2002 Acura TL 3.2 TLS from North America - All Comments

I have a 2000 TL, and am the original owner of it. The car has 116,000 miles on it, and had no major issues until a couple of weeks ago when the transmission started to act up with similar problems that I just read on this blog, like jerky upshifting from the 2nd to the third and gear slipping with high engine reving, etc. The car became a serious safety hazard with abrupt down shifting almost to a dead stop from let's say 40 mph. Talk about sweating!!

I took the car in to the dealer, and they mentioned no chronic or design issues with these transmissions. I just thought at 116K miles, this could happen. The car is in the Acura shop to be worked on the next few days. My cost for the transmission is $2600 plus tax. Now I know there have been folks who got their transmission fixed for cars with > 100K miles for free or just paying for labor (~ $1000). I will see what I can do talking to the service manager tomorrow (Mon), but I am not sure if I want to keep the car. I am having other stuff done like timing belt, brakes, 105K tune-up, etc at the total cost of close to $5K!!!

Wondering if this is the right decision, but as-is the car may not be worth anything.

I would sell it as is for 2 or 3 grand and disclose its issues in my opinion. Its 7 years old. If you fix it you will probably be netting about the same amount. I sold mine over safety only. It ran great, but had the trans done and I disclosed it honestly as Car Fax had it all reported anyway. I feel I am coming out ahead now having domestics. The repair costs are over with. You learn.. hopefully you will have better luck on the next vehicle.

I've thought about this a lot just in case I'm put in the situation. But if my 01 TL had the transmission fail after warranty coverage had expired I'd either sell it as is, like the person ahead suggested, or I'd fix it and drive it for 10,000 miles or so as I shopped for a new car. (The new trans should be good for 10,000 miles, right?) You can use kbb. com (Kelly Blue Book)or Edmunds.com to determine what your car would trade for with a fixed transmission. And you know what it would cost to fix it. So get a calculator and crunch some numbers and decide what you think is best. But I think you are correct to get a different car - this one is a possible danger and a definite money pit. Good luck.

Hello All-

Upon reading most of these comments, I am in poor spirits. My boyfriend has a 2000 Acura 3.2TL and last week, it began to have the same transmission symptoms listed by hundreds of people before me. I have a few questions that weren't explicitly answered in the posts before me.

- So there was a settlement in a class-action suit against Acura, right? What were the stipulations for people who want to get their transmissions replaced? For instance, my boyfriend's car has more than 100k miles on it, but may have less than 109 on it... would it still be covered under the extended warranty?

- My boyfriend's parents bought the Acura secondhand from a relative; since they are the second owners, is the warranty null and void?

- If he ends up getting it fixed, what should he expect in terms of cost for all scenarios, i.e., if he has to get it wholly replaced (it isn't covered by the extended warranty) or if the dealership he goes to just charges him labor?

Any other tips would be helpful, please contact me at abclemens@gmail.com. It's very difficult for him because he's away from home now (he's in Yorktown, VA on an internship) and doesn't really know what to do, especially since he works all day and can't get into a dealership to get the car examined. Plus, he'll have to drive it home at the end of the summer, and home is Detroit, MI.

Hi All.

I am an original owner of 3.2TL. I received a recall letter (summer 2004) about the faulty transmission. I brought the car to the dealer to have the transmission diagnosed. The dealer did not find any issue with the trans. They then installed the OIL JET into my car. Now my trans is on its way out, so I brought it back to the dealer, and they said that my car is out of warranty (134K miles), therefore I have to pay out of my pocket to have it fixed. The cost is $4500 + labor + tax. I think this is ridiculous. I never knew any company would put warranty on a faulty product.

I think we should all gang up and make our voices heard loud and clear on this matter. I am thinking of gathering more information on this issue and send them to Acura Manufacture. If that does not work, I will then get the media involved. My email address is locbe2002@yahoo.com.

I have a 2003 TL Type S. if the car is not covered under the extended warranty, does that mean the car is OK? Why is Acura ignoring the problem? Peoples lives are at risk!!!

I have been an acura fan for a very long time and have had 6 acura vehicles. I had a 1999 3.2 TL bad transmission at 150000 kms. Replaced transmission and sold the car. 2002 Acura MDX 65000kms transmission replace, 95000kms again transmission replaced. This all was under warranty, but there is a definite problem with the acura vehicles. I got a 2002 TLS which had the transmission replaced at 150000kms and now with 209000kms is gone again. Called Acura customer service and they said that they will call back as its out of warranty on the 3.2TLS, but they better replace it as they put in a re-manufactured tranny in this car. In the last 3 years on these 2 cars I have had including the original 6 transmissions. There is a real problem here and I will make sure acura does something about it.

Bought a Rebuilt Salvage Title 2002 TL with 60,000, and the second I get it, the tranny slips and revs... Florida Dealer had replaced at 46,000, and is shipping me one this week. The local dealer here told me that my car with its title history would not be eligible for a new tranny... I felt lucky, but not happy with the prospects of another tranny. Someone had mentioned something about dealers using used tranny fluid and that is bad... it that true??

Thanks, Mike.

I'm an owner of a 2002 TLS and my car is at the dealership with the same transmission issue everyone's been talking about. I got the car used at an acura dealership in january of 06 with 38k miles. this is the first time that the tranny has slipped under my ownership. now the car has roughly 62k miles, but I'm assuming they'll be inserting the newer 06 transmission. should I feel safe with the newer tranny?

I think I would talk to the dealership extensively before assuming they are putting in the newer transmission. The cars were redesigned in 04 and I hope that means the transmission was redesigned. But does that mean they can be retrofitted into the older TLs? I don't know.

When my trans was replaced in Jan 06 the mechanic himself - the one with dirt under his nails, not the polo wearing guys who work in the air-conditioning - assured me this should solve the problem. But from reading the experiences of other folks on this board I'm not so sure. I guess the question I should have asked was "Would you let your wife and kids drive this car for the next 10 years?"

That being said I'm still planning on getting rid of this beloved car next year when the powertrain warranty runs out.

It appears the replacement transmissions being installed have the same defective components. Keep all records of repairs and attempted repairs.

10:24 I put financial losses way behind the safety of my wife and 2 young children. Sure it was a great driving vehicle... but I gladly took a third of what it cost new without hesitation. I could not wait and feel responsible for putting them in danger on the interstate as there is no guarantee it would not happen again and again. This was the worst financial loss however I ever had on a vehicle in 27 years of driving. I now drive new high end domestics.

Hello everyone.

Just picked up a 2002 TL 3.2 and have the same problem with the transmission. Brought it to a dealer and the guy took me out for a test run, where the tranny did not slip. I have driven it for about 400 miles, and there was not one time that the idle did not rev. Anyways, I took it to the dealer with 87,310 miles; they are replacing it for free. I am the second owner of this car; I sure hope this is the end of the transmission problems.

I should have checked for all the recalls and posts before purchasing this darn car!... good helpful tips and problems from every owner means a lot.

THANKS FOR THE INFO>>>

I was pleased to stumble onto this site, as I have a 2000 Acura TL with 180,000 miles on the odometer. This is my wife's car, which we bought after owning four Honda products beginning in the late 80's. We tend to keep cars about ten years, and we have put well over 200,000 miles on a couple of Accords with no problems. This Acura has been just like the Hondas except for the transmission. Unfortunately (fortunately?), ours began missing the 2nd to 3rd shift and jerking during acceleration somewhat after the 100,000 mile mark. It had been serviced for another transmission issue under a recall prior to 100,000 miles. Took it for the shift problems and the technician said the transmission had to be replaced, with no acknowledgement that this was very un-Honda reliability.

I'm not able to spend $4000 to have the transmission replaced and sure can't afford a new car right now. I'm certain Honda/Acura realizes the size of this problem. The same basic transmission is on Odysseys, MDX's, Pilots, Ridgelines, and V-6 Accords. I've seen some posts here where people had the transmissions replaced even out of warranty for a reduced cost. Our dealership doesn't even admit there's a problem, so I don't think they'll offer any help in that regard. Are there any specific dealerships or regional offices that might be more sympathetic to our problem? Also, it sounds like some transmissions have been replaced three or four times. What type of guarantee would we have that a replacement would be reliable?

I know 200,000 miles sounds unreal to some folks, but I don't understand why Honda's "up-level" product should turn out to be less reliable than the average Civic. We paid over $28,000 for what we thought would be a superior product.

I have a 2000 TL with 165,000 miles on it. The transmission was replaced at 110,000 because of the recall. A few weeks ago, we noticed transmission fluid leaking on the garage floor. I took it to the Acura dealer we bought it from and he said the transmission needed to be replaced and it would cost about $4,000. He referred me to a local independent transmission re-builder. After reading the comments on this board, and a conversation with a local independent Acura specialist, I called Acura Customer Care. They were very polite, and said they would call me back about it. A half hour later, they called back and agreed to replace the transmission at no charge. The Acura dealer got the transmission in, and within 3 days, I had the car back.

So the message here is--keep trying--they will fix them even if they have high mileage. The rebuilt tranny is warrantied for 12 months/12,000 miles. The only complaint I have is that my local dealer didn't tell me to call Customer Care.

My wife is off delivering my daughter to college in the car--a 1600 mile round trip. We plan to keep the car another 100,000 miles, so I hope they have fixed the problems for good.