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A case in which the only winners are lawyers (MSNBC)
Probably get further just hiring your own lawyer to chase 'em.
I also own a 2004 MDX that we purchased new. At about 60K the "grinding" noise started. We took the MDX to our Local dealer in Louisville and they could not duplicate the noise.
A month ago we took our MDX in for the 100K service at the dealer in Indianapolis to see if they could hear the noise and like most everyone else it was the Torque Converter. After a letter to Acura, and several calls to Acura customer service they would only agree to cover part of the cost and our price would be over $1800.
We have been quoted by a local Transmission store a price of $1200. Does anybody have a time line of how many miles before the TC begins to tear up the transmission? We are still trying to get Acura to pay for more, or all of the cost, but I don't want to let it go for much longer and take a chance of making things worse.
Thanks
Also, for those vehicle owners who are out of warranty, note that the service bulletin addresses this issue by stating that owners "may be eligible for goodwill consideration by the District Parts and Service Manager or your Zone Office". This is not a full admission of guilt, but it is obvious that Honda/Acura is expecting many out of warranty vehicles to be submitted for repair.
My wife just sent her second nasty letter to Acura customer service today to complain about them only offering to pay 20% of our cost.
This is my first post. I am the original owner of a 2005 MDX with approximately 62,000 miles. I've noticed the "rumble strip" noise when driving between 25 and 35 mph for the last year or so and never thought much about it. Last week I took the vehicle in for the 60,000 mile service and I mentioned the "rumble strip" sound. The dealer called back to tell me that the sound is the torque converter. However, my service advisor said he was going to contact Acura to solicit help on the estimated $3,000 repair bill.
Over the next few days the service advisor called me to say he still hadn't heard back from Acura. Then today he called to say that "I think I opened a can of worms" with Acura. He said that they are in the process of preparing a Service Bulletin to address the issue and that it may be out in the next week or two. The service advisor indicated that the TC problem is apparently more widespread than he was aware of. When Acura issues the bulletin he will then know whether Acura will pay for part or all the repair.
Hopefully he is not blowing smoke my way, but I'm not sure what he has to gain by misleading me in this way. So, we'll keep our fingers crossed and I'll post again when I hear something.
Acura Service Bulletin 06-003 pdf
There is also a statement in the document that addresses "out of warranty vehicles" and the the procedure for obtaining a "goodwill consideration" repair. It would appear that Honda/Acura was expecting a significant number of vehicles (both in warranty and out of warranty).
I have a 2005 Acrua MDX that was one year "out of warranty" and through persistence and documentation from web sites such as this one and also the 15 complaints filed with the NHSTA, I was able to get Honda/Acura to move from not covering my $2,000 repair to covering 100% of my repair. Good luck !
http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/thebesthonda/2010-02-04_181956_B06-003.pdf
I am currently a college accounting professor but in a prior life I was a class action attorney and successfully got a big settlement out of Mercedes concerning an oil sludge issue in its 1998-2001 fleixible service system cars.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Owners-Dealing-with-Acura-MDX-Problems/13568474313- 9321?v=page_getting_started#!/pages/Owners-Dealing-with-Acura-MDX-Problems/13568- 4743139321?v=wall
If you get a new transmission, the waranty is 3 years/36k miles. That's the amount of time you'l have to replace your Acura with a Ford, or something else. I got a new transmission at 107k miles on our '03 MDX and they paid 90%, but I'll never buy Honda/Acura again because they TRIED to screw me at first. I held my ground.
Long story short. The dealer said that Acura offered "good faith" compensation to replace my TC, leaving me to pay a $500. I asked the dealer whether Acura had now come up with a satisfactory replacement for the faulty TC unit, to which he of course answered yes. Anyways, I took the offer given my car is over 5 years old and has over 60,000 miles on it. Dropped the vehicle off yesterday and just picked it up this evening. A couple of things of note on my service receipt:
- "Goodwill per DSM09824"
- "warranty deductible = $500"
Hope this is the end of my transmission problem.
Regards, Michael
Knowledge is power but really it should not have come to this.
But due to our hassles and mistrust towards Acura, our next car will be a Ford.
Here is what I did.
First of all, I followed the advice of kpsmith999 (#308 fo 354) Part of the advice was as follows:
1. Open a case file with Honda America at 1-800-382-2238 then press 5.
2. Mention that you have researched this issue on the internet and that there are a large number of reports of this very same problem with both Honda Pilots and Acura MDXs. Also state that the nhtsa.gov complaint site has 29 complaints of which 14 are for transmission and 11 are for the 30-40 mph grinding/vibration issue for the 2005 Acura MDX.
I followed this excellent advice and opened my case with Honda. They were very very polite and very very noncommittal. I mentioned that I had been into my dealer numerous times with the problem and was told each time, "We can't duplicate the noise." Honda told me the next thing I had to do was go back to the dealership and see if they could actually diagnose the problem as a torque converter. They mentioned that my vehicle was no longer under warranty (warranty was purchased at the time I bought my car used 2 1/2 years ago) I told them I realized it was no longer under warranty but certainly had been when I had taken my vehicle in at least 4 times for this problem. They wanted to know what I wanted them to do. I told them I wanted a case opened with this issue and that I would be going to my dealership again shortly. I also mentioned having found "American Honda Motor service bulletin #06003" on Google which addresses this problem in the o4 MDX.
When we went to the dealership they said, and I quote! "Acura stands by their vehicles and we will stand by our customer and your car."
Long story slightly shorter, they honored my warrantly, which was 6,000 over the alloted mileage, and fixed my car for $106.00. This was the amount of my warranty deductible, plus tax. They also loaned me a 2010 MDX for the 6 days it took to get the job completed.
Needles to say, I will be purchasing another vehicle from this dealership in the future!
Hang in there, everyone. There are good, honorable dealerships out there who do care about their customers and are willing to listen.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
I'm still waiting to hear back from the dealer. They have now had the car for 24+ hours and they initally told me it was a transmission "sensor" issue. However, they need to call it into Acura, determine which sensor(s) need to be replaced and take it from there.
I will reply back to you as soon as I get my car back this week. I just wanted to put it out there because I feel that Acura is aware of this "isolated" issue and is keeping mum.
The service rep has now totally recanted his story. He claims that he and his team performed a series of tests and there is no transmission problem. He states that this is just how the 2010 MDX shifts from each speed. This is a totally different story from yesterday where he, the sales rep, drove my car and told me what the problem was in the first place. It's all surreal. He went from telling me he knew of the problem to now stating there is no problem.
The service rep also stated that I could test drive other 2010 MDX models to assure me this is normal.
I'm very apprehensive at this point and will sleep on exactly what I am going to do when I arrive to the dealership tomorrow.
I will keep you posted and will demand copies of these alleged tests.
Perhaps you can explain in a little more detail what symptoms you are experiencing and what the service rep originally said when he agreed there was a problem?
I understand that the engine will heat up the trannie and cause the over heating-since the engine sits over the trannie.
After the incident, I spent the the $800 or $1500 (can't remember the exact cost) and had them install the towing package. I believe the towing package has a cooling (radiator) for the trannie so it won't overheat.
And after all these years, I have yet to prove this theory out on the back roads and unfortunately I haven't had anything of significant to tow. Now I'm just dealing with the Torque Converter going out and getting Acura to fix it for a reasonable price.
Sadly, I do remember reading an article in Car and Driver before I bought my 04, that gave the mdx a good review for off road capabilities and it was up there with The VW touareg or even better. Nevertheless, the reality is, that it was only designed for minimal off road usage. :sick:
I got the trailer package factory installed, and my Acura dealer indicated as of 2008 all MDX's have the transmission cooler. So it is really surprising it heated up so easily. Funny they provide a SUV with skid plates and high ground clearance, and then say that it is not made to be driven off the road.
Towing on the other hand is a different proposition, and here the Acura's 5,000 lb. capacity does an admirable job for all but the heaviest loads.
The next day I brought it over to our local Acura dealer, and they mentioned that they would first diagnose the problem and then contact the District Manager on my behalf to see if Acura will step up and pay for any of the repairs. So far I am impressed with the way they handled my situation, but I have yet to hear back from them on if and what they will cover.
I dropped the car off on Tuesday and they told me today (Thursday) that they won't have an answer back from the District Manager till Monday of next week, but it will for sure need a whole new Transmission. I will be using the information I found on the forum as ammunition when it comes time to negotiate. Thank you everyone for posting, this information may save me thousands of dollars (I hope). I will repost when I hear back from Acura.
I was just curious, how long did it take for those of you that had to have the transmission replaced? In my case it looks like the car will be at the dealership for close to 10 days! Is that about the same amount of time for those of you that went through the same issues?
acura and the dealership did eat the cost and replaced the transmission. of course it was a remanufactured transmission and only came with a 1 year warranty. and now i am having the same problem all over again, this time in 1st to 2nd only. has anyone else had the transmission replaced and then started having the same problem start over in the replacement? is there any class action pending that anyone is aware of for this problem? any info would be appreciated. thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Owners-Dealing-with-Acura-MDX-Problems/13568474313- 9321?v=photos&ref=ts#!/pages/Owners-Dealing-with-Acura-MDX-Problems/135684743139- 321?v=wall&ref=ts