no-tsx-for-me

Took my TSX (10,000 miles) into the dealer (Riverside Acura, Little Rock, AR) for the first time outside routine maintenance last Friday because the display on the center console went out. The clock is dead, the display that shows stereo and CD controls is out, and the HVAC display is out. There is a thread with several folks reporting this same problem in the "Car Problems" forum, but the point of this note is poor service, not the actual console problem. Told the service advisor that these displays had gone out. He wrote it up, told me they would look at it and showed me to their waiting room. After 20-25 minutes, he came into the waiting room, said that they work by appointment only and they could not look at my car that day. When I asked when they could look at my car, he said the first available appointment was one week later (the next Friday). I said that I had read on the internet that several people were having trouble with this same problem, and others on this forum had reported a 3-4 week backorder to get the part. He audibly scoffed, then said, "sir, we have to look at your car before we order any parts". I told him I knew that, but if it was going to take weeks to get the part, I wanted to get started and not be driving a broken car around for weeks and weeks. He went away and came back to say that they would look at it that day. About 1-1/2 hours later, he came back to say that "you were right, the center console display does need to be replaced and we don't have one". He told me to call "next week some time" to see if the part was in. I specifically asked him if they could call me or send me a postcard when the part arrived. He said "No, we don't do that kind of thing. I told you that you just need to call us sometime next week". So, I called today. Talked to the part department and the lady at first said that the part had not come in, but that it would be there next Monday. When I expressed my relief that it would not be a month as others said they were waiting, she said "It will be here next Monday, but if it makes you feel better, I'll check that part specifically; I'll call you back". When she called back, she said that it was on backorder and would be here in 3-4 weeks. I have subsequently talked to the service manager at the dealership and the 1-800 Acura Client Services number. The service manager said that he had fired the service writer yesterday because he was repeatedly making customers angry. The service manager, however, did say that it would be 3-4 weeks before the part was in. I asked if Acura would provide me with a vehicle with working heat and AC during the wait. He said he couldn't do that and would have to check with the regional manager to see if Acura would do that. The 1-800 Acura Client Services person listened to the story, said that "we will assign a case manager who will contact you within 3 business days". There were no apologies from either the service manager or the 1-800 person. (A simple "I'm sorry for the trouble you've had" would go a long way . . . ; but I digress).

It'd be nice just to take it to another dealer, but the closest Acura dealer outside Little Rock is 3 hours away, so that isn't easy. This is the first Acura I've owned and my first experience with Acura service. I have owned a Lexus and their service was truly spectacular. I've owned a Lincoln before and their service was well above average and certainly much better than this mess. And I've owned Hondas and the service was great. But, in my one experience with Acura service, its been pretty awful so far (my car is not fixed and sounds like its not going to be fixed for weeks).

The thing that I find so appalling is being lied to! I can handle the fact that this is a common problem and their factory can't make enough of this replacement part to go around because so many are breaking. I don't like it, but I can even deal with the fact that my new "luxury" car will be broken for the next 3-4 weeks. But I don't like being lied to (your part will be here next week, just call us next week which I've now been told twice by that dealership, once by the service writer and today by the parts dept, when in fact, it won't be here next week). We'll see what happens when the Acura Client Services case manager contacts me (of course, I have to wait for that also).

tuan209

sorry to hear that bro. hopefully this type of thing will never happen to me, but if it did i would surely cause hell for them . hehehe

tony4311

althought it sucks at least you know the problem was already fired

HCF

Ahhh, it is the little things in life that make us happy

wanggo

I think youre being too nice to them. I say give them hell for lying to you. I'm sure I would, if it happened to me. You paid a lot of money for their product and they are treating you like shit. Good luck

Jab31169

Yelling helps...yell...alot....get pissy.....did you buy your car at this dealership?

no-tsx-for-me

No, interestingly I didn't. I first saw the TSX at this dealership and decided to buy one last May. They only had red at time. I wanted CG. The salesman said he had one coming in with a delivery date 2 weeks away, so I put a $500 deposit down on it. Two weeks later, no car and no definite date on delivery. Over and over, they kept telling me that it would be here in a few days. I waited 2-1/2 months and still no car, so I asked for and received my deposit back. That's why my name on this forum is no-tsx-for-me; I signed up about this time.

So, I went onto the internet and negotiated a deal with a dealership in Missouri who had the CG on the lot.

It has been 24 hours and still no word from Acura "Client Service" (of course they said that the case manager would call in 2-3 days, so I guess I'm impatient.

The service manager at the dealership called this morning and offered to put me in an Enterprise rental car until my Acura is fixed. I don't know that I want to be driving a Chevrolet Cavalier for a month, so I told him I'd call if I decided to do that.

tony4311

I find the little things to be the best

gcolby03

I haven't used Acura service yet, but, like you, I would expect much better service and customer relations than what you've described. Deplorable. How does Acura expect to rank among the "luxury" brands like Lexus, etc., if they treat their customers with such disregard? Acura should give you a TSX loaner until they make it right. Thanks for the post, and getting the word out. Hopefully, that's an aberration and Acura strives to make amends and improvements.

TSX CSI

As a former Attorney General consumer frauds representative for the state of NY, you definately have ground to make a complaint... also i recomend calling the Better Business Bureau in your area to also log a complaint. Hopefully through the use of a Consumer Fraud Representative, this problem will be resolved as soon as possible, and who know, you might come out smelling like roses....... as for this guy being fired, I would double check that just to make sure they weren't appeasing you. Best of luck with this, I hope this never happens to my TSX but I am getting very wary, if this happens i am going to be nice, at first, then I will drop the hammer on these clowns.

no-tsx-for-me

Well, it has now been 2 days since calling Acura Client Service and I still have not had the promised call from the case manager. I will wait through the day tomorrow, but I will call them back before their office closes tomorrow.

no-tsx-for-me

It is now day #3 since I originally called Acura Client Service. Still no call back from the case manager as I was promised. So, I called the 1-800 number again. The person I spoke to told me that a case manager had been assigned, that he had contacted the dealership, but that he was out of the office today and could not contact me today.

I told the phone agent that I was told that the case manager would contact me within 3 business days. She said that the case file showed that he had started on the case and had talked to the dealership several times to
investigate the case thoroughly and understand what has happened". She asked if she could have Scott, the case manager call me on Monday when he gets back in the office. I told her that I expected someone to call me today since that is what I was told on Tuesday. I told her that I don't like being lied to. She said that she would print out the case file and ask someone else on the "team" to call me today, but that she could not be sure that anyone would contact me today. If no one calls me by this afternoon, I'm calling again.

nct1596

Sorry to hear about your experience! I live in Little Rock and am 4-5 weeks away from taking delivery of a 6MT TSX. So far, the people at Riverside have been extremely nice - never once felt pressure or anything. Of course, I don't know anything about their service department. Have you been back since then? Any better/worse? Your post kinda scares me b/c there's not another Acura dealership close (Memphis or Fayetteville). I take it from your posts that Riverside doesn't give out loaner cars like others on the forums talk about? Not that it's that big of a deal, but I didn't know if this was an Acura thing or if each dealership chooses to give loaner cars. Seeing how small Riverside is, and that I've never seen any 'Courtesy cars' on the road like with Infiniti and Lexus and BMW I didn't think they did.

Hopefully you got your car fixed!

ostrich

I am so sorry to hear about your experience. It is very disappointing to hear that Acura dealers vary so tremendously in their level of service and attitude. Luckily, the one that I go to in Akron, OH, has a very good service department, but it does not make me feel good to hear your story.

The thing that also infuriates me is the fact that Acura corporate does not seem to listen to direct customer complaints, nor do they take prompt action about them. They need too understand that even with their great car line-up, if they don't have decent dealers and corporate customer service, people are going to head straight for the Lexus or Infiniti showroom.

robert_tsxgeek

>>
No, interestingly I didn't............
So, I went onto the internet and negotiated a deal with a dealership in Missouri..........
The service manager at the dealership offered to put me in an Enterprise rental car....
<<

Ha, at least they are nice enough to deal with you.

this shit happened to me last week...my local dealer (Devan Acura Norwalk) was very inflexible with prices so I bought from another outta-state dealer. Then when I brought my car in to have them look at the rattle, they retaliated against me by refusing to give me service..."we can not service you" - It was the OWNER who said this to me repeatedly!
so I had an argument with him right there....there was a tint of discrimination going on as well.
I am gionna take this as high as I can !

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like you should. That's absurd that they would not be willing to deal with you, yet would have the gall to refuse you service too. What're they trying to pull?

DesertSilver

Make sure they know that you used to own a Lexus and were very happy with their dealer service. I've done this and it seems to make a difference. At my last dealer visit they were trying to NOT give me a loaner car until I brought it up that I ALWAYS got one at the Lexus dealer.

redpaul

I too am frustrate by less then Acura promised service. Took my car in for speaker/door rattle issue (see the thread on the service bulletin for that one), a rattle in the front right dash, driver's seat shift (on hard stops) and since I am about 2k short, the 20K service.

Knowing that rattles can be hard to find and fix I took in the copy of the service bulletin (Thanks TX.com). Parts are now on order. The other rattle I offered to talk to the tech about when it was most pronounced and where I'd press on the dash to make it stop. I had to ask for the loaner car (that was a petty annoyance). But when I got the car back all the other problems were "couldn't be found". On the 20k service tire rotation the tires got shifted but their pressures weren't adjusted. I recieved none of the phone calls I was promised about the progress of the service. On pick-up I had to wait forever while the washed the thing. Now I find that they didn't reset the "Maintence required" warning.

I much prefered my old Honda service department. Work was done. The service manager called when promised and if he couldn't find the problem he didn't just dismiss it as nothing.

epkim

Yeah Acura service for me was definately less then I expected from a luxury car dealer. I turned in my car and they said they'll fix a wiring problem in one week. A week later they said give them a few more days. After coming back from New York and DC I expected my car to be ready so I can drive it down to college. They said that they didn't order the parts yet and it'll be done in a week. They didn't even give me a loaner car. A week later I called in and they said give them another week. So finally after a month of waiting to fix some damage a rat did to my wiring harness I get billed $1125 and my TSX back.

jfbradley

Wow. I'm most concerned by the lack of response from Acura's Customer Service "Hotline". It doesn't surprise me that a specific dealership is screwing you, because they are all private businesses, only loosely affiliated with Acura when it comes to service. My local dealership does not take "walk-ins" for service, nor do they have evening or Saturday hours. Thus, I have gotten my service done elsewhere. Dealer service tends to be overrated anyway. Of course if I needed a warranty item, I'd probably be in the same boat you are.

Back to my point, I am disheartened to hear that the "hotline" hasn't helped. I had a similar problem when I had a Ford, and complaining to the national number went a long way, quickly.

Powered by Honda

Raise hell in the dealership. Make sure the customers there hear you yell. MY BRAND NEW CAR HAS NO HEAT AND AC AND THEY ARE LIEING ABOUT FIXING IT. Just keep going. Then fight one of the guys who trys to stop you. Then write a letter to Honda saying the employ attacked you. Then pay your little cousin 20 bucks to go in twice a week and talk about the horrible experience with other customers who are shopping there. Or on your saturdays get a mega phone and stand on the edge of the property and yell your story.

Ummm..never mind. I went to far. hehe as long as your not mad its fine. But you seem very calm and accepting. So good job. Keep up the good work.

GeekWheels

Does the warranty only work at the Dealer where you purchased the TSX?

MichaelkTSX

No all Acura dealers will honor the Acura Warranty.

d-rock

i think acura has to step it up, acura should crack down on dealerships to make sure they meet acura's standard

polytsx

I have yet to deal with the “service” side of ACURA yet, however found this situation typical of most dealerships. With the advent of the Internet it is amazing how quickly a commonality can be found (and addressed) from a few moments of online research. One has to wonder why more automotive exec’s do not spend more time on forums such as this. When you think of all the money spent on mailout questionnaires and “were you happy” surveys, these forums seem a quick and easy way to collect some valuable data from the front lines.