OMG this is the stupidest comment I have ever read. Please. CL/TL have serious tranny problems. Nissan has no issues with the auto trannys period, and they had some with the 6mt but didn't require a recall or extended warranty because its not as huge as you might think. Plus it doesn't threaten the lives of people driving the car.

 

No, run away. Buy an SC400 and have a RWD V8 machine with no issues. 1SICK's post hit all the issues right on - these cars fall apart.... And even if you find the one good one - it will still be FWD

 

The posts on page 4 reveal the fervent, unjustifiable anti-Acura bias prevalent on this board. G35_TX, if you have data to refute UDel, then share it. Instead, you have yourself posted the stupidest comment I have ever read. And Coffey454 needs to lay off the caffeine... please present evidence of a single Acura that has "fallen apart", and while you're at it explain how all their FWD machines (that you apparently dislike without any basis in fact) outperform, on dry or wet or snowy pavement, many RWD cars in their same class.

Honestly, people, let's stick to FACTUAL comparisons and information. The OP wanted to know about the CL-S. Does anyone have any FACTS about Acura transmission failures? One fact is that Honda has extended warranties due to this issue. That would seem to indicate that something is indeed up. But, other than anecdotal "my buddy's tranny went out on the highway" or "everybody on pos.com has had their acura tranny go out", does anyone have actual repair percentages or government complaints or anything that has an actual basis in fact? And other than that single, questionable issue, does anyone have anything good or bad to say about this car at the price quoted?

 

Fact is I owned a CL-S that went through almost 2 trannys in 15k of miles. Fact Acura/Honda extended warranty to 100k on all 5 speed trannys.

Fact, Honda has trannys blowing up on Ody Minivans, and Pilots and MDX cars that aren't even driven hard.

Fact. Honda does not have near as many issues with the new TL tranny as they did with the older ones.

There are lawsuits posted on the TL/CL site of peoples trannys locking up at highway speeds and almost killing people or actually one did.

Fact is, you can't admit that Honda has a problem. They DID. A huge problem.

Would I buy another Honda product? Yes I believe they have mostly corrected the issue with the Tranny now.

 

Iceman, you actually own a 3.0CL? that was one of my favorite cars back in the day, I actually recommended that my Aunt buy one - she did - a Primrose metallic one. Looked beatiful, still looks good, in my eye one of the cleanest styled coupes of all time. The car now has 110 000 miles on it and is on it's second transmission (and it's shifting poorly again), the interior is falling apart, particulairly the seats (I think they may be biodegrading..) and the brakes have always been an issue for some reason, although this may not be the cars fault. BTW is your windshield distorted too? Hers looks quite warped at some angles. Every time she sees my 5 year older LS with double the mileage that still looks/ feels brand new and has had - yep - absolutely nothing replaced other than tires, oil and brakes she asked me why I didn't tell her to buy a Lexus - My response is because at the time I didn't know any better - but now I do. Several friends have owned Acura's and have similar experiences.... They always looks great and perform well at first.. and then the love affair dies once they start failing. Those people drive G35's and Bimmers now. As far as the FWD comment goes: The prevalence of FWD vehicles is driven by packaging and ease of assembly - that is it. It makes it easy to assemble cars because the whole driveline can be installed as a complete module, and it increases interior room - you get a bigger trunk and more legroom for people in the backseat. I'll admit that for most plebian transport, a FWD vehicle makes sense because of it's roomy advantages (check out the trunk of a Ford 500 - Good Lord it's HUGE), but for a performance vehicle (such as the CL intends to be) It offers no advantage in the snow/ rain/ mud/ spam or whatever you drive on, and will not perform as well as an equally prepared RWD vehicle. The Type R Integra and the old Corrado's were excellent handling FWD cars (Mini's don't count because they are just too cool to be talked about at this point...) but with similar tuning and thought you could make just about anything work well - these were very 'sorted out' cars.. FWD pushes your front tires closer to the edge of the traction circle sooner because they are not only in charge of redirecting the vehicle but also accelerating it. FWD has a percieved advantage in the snow - but that is because of the poor weight distribution typical of front heavy FWD's. A Porsche 911 is a fanatstic winter car for the same reason - a large portion of the weight is over the driven wheels. Most importantly - FWD burnouts just look retarded.

Sorry for the long post, but Iceman asked for answers - and here they are. I don't just spout off randomly - my opinions are based at least somewhat on facts.

 

I once had a CL type S....nice car but like some other's mentioned ...trannies are terrible.

I went through 3 myself in less than 2 years.

 

Yes, these two are facts (I'll take your word for it that you killed two transmissions in 15K miles).

Nope, speculation. What tranny has "blown up"? And what evidence do you have that those sport utes and minivans were not "driven hard"?

This MAY be a fact, but I have yet to see definitive data. Just because a couple of internet message boards state that something is so does not make it a fact. Check out the Urban Legends site for some of the great "facts" that made the rounds on the net that are just plain untrue.

Show me a reputable newspaper article or court transcript. Again, fanboy websites don't count.

Again, not a fact. I admit that Honda may have had a problem, although we clearly disagree on the magnitude and impact of that problem. If the problem was as bad as you and some other blind web believers think it is, we would have seen a nationwide outcry like with the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire debacle. It is a FACT that nothing about Honda's alleged transmission problems has made even a blip in the media, on any government agency site, or other unbiased source.

 

Thanks for the info! My Acura experience has obviously been completey different. My CL is approaching 75K miles and has had fewer service problems than my 4-year-newer and approaching 45K miles GS. I should post pictures of the interior--you would swear it's a brand new car on the showroom floor. And I haven't had any issues with the windshield (that one sounds REALLY strange to me).

I used to drive an Integra GS-R that I traded in for an M Roadster. That Integra was, in so many ways, automotive perfection. The Bimmer was such a horror story that I'll probably never buy one again. My sister has driven nothing but Integras (and now RSXs) since their first year of production. Once they get to about 200,000 miles she gets a new one, not due to any "falling apart" like your friends seem to experience, but just to get the latest safety features, luxury upgrades, etc. My old officemate looked at the G35 and TSX, felt the choice was a no-brainer, and has loved her TSX for over a year now (and it, too, still looks brand new).

So we each have differing personal and second-hand experiences. I guess this is my basic point to G35_TX: personal anecdotes do not make for a strong basis of a factual case. If someone had only talked to me, they would think Acuras are some of the best-built cars sold today (and actually the J.D. Power and other quantitative sources would seem to agree). If they only talked to you, they would think Acuras are all cheaply-assembled, substandard POSs. Opinions are great (after all, the OP asked for them), but they're like, well, you know the rest of the saying...

 

Fact is, Honda didn't issue a 100k / 7 year warranty extensions for no reason. Fact is, these complaints are generated by Acura owners on Honda related websites (for instance read TL section on honda-acura.net).

Regardless of the magnitude, the fact is that the problem exists and Acura isn't taking adequate measures to fix it. Replacement trannies keep failing just like the old units.

Acura is trying to cover up the problem, but it will come back to haunt them. Do you think any current TL/CL owner will even consider another Acura after going through 4 trannies on their current?

 

You have a 3.0 CL, which did not have any transmission problems. It is the transmissions in the newer generation 3.2 TL and CL that are faulty.

As far as Acura's in general go, I do think they are awesome cars for the money, in fact the only beef I have with Acura is the tranny failtures in 3.2TL/CL.

 

Blind web believers? LOL! You sir have no clue what you are talking about. Besides the fact you haven't proven otherwise that the trannys haven't had a problem. When we have proven to you all the other reasons they have.

 

Court: (Just one out of many)

http://cl.acurazine.com/forums/showt...ighlight=court

A few Ody issues (FEW) LOL. Sorry this was 2 pages from the latest posts, not even a search. 90% of the posts in that area are about the Tranny.

Sad.

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=28270

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=28574

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=28676

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=28609

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=28615

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=28444

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=28524

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=13812

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=28240

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=15467

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=28008

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=27883

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...threadid=27853

and so on....

 

Holy crap, I didn't even know it affected other models than TL/CL so much.

Come to think of it, my folks leased 01 MDX for three years, was a very nice SUV, they put on 70K on it, not a single problem.

 

and actually i believe la times and also another big newspaper in the east coast (i forgot the name??) reported the tranny issues and interviewed quite a few people

 

http://www.petitiononline.com/acura/petition.html

To: American Honda Motor Company, INC

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 and coupes, 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 www.acuraworld.com 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. Post these secret shopper results as well as any other applicable results, on your website - or better yet, post each dealer's results in their showroom and service areas.

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 forums - don't just read them. That is how an entity to which people are loyal responds to waning customer confidence.

Sign this petition if you are a present or past Honda or Acura owner of the affected models. This is our voice - our vote. Your opinions matter.

This petition originally started on www.acuraworld.com in this thread: http://www.acuraworld.com/forums/sho...threadid=17445 . There are many comments by forum members there as well as general members of the Honda and Acura communities.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned