2002 Acura TL 3.2 TLS from North America - Comments

Funny how everyone jumps to the conclusion that they will buy a Toyota when just as many Toyota people say they will go for Honda. Many people are just way over themselves. I want to add that the Civic has done nothing to you because of an Acura transmission problem and it seems that you believe the Honda Civic or Accord is not reliable. I will have you know that Honda still builds excellent vehicles and Toyota for that matter, but your comment about moving to Toyota made it seem you were over your head.

Check out the late model Accord V6 transmission issues and get back to us...

I have a late model Accord and have no troubles at all. I am going to have 150,000 miles soon. If everyone just followed maintenance closely they would not have so many troubles. As for the 3.2 TL, I do not know if it is the same case, but for the 3.0 Accord engine I believe it is how you maintain you vehicle. People do the most stupid things with their cars and then they wonder why they are broken!!! I do not tow anything with my Accord and I do not race everyone at stoplights like I have seen other people in their Accords do. Could racing everyone at every intersection be the failure of the transmission on the Accord? Possibly, but I think the real problem of the Accord transmission lies in how you treat it.

Racing isn't the problem (it can accelerate the issue sure if you use the sports shift) and are there any Accords with trailer hitches? I have had a # of Accords, a Civic, an Integra, a Legend (the best) and a TL all purchased new. The older generation were the best... I didn't do my homework on the new TL. Back in that time I bought clutches not having multiple trans replaced. My son tore the clutches out learning to drive on my new Integra, but still the trans did not fail. I had a new 92 Accord stolen recovered and fixed and even its trans was still good afterwards. I couldn't believe it wasn't totalled but the insurance company had it fixed. I am willing to admit when issues are faults that I created but not when its factory related. It seem that even if you baby the 3.2 VTEC the trans. failed again anyway...I may buy Honda again, but not until I am absolutely certain they resolved the transmission problems. I refuse to stick my head in the sand and praise past laurels. I really liked Honda but they dropped the ball.........

Not sure what you mean by being “over my head”? I own a Cadillac, Honda, Ford, Porsche and an Acura. What’s most concerning is that the engineers at Honda can’t seem to, or aren’t willing to, come up with a proper solution for one of their higher end performance vehicles. This should concern anyone considering the brand. I’ve owned 2 Toyotas without any drama. I had complete confidence in Honda products. That confidence is shaken when an Acura service mgr suggest I don’t go too far from home in one of their cars with 50,000 miles on it.

Sticking your head in the sand means you are not forgiving. Being over your head is something you cannot afford. I refuse to bury a problem just because it was once fine. It's a real problem...

02-Jan -07 - I just called Honda of America advising them that I just got my 2001 Acura CL-Type S back from the Acura dealer for the 3rd transmission problem at 99,000 miles and the Honda of America person that I contacted asked me if I was a certified mechanic? I was shocked and I proceeded to ask her what that had to do with my problem and she said if I was not a certified mechanic then how would I know if I had a transmission problem. I commented, "Are you kidding me - how about saying that you are sorry that I continue to experience problems with my Honda vehicle?" How arrogant is that response? I told Acura customer service person (if you call that customer service) if that was going to be their attitude I would write a letter expressing my concerns.

I know they are replacing these as many times as necessary up until 109,000 miles, but when are they going to really fix them instead of simply putting a band-aide on the transmission problem?

An easy, but expensive way for Honda to fix the problem is the modify the Engine and transmission from the next gen TL and put it into the Acura TL's of yesteryear. Seems costly, but it would end the problem for good. There cannot be more than 200,000 of these TL's on the road? I do not know how many really, but not a million for sure?

Until the newest vehicles have a lot of time and mileage on them it cannot be said its the solution. I believe that those affected such as myself should be reimbursed. The fixes are band aides and dangerous... as they can fail at any moment.

Hello all.

Unfortunately, it pains me to complain about Acura, but my experience tonight has left a bad taste in my mouth. I have a 2003 TL-S with NAV, with only 24K miles.

On my way home after leaving a stop light, the car did not change into 2nd gear, but just rev, I was able to get it to the side and drove at 20 mph to home.

I still love honda/acura and my wife drives a 2001 MDX, that has been flawless, but I am not sure that giving up my 92' Accord with 326,000 miles was such a good idea after all.

I have waited for this car (03 Acura TL-S) for 2 yrs, now it's sitting in my garage with a blown transmission, I am close to tears.

My honda has never stranded in 9 years, I have had the Acuta TL-S for 4 months, tonight was not a good time for me to be an Acura fan.

I started feeling reluctant gear shifting in my car about a month ago. Last week, my brother was in my car with me when it happened and he told me that it was the transmission and that it seemed like the gear was slipping. I took it into the dealer on Jan 2nd, got a nice loaner while they diagnose and fix my problem. I received a call from them the next day to confirm that it was the transmission. I had 128,XXX miles on my 2000 TL, but they said they got the district manager's approval to replace my transmission free of charge. I was so relieved to hear this w/o having to argue my case at all. Everything was handled for me w/o any hassles and it makes me want to continue my relationship with Acura after my great experience with their service. I haven't gotten my car back yet, but so far I'm very pleased with how my car problems have been handled by them. I wish all of you could have had the same experience I had. (Of course, let's hope that my new transmission doesn't die again before I'm done driving it!)

RS

Chicago, IL.