Acura TL Maintenance and Repair

priggly

Actually, my nephew purchased a new Jetta and it had an electrical problem. The VW company assigned a rep to the case who vowed to make things right and the rep even gave my nephew his cell phone #.

Actually, I believe VW has a great deal more experience in dealing with customer complaints than does Acura/Honda if the reliability ratings of the respective manufacturers are any indication.

VW is losing tons of money in NA while Acura/Honda is not. There must be good reasons for this.

As the TL is increasingly refined through the successive model year iterations the bugs of 2004 should hopefully be filtered out.

tedescm1

I agree with your assessment.

I think the bugs are already filtered out...

If anything is to be learned from this experience it's never buy a first year model from any manufacture unless you’re willing to live with problems. It would seem that most first year bugs and quality control issues are handled at the dealer level. I don’t agree with this policy but that’s what they are doing.

That includes Japanese and German cars as well as American cars.

Maybe the Korean cars will address quality issues before the cars are released but don’t bet on it.

waymie

The exact quote from the Regional Rep in regards to my issues with the dents was "..it is a mass produced vehicle and all of them have issues". I then stated I bought a "luxury" or "premium" brand to avoid many of the mass produced issues (like not having dents over a 5 foot area of the body as a common issue). That is when he replied all they had to do was fix it and they had done that. The fact they did it without my permission was not a concern and he was quite rude about being bothered with the whole issue. I do really like most things about the car; their attitude about this issue really disappointed me and reduced my faith in Acura. It is interesting how I had noticed my faded dash, air bag depression and cracked leather seats before I ever came to this board. The first night I drove my car on the interstate I pulled over because I thought I had a flat. Reading these boards has shown me many people have the same issues with the car.

tedescm1

As discussed, I also have issues including the faded dash and vibrations. I can accept the fact that a first year car may have problems but I expected the problems to be acknowledged and corrected.

I was made to feel that I was the only customer in the whole country that was having these issues. I had to take the car back three times before they replaced my falling headliner. They kept denying it was a problem even though a TSB had been issued.

Acura really needs to treat their customers better…

carnaught

Well, my '04 was built and bought late in the model cycle and still had the problems and annoyances I've elucidated before ad nauseum. Worse than the problems as many of us have pointed out is Acura service's don't bother me/it's normal attitude.

By-the-way, I've owned many first year or redo models: with Toyotas, Lexus' and now the Infiniti M, and even once about a time, a Taurus, I've had little or NO service issues.

graffixx

My '05 TL auto /w nav has been about 1 1/2 weeks old

Has anyone tried to "unlink" one of the remote transmitters from the car? Do your preset radio stations get wiped out as well (assuming you have preset stations)?

According to the manual, you can "unlink" by press+hold the LOCK and UNLOCK buttons at the same time while waiting for the LED in the remote transmitter to blink twice. By doing this, it will also cancels the keyless memory settings for that remote transmitter and restores the default settings.

Unless I'm not reading the manually correctly, it doesn't say anything about wiping out all of your radio preset stations once you "unlink" the remote transmitter from the car. When I tried to "link" the remote transmitter back, all of my preset stations came back.

Weird huh?

zeak

Are the automatic trans. on the TL built in Japan or US? I have had no problems, just curious.

bodble2

Since the radio presets are part of the features linked to the keyless entry system, I would think it makes sense that you would lose the presets when you unlink.

aaargh

I believe the auto trans are built in Japan.

tedescm1

How does the Infiniti M compare to the tl?

taxesquire

THis is a "problems" board. Are you asking how the problems M owners have compare with the problems TL owners have?

carnaught

How does the Infiniti M compare to the tl?

Oh, let's say "night and day". In TL's defense, however, don't forget there is about a $10K premium to the M's price, You get what you pay for.

tedescm1

Sorry... for the misinterpretation

I was just asking how he liked the car...it really seems nice

taxesquire

No problem. My parents just bought an M and absolutely love it. Of course, they've only had it a week. The odd thing is that my mom preferred the M b/c she thought it was a more comfortable ride than the TL, and my dad (a true car guy's car guy) agreed (he's driven my 6MT TL a few times). I thought the M was considered to be a harder ride, but I guess that's ust the sport version.

I think that if the M came with a manual transmission, it'd be my dream car!

ceb90

I just purchased my TL 05. I heard a loud noise when shifting from P to R so I tried it again and heard the same noise. You have to have the window down to hear it, and my car was not on a hill, I was backing out of my garage. This was strange to me since my car only has 43 miles on it. Is this common on a new car? Also I have the Michellin tires and the car still rides hard. But the only rattle I have is coming from my passenger seat. My question is does anybody else have this issue? Should I take it back to the dealer to look at?

bodble2

That sound is normal. You'd also hear a similar sound going from D to R, and from R to D.

frisconick

Did you test drive the car? Whenever I test drive a car I alway make sure I go over a rough surface, even take the car to the side of the road. I think the TL is just as smoothe as my old Camry, not as smoothe has today's Camry's. But the TL is a sports sedan, not a Camry.

I do expect the ride to be a little smoother when I switch to Michellins.

taxesquire

Also I have the Michellin tires and the car still rides hard

Check the air pressure. If the tires are over-inflated, you will get a harsher ride.

terryl

Hi there - posting this here as well as in general discussion.

I have noticed that my car does not lock automatically even though I only see 3 options in the keyless remote settings and they all concern how long before the car locks automatically. I haven't been too concerned that my car wasn't locking automatically until it was "broken into" (i.e., opened an unlocked door) last night and someone stole some things (interestingly, they took the Acura folio). Am I missing something as far as the settings go?

Thanks in advance,
Terry

bhelsdon

The car doesn't auto lock the car. It only re locks the car if you unlock it with the remote and do not open a door. The 3 settings are the amount of time you have to open a door before it re locks.

terryl

Thanks!

steve49

Can anyone help me define the radial and axial wheel runout limits for a brand new Acura 2005 TL wheel? Is there an Acura specification that I can reference when talking to the dealership? I have one wheel which has 4 times the radial runout compared to the others; possibly creating the vibration issues when driving.

Any assistance/guidance would be appreciated.

Steve

gavsim

Hello All, (First Time poster recommended to come here for good insight)

I own a 2000 TL with 57,000 Miles

The last few months I've noticed that upon accelerating between 30-40mph the car
begins to feel like its going to stall. The steering wheel starts vibrating and its as though the car is jerking ahead. Sort of like theres a dead spot in this range. This lasts no longer than 5 seconds or so.

This happens about 50% of the time. I've noticed it happening a few minutes into driving as well as after driving for an hour.

When I accelerate harder, and pass say 40mp, it ends. I never noticed it happen at higher speeds.

I brought it to my local mechnic, and of course, it wouldn't do it for him.

I'm going to bring it to Acura soon, but like to gather some knowlege first. I like to be able to have some understanding when I walk in there.

Thanks in advance to all

gavsim

nightcrawler29

I also live in Austin, and I have also experienced rattles in my 05 TL... pretty much seem to come from either the passenger seat as you said, or the speaker on the passenger door. I've had the car for 2 months and I'm really happy with it, and has 3000 miles. But the rattles come and go and I'm not sure if its due to the settlement of the materials over time.... also maybe the high exterior temperature might have something to do with it. The rattles are not present all the time, but I'm thinking they might go away later on... kinda just like new houses when they are first built, where the wood structure might move and settle.

nightcrawler29

Well for what I've read on this forum, there's nothing wrong with your TL.... you got an '04.

taxesquire

18,000 mi and no problems with my '04 - no shakes, rattles or rolls. I don't think it's a matter of my being lucky, either. I think it's a matter of others being unlucky.

delmar1

It isn't a case of being lucky or unlucky. It is a matter of the nature of this forum. You only hear the worst and negatives.

Those that do not have any issues do not post here. And if the worst thing that can be posted is a few rattles (which can be fixed in most cases), wide 'U' turn radius, etc....that isn't all that bad.

unprejudiced

Our TL, with 3,800 miles on it, has had rough start problem since purchase early this year. It doesn't happen all the time. Just happens during cold starts, after the car is parked for, say, a couple of hours or more. There is this very short booming noise as we turn the ignition key, like a mini explosion of some sort. The car starts smoothly when hot. We keep imagining that it happens because there is some left over gas somewhere that gets ignited all of a sudden at the start. We keep hoping the problem will disappear, but it lingers.

Anyone else has had this problem? Any guess as to its cause? Will be most grateful for any help.

bodble2

Maybe a wheel-balancing issue? But the jerking forward part may indicate tranny problem.

upstatedoc

Just got a recall notice on my 05 tl w/ navi. Apparently the navi fuse box can malfunction causing dead battery or hard starting. Also related to the temp gauge reading "---". My car hasnt had any of those problems, but I have seen them mentioned on this forum. The recall name is "campaign P91/P91".

bsg64

I had a similar rattle in my '05 TL from the passenger side. Not very loud, high pitch (almost like glasses clinking). It was not all the time, but became more common over time. Road surface had a big impact. The dealer test drove it and heard it. They wrapped some of the passenger seat mechanism (I assume they removed the seat to do this, but don't know for sure) with some sort of insulation material. Problem solved. You might want to mention this to your dealer when you next take it for service. It was a very quick fix.

dave124

Interesting. I have an '05 TL non-navi with 8K miles. Love it but it already has problems. Dang thing won't keep a charge and I have to jump it all the time. It has been sitting dead in the garage for the past week. I'm hoping Acura comes out to me with a new battery. I wonder if this recall should go further than just the navi's.

I didn't get another Chevy because of problems. Now my Acura has problems. Bad luck I guess?? Dang American made cars. :-) :confuse: :sick:

battrl

I also have an '05 navi, but haven't received any notices. I just went to the Owner Link website which stated that there were no recalls for my vehicle. Must be related to only a subset of vehicles.

upstatedoc

Interesting thing about this recall, It came on a post card from my dealer. When I called the dealership, the service guy could not figure out what it was for and said he would call me back after he did some investigating. He never did. So I called the next day and went through the same process with another service guy. It took him about fifteen minutes to figure it out while I was on the phone with him. The results are in my previous post. I have an appointment next week, so I'll keep you posted.

bob71

You are correct. The recall only applies to 1,923 TLs that were manufactured from 11/10/2004 to 11/23/2004.

aaargh

My dealer did an alignment on my '04 TL (22.5K miles on it). Now, between the speeds of 25 and 35, I feel a vibration. My tires only have about 15K on them (used snows in the winter). Any thoughts as to what this could be? Is this the dreaded Bridgestone vibration issue? If so, why now?

FYI, I have a special with the dealership where they provide 'free' tires for life so long as they perform all the routine service and an alignment every 12,000 miles. Now I think an alignment every 12K is ridiculous (especially when they charge $109 for it), but I already paid $200 up front for the special. I think by the time I need to replace these Bridgestones, I'll be in the range of $600 - $700 more than if I didn't have the deal. Being a new set of Michelin Pilots costs $800, I should still be ahead.

taxesquire

You think they're gonna give you the Pilots for free??? I think you better read the fine print. I bet they give you the OEM again or make you pay the difference.

aaargh

I asked that very question.

The service manager said "he found out they discontinued my Bridgestones today". They have a new version that will cost $250/tire that will come on the '06s. He said they typically put the OEM Michelins that come with the '05 NAVI on all the '04s that have needed new tires so far. He knows how bad the OEM Bridgestones are.

We'll see. :confuse:

elvis4prez

aaargh,

What, exactly, will be the (new?) tire story for '06 TLs? You mentioned the Bridgestones will be discontinued.

Did you get a clear answer on that? My local dealer (and some internet contacts) all said they wouldn't know until the '06 models rolled on their lot and that tire specifics were not in the information provided ahead of the actual car. Acura is so tight-lipped sometimes!

I was presuming they would be Bridgestones for non-Nav and Michelins for Nav like the '05s. Now maybe not? :confuse:

utc2

Recently purchased an '05 w/ navi 1 month ago and the car has been fantastic. Very happy with it overall. Have begun to notice a subtle low pitch rattle or hum from the driver side vent/dash only over bumps (every 5-10 seconds on the freeway for example). To be honest it doesn't bother me much especially with the radio on.

My questions to you all.... anyone else experience this problem? Someone posted this can be expected in a new car as it sets it. Its a very minor nuisance and would hate to take it in only to have nothing done or even worse make things worse. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Apologize if this has been discussed elsewhere. :confuse:

strokeoluck1

Hi All, I've had my '05 TL (non-Nav) for about four months. It's been great in almost all respects. I absolutely love the car and have no regrets purchasing it. The two things I'm trying to figure out at present are:

1) Bluetooth issue. I have a Treo 650 with service through Sprint. Up until the last week I never tried to use the TL's Bluetooth system. I'm not in the car that much (maybe 20 minutes/day) and didn't feel I needed to fidget with the system. However recently I purchased a Sony Ericsson HBH-600 Bluetooth headset to pair up with my Treo 650. It worked perfectly until I got in the TL. Then I found that my phone kept trying to connect with "something" (Bluetooth I'm assuming) that it could never find. Every 2-3 seconds the phone would flash a message stating "Attempting connection", or "connection in progress". This would also eventually kill calls on my headset and lock up my phone. When I turn off Bluetooth on the Treo 650 then I no longer have any problem. Does anyone know how I can correct this? I tried resetting (?) all the TL Bluetooth controls so that it would deactivate itself, but to no avail.

2) When I accelerate hard (and hey, who doesn't do that in this car!?!?) I hear a rattle coming from the in-dash cd storage area. Has anyone else heard this? If so, how did you correct it?

Thanks in advance,
Rob

upstatedoc

Have a sprint treo 650 which I have paired up to the tl. Won't work unless you download the "patch" from palmone.com. Don't know how that headset would work in the car. I imagine the tl and the headset would compete for the phones bt signal. As for the intermittent rattles, welcome to the club.

aaargh

The service manager wasn't specific. He said that Bridgestone 'reformulated' the tires that were on my car. I can only assume he was talking about the EL42s. He said they would be on the new 06's. He was not specific about navi vs non-navi.

It's possible he was blowing smoke you know where to appease my anger about having to get my car alligned just to keep the tires-for-life 'deal' going. I don't know. :confuse: He said the 06's would start showing up in a couple of weeks.

tedescm1

Acura has recently issued a suspension modification to correct or minimize the harmonic vibration in some 04 and 05 tl’s. I heard its some kind of damping device that installs near the motor mount.

Does anyone have accurate information on this “fix”? Has anyone had this done?….does it work.

bodble2

The onset of colder weather seems to have unleashed a very annoying squeaking/creaking from the centre console, somewhere around the bezel around the auto shifter, or around where the cupholders are --- not sure exactly where. But it is damn annoying. :mad:

I recall other owners have reported something similar. Any known cure?

bhelsdon

My 04 was making a rattling noise under hard acceleration and it turned out to be the shift lock override tab.

ceb90

I have a 2005 TL that I purchased 2 weeks ago with 80miles on it. I just had the A Spec suspension put on, so I did the freeway test to see if it would stay straight. It's pulling to the right, should I get a alignment? Should I get done by the dealer?

bodble2

How did you fix it?

bhelsdon

I removed the shift lock override cover and wrapped electrical tape around the base of it, then (one Layer) put it back in. problem solved.

bodble2

Thank! I'll check it out. Maybe there's where my console squeaky creaky noise is coming from. Do you just pry the cover off? Any special tool or technique needed?