| gerrypez |
My 2002 MDX had transmission failure today. 94K miles. I was driving down the highway when the transmission surged into a lower gear. After crawling a few miles in low gear, I was able to pull off the highway, and my car no longer rides in high gear, nor does reverse work.
I towed it to my house, and am researching what to do about it. The dealer is quoting $4800.
I have read many posts here about 01-02 model transmission failures. Add me to the long list.
Does anyone have any recent advice for me on how to try to get a price break from the dealer?
PS: I'll report my progress on this thread. |
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| ROTORRAY |
| You will find a lot on this subject. Be "nice" when talking to the dealer. One member just was told his part of the replacement would be $1700. I told him to try to get the 3/36 warranty. Rather than repeat myself the search is your best friend. Be advised, however, that Honda/Acura has been quite arbitrary on warranty consideration for their POS tranny. My son, with his Accord at 104K miles, had to pay $2500.00, and they wouldn't budge on any more, but he did get the 3/36 warranty. Good luck and please keep us posted. |
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| ROTORRAY |
| Check the forum titled "2001-2006 MDX" for post by geg84doa. He talks about his tranny and you can read my comments. Again, good luck!! |
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| gerrypez |
| I called Acura Client Services (800-382-2238) and got a case number. On Monday it will be towed ($300) to the dealer for diagnostic tests ($180), and then I'll see... |
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| midnightMDX |
| Hopefully you can get a break on price. This is a common issue. |
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| ROTORRAY |
Your insurance MIGHT pick up the tow but try to get Acura to do it included in the tranny replacement. The diagnostic fee should also be rolled into the replacement costs if you have them do it. If you don't have them do it they might try to make you pay for it. Hopefully by Wednesday, and I hope it doesn't take that long, this will all be worked out for you. In the meantime have a stiff drink and relax. My recommendation is to take their $1700 offer and get a 3/36 warranty. If you do that you dun gud, and it's better than some others have had to deal with, believe me. Next question: Would you buy an Acura, their "luxury brand", again????? My dealer messed up my engine doing a water pump warranty replacement then jerked me around. I used them for warranty work but that was all. Even at that they broke something almost every time I brought it in. My son uses an independent Honda guy and is very happy with him. I will use him from now on as he seems competent, at least more competent than the dealer. I do all my fluid changes and haven't had too much else to deal with. I bought the shop manual when I bought the MDX and it has helped me a great deal with the routine stuff. I'm no mechanic, by any means, but you can "inspect" as well as the dealer or mechanic can. Do your inspections when you're under the thing changing the oil, etc. You'll save a BUNCH of money and become "one" with your car.
Good luck to ya! |
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| gerrypez |
| An update - my car is at the dealer now. I brought in the paperwork explaining the earlier transmission recall (oil cooler thing) and made a point of previous work I had done there. Anyway, they are going to discount it, which is nice. |
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| BlackMDXRider |
| Didn't Acura offered 100k miles extended warranty on their Trasmission? At least my CL-S got that. 01 and 02 MDX suffered as well from Tranny problems. It should be replaced for FREE! |
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| gerrypez |
| While the TL and CL got the 100K extended transmission warranty, the MDX, for some reason, did not. |
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| ROTORRAY |
| the MDX tranny was a piece of CRAP and to service it like the others would have cost them MILLIONS of $$$$$$$$$. So much for the "luxury line." If you haven't suffered this problem thank your lucky stars. If you have, I'm sorry, but you know what I'm talking about. Honda's consideration is arbitrary, to say the least. I could go on and on but just hope and pray your never have to deal with them on this level. They'll love to sell you the car and speak of its praises but after you leave the showroom you're on your own, believe me! There's enough history on this subject to justify my comments so I'll leave it at that. |
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| g.rossbach |
Me too. $6000. No help - everyone's ducking because it's out of warranty. I've had this vehicle since Sep 06 - bought used/85K/transmission recall TSB accomplished. All dealer recommended service has been done.
Recently there had been an occasional rumble/vibration upshifting from 2d-3rd 25-35mph which increased in frequency recently (cold, under load). I had the tranny flushed - the fluid was discolored grey. Within two weeks it failed exactly per the recall bulletin with hard/missed/no shifts and revving into neutral. The dealer service mgr. told me to manually shift and baby it and bring it in, but it failed completly on the interstate - 3rd gear max, very hard up/down shifts 3d-2d-1st and reverse was gone. Check engine light.
Transported it 45 miles to the dealer (thank you AAA!). Verdict: it failed completely. Replacment: $6000 for a warrantied Acura rebuilt tranny. After two weeks it has yet to arrive from the rebuild facility in CA. I have a nice TL loaner, but there's apparently going to be NO help on the cost. I'm more than a little miffed - it's been a great vehicle, but for a major component to fail so spectacularly at such a low mileage and for Acura to consider themselves absolved of all responsibility is an incredible breach. Maybe I should have bought a Jimmy or Ford - this sounds a lot more like my previous experience with those:3::3: :3: |
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| Markedoc |
$6,000 for a rebuilt transmission??
YIKES!
How many miles on the vehicle when it failed? Did you buy it from that dealer? |
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| ROTORRAY |
| Don't feel too bad, Markedoc. They're not giving too much help to original owners either. But you have to ask yourself what do you REALLY expect. You bought a used car with 85K miles, which is out of warranty, and the tranny subsequently goes out. In all honesty, did you REALLY expect them to cover that? I don't really know of any manufacturer who would. I have heard of some owners of used vehicles who were given some consideration but they are few and far between. I do think that you could get a better price. I've read that the tranny change is $4500 but maybe that doesn't include labor. You can always appeal your case to them but don't hold your breath. They have you by the wallet. Question is would you buy another Honda product given your experience with them, and your knowledge of how they have treated others? I'm sure you bought the car because of Honda's reputation for "reliability". Has this changed your mind? Personallly, I think a major component such as a tranny should last longer than 100K miles and should be covered by the manufacturer for more than that if maintained as the manufacturer requires. JMHO. |
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| ROTORRAY |
| My last reply should have been address to g.rossbach. Sorry for any confusion. Markedoc is doing well! |
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| Markedoc |
LOL - doing well so far - 20k miles on transmission number 2 ... knocking on wood! Still researching viable replacements.
I think if my dealer said $6k though, I'd be looking at quotes from an independent shop. |
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| ted45054 |
| I'm the original owner of a 2002 MDX which is on its 3rd transmission and it is starting to fail--with the all-to-familiar symptoms getting worse each day. To their credit, Acura has replaced the transmission twice at no charge; the car had over 100,000 mi at thel ast replacement. Today, they (Acura) said to take it to the dealer for diagnosis and then call them and they would see what they can do. So I will--at 158,000 mi I've got nothing to loose. Problem is I also have a battery drain which appears to be related to the AC (I hear the AC clutch when the engine is off and I can cure the drain by pulling the relay). Between these two problems, it may not be worth fixing, even though otherwise it is still a great vehicle (especially in snow). |
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| ROTORRAY |
| What was the time/mileage warranty given to you with the last tranny replacement? If you are beyond that, ANYTHING you get will be purely a gift to you on their part. They replaced it and warranteed it. They're done, unless you're within the warranty period or they extend more good will. This is an interesting case so please keep us all posted on what happens. I don't see them replacing out of warranty trannies forever for free on your car, however. What compensation did they give you for the previous trannies? |
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