2002 Acura TL 3.2 TLS from North America - Comments

I bought my 2001 TL new.

Transmission failed in '03 at 50,000 miles. Had the second gear recall done in '05 and the fluid changed at about 70,000. I am about to exceed the 7.75 year extended extended limit.

The fluid is starting to smell burned, so I believe that it will fail again soon, probably after the warranty runs out. I'll have the fluid changed again although it only has 20K since the last time.

I am confused by what I see in these postings... what is happening to people with 01's who get a failure after the time runs out? I want to keep the car but I can't afford $6K.

Well...I had a new transmission put in my 2001 Acura TL at 33k miles and now at 122K miles it went out completely... totally out of the blue. In working with the dealership it appears as if they are not going to work with me at all... despite all of the issues with the transmissions during this time frame. I love my Acura but am a tid bit unhappy with having to spend $4,500 on a new transmission that has less than 100k miles on it...ugh!!!

Really glad I found this web site. I had been looking at getting a Lexus SC 300/400 but liked the Acura 3.2TL as reviews/appearance and prices for used ones seemed very attractive. Will now return to looking at the Lexus SC/LS as their reputation is unblemished. More money, but cheaper and more reliable in the long run.

I bought an '03' TLS 3 months ago at 88k miles. The transmission went out 2 months later at 90k miles. I am still in negotiations with Acura as to who is going to pay for this and I will try to keep you updated but the moral of my story is never buy an Acura. They do not stand behind their product. The dealership basically laughed in my face when I asked them to fix it for free. From my understanding my VIN # is out of the range that they will fix. They claim they fixed the problem with my car before it became a problem. That's funny since I supposedly had the problem fixed "before it became a problem" and I have the exact same story as the rest, the transmission started slipping between 2nd and 3rd. I am not rich and cannot afford a $4500 transmission and cannot afford to trade it in either. I really have no idea what I am going to do. Please don't buy and acura... not as revenge for me... but so you don't end up in my situation.

I have bought an Acura TL Type S 2002.

The transmission went out in July 2006 at 102 000 KM. Acura (in Canada) replaced it for free on the guarantee. They told me that the guarantee is extended up to 175 000 KM or 93 months.

Last Saturday, my transmission went out for the second time at 160 000 KM. When I have called Acura, they told me that the transmission they installed in 2006 was the old model, and they changed it since that time. So, I just got a call from them and they will change it again on the guarantee... hope it's the last time :)

I had a 2003 TL-S. My TL-S was covered under warranty. Had 8 transmission replacements (9 trannies total). I finally traded it at 95K miles in for a 2009 Pontiac G8 GT last month just prior to the TL-S coming off warranty. My Acura dealership never asked questions about the tranny. When the tranny went out, they replaced it and gave me a loaner during the week they held the car. This happened on average about once every 10 months. My advice, if you have a 2001 to 2004 TL, trade it in for another make just before its warranty is up. Do so now before the word gets out more that it is. (I couldn't sell my car myself, was lucky to get a decent price from the GM dealer.)

I bought a '99 TL in Oct '01, with 19K miles on it. Great car for a while, a long while. I was good with maintenance, at first at the dealership and then I found a guy with a private practice (garage). At around 99K miles (May '08), the tranny went. I had all recalls taken care of but it seems (and reading this board will show), Acura can't get their head out of their A$$ when it comes to this problem.

I checked the Honda settlement website and my VIN number was covered thank g-d. I called Acura customer care (I highly recommend this approach, dealerships have profit levels to worry about and don't want to deal with this, but they will take care of any work that "corporate" tells them to do because they'll get paid) and gave them all details, and even though I was over on time (not miles) they decided to cover my new tranny with goodwill. I had heard (even from this board) that the new tranny's they were installing as replacements were failing, but I couldn't believe it would happen to me, after all, it's 2008 already!

The dealer said when I went to pick up my "fixed" car that unfortunately because it's goodwill, there is no warranty. I asked what happens if my tranny goes out again, and he shrugged. (Acura is in a bind here, they don't know what to do!) Well, not long after my new tranny (about 5 or 6K miles), my tranny is slipping again. It's not bad yet, isn't always noticeable as I don't drive often. I'm not sure what to do. I think maybe if I call corporate and tell them that 5K miles for a new tranny is kinda ridiculous, they'll agree and provide yet another new one, maybe one that lasts more than a bicycle chain.

I am going to sell this car either way, either with or without a new tranny. Acura makes quality cars and I'm sure their new ones are fantastic (although we won't know until some more years pass), but this TL episode has been badly handled and with me even being a 2 time Acura owner, I must say, they lost my business for life, as the'yre not standing up for their product. Time for a Lexus...

I have a 2001 3.2TL. I bought it 11/1/04 at ~49500 and I currently have ~155000+. At around 79000 miles I had my transmission replaced under the recall. I have been having a few issues with the transmission and have been complaining to my dealer about it. Other than this transmission problem (s), I have only had to deal with wear and tear items, no other defects really (if any, very minor problems fixed for free).

Let me take a step back real quick, when I got my transmission replaced at 79K miles, there was a misunderstanding that the replaced transmission is only good for the rest of the warranty on the car, it does not get an additional 100k miles.

Now with that being said, I had a few words with Acura about this, and I said it was complete BS and that they will end up losing more money in the long run as a young guy like myself (only 24) will end up buying another 4-5 cars minimum in his lifetime, and this will definitely affect my decision about buying another Honda/Acura car (although I do love how my TL drives).

Now to get to the point, my 2nd transmission does not even have 80K and the dealership (very good to me and very reliable) has informed me that the transmission needs to be fixed/replaced (3,700 USD). Because of some of the slamming gear shifting, as well as the mistiming of shifting, I have been driving in the auto-stick (which has helped quite a bit to keep the transmission under control).

Check out the recalls on these Honda transmissions, they are notorious for their recalls. And just because the transmission has been replaced, does not mean you will not have any more problems, just look at my case. It is unfortunate that a great built car has such a garbage transmission.

I bought an Acura CL-S 3.2 in 2001. I immediately moved from Canada to New Mexico so my car never experienced "cold" weather and was always garaged. My tranny went out at 140K, got it replaced in NM. I just moved back to Calgary Alberta and made the drive from NM. Now at 163K, the tranny died again!! My co-worker told me Acura extended the warranty until the end of 2008, but only certain models? The car will be 7 years old Feb 2009. Does anyone know differently and will Acura cover a second transmission? It may not be worth the added 6K to replace another transmission. Please advise ASAP since it's in the shop: bikermaggienm@msn.com

Thanks,

Maggie Fehr.

I bought a 2001 TL with 55,000 miles on it back in 2004. Transmission went out at 93,000 miles. I am at 192,000 miles and the transmission is going out again. I don't think it is asking to much for a HONDA built car to run more than 100,000 miles without the transmission dying. I know this is two transmissions in less than four years. This is ridiculous. Everything else on the car is marvelous. I always thought I would never buy another car other than an Acura but not if I have to factor in the cost of transmissions every four years.

I have a 2003 TLS (no Navi) with 96,500 miles and it seems the tranny is gone. It's at the dealer as we speak getting diagnosed. I basically was coming back from work and the check engine/VSA/Exclamation lights came on and now the car gears doesn't shift properly (it actually stalled on me while I was going to the dealer in the middle of the road). I took it autozone and the check engine code was P0740 (Transmission control solenoid). I took it to the dealer and I know there is a recall for the tranny out there, but he told me the recall was already done on the car and is not covered.

I called acura client service and they told me the same thing - no extended warranty. I can't afford to shell out $3-4 k for a transmission, but from various threads on this post, I hear acura extended their warranty to 7 yr/100k for TL's with tranny problems. Is there any official documentation that says that so I can show it to my dealership??? Please help!

Check www.hondatransmissionsettlement.com and have you VIN ready to enter. It will tell you if your car was covered under this settlement or not.

I bought a 2003 TL S-Type brand new. In summer 2007 the transmission failed with only 23,000 miles on the car. Amazing. The dealer installed a remanufactured transmission - covered by Acura (even though I was out of warranty they were embarrassed to have a failure at 23,000 miles).

Well the new transmission never worked quite right - I took it back to the dealer twice and they said it was fine. They commented it was programmed differently to avoid future problems.

Well about 14 months after the replacement (3,000 miles) I noticed some wetness under the car - I take it to the dealer and they state there is leakage from the axle seals. I told them that was crazy since it is a new transmission - they claimed that the seals aren't new on a remanufactured transmission! That is BS -- it was a result of improper installation and damaging the seals while installing the axles. Anyway, they wanted to charge me $350 to fix their own sloppy work. I decided to just add fluid -- well after adding quite a bit I realized the dealer never put in sufficient fluid after the replacement --- now that the transmission is fully lubricated it works as good as new.

I just got the tranny replaced on my 2002 Acura TL Type-S today 12/30/08 at an independent mechanic (2nd). Got 1 year, or 12,000 mile warranty. Can anyone tell me if the new trannys are any good. Should I sell my car?

I don't think anyone can tell you to sell your car or not. It should be based on your financial and security situation. If you don't feel secure in that car and you are worried it will fail you at a bad time then trade it in. If you aren't worried so much about security then look at your finances and determine if you'd be OK trading it in or if it would create a financial hardship.

Personally I don't drive much, it's 90% local, and I'm willing to continue driving my car. I can also afford to pay for another transmission if mine fails or buy a new car if I desire. So I'm willing to take the risk and continue to drive my "paid for" Acura. But if I had kids or drove out of town a lot I'd be in a different car right away.

It's really up to you. I don't think anyone can accurately predict if a replaced transmission will fail. I've had my replaced trans in for nearly 30k miles now (3 years) - no problems - but I'm not confident it will last another 30k. I've read all the reviews and some people never have any more problems and some do - there is just no way to tell for sure.