Hello Acura experts;
I have a 2014 acura ILX (115K miles on it) and it has been making different kinds of noises. I do not know anything about car mechanics or innards . But I have been going to the dealer for the past 3 months ( 3 visits) and spent a pretty penny already. My questions are :
1) I have the following issues :
- grinding noise when breaking was told it was a wheel bearing which needs to be replaced (done not sure if noise is fixed yet)
-brake capillaries stuck - no noise but apparently was an issue but had this fixed because hey it has the word brake in it and I have kids in the car.
- asked to do a valve adjustment : did not have this done
- tie rod end replacement apparently there was a lot of movement - did not have this done
- struts - front suspension making noise - did not replace this because i dont know about this noise
- shock absorber replacement - dd not replace this - i am not aware what noise this is and I am driving the car
and a couple of other small ticket items I fixed.
I had a 2000 acura integra before this and i had no issues what so ever for 15 years . it was a 2 door and i needed a slightly bigger car with the incoming kids. Now I regret giving that car away. Is ILX truly an issue or just this car ? Should I just buy a new car? Are these normal wear and tear?

2)I was told the early ILX are not as good as the later ILX so maybe that is why I am having issues, would that be true?

 

I would take it to another reputable service shop to inspect many of the suspension components you mentioned. Brakes and suspension is normal wear and tear. Depending style on your driving and road conditions anything car happen. i have a 2015 and I've put mine through a lot of abuse and yes I've done many modifications to it but over all its been mechanically solid.

 

What you describe are pretty typical for a 10 year old Honda/Acura, Around 10 years old are when wear/tear like you mentioned and some accessories tend to start needing to be replaced. Dealer will cost 2-4x the cost of an independent shop for a similar job, best to find some car-knowledgeable friends and see who they recommend. Both dealers and independent shops can lie to to you, so you want to go places that car people trust, in hopes that you can trust them. I'd expect you'll start to see various $100-$200 parts need to be replaced once or twice a year, with $150-$500 labor each time depending on independent vs dealer service. And maybe every couple years a $500 part would go. There are lots of repair estimators online that give you a sense of expected service costs for a given car model/year (usually at independent shop prices, multiply by 2x-4x for dealer prices), so you get a sense of what to expect.

Honda/Acura's otherwise usually have major components last far more than 115k miles, and the repairs will almost never exceed the cost of a new car payment/insurance/taxes/etc.

Valve adjustment is a scheduled service on Acuras, check your manual and if the recommend time is up then you should do it. Similar with timing belt / sparkplugs /etc whenever the manual says. Those are big ticket items all around 10yrs/100k miles, and if you are thinking about a new car for features/style/etc, then those maintenance costs often tip the scales to a trade in. But again, doing that maintenance is usually cheaper than a new car payment, and you don't have to do them again for another decade, so in the long run a new car is usually a worse financial decision.

Most everything else quoted can be properly determined to be worn or not by an honest mechanic, so it is a matter of whether you want another second opinion for trust reasons, and also if you want to go to an independent mechanic to save money.