but that was for the older TLs pre-2004.

If there was a recall for 2004 cars I'd be happy. There were no changes in 2004-2006 trannys AFAIK. There are plenty of 2004 guys who were successful in getting a tranny swap under the 6yr waranty.

BTW Colin, sorry to hijack your thread. It's a subject for another place.

Tonyware

All other things being equal, right now there are some hard working boys and girls at Acura working to get this out the door. So let's send some good vibes their way and thank them for their efforts.

Anyone who has ever been involved in a complex engineering or software project would understand what I am sayin...

holografique

^^ yup, deal with that world every day...

03uc1

iTrader: (1)

And possibly the reason for the roll-out delay as well! They are working out the bugs on the new transmissions, possibly among other things to get the TLX at least up-to-par on their claims, and consumer expectations.

reddogTL

I'm worried that Acura is trying to do too much at the same time. Kill off TSX and TL, come out with TLX with 2 all new powertrains + all wheel steering + bunch of new technology goodies. They're predicting 44,000 TLX sales for the first year.

44,000 units x $38,000 avg sale price = $1.67 Billion total sales revenue on just ONE brand new model. At thats me just using an extremely rough estimate of avg vehicle sale price assuming more takers for the i4 8DCT variant.

I'm beginning to think they're biting off more than they can chew.

Colin

^^ i'm sure it's a combination of things but it is quite possible they have too much on their plate at one time. However, I don't believe that "killing" the TL and TSX require much effort. Also P-AWS development was finished for the RLX so I don't see that having a significant impact unless they are changing the system to make it less expensive to produce. Most likely, it is the complexity of the new drivetrains that is creating the difficulty.

Honda have been busy beavers lately, a new RLX Sport Hybrid, NSX development, not to mention the new Accord Hybrid development program are/were all happening concurrently. I was speaking with our sales manager this morning and we agree it's better to have them hold the car than ship them, bill us for them, and then not let us sell them. In our store, space is limited and we actually pay for off-site storage for unsold vehicles. I could think of nothing worse than paying for three months of storage while they sort out Q50 like difficulties.

Tonyware

There are a lot "what if" involved in this delay. Mostly speculation, including mine that thinks this is more of a business decision than a technical one. But it could also be an HR issue. After all, you are dealing with a huge project, operations, management, etc team. What if the guy you have to program the transmission just decided to go climb mount Everest and gave you a two week notice? Yes, these things happen all the time. If you have no solid succession plan at key technical positions you are screwed. Lots of things may be required to get a product like this out the door. Documentation, tools, etc... all need to come together to make this happen. I guess throwing that Honda-Acura changes in management in the mix did create a bit of a chaos, just like it is expected when changes like that take place. There are ways to deal with this and I hope their MBA's have told them how to...

Just some thoughts.

PS. But I still think this is a business decision and not a technical one. They (Acura brass) know something we don't and probably we will never find out.

Rocketsfan

The recall did affect some of the first 2004/3G TL's (mine included). They slapped an oil jet on those from what I recall. Mine's chugged along pretty well in the 10 or so years since.

03uc1

iTrader: (1)

It's totally understandable that Acura seems to be putting all of their eggs in one basket in this TLX, but I'd take a considerable delay to get things sorted before making a decision to stay, or jump ship.

Now it could be that we're being lead astray here, but we don't really know, or may never know.

Worse case, we're not impressed, and move on.. Or keep our current car(s).

Rocketsfan

The problem is that many already think there's been a considerable delay...

Oh, heck no.

03uc1

iTrader: (1)

Oh don't worry, I think there's quite a few of us that's on the same boat as you on this one