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Entry Level Luxury Performance Sedans

16087 messages,  Last post on May 09, 2013 at 9:32 AM

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What is this discussion about? BMW 3 Series, Infiniti G37, Acura TL, Lexus IS 350, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Cadillac CTS, Volvo S60, Audi A4, Acura TSX, Car Comparisons, Sedan

Messages Page 1140 of 1609

#11387 of 16087 Re: Check CR Reliability History Charts [2233] by xeye

Aug 23, 2010 (7:52 am)

Replying to: 2233 (Aug 23, 2010 6:43 am)
"Acura's customer service and care are terrible at the national level also. "
 
I went to test drive a TL-Type S in January 2007 in Framingham, MA. The roads were clear and dry during a spell of unusually warm weather in the 70's.
 
The torque steer was surprisingly difficult to handle to the point where I dismissed the car as an undisciplined and poorly designed automobile. Nicely appointed, but dangerous to drive aggressively.
 
What really turned me off, though, was the attitude of the salesman who took me for the drive. Upon returning to the showroom, I wanted to know more about the vehicle and asked for the detailed brochure as I like to devour the technical details and be able to imagine myself behind the wheel. The salesman told me they didn't have any brochures, that I wasn't ready to buy and to come back when I was ready. He was arrogant and rude. He then promptly walked away leaving me thoroughly unattended.
 
That turned me off Acuras so completely that I wouldn't even consider another dealership. Too bad as this one was less than 1 mile from my home.
 
I then went to a local BMW dealership that I had avoided as I didn't think I could afford a BMW. I did a test drive of the 335xi. I was so impressed by the car, but more importantly, the manner of the salesman and the time he took to chat with me over the next 7 months when I would drop by that we are now on our 3rd BMW from the same dealership. ('07 335xi traded for an '11 335i xDrive, and my wife's '08 328xi).
 
Acura? No thanks.

#11388 of 16087 Re: Check CR Reliability History Charts [smarty666] by tlong

Aug 23, 2010 (8:08 am)

Replying to: smarty666 (Aug 23, 2010 4:47 am)
Get your facts straight before you go bad mouthing an entire brand. To anyone else, if you get an Acura model 2006+, you'll have little to no worry about transmission issues. Very very reliable vehicles.
 
I just turned 100K miles on my '05 TL and the only repair other than routine stuff was a recall for a temperature sensor. No other problems.

#11389 of 16087 Re: Check CR Reliability History Charts [smarty666] by 2233

Aug 23, 2010 (8:10 am)

Replying to: smarty666 (Aug 23, 2010 7:46 am)
Trust me, I've had much better customer service with Infiniti. I guess it comes down to the individual dealership so this can vary from city to city.
 
All I know is that we had 3 Acuras and all 3 had the transmissions go out. That's my experience.
 
Around 2003, my brother and I went shopping for an MDX for him. We asked about the reported transmission problems in the TLs from 2000 and 2001. The salesman was adamant that the problem only existed in the early 1999 and 2000 transmission in the TL. He indicated that there were no problems in the later TLs and never in the MDX.
 
Guess what? My brothers MDX's transmission went out last year. Now we see 2006 transmission problems with the TL.
 
Keep us posted in a couple of years on your TL or an MDX if you own one. It takes 4 years for this problem to manifest itself and become public. I am in contact with the NHTSA re any deaths or injuries from the TL trans failures.
 
Hopefully you will be lucky.
 
My family is batting 1000 with 3 for 3 transmission failures.

#11390 of 16087 Re: Check CR Reliability History Charts [2233] by smarty666

Aug 23, 2010 (10:14 am)

Replying to: 2233 (Aug 23, 2010 8:10 am)
Interesting how how you and I have had the complete opposite experience with customer service when it has come to Infiniti and Acura respectively.
 
The world is a strange place!

#11391 of 16087 Re: Check CR Reliability History Charts [tlong] by ivan_99

Aug 23, 2010 (10:32 am)

Replying to: tlong (Aug 23, 2010 8:08 am)
Is that transmission a manual or auto?
 
I thought all the tranny failures for Honda/Acura were related to the Auto.
 
Pre 2006 I knew of 4 people with an Odyssey /Pilot and they all had the trannies replaced (a close friend was on his 3rd). They were all replaced with rebuilt versions...they presumably still had the design defect.
 
I assumed that the new versions were re-designed and 'good' now...who knows, maybe their failure rate was the same as others and the owners are just more vocal.
 
I maybe wrong in my assumptions...but I'd be pretty PO'd if any transmission went out...at anytime throughout the life of the vehicle; of course with the caveat that you're not at the drag strip or towing 10k lbs everyday...

#11392 of 16087 Re: Check CR Reliability History Charts [ivan_99] by 2233

Aug 23, 2010 (11:32 am)

Replying to: ivan_99 (Aug 23, 2010 10:32 am)
Our 3 transmissions that failed were automatic. I don't know about the 2006s though.
 
I agree with the poster who said that all brands have their problems, quirks and nuances. How the manufacturer resolves these problems is what is crucial.
 
I complained for 5 years about the transmission in my TL, Acura only performed a jet kit quick service of some sort. That's it. Complained constantly about the other 2 also that went out. Acura refused to replace these unless they went out during the warranty period.
 
My daughter drove the TL and constantly called me worrying that she would not make it to her destination and would break down on an expressway. This eventually happened.
 
Acura could have replaced this transmission with a rebuilt one and that would have satisfied me but they chose not to do so,
 
An Acura rep in California named Ingrid took 11 days to tell me they would pay for 10% of the repair after the TL trans went out. That was insulting and waiting 11 days was inconsiderate at best.
 
My 2004 Infiniti G35 had a well known problem with the brake pads wearing out prematurely. However, they were proactive. After I had 35,000 miles on the vehicle they contacted me and put 4 new pads and new front rotors on the car at their expense. They even gave me a free loaner and an oil change.
 
At 68,000 miles I took the G35 into Infiniti of Ann Arbor and reported that rear rotors may need turning. I mentioned the pads and rear rotor replacement from 3 years earlier. They called Infiniti and gave me 4 new pads, turned the front rotors and replaced the rears at no cost. Incredible.
 
Last month, we took my wife's 2007 G35 to this dealership with 40k miles on it for a front rotor turning. The service advisor said they just received a TSB indicating that a problem with the front splash guards may have caused warping of the front rotors. They replaced the front splash guards and turned the front rotors at no cost.
 
This is truly great service. This is what we experienced with Infiniti.
 
Disregarding constant complaints and arrogance is what we got from Acura, in addition to 3 blown transmission between my brother and us.
 
None of us ever towed a thing nor did we abuse the Acuras in any way.
 
Acura is not proactive and Infinti was for us.
 
Acura should learn from the lessons re the Camry and Lexus models. They ignored and covered up the problem and look how it affected them.
 
By the way, I purchased a new Nissan Altima for my daughter on Friday.

#11393 of 16087 Re: Check CR Reliability History Charts [ivan_99] by 2233

Aug 23, 2010 (11:32 am)

Replying to: ivan_99 (Aug 23, 2010 10:32 am)
Our 3 transmissions that failed were automatic. I don't know about the 2006s though.
 
I agree with the poster who said that all brands have their problems, quirks and nuances. How the manufacturer resolves these problems is what is crucial.
 
I complained for 5 years about the transmission in my TL, Acura only performed a jet kit quick service of some sort. That's it. Complained constantly about the other 2 also that went out. Acura refused to replace these unless they went out during the warranty period.
 
My daughter drove the TL and constantly called me worrying that she would not make it to her destination and would break down on an expressway. This eventually happened.
 
Acura could have replaced this transmission with a rebuilt one and that would have satisfied me but they chose not to do so,
 
An Acura rep in California named Ingrid took 11 days to tell me they would pay for 10% of the repair after the TL trans went out. That was insulting and waiting 11 days was inconsiderate at best.
 
My 2004 Infiniti G35 had a well known problem with the brake pads wearing out prematurely. However, they were proactive. After I had 35,000 miles on the vehicle they contacted me and put 4 new pads and new front rotors on the car at their expense. They even gave me a free loaner and an oil change.
 
At 68,000 miles I took the G35 into Infiniti of Ann Arbor and reported that rear rotors may need turning. I mentioned the pads and rear rotor replacement from 3 years earlier. They called Infiniti and gave me 4 new pads, turned the front rotors and replaced the rears at no cost. Incredible.
 
Last month, we took my wife's 2007 G35 to this dealership with 40k miles on it for a front rotor turning. The service advisor said they just received a TSB indicating that a problem with the front splash guards may have caused warping of the front rotors. They replaced the front splash guards and turned the front rotors at no cost.
 
This is truly great service. This is what we experienced with Infiniti.
 
Disregarding constant complaints and arrogance is what we got from Acura, in addition to 3 blown transmission between my brother and us.
 
None of us ever towed a thing nor did we abuse the Acuras in any way.
 
Acura is not proactive and Infinti was for us.
 
Acura should learn from the lessons re the Camry and Lexus models. They ignored and covered up the problem and look how it affected them.
 
By the way, I purchased a new Nissan Altima for my daughter on Friday.

#11394 of 16087 Nissan/Infiniti Poor CS by smarty666

Aug 23, 2010 (12:14 pm)

When I got my new Maxima last year, the auto up features on the front windows did not work at all. After two visits to the Nissan stealers and being told they worked fine and that it was MY FAULT they wouldn't go up in the way I was pushing the button, I called Nissan Consumer Affairs. I reported the problem to them, and without even asking me any details, they too tried to blame me and say I was not pushing the button correctly. They then went behind my back, called the stealer where I took the car and then called me back saying they talked to the stealer and they couldn't find anything wrong.
 
About a week went by and I did some of my own research online and found a TSB put out by Nissan for the auto-up feature not working on the Maxima and what needed to be done to correct it. Printed out the TSB and took it into the stealer on the third trip, gave them the paper and threatened to get the stealership owner involved if they did not address the issue.
 
Suffice it to say, third time was the charm on such a ridiculously non-complicated issue that both the Nissan stealer and Nissan Consumer Affairs could have addressed but do to their idiotic and poor customer service I was dismissed and blamed for my warranty problem.
 
Doesn't get any worse then that. Never have had Acura stealer blame me for a warranty or issue on my vehicles yet.
 
I've got 2 or 3 more issues I could describe but this specific one above is enough to illustrate my point.

#11395 of 16087 Re: Check CR Reliability History Charts [2233] by smarty666

Aug 23, 2010 (12:15 pm)

Replying to: 2233 (Aug 23, 2010 11:32 am)
You know why you didn't have any troubles with Infiniti in regards to your brake and rotor issues, b/c I went through the same thing with them on my 2005 FX35. Every 10k miles, I had to have my brakes replaced and rotors resurfaced b/c how poorly they were made/grinded together. When ever I applied the brakes, I had this terrible grinding/shimmy through the pedals and wheels, which always indicated to me I was nearing the 10k mile mark for another Infiniti stealer visit.
 
Luckily it was all covered under warranty which I never could understand b/c most automakers consider brake/rotor wear a normal wear and tear item which is not covered under warranty. Come to find out, there were multiple class action lawsuits against Infiniti for poor brake/rotor problems that people with early year G35 and FX35/45 vehicles had. Infiniti was not covering the brakes and rotor repairs even for people that had their brakes and rotors shot to hell after only 6-7k miles on them. Enough people sued and Infiniti was forced to settle and cover the brake and rotor repairs under warranty. It wasn't until Infiniti was forced to do the right thing that they actually stepped up and did it!
 
Thats the reason why all those issues you had were covered under warranty at no cost to you. Enough people had problems and sued to get that stuff covered. Shame is, Infiniti continued to put poor quality brake/rotors on their vehicles all the way up to 2008 models. I've only recently seen signs that the issues on their models have changed with a changed to better quality brake/rotors on their 2009+ models and the frequency and occurrence of brake/rotor issues has dropped dramatically since the change in parts in 2009!

#11396 of 16087 Re: Check CR Reliability History Charts [xeye] by puffin1

Aug 23, 2010 (12:16 pm)

Replying to: xeye (Aug 23, 2010 7:52 am)
I had the same problem At North Hampton Acura. The Manager was under the impression I was selling my RSX Type S and untill I sold it I was no where. He said to me I wasn't ready to deal. He was a turkey from MA. (arrogant)
                      I had $33000.00 in my checking account my wife was looking to buy a TSX. What a nut case, he got upset because I liked a RSX and wanted to try it out.It was a 2006 used. He thought I was poor and needed a loan.He asked me if I was upside down on a loan.
   I got peeved and went 8 miles down Route #1 and bought my wife a new Lexus.I did have to pay 5 % sales tax in ME and I think $1200.00 in excise tax also.
                       Prime Motors of Maine owns the place I guess they sold out in MA and bought half of the auto mile in Saco, ME I'd stay away from them.

Messages Page 1140 of 1609

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