| jkight |
My wife was taking my son to soccer practice and she gave me a call that there was something to matter with her 2001 MDX. It would hesitate when taking off from a stop light and it did not shift normally. Well to make a long story short she was stranded with 4 kids in the truck. So it got towed to Pohanka Acura.
Service rep gave me a call and said that it would drive fine for him but bucked from 2nd to 3rd and it may be the ERG valve. I told him he was nuts if he expected me to believe that. So he had it driven a few miles with the "recorder on". He called me back about and said that it was major transmission failure. He said that it would run about $4800 for the replacement, $300 for one of the engine mounts were broken ~$300 and it was time for the scheduled oil change.....but since I was such a valuable customer he was going to bat for me with Acura to see if they will pay for the transmission and I would have to pick up the labor ~$1200.
I told him that I have owned 8 cars in my life that and I had never had to change a transmission in any of them and most had around 10yrs/>100K on each. I also told him that I was aware of the ongoing problem that Acura was having with the CL/TL/MDX and it must be getting bad when Wikipedia definition for MDX included a comment on the transmission issues and that MDX owners were not covered under the 100K warranty given to CL/TL owners. I ask him to see what he could do because I did not feel like sinking $5K in a vehicle worth $15K. This was Friday now I am waiting for a call back to see what the Acura USA rep has to say.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle the situation with Acura??? I have read post that some owners have got full parts & labor coverage after the warranty has expired but most of the majority get to pay for labor. I know dealers & keep customers out of the loop to avoid negotations.
I was considering getting a new 07 MDX but after the way Acura is handling known issues to save some bucks Acura/Honda will lose me as a customer.
Noticed that Acura has added a power train warrenty to 5Y/70K on the 07MDX. |
|
|
| ROTORRAY |
...only are you experiencing the known tranny problem with your MDX, you are also experiencing the degree of cooperation (or lack thereof) you are getting from your dealer. They didn't even diagnose the problem without you insisting on further inspection. If that doesn't warn you about maybe waiting to see how things go with the '07 I don't know what will.
My recommendation is to keep up the fight on your MDX in getting the tranny replaced at Acura's expense. Once it's repaired keep it a while to see how the '07s are maturing. The '07 is advertised as having a new engine AND tranny and there's nothing like real world experience to test these things for reliability. There are also a lot of new SUVs/crossovers coming out later in '07 and in '08 which might meet your needs. You have nothing but time, and you might save a few bucks.
Just my .02. I have an '03 touring with 37K on it. I haven't experienced ANY problems with this car (other than dealer screwing up my engine on a warranty repair because the tech took an unauthorized shortcut). My fingers are always crossed, however.
Good luck!! and please keep us posted on your success, or lack thereof. |
|
|
| jkight |
ROTORAY, Thanks for the advice!
Well I heard from Pohanka Acura dealer customer service representative today. Acura has agreed to cover the transmission and labor. The representative said that since I had purchased the MDX from his dealership and had all the scheduled maintenance done there he went to bat for me. So I will have to pay for the motor mount but the transmission is on Acura.
Now there may be another MDX in my future but probably not until 2008. |
|
|
| ROTORRAY |
...because I think there was a TSB or something on faulty engine mounts and ACURA might also pick up that bill. someone was talking about engine mounts on this site a while back. If it's too much hassle for you to argue with Acura or the dealer then go ahead a pay for it but, realistically, an engine mount shouldn't be going out.
I think you're smart waiting to look at Acura again in '08. A lot of things can happen during that time. |
|
|
| drcoffee |
There was a TSB on the tranny. I understand that someone had a tranny failure at road speed and locked the wheels cause a serious accident with injuries. The tranny has a bad/faulty design with getting enough fluid pressure to 2nd gear. The gear burns up and fails. the patch was to install a new external fluid pump for those with no obvious wear to 2nd gear and complete replacement for those that do. I'm in the second group. My tranny was clunking when shifting into gear in the morning so Acura replaced it 100% on their dime. I'm very satisfied with Acura and how quick they addressed the problem.
Check out http://www.mycarstats.com/ for recalls and bulletins
:D |
|
|
| II Kings 9:20 |
This may be old news but I replace my tranny fluid once a year. I first learned of this on the Saab forum.
It is a $20 yearly service that is an easy DIY. Even though my 05 Ody has the "newer" tranny, I do the same for it. The first change for the MDX was per the manual, triple drain/fill and now I am on a rearly drain/fill schedule. I don't know if this will prevent tranny failure but it won't hurt and for $20 a year it is well worth trying it. |
|
|
| E-Hill |
Like many of you, we are experiencing a transmission failure with our 2001 Acura MDX. Problem is, this is the SECOND one that has failed.
The first one failed at 50,000 miles, and the dealer replaced it October 2003 under warranty. Prior to the recall that went out.
Now, the second one has failed at 115,000 miles total (65,000) on it. The dealer now says they wont cover it under warranty, and it'll cost $4,800 to replace. Hard to sink $5,000 into a car that's worth $15,000 when running.
The Dealer we bought the car from is RON TONKIN. I see they advertise here. We'll see if they stand behind what they sell. We have been dealing with this for nearly a week now.
Also, it started off, this trany go around, that we were told we "have a cracked axle". That was replaced. I wonder if that could be related to either of the transmission failures? |
|
|
| mwdelta |
| They replaced both my front axles along with my transmission. Of course that was due to the tranny's failure at 70MPH. |
|
|
| eurohazard |
quote:
Originally posted by E-Hill
Like many of you, we are experiencing a transmission failure with our 2001 Acura MDX. Problem is, this is the SECOND one that has failed.
The first one failed at 50,000 miles, and the dealer replaced it October 2003 under warranty. Prior to the recall that went out.
Now, the second one has failed at 115,000 miles total (65,000) on it. The dealer now says they wont cover it under warranty, and it'll cost $4,800 to replace. Hard to sink $5,000 into a car that's worth $15,000 when running.
The Dealer we bought the car from is RON TONKIN. I see they advertise here. We'll see if they stand behind what they sell. We have been dealing with this for nearly a week now.
Also, it started off, this trany go around, that we were told we "have a cracked axle". That was replaced. I wonder if that could be related to either of the transmission failures?
How long is the warranty on the new transmission? It's not 100k miles? |
|
|
| E-Hill |
Apparently, the warranty was still only for 100,000. Even though at 50,000 we had the 2nd transmission put in.
Afer a lot of heartache and struggle, supposedly Acura says they will cover the transmission, but we will have to pay $1,400 +/- for labor.
Doesn't seem like much else we can do. |
|
|
|
