for me, this is also my last acura/honda. I paid $3000 more than a honda civic and should get a better car! Not something that does not work, and rattles like crazy!

people on their 3rd and 4th shock

#Thiscan'tbelife

daaammmmmnnn that sux….. Hopefully you leave Acura as a step up to a higher trim car man… Personally I really like this car, meets all my needs and wants for now. But when I finish my education and I'm set in my profession, I'll step it up to a lot more want then need. I hope this is isolated ...

Does the Honda Accord and Civic have the same problems?

It most definitely is isolated. I have been trying to state that after every nasty post someone makes claiming Acura as a brand has gone to hell.

Cars are put together many different days. If the dude hooking up for dash is on cloud 9 one day but his girl breaks up with him the next you may see some sloppy dash hook ups which will then result in rattling sounds. Just an example but you get what Im saying.

As for the shocks, I find it crazy the dealerships even replaces them still. If you replace a 2nd and 3rd shock and you still hear the sound than its not the damn shocks. Just my opinion. My car doesnt make sounds over bumps.

So yes, definitely isolated.

^^ I spoke to Acura Canada today and they acknowledged that there is a problem with the shocks in colder climate locations. They are working with the supplier to solve this situation but after thinking they had found a fix, further testing demonstrated it wasn't the case....and its also affecting the RDX...I have the RDX and its legit.

This is just how I see it...

When guessing and checking you pick one component and swap it out. That component is the control. Its the scientific method.

If the problem persists than it was not that component. Now you pick a new control. You swap out a another component. If the problem persists still then you again picked the wrong component.

So if a brand new perfectly fine shock wont stop the sound than its not the shock.

One poor soul had swapped two OEM shocks and found no solution. Then bought aftermarket shocks and still found no solution.
The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over expecting a new outcome. These dealerships sound nuts in my opinion.

[QUOTE]

I tried getting them to figure out what was making the shock "go bad" and the dealer said it was the shock itself and wont replace any other componets.

But what happens when you replace the shock with an aftermarket shock by a totally different company and the sound persists? Do you blame the completely different shock or blame Acura for ruining some other companies component?

acura because when they replace the shocks the noise goes away but then after some time the shock becomes noisey and "empty" there is something causing the shocks to wear prematurely.

So you agree this something is apart from the shock.

Hmm, hope my dealer wasn't BSing me when they said they were expecting the fixed pieces to be ready by end of year. I live in Canada (Quebec to be exact), so if Acura told you that, I wonder if the dealer even knows what the current situation is.

I sincerely hope this doesn't happen with the TLX as I got my eyes on that car, but if not, maybe my next car will be German. At least I know they're winter ready.

^^ Well, I am hoping that they have a fix soon as my patience is running thin and I am just about to give up on Acura. I am in your neighboring province (NB) BTW so we are virtually neighbors I think that the dealer is telling you the same thing I was told...they HOPE to have things solved as soon as possible but I won't get my hopes up until I see an actual fix.

I had my eyes on the TLX too but I am not so sure anymore.....I always viewed Acura as the reliable brand and the Europeans as the Fun to drive brand....If Acura is ditching is reliability, then might as well go Europeans as well and Audi was on my shopping list. I am only doing a lease so long term reliability is not a concern for me.....

yea but the guys at acura disagree with me. they think its the shock they even switched to another part number and it was good for a while and is back again. that tells me something is causing the shock to go bad. the dealer also told me acura is aware of a batch of bad shocks and that is why they switched part numbers on mine.

Not sure what it is with Honda but shocks seem to be their Achilles heel. My 02 Civic had bad clunky shocks right away. Honda replaced them once or twice and then I got HFP shocks that didn't have any problems.

Taking mine in today, will see??? Going to trade this car before next winter hits hope they fix long enough to unload it.

Even if they replace the shocks with new ones (same part), you will experience the same clunking noise while driving over something as small as a pebble. Not a pot-hole, yes, a pebble.

It's simple. They are cheaper than cheap. Acura does not care. They are stating that this is a "normal characteristic of the car". LOL...JOKE!

They will probability just tell me they changed the shock or the noise is normal. If they say it's normal I will tell the sales guy that I won't be rolling my lease into another Acura

He's not going to care, nor does corporate. If they did, they would have done something about this by now. It's now coming up on two years and still no resolve. My lease cant end any sooner so that I can leave Acura and move on.

I have already started looking at other cars...and my car is less than 6 months old! thinking to move to an old man's car....ES300h (2013).

Nice! You lease or buy?

i bought the ILX thinking it was going to be kept for 6+ years! it is the same thinking pattern for my next car. my wife's next car will be lease and it will be the next gen XC90 to replace our current 06 xc90

Well they gave me a new RLX w/nav Friday with a full tank, said they had to order me new rear shocks and they would not have them in until Monday. Said they would call me Monday when it was ready. I'm very impressed with David McDavid Acura in Austin Texas.

well I traded my ILX for a new genesis coupe rspec 2.0T 6 speed on thursday

LOL Genesis....what a POS....enjoy all that comes with that ugly poser

Dealer is replacing my rear struts. Gave me a RLX loaner over the weekend while they ordered the new struts and will install on Monday. RLX is a nice car. It's about $7k over priced compared to the competition. Going to look at a new Genesis 5 Spec, GS 350, used E350 coupe and New ES 350. Wife thinks the Lexus is the best bet since I'm kind of a badge queen.

I also like the 3 lexus you named and gen 5 spec? are you talking the 5.0 rspec?

don't get a USED MB. unless you buy extended warranty for 7/160k.

Opps I should quit reading when I'm tired I didn't even catch 2 of the where mb's lol

I do believe that the thud issue has to do with the shock absorber. I do not beleive that it is due to a failed damper or due to the dampers being bottomed out.

via Acura website:
Amplitude Reactive Dampers feature two pistons per damper (a.k.a. shock absorber) rather than one. The first piston reacts to help absorb minor road vibration, while the second one is stiffer, reigning in a larger suspension motion for improved stability.


I think the clunking has to do with the design of the shock absorber. When a larger bump is encountered, the softer piston must take the brunt of the shock while the 2nd one absorbs the remaining energy. From my experience, the thud occurs after the original shock event has occured indicating that there's some sort of reactive event occuring between the two pistons. If properly tuned, I am sure that the dampers operate as orginially designed and intended. Due to age and temperature the stiffness of the pistons definitely changes, and this change is obviously enough to cause a problem within the damper.

I would think that with proper testing the issue would be clearly visible. Mistakes do happen, and I can only hope that Acura comes through with a fix for the issue (would most likely require a newly designed shock absorber).

Sorry, the engineer in me can't help but get to the cause of the issue. While the thud can't be narrowed down to the dampers for sure, I would put money on it at this point that that is the cause.

Just curious, I also have a dual mode damper that I had put in my E92, the Koni FSD. I have had it for about 3 years now. No noises that I can hear of, and its really comfortable ride. Would a possible fix be to replace the stock dual mode dampers with the Koni FSD's?

IDK, I don't know of anyone who has replaced their stock dampers with aftermarket yet. It might be worth a look

Unfortunately not if you are leasing. We should't need to go this route. This is a "new car", not a used one. It sure does ride like a used car that's 10+ years old, given the sound of the suspension.

Someone in here I believe stated they purchased aftermarket shocks.

Dealer installed new rear struts on my 13k mile leased ILX. Different car now. Great dealer service, they gave me a 2014 RLX for 4 days while they ordered and waited on the rear struts (I would not own a RLX if they sold for mid $30's) Must be a backlog of ILX's needing new rear struts. I plan on trading this bad boy in before it hits 20k miles. Not for another Acura. The last Acura I owned was a NSX, looks like Acura lost their way since then.

I agree, if I have to replace the shocks, I'll sell it first. At this point it's only a minor annoyance to me. I'm probably going to put some sound dampening in anyway, so that may help some

Trading in a lease? Please do tell me how so.

Let's see when next winter comes

I am having my car in for B1 maintenance and complaining about the rear suspension on the left hand side now.

You go to the dealer and say "look I hate this thing. I want to lease a tax instead!!"
Acra dealer should be willing to do so. You'll be charged for what you've gone over in miles if you've done so... or any damages they need to repair. Acra is a friendship and waves a certain amount of miles and damage if you trade in and get a new lease through them.

Even I could trade in my nodded 2.0 and if I got a new car through aura they'd wave most if not all "damages" to bring the car back to stock.

Every month on your lease statement is included a lease payoff amount. When you trade the acura in for any other car the dealer you are trading your lease in pays off the lease and now owns the car. Say I owe $24k on my ILX and the Lexus I am buying costs $40k. Dealer gives me $24k for my Lexus and pays it off. I write a check to Lexus dealer for $40k and I now own a Lexus and the Lexus dealer now owns my Acura. I also save on the sales tax since I only pay the difference between my trade and the new Lexus, which is $15k. So if sales tax is 10% then you save $2,400.00 on sales tax.