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Comments
The option costs $5,200, is installed by the dealer and doesn't add horsepower.
Acura was given an opportunity to settle the case early but they refused. My lawyer filed a case and we had to wait about one year for the hearing date. In the interim my dealer told me I was not allowed to use their faculties until the case was settled. I waited a year and the car deprecated about 4K in the first year.
One day before the scheduled hearing date, Acura called my lawyer and stated that they wanted to settle the case. They offered me about 20% of the purchase price to settle. I’m really not allowed to discuss the case in detail. I did not want to settle for approx 20% but my lawyer informed me that if we went to court and lost I would get nothing. He also stated that I had a very good chance of losing. (The lemon law work better for lawyers than it does for unhappy customers.) If I won, Acura would ask and receive an appeal, which would take us out another year. Acura has an army of lawyers I do not
In addition, I was told that it’s really HARD to get the luxury auto companies to give you a new car. They will fight you tooth and nail before they will establish the precedent of giving new cars to unhappy customers. I was told that GM and Ford are more liberal and often do settle early and sometimes offer new cars. They are trying to rebuild their image. On the other hand, Acura and Lexus brands feel that they do not build lemons and will not give you a new car...they will fight you.
If I had to do it over, I would just trade the car in and consider it a lesson. Never buy a brand new car in it’s first production year. I once thought this principle only applied to American made cars, but it now applies across the board. All the car companies use the first year production as a beta test and then fix the product in the field. If the car cannot be fixed, you are stuck with a junky car.
By the way, I recently, drove a 06 TL and it is much improved. It does not vibrate, rattle or have the other issues common to the 04 TL models. They know how to fix the 04 problems they just don’t want to. it’s easier to lose a few customers.
Hope that helps
I agree with you- a buddy of mine got a first production year Chevy Trailblazer LTZ and it was a lemon. He did not have a retained lawyer but he did follow LL protocol and GM gave him a brand new truck!
A fellow associate owns a Ford Explorer that had a faulty leaky sunroof. The entire interior was soaked. Ford was very responsive and fixed the roof,leak and interior.
My friend was not satisfied .and sued Ford. They did not offer him new truck but did immediately settle (2 months) for about 25% of the purchase price.
Acura kept me waitting for about a year.
The first time I use voice command after starting the car, no matter what my command is, the system will respond with playing CD (but not always the same disc or track)! :confuse: But the system will work fine for subsequent commands.
Anyone else experienced this?
I wonder if the domestics actually are easier to deal with re: :lemon: law as the courts/lawyers find a domestic :lemon: to be more the norm whereas a Japaneese brand :lemon: would be perceived in the courts as the exception? More burden of proof on the plaintiff?
Good luck with your next set of non-first model year wheels...
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
I believe the only difference was that my Avalon was built in Japan and my TL was built in the States
Vin3
I have noticed something that feels strange - and not sure if it is normal or the sign of a future problem.
The first time I drive the car each and EVERY day (after I back it out of the driveway) I get a strange feeling in the tranny as I shift from reverse to drive.
Hard to describe - but imagine if you back up - stop - shift from reverse into drive and immediately press the gas pedal before your tranny has a chance to complete the shift into drive. Its not a noise or clunk - just what seems like a slight slip.
If I back up - stop - shift into drive - wait a second - before hitting the gas - I still get then same feeling - like the tranny has not completed the shift - so its only 3/4 of the way into drive until I step on the gas. Then it completes the shift and does not do it again until the next day.
I have ask my wife if she has noticed it - she said no - even if I ask to to look for it she does not feel it.
Although I am not very concerned about it - I would like to know if any other TL owners have ever noticed it.
I only get this one time - per day - after the car sits over night.
I invariably have to press the "AC Off" button, but this seems ridiculous and I would suspect, will start to wear out the compressor after a while.
I am currently leaving the environmental in the last selection (with AC indicating off) before shutting off the engine, but I prefer to return to my old habits of shutting off all accessories before killing the engine. I had a mechanic advise me to do this a long time ago and It doesn't seem to be an old wives tale (or mechanic tale, I guess), preserves the battery and accessory life.
I have a brand-new TL with a lackluster navi (that's another story) and would like to keep the AC off most of the time.
And BTW, I also try to turn off all accessories before I turn off engine, especially if the car will be parked for a few days, or longer. But of course, when I'm driving around town running errands, then I don't bother.
Try this - leave the AC on and turn the engine off - next time you start the engine listen - a few seconds AFTER the engine starts you will then hear the compressor kick on. The computer automatically shuts the compressor off when you turn the engine off - and it will not kick back on until after the engine starts.
In the fall, the outside temp is around 60 to 70, and I hardly use the AC. I just use the fan to draw in cool air from the outside, and set my inside temp at 70-72. It is comfy and economical.
I can understand the theory here, but I'll also add to this that...
I have never turned off any accessory before shutting down the car and I also have never required any repairs, major or minor, to any accessory on any car I have ever owned.
I suppose it's good practice, but who knows for sure if it's saving money in repair costs?
I'm the guy who puts 200,000 miles on a car before throwing it out. If an accessory was gonna die, it would have done so by then.
I too like to ride with the AC off most of the times. By not constantly switching from on to off upon shut-down and start-up, whenever I restart my car the climate control is exactly where I left it.
If you are in the "automatic" mode (same as "full auto" on the older ACURAS) touching any climate control button
(other than temperature) switches it to "manual". The temperature control has no effect on changing the auto or manual mode, but things such as fan speed, AC on-off, vent position, and the recirculate controls do. To get back into "auto" mode from manual, just touch "auto".
If you shut down in automatic mode (AC is on in that mode)whenever you do restart, the AC will not restart for a few seconds until after the car starts. It's electronically activated. Try it and you will hear the AC come on after it starts.
I just set the controls where I want them and the car is programed to deal with that, not visa versa.
Enjoy the car. It will do the work for you.
It does not do any damage if you shut the AC off before shutting the engine off - and if it makes you happy then that is what you should do - but does not do any harm to leave it on either.
Its sort of like when someone will say - TURN the channel (on the TV) - or DIAL the phone.
There is good information on these and other problems at acurazine.com - there is a section just for the 3rd generation TL.
I solved the rattle in my passenger seat - plus the drivers door noise using info found on this site.
I also have the center console noise. I have started trying to track it down by slipping a business card into the joints between the plastic panels. When the noise stops I assume I have found a problem area - I put a piece of teflon tape (the white tape a plumber uses to seal the threads in a pipe - its like $.79 a roll) in the crack and then jam it in place with the business card. I have owned a few chevys so I am an expert at tracking down rattles and squeaks - this system works great. The teflon tape does not stop the two parts from rubbing - but it does quiet them down.
I also found that if I leave the little door (with the accessory plug) under the radio open one of my rattles goes away. I plan to pick up some of those little round rubber bumpers that you use on cupboard doors the next time I am at Wal-Mart.
At night with headlights on or in shadows during daylight, you cannot read the time.
The climate control screen directly below the clock works fine, the backlight is bright.
Can anyone tell me if this will be an easy (inexpensive) fix, or if it will cost $$$ because of removing the center dash?
Also, we are still under the original 4yr/50K bumper to bumper warranty. Would this be a covered repair, or will they tell us it's considered a wear and tear item?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Wear and tear items would be brakes, clutches, tires, wiper blade, etc.
What yr is your TL?
The wife's accord also had a digital clock who's backlight quit.
The clock itself pops right out and the new one pops in with one little wire to plug in.
Very easy 30 second replacement.
Don't quote me, but I think I remember it being about $80- but your's should be absolutely free.
Ours is an 03, the center console should be very similar to the 98-02 Accords.
In our case, it looks like the climate control screen would pop out easily as you mentioned- it's a smaller separate part.
But I'm not sure about the clock. Unless you can access the clock from the climate control opening, you might need to remove the entire panel that covers most of the center and extends over to the speedometer, etc.
At any rate, I'll let the Acura techs fix it for us. Thanks again.
They also said the new 06 tl has a totally different mechanism than the 04 and 05 tl and it does not rattle.
I drove one (06 tl) for a few days and it did not rattle.
Hope that helps a little...
My 03 Maxima GLE also has the same problem, and I heard even Beemer 7 series (ultra luxury and high engineering and quality, right?) is not immune. So, it sounds like a common problem across many car lines. May be they all share the same parts vendor.
I have driven many cars in the past and I don't remember the window/door rattle issue at all, not until the last 3 to 4 years. Perhaps, technology is improving but QC is declining.
I believe you are correct about the decline in quality.
The new cars i purchased in the past were almost perfect.
Even Toyota has been having hesitation issues with their transmissions in the Lexus and Avalon cars. I am told the issue may also be present in the new 07 Camry.
We may be forced to go back to American cars for good value and price
It rattled so bad it scared the dog to the next county!
For a brand-new TL with less than 300 on the odometer, this is a little disconcerting!
Dealer says "no big deal"?..... He's not the one that's gonna own it after it's out of warranty. Seems that I recall a Volkswagen a friend owned that had the same "no problem" rattle. He finally gave up after the power window busted for the umpteenth time and finally secured it in an "un-operational" state
This cannot be good!
The window had absolutely no rattle in the "all the way up" or "all the way down" position, but I didn't think of testing it anywhere in between.
Is that only where it's occurring... somewhere between up and down?
I recall someone in the MDX forum complaining about the windows rattling in the partially down position. He went back to the dealer and he said that every model on the lot had the same exact issue and Acura gave him the "Working as designed" speech.
My 06 MDX (same yr) does not rattle in the windows at all.
Who knows.... :confuse:
I took it to three different Aura Dealers and none of them could fix the problem. I think I’m stuck with the rattle and I’m learning to live with it.
I've learned to play the radio real loud. This does help!
My 06 loaner definitely didn't show signs of that.
It did however, make some horrible chirping noise, sounded like a bad pulley bearing.
The Service guy said that is a known problem on some sheild, and it was an easy fix that they left alone in the loaner.
I'm at the dealer every so often, so I'll check the TL's windows again next time I'm there.
It may be specific to individual cars?
I rinsed it off with a mild dish detergent (polmolive) and water and let it dry. I then rubbed in several light coats of Low Gloss Armor-All with a light cloth.
It looks like new, and with no heavy gloss. This appears to work fine.
I do.
Sounds like a convertible would never be in your garage.
Can anyone give me a good reason to change my mind? I'm inclined to ignore my maintenance minder telling me to rotate my tires.
Maybe because it SAVES money and is safer in the LONG RUN.