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Are these available anywhere? It seems like you could put them in without removing the panels!
Please let me know if anybody finds another option.
Thanks
If anyone hears of a solution (or way to have it repaired free), let me know!
Thanks!
Well, sorry about the bad luck with your MDX. Our '04 has been bulletproof with the exception of the darn vent clips. Three of the four front ones have broken. One was fixed under warranty the other two I just use a pencil to move them.
It's coming up on 60k miles, two months shy of 5 years old and only 3 more easy monthly payments. Woo Hoo...
By looking at the broken vent tab, it's a very cheap two-piece of plastic with a flawed design. The weak part is the two clips on the back of the top piece, which sooner or later will break unless you never use the tab to adjust the vent. From many posts I found on the Internet, this seems like a prevalent problem for MDX and the usual breaking point (depending on how much you use the vent tab) is about 4 years. I guess you probably will see increasing complaints form '03 and 04' MDX owners pretty soon. But why does Acura never want to address a problem like this?
In my opinion, there got to be some easy and cheap alternatives to just "replacing the whole vent". If you have the two broken pieces, I think you can super glue them together but like some posters said, you have to be very careful not to glue the other parts to make the vent practically unmovable. For some people that have lost the broken pieces, Acura should really consider selling the plastic tab, not just the whole vent. It's $5 vs. $150. I understand it’s the owners' responsibility if they screw up. But isn't it true for all other parts if the owners decide to “do it yourself”? Acura can also provide guidance to its dealer technicians about how to replace the plastic tab. It should be a very easy and normal procedure. I bet if some vendors (maybe somewhere in China) start producing some kind of knockoffs for the plastic tab and selling them on eBay, they would be sold like hot potatoes.
It’s very disappointing that such poor workmanship is discovered on a $40K plus car. It’s even more irresponsible on the Acura part to simply tell many of its loyal car owners just to suck it up or pay it up. I’m not talking about a recall or something. But a prestigious car manufacturer like Acura should be able to find a solution to address a design and quality problem like this. Don’t make the MDX the last Acura I own!!!
I have found a cheap solution that works, at least for now--it's in the air freshener section of the auto parts department. They make air fresheners that are actually clips that you stick into the vents, and all that shows is the very end--it isn't noticeable at all. I paid $2.50 for four of them, and so far they work fine. They move the inside part of the vent as well as the outer (up and down) slats. I didn't like the scent of them that well, so had put them outside to lose the smell before I actually started using them.
It's worth a try!
About 5 or so months ago my daughter was adjusting the passenger side vent when the tab fell off in her hand. I didn’t worry too much about since I don’t sit on that side of the car!
But, about a month ago I was adjusting the driver’s side vent and the tab fell off in my hand.
Ugh.
I’ve looked at it time and again and fiddled with it trying to get it on and keep it on all to no avail.
I talked with the service advisor while I had the car in for the xmission recall fix (topic for a different thread) and he said the only solution was to replace the vents (easy enough to do myself once bought, I gather). Uh huh. $100 repair for a 50 cent piece of crap.
I swore off Chrysler products for just this kind of poor quality/reliability (vents and transmission).
The total cost was only $50. That's a bargain compared to the $250+ estimate I received from the Acura service department!
Search for these keywords on eBay:
ACURA MDX 2003-2006 DASH VENT PASSENGER SIDE OEM
Good luck.
Call and voice your complaint and ask that engineers come up with an inexpensive solution.
I’m having the same issue! I have a 2009 MDX and the driver side vent tab broke a couple of months ago! Now, my passenger side vent tab just broke when a passenger readjusted the vent for their comfort! I am extremely disappointed in Acura’s quality as I paid over $40,000 for my 2009 MDX SH-AWD Technology vehicle! For those of you that haven’t really called to get a quote; I was quoted two different prices from the only Acura Dealerships in my area (Buffalo, NY and Rochester, NY). One quoted $262.20 and the other was $312 including tax and labor with an install time of 1 hour for both vents! Are you kidding me?! I then sent an e-mail and complaint letter to Acura Client Relations: [email protected] 1919 Torrance Blvd. M/S 500-2N7E Torrance, CA 90501-2746 (800) 382-2238 and (310) 783-3535 Fax. I sent my complaint by fax and e-mail and received a response a couple of weeks later. I spoke to a Jenine and she seemed really nice. I was advised on every call that “calls will be monitored for quality purposes”….. She said that she would try and resolve this issue. I informed her that I did not want to pay for this! She said she understood and that she would talk to the Service Managers at Acura to see if there was anything they could do. I also was advised that I couldn’t get a quote over the phone and that I would have to get an “estimate” from one of the Acura Dealerships. They price still ended up being the same. Jenine called me back yesterday to let me know that they would be able to knock $100.00 off the bill if I went in to get both vents fixed! Are you kidding me?! I advised her that this is a huge issue ergo the countless blogs/ posts of complaints on these air vent tabs. I also asked if the models they were replacing were better or up to date. She said she couldn’t give me 100% clarity if they changed the model to fix the issue. I also asked if there was any type of warranty that would cover the tabs since I was going to have to pay for them again as they were included with my purchase of the car. She stated “unfortunately not.” I informed her that I would have to think about it further. This is ridiculous! I have never had so many issues with a car. This is my first luxury vehicle and I’m extremely disappointed! We need to write Acura and let them know of our frustrations and aggravations over this crap! With the economy continuing downhill, we don’t have this type of cash to just throw around and hope that the problem gets fixed!!
Wow - I'm amazed how pervasive this issue continues to be. I have a 2004 MDX and the first clip broke about 4 years ago. Since then 2 more clips have splintered and now I'm resigned to just driving it as is until it goes belly up. This was my first high end vehicle and I would think it's the small things that make a difference. Apparently Acura feels that if you can afford the vehicle you can afford the upkeep. Poor business model.