2003 ACURA TL Complaints

VEHICLE HAD AN ACCELERATION PROBLEM. DEALER WAS CONTACTED, AND STATED THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE. CONSUMER HAD STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT AND VEHICLE ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN.*AK

TOOK DELIVERY OF NEW ACURA 2003 3.2TL TYPE S ON MAY 10, 2002. WITH ABOUT 7,000 MILES ON VEHICLE STARTED TO NOTICE SLIGHT "SHIMMY" / "SHUTTER" WHEN APPLYING BRAKES...GREATER IMPACT AT SPEEDS 40 - 70MPH. THIS INDICATES WARPED BRAKE ROTORS. FINALLY INSISTED THAT DEALER ADDRESS ISSUE. DEALER FIRST OFFERED TO "TURN" ROTORS; I DECLINED AND ASKED THAT THEY CONTACT HONDA FOR REPLACEMENT OF ROTORS. HONDA AGREED ON, "GOOD-WILL ONE TIME BASIS." FURTURE WARRANTY COVERAGE WILL BE BY "TURNING" ROTORS. ROTORS AND BRAKE PADS REPLACED AT 9,675 MILES. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THE CAUSE IS "OWNER DISTINCTIVE DRIVING HABITS." WHEN ASKED FOR A DEFINITION, I WAS TOLD THAT I MUST LIVE ON AND OR DRIVE ON LONG - STEEP HILLS WHICH NECESSITATES EXTENED USE OF BRAKES. THIS IS TOTALLY INCORRECT AND THEY WERE ADVISED OF THAT. IF NORMAL USE OF THE BRAKES WILL CAUSE WARPING, THEN THE BRAKES ARE NOT FIT FOR THEIR IMPLIED USAGE AS DEFINED UNDER THE UNIFORM COMMERICAL CODE-IMPLIED WARRANTY MECHANTABILITY. IN DISCUSSION WITH A MEMBER OF THE ACURA STAFF, IT WAS DISCLOSED THAT ABOUT 50% OF THE VEHICLES EXPERIENCE THIS PROBLEM. HONDA/ACURA TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETINS HAVE BEEN MADE UNAVAILABLE TO CONSUMERS; HOWEVER, I HAVE BEEN ADVISED THAT THE TSB ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE CALLS FOR ROTOR REPLACEMENT OR "TURNING" ROTORS. IT IS CLEAR THAT HONDA/ACURA IS IN IT'S NORMAL MODE OF DENIAL OF A PROBLEM. A PROBLEM WHICH IS MOST LIKELY CAUSED BY ENGINEERING DESIGN DEFECT AND/OR IMPROPER HEAT TREATMENT/HARDENING OF THE ROTOR MATERIAL IN CONJUNCITION WITH THE COMPOSITION OF THE BRAKE PAD MATERIAL. THIS IS A SERIOUS DEFECT AND SAFETY HAZARD.

TOOK DELIVERY OF NEW 2003 ACURA 3.2TL-TYPE S ON MAY 10, 2002. WAS UNAWARE THAT HONDA/ACURA HAD AN ON-GOING TRANSMISSION PROBLEM SINCE MODEL YEAR 1999. TRANSMISSION STARTED ACTING UP OVER THE PAST SEVERAL THOUSAND MILES. ON MAY 15, 2003, DEALER CONFIRMED TRANSMISSION PROBLEM AND HAS ORDERED NEW TRANSMISSION. HONDA HAS A MAJOR PROBLEM SINCE THIS HAS OCCURRED IN MODEL YEARS 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 & 2003. WHILE THEY HAVE EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO 7 YEARS / 100K MILES, THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. *JB

CAR WAS IN PARK, WENT TO REMOVE KEYS. CAR ACCELERATED AT HIGH SPEED SLAMMING INTO WALL. *NLM

MY 2003 ACURA 3.2TL WAS PUT IN SERVICE IN AUGUST, 2003. RECENTLY, THE SRS LIGHT HAS COME ON AND THE DEALER'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT IS NOW MAKING THE SECOND ATTEMPT TO CORRECT IT; HOWEVER, THEY ADVISED ME IN WRITING AS FOLLOWS: "ADVISED CUSTOMER NOT TO LEAVE ANY ELECTRICAL DEVICE ON PASS SEAT, WILL CAUSE LIGHT TO GO OFF" I.E., CELL PHONE IN MY WIFE'S POCKETBOOK COULD TURN SRS OFF. THIS EXPLANATION DOES NOT SEEM PLAUSIBLE. IF THE SYSTEM IS THAT SENSITIVE, IT IS NOT DEPENDABLE!

I NOTICED THAT NHTSA HAS OPENED AN INVESTIGATION INTO TRANNY FAILURE. I BOUGHT AN 03 ACURA 3.2TL-S BACK IN MARCH. I REALLY DIDNT KNOW THAN WHEN THE TRANNY WOULD "CATCH UP" THAT IT WOULD BE A DEFECT. THE SAD PART IS THAT I WANT TO GET RID OF THE CAR BUT I CANT SELL IT BECAUSE OF FINANCIAL LOSS. THEREFORE, IM FORCED TO STAY WITH THIS CAR THAT MAY SOME DAY KILL ME. I HAVE HEARD OF OTHER STORIES; NUMERIOUS OTHER STORIES. I HAVE A FEELING THAT THE TRANNY MAY GO SOON BUT ITS NO WAY TO GET IT LOOKED AT BEACUSE THE "FAILURE" DIDNT HAPPEN YET. IM SCARED AND DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO. PLEASE HELP

THIS IS A 2003 ACURA TL-S THAT HAD A TRANSMISSION FAILURE. ACURA CONTACTED CUSTOMERS TO EXTEND THE TRANSMISSION WARRANTY TO 100,000 MILES BUT THAT DOES NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. MY CAR IS JUST OVER 7 MONTHS OLD AND THE TRANSMISSION ALREADY FAILED. THIS MUST BE A KNOWN ISSUE AT ACURA AND SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED. TRANSMISSION FAILURES ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND DESERVES A RECALL. DT

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT THE SPEED OF 65 MPH THE ENGINE STALLS. DEALER MENTIONED THAT THE TIMING BELT WAS BROKE. MR CONSUMER STATED THAT THE CD UNIT WAS BROKE AFTER A FEW DAYS. THE VEHICLE TOOK TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIR, BUT THE REPAIR WAS NOT DONE DUE TO BACK ORDER OF THE CD UNIT. *YH

CONSUMER STATES THAT WHILE WAITING FOR AN APPOINTMENT TO HAVE VEHICLE SERVICED ,DEFECT STATED IN RECALL HAPPEN.ENGINE CAUGHT ON FIRE. NLM

CONSUMER STATES THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD INTERMITTENTLY SHAFT INTO PARK WHILE DRIVING. DEALER AND THE MANUFACTURER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. FEEL FREE TO PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION.