An open letter to American Honda regarding their dealings with transmission failures.

[autoxCLS]

To whom it may concern:

Acura/Honda has had a long and respected history of excellent service and world-class products. The Acura brand was created in the US to give service, support, and products that exceed those of the Honda nameplate, at an expense above their Honda cousins. Distinction is given to Acura models by features, performance, and service that exceed expectations and come with a price that is not matched in its competition. Value and excellent service - "precision crafted performance", are what sell Acuras.

You have damaged your credibility, service, and respected past with your handling of the transmission failures on your vehicles.

At no other time in my knowledge has a failure of the same breadth affected American Honda. By your own admission, odyssey minivans, TL sedans, CL coupes, Accord sedans, Prelude coupes are all affected - 5 vehicles across two brands.

Your own spokesman, Kurt Antonius, is quoted in USAToday by saying, "We wanted to make sure our customers still believe in Honda, and we didn't want them to have any lingering doubts about our quality". Unfortunately, the damage is done. Before the warranty extension was announced and you publicly acknowledged your issues with the cars that many of us had been dealing with for over a year. I personally suffered through one transmission replacement in my 2001 CL Type-S that took almost 30 days to replace, and then a replacement transmission in my 2003 TL Type-S that thankfully took only 3 days to replace.

American Honda has some repairing to do. People are still untrusting of these products. The owners of these vehicles feel that failure is imminent on their transmissions. They are selling your product and buying Infinities, Lexuses and BMWs. You are losing brand loyalty from customers who have owned multiple Acuras, and that will affect the bottom line.

How is this situation rectified? First, you must enact a program internally to punish dealers who give terrible service. Dealers use bribery in the form of tanks of gas, free oil changes, and other items that will make their customers agree to give high marks on your survey. You must know the results are tainted. Create a system where the customer is explicitly asked if the dealer offered anything to them in exchange for higher ratings.

Service departments are the most guilty of poor service - which is quite unfortunate. On several instances, members of this forum have been dealt with in the most unprofessional of ways regarding their transmission failures. One member who approached a dealer on multiple instances regarding the eminent failure of his transmission was treated with such disrespect that he vowed to never go to that dealer again even though it was the closest to his home. Some weeks later, that same member had a transmission failure that nearly caused a serious accident. Service departments need to be trained, tested with Honda "secret shoppers", and then trained again. Secret shoppers should be trained to test the service department on a very challenging topic where they will be apt to respond in a negative manner even though company policy dictates otherwise.

Finally, your own customer service department needs to have some teeth. By their own admission, there is nothing they can do to ensure that dealers who deal badly with customers get punished. Give them power to help in punishing bad dealers. Give them power to make the changes that will make your customers satisfied and restore their brand loyalty. And next time a wide-reaching failure occurs, and there will be a next time, respect your customers who say there is a problem. Deal with them individually. Admit if you know of an issue.

As a 3-car owner and loyal Acura customer, I urge you to make changes and ensure that there is clear communication of those changes. Participate in these forums - don't just read them. That is how an entity to which people are loyal responds to waning customer confidence.

If you wish to sign the petition, please go to: http://www.petitiononline.com/acura/petition.html

[Awais]

Honda's already developed a new 5-speed automatic transmission. Hopefully that will not be as problematic as the current one. Following taken from the Euro Accord's technical specs file:



Most probably future Acura's will use the same new transmission as well.

[tommyBoi]

Originally posted by Awais
Honda's already developed a new 5-speed automatic transmission. Hopefully that will not be as problematic as the current one. Following taken from the Euro Accord's technical specs file:



Most probably future Acura's will use the same new transmission as well.

I wonder if they'll put that in the failed ones on the TL's CL's from now on?

Sky - in that letter - Capitalize Oddyssey (sp?
and change Infinities to Infinitis

I have 74k now - and Im starting to get more hiccups w/ my tranny. I just pray that if it does go it goes by 100k, because I CANNOT afford to have a tranny fixed. For those of you that had tranny probs - how long from initial little slip ups/weirdness did it take for it to start getting worse unti lit finally died?

[dchanth]

I am considering purchasing an Acura EL 2003 or Accord Sedan LX-G 2003, and this news is scaring me quite a bit. My question is: Are canadian vehicules affected because they are assembled in different plants? Please let me know as I will base my purchase decision on this.
Thanks.

[brendan CL TypeS]

My 03 CLS 6spd is at the dealer (Crown Acura, Clearwater, FL) now. It has been there since Tuesday 01/28/03. It has 12,000 miles and the clutch is already slipping. They said if it was a mechanical failure, they would cover it under warranty. If they found it was wear and tear, I would have to pay for it. I didn’t hear from them at all on Wednesday, so I stopped in on Thursday to get something out of my trunk. They had half my engine out, but not the clutch. They had a new clutch and pressure plate sitting there in a Honda box waiting. The service guy said he would let me know Friday morning after they get it out if it is wear and tear or mechanical (he said he would have no problem replacing it under warranty if it was mechanical failure). They end up calling my Friday around 3 to tell me that they had put the new clutch in and were taking it on a test drive. Then he goes on to tell me it’s going cost me $1200 since it won’t be under warranty. Now I would understand if I beat the shit out of this car, but a new clutch at 12k miles??? Here is the thing that pisses me off: they never asked me permission to replace the clutch or do the work, and I never signed anything when I dropped it off. They just replaced it and expect me to pay for it. If I knew I would have to pay $1200 I wouldn’t do it just yet since the slipping wasn’t that bad and really wasn’t bothering me that much. I called Acura and they are opening a claim or whatever and are going to have someone come out and look at the clutch. In the mean time, I am still driving around in the dealer’s slow ass automatic RSX. So I don’t know what to do now. Tomorrow (Monday 02/03/03), if they really are going to make me pay, I think I am going to tell them to wait for the Acura rep and I will hold on to your RSX. But for some reason, I think I am going to get screwed. What would you guys do or what do you think?

[autoxCLS]

Originally posted by dchanth
I am considering purchasing an Acura EL 2003 or Accord Sedan LX-G 2003, and this news is scaring me quite a bit. My question is: Are canadian vehicules affected because they are assembled in different plants? Please let me know as I will base my purchase decision on this.
Thanks.

I don't believe the 2003 accord or EL use the same 5-speed auto tranny that is in question. Only the model years and vehicles I listed are affected. In general, honda/acura products are the most reliable cars I've ever owned.

[[TL]Ridah]

I am sick of Acura service also...Honest survey= negative looks and services from the service department. All I know is that I won't be buying any Acuras near future not just because of the transmission issue, but because their customer care. I'm sure if I got a 30k car at Lexus, BMW, Mercedes,etc. I would get a much better service than Acura.

No doubt, Acura is a great car, but they also need to start treating their customers in a helpful manner unlike Honda services. I feel that if I paid extra 10k for a more luxurious line of Honda, then I need to also receive and 10k worth of service quality.

I really don't care about Acura anymore. I'm pretty close to getting rid of it for a different worthy vehicle. Maybe when Acura starts gettin their act together, consideration of a new Acura vehicle would then take place.

AutoxCLs, very nice write-up. I truly hope someone who is willing to satisfy their customers would come aboard to the forum and answer our questions and take complaints to help themselves improve in satisfying their customers.

[y2ks2k]

As an owner of a Honda/Acura 10 times over for the past 15 years and a former president of the largest Honda club ever created from 1995 to the year 2000, I will be the first to say that Honda dealers do truly suck.. period. I myself have been given 2 tanks of gas a few times to actually HAND my survey over to the dealer so they can fill it out and send it to Honda. Most of my Honda service has sucked. I will test my first Acura experience this Wednesday when I take my 2002 TL type S in to get the moon roof squeak, seat squeak, warped brakes, knotty transmission fixed. We shall see how it goes. I can honestly say that in my 15 years of being around hundreds of thousands of Honda owners.. the Dealer feeling is mutual and indeed most consumer magazines concur. I firmly believe that Honda has been sliding over the past 5+ years with only a few bright spots such as the S2000 and MDX. Reliability and quality has fallen, especially on American/Canadian made models, I will not ever buy an American/Canadian made Honda again.

My next car may not be a Honda/Acura…

Honda needs to be true to its long term owners.

[hondabob]

Only one suggestion, Sky....perhaps this letter would have more meaning than it already does if people signed their names, indicating their concern. Comments? Otherwise, it's a great letter that is not too antagonistic.

I've owned five Honda/Acura products over the years, including two now, primarily because of their quality. The TL is the only questionable product I've owned and I hope Honda of America is wlling to do something about it (e.g. RECALL TRANNY). Does Acura really want my next car to be a BMW 540i?

[eap7243]

I just bought (1200 mi.) an Acura CL Type-S 6spd. This thread greatly concerns me. Their are 4 reasons I purchased the Acura over an Infiniti, BMW, Audi or Lexus:

1. Long term ownership. Out of all these vehicles I felt most confident that the Acura would outlast them from a maintainance/reliability factor

2. Practicality. When you sit or test drive an Acura, thinking 'could I see myself driving this in every day situations for years to come?', the Acura wins out. It is solid, controls are most intuitive and the car has the right fun factor without saying 'look at me and my (what may look in 8 years) funky car'. Also, a front wheel driver is a lot more practical if you live in icy or snowy conditions part of the year.

3. Value for $ - No doubt the Acura packs features that no other in the class can match for the money.

4. Six speed - for me this was a must have, because this is half of the 'fun to drive' equation.

Having said all of that, if Acura didn't have any of these going for it, I would have gone somewhere else, and it sounds like they are losing ground on even these. Acura is behind the 8 ball on inovative sytling and the biggest drawback to the CL for me was the fact that it looks like an Accord with gold lettering.

Finally, Acura dealers still offer better service than BMW, Audi and Lexus in my neighborhood. Come on Acura, don't let us down!!!

[liquid_x]

SUGGESTION

start a petition at http://www.petitiononline.com and send the link of the petition to every forum of the cars affected. this would create an organized and unified response.

[peiqinglong]

Great work Sky! I agree with the everyone signing it part.

[Black 2003 Styp]

Auto CL I completely understand where you are coming from on your vehicle. I came to acura back in June to start a relationship with the company back in June 2002 looking forward to my new 2003 tl-s. I was weary when I had heard about the tranny issue on the vehicle, but I didnt let this stop me from enjoying my car. The first 4 months of owning my car were great. However, I live 5 1/2 hrs from the closest dealer and have made many attempts at fixing this vibration I have had in the steering of my car.

I have recieved little to no help from Acura in this. I have taken it to the dealer, which they just rebalance the tires, or tell me that the car is supposed to drive that way, or best yet tell me that because I put a 60 pound subwoofer in the back that this is going to make my 30000 dollar car drive this way. I am fortunate that I havent had my tranny fail.

The kicker is though, when I came in to have it addressed the first time, I took it to Mac Churchill Acura in Fort Worth Texas. They didnt have my appointment made that I had verified 3 times, simply told me they reballanced my tires, and filled my tank up with gas. I picked the car up when they were closing, it wasnt fixed, and to top that up, thier assistant service manager lied stating that he had taken my car for a test drive when I picked it up and dropped it off. And that I had also stated it was fixed. None of this happened.

Yes, I have been the route with Acura on thier customer care in CA, I have spoken with thier regional office about this. Of which, they are interested, then come back with the thats all we can do statements. Well, I now have filed lemon law with the state of texas and I am going to get out of this car.

I am as open as I can be with a company when they are truly trying to fix the problem. But even when I requested to the regional rep to run thru the vehicle's mechanics, he refused. I am sorry but eyeballing it doesnt cut it with me. I have even had a Honda certified shop foreman of 10 years with a dealer drive my car and he felt it. And he stated it shouldnt do that. So what does this tell me about acura. They just want to pass the buck.

I completely know how you guys feel, and am sorry to hear what it going on with you guys. As for me, when I told Acura that I was filing lemon law, thier response was be ready for a fight. What is sad too is that they ask thier administrative assistant to tell me this. Thier regional head wasnt interested enough to even talk with me. Well Acura, there are many other car companies who would gladly accept my money and business if you dont feel up to fixing my problems with my warranty that I am paying for.

[Blacura]

sky, i believe you mean IMMINENT transmission failure instead of EMINENT

good letter though, i'd sign it but it doesn't apply to me

[gerhard]

Guys,

At this point I'm so disappointed an fustrated with the transmission issues in my Honda Prelude that it's not even funny.

My original transmission started acting up at about 9,000 miles. I continued to take it to the dealer and tell them of the problems, and they continued to tell me that nothing was wrong. 23,000 miles later the unit failed and stranded me in MASS over the Christmas holiday literally 4 days after taking it to the dealer and telling them something was wrong.

The unit was eventually replaced under warranty (barely).

2 years later (this Christmas) I was driving home from MASS again and the transmission started to shift rough from 3rd to 4th. I took it back to the dealer to have the problem diagnosed and they once again swear there is nothing wrong with the transmission. Of course, the problem is reproducable EVERY TIME.

So, now with 58,000 miles on my replacement transmission it appears that I'm going to have to spend about $6000.00 for a new transmission.

The Honda Prelude M6HA SS Automatic Transmission is a varient of the older Acura TL 4 Speed SS Auto Trans. It is a widely known fact that Honda came out with the 5 speed version of the SS Auto to help eliminate the problems with the 4 speed versions.

Along the way, Honda has done everything in their power to ignore cusotmer complaints and effectively put all of it's SS Auto automobile owners at personal risk.

Those of you who have seen the recent articles in USA Today about the extended warranty on 2000-2001 models of the various vehicles with Honda auto transmissions may be aware that the reason for the warranty extention is because someone was almost killed in an Acura as the result of a catestrophic transmission failure.

Honda is content to sweep this issue under the rug while playing with our lives.

-Gerhard