28th May 2008, 18:19

8:44... I wish I kept our Legends, not the TL models. In my opinion this is a time bomb to drive. If the trans goes and you are in the midst of tractor trailers on the interstate, you may not feel that you do not have to have kids to be aware. Sure I loved driving it. Nice options, great power but I have zero regrets other than the tremendous financial loss selling. My personal safety is worth more than any car; that's my opinion, and maybe others feel otherwise because of the financial outlay to move on.

4th Jun 2008, 16:24

11:55, My 01 TL did something similar - whining noise, slippage from 2nd to 3rd gear. I actually drove it 1500 miles at Christmas before having it checked out. Then once Acura told me what was wrong they said it was safe to drive the entire next week until my new trans came in. It never did completely fail before I had it replaced - I wasn't about to let it go that far. I wouldn't put off the mechanic's visit or any needed work, but it doesn't sound like you are going to break down on your next trip to the grocery store either.

4th Jun 2008, 18:47

As a Honda owner of over 20 years, I can forgive Honda/Acura for a flawed transmission design (although how it wasn't detected during road testing is a complete mystery.) What I can't forgive is that Honda is cynically replacing failed transmissions with rebuilt units that, according to the postings here, fail more quickly than the originals. No more Hondas for me. Ever.

5th Jun 2008, 08:03

I had the 2000 TL for about two years with 147000 miles, bought used. Do not know how many owners before.

Now it had the check engine light on, TCS light on by itself, and blinking D5. I just read all of these comments, and know I may run into trouble for this trans problem. I checked; it is out of warranty. But my car is still driving fine right now. The question is how long it will give me trouble after blinking the D5 and TCS being on?

Also, some guy mentioned if put it into manual shift right after starting the car, D5 will not blink and TCS will be not on. I tried, it is true. Is this going to avoid the trans problem or not? Any people try it before? If so, I will drive it in the manual mode always. What is my other option? I do not think I can sell the car like this.

7th Jun 2008, 13:59

To the person who posted at 4th Jun 2008, 16:24 about the whining transmission, what was Acura's exact diagnosis? Did you have to go higher than the local dealership to get the transmission replaced? As I said earlier, I described the same noise over the phone to the service manager at the local Acura dealer, and he tried to convince me that it's normal for a front wheel drive car.

13th Jun 2008, 16:26

Does anyone have any idea of:

1. What percentage of '00 through '03 TLs have actually had transmission problems and.

2. What percentage of the rebuilt replacements fail.

14th Jun 2008, 01:14

I am buying a Acura 2003 3.2TL, and I put down a deposit already. The current owner is the only owner of the car, and showed me all the service invoice and paperwork. They also showed me the recall letter of the transmission and they did get it replaced. However, I checked the VIN# on the settlement site, and found out that the vehicle is not covered under the settlement!

I am so confused, why would a dealer send the owner the recall letter, even though the car is not under the settlement. Is that site only good for US vehicles? Or we can check the Canada vehicle VIN# there too?

The car currently at around 163k, and the extended warranty on the recall letter said it covers 7.75 years and 175km. I am planning to go to the dealer and ask them to do a checkup for me, and force them to replace a new one for me. Any of you think it's possible?

Thanks.

15th Jun 2008, 17:18

I posted about the transmission whining (and now it is slipping) in second gear...

I went to the dealer - after a test drive the service manager said they would have a rebuilt trans for me next week, and I would get a loaner car while mine was in the shop. They were very professional about it.

I was still concerned by the stories of rebuilt units failing, and did some additional research. Initially, Acura was rebuilding the original transmissions. In 2005 they started using a redesigned case for the rebuilt transmissions and these seem to be much more reliable.

17th Jun 2008, 22:18

I own a 2003 Acura 3.2 TL (129,000 ml) and I am also having some transmission trouble.

I took it to a dealership for them to perform the recall test. He told me the trans was "fried" and it would cost me 4,400 to replace it.

Came to find out, he never even performed the test. When I called him back, he said he didn't need to do the test because the trans was already gone. My point was that, if the trans is gone it, could it be a result of the recall that had never been performed, (which I just found out about.)

I made a second trip (80 miles to the next state) after calling "Customer Service" and talking to the service manager just to get the recall done. And it was as I suspected they would say, it was not the 2nd shift recall, but the 2nd gear was slipping because of 2nd gear clutch pressure failure.

I'm not saying that that is not the truth, but I am a little skeptical after they gave me the run-a-round about doing the recall test in the first place.

Does anyone know how I can find out if what they said is wrong with my trans is not caused by the 2nd shift recall?

19th Jun 2008, 10:13

To the 15th Jun 2008, 17:18 poster - can you remember where you read about the redesigned case on all transmissions fixed after 2005? I've seen this on Wikipedia - which, as a librarian, I don't find to be a reliable source. I've scoured the internet for more information on this and would like to read more. Please post some websites if you can. Thanks.