I LEASED AN 03 ACURA TL-TYPE S IN 4/02. THIS VEHICLE IS UNSAFE AND THE MANUFACTURER IS EITHER UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. HE TRANSMISSION BEGAN SLIPPING, SHUDDERING AND BUCKING AT 15K MILES. THE RPMS WOULD ALSO REV WITHOUT PRESSING THE GAS PEDAL . I BROUGHT THE CAR IN ON 12/2/02, AND THE DEALER REPORTED THAT THERE WERE "NO CODES" AND THAT THE "PROBLEM COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED." AT NEARLY 22K MILES, THE PROBLEM EVOLVED INTO A HIGH-PITCHED WHINING NOISE. ON 4/16/03, DEALER SAID THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. AT FIRST THE NEW TRANSMISSION SEEMED TO PERFORM BETTER, BUT DIFFERENTLY AND SOMEWHAT MORE SLOWLY. AT ABOUT 26,000 MILES THE SHUDDERING AND BUCKING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS RETURNED. I TOOK IT BACK TO DEALER ON 7/21/03, AND AGAIN THEY SAID "NO CODES" AND THE "PROBLEM COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED," PRECISELY AS HAD BEEN INDICATED BEFORE THE FIRST TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED. THEY DID FLUSH THE TRANSMISSION FLUID. ON 10/22/03 DURING A ROADTEST WITH DEALER'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT, THE TRANSMISSION DID IN FACT EXHIBIT THE BEHAVIOR I HAVE BEEN DOCUMENTING. AFTER THE COMPUTER REVEALED NO CODES, THE VEHICLES EGR PORTS WERE CLEANED AND DEALER BELIEVED THAT WOULD FIX THE PROBLEM. HOWEVER, THE PROBLEM CONTINUED. I HAVE TAKEN THE CAR BACK ON A HALF DOZEN OCCASIONS AND EACH TIME AM TOLD THEY CAN'T DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. ACURA CORPORATE MANAGEMENT ADMITS THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSIONS AND REPLACEMENT TRANSMISSIONS HAVE ALSO FAILED. THEY ARE NOT SURE WHY. THEY INSIST IF THERE ARE "NO CODES" OR IF DEALER CANNOT READILY DUPLICATE THERE IS NOT A PROBLEM. I AM UNWILLING TO WAIT FOR A COMPLETE FAILURE WHICH CAN RESULT IN THE TRANSMISSION LOCKING UP AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND LEAD TO AN ACCIDENT. I BEGAN AT THE END OF NOVEMBER DOCUMENTING THE DATES, TIMES AND SPEEDS AT WHICH THE TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTIONS AND CAN PROVIDE THIS DATA. IT IS INCONSISTENT AND IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO DUPLICATE, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS NOT A PROBLEM. *AK
1997
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
MY 1997 ACURA TL HAS BEEN ACTING UP. IT WOULD STALL PERIODICALLY WITHOUT ANY WARNING (I.E WHEN I WAS GOING ON THE HIGHWAY, THE CAR RAN JUST FINE; BUT ALL THE SUDDEN I LOSE POWER AND THE CAR STALL. IT ALSO HAPPEN WHEN I TOOK THE INSIDE ROAD.) WHEN I TRIED TO RESTARTED THE CAR. IT WOULDN'T STARTED. I WAITED 10 MINUTES LATER, IT STARTED, BUT ONLY TO STALL AGAIN AFTER 5 MINUTES.) I HAD TO HAVE TOW IT TO MY MECHANIC BUT THE CAR STARTED FINE WHEN HE TRIED IT. HE RAN A COMPUTER DIAGNOSTIC TEST BUT COULDN'T NOT FIND ANY THING WRONG WITH IT. THE CAR WORK FINE FOR ABOUT A WEEK; THEN IT START STALLING AGAIN. I HAVE TO WAIT FROM 10 MIN TO AN HOUR SOMETIME FOR THE CAR TO START UP AGAIN. THIS PROBLEM HAS CAUSE ME TO ALMOST GET INTO SEVERAL WRECKS AND MADE OTHER DRIVERS ANGRY AT ME. I CALLED THE DEALER AND THEY SAID MY CAR HAS SOME RECALLS WHICH PREVIOUS OWNER HAD ALREADY HAD IT FIXED. I DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO BRING IT TO MY DEALER. AND I CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH IT. *NM