Be glad you didn't buy the new TL...reason inside.

[G35_TX]

Honda Expands U.S. Auto Recall for Transmission Flaw (Update2)

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. is widening a recall of vehicles in the U.S. and Canada to 1.14 million units, among its largest, covering Accord and Acura cars that have the same transmission fault that triggered a light-truck recall this year.

Japan's third-largest automaker is voluntarily recalling 536,950 vehicles, with V-6 engines and 5-speed automatic transmissions, in addition to those already announced in April. The company is also recalling 79,531 units in Japan to fix faulty transmissions and fuel tanks, starting tomorrow.

The inspections and repairs will cost Honda about $63 million, in addition to the $153 million being spent on the light-truck portion of the recall, spokesman Andy Boyd said. In Japan, Honda is spending about $8.5 million on its recall.

Honda was runner-up to Toyota Motor Corp. in an annual reliability study of three-year-old cars and trucks by J.D. Power & Associates in the U.S. Honda, Toyota and Nissan Motor Co., which benefit from consumer perceptions that they build better vehicles, increased their U.S. market share to 24.1 percent last year from 22.2 percent, according to Autodata Corp.

Honda's North American recall includes 2003- and 2004-model Accords, 2000- through early 2004-model Acura TL sedans, and 2001- through 2003-model Acura CLs, Boyd said. In April, the company recalled 600,000 U.S. and Canadian Odyssey minivans, and Pilot and Acura MDX sport-utility vehicles with the same transmission.

Shares of Honda, which ranks fifth in U.S. sales, fell as much as 1.1 percent to 5,230 yen in Tokyo and were traded at 5,250 yen as of 2:52 p.m.

Japanese Recall

The Japanese recall covers 68,000 vehicles with gearbox defects, including Odyssey and Lagreat minivans. The Tokyo-based carmaker will also take back 11,531 Inspire sedans with faulty fuel pumps, spokesman Kazuhiro Suda said.

The problem results from insufficient lubrication of a transmission shaft that can overheat, potentially damaging gear teeth or causing the gears to break, Honda said in a statement.

The U.S. unit of Tokyo-based Honda has had only one reported incident of a transmission failing in the car models recalled and no reported accidents or injuries, Boyd said.

``We are acting out of an abundance of caution to ensure that this doesn't become an issue for our customers,'' Tom Elliot, Honda's U.S. executive vice president, said in a statement. Customers will be notified by letter starting mid-July.

In most cases, the gears will be inspected and the flow of transmission fluid will be modified, Honda said. If damage from insufficient lubrication is found, the transmission will be replaced, the company said. Recall repairs typically are paid for out of reserves set aside for that purpose.

The Accord is Honda's best-selling model, with annual sales in the U.S. and Canada exceeding 400,000.

2004 Infiniti G35S, 6MT, Premium, Sport, DP
Mods: JDM Clears, 20% tint, Z-tube, K&N Drop In
Track: 14.32 at 98.79 mph 2.2032 60ft
http://www.g35world.com

[1SICKLEX]

It's pretty bad. B/C my friends and people I know who thought they were getting a "value" with a TL or CL are upset and besides the one that works for Honda, won't be return buyers.

And THEY ARE NOT THE MEMBER OF ANY FORUM!! So I wonder how many people truly? Not to mention the people going through 2-6 trannies!

[iLLG35]

Damm that suck's, Gpower


Martin
2003.5 BS G35
Nismo Aero/Sport Package
Injen CAI
B+G Springs
ADR M-Classic 19's..

[chinee]

Bad trannies on their V6 w/5 speed have been a known and widely reported problem since 2002. Many previous Acura owners like myself have left the brand because of their laissez-faire handling, and sometimes downright denial that this is a problem. On the TL forum there have been several upon several reports of bad trannies, so for Honda to publicly state :"The U.S. unit of Tokyo-based Honda has had only one reported incident of a transmission failing in the car models recalled and no reported accidents or injuries,..." is an outright lie.

I was considering looking into a pre-owned TSX in the next few months, but once more Acura has shown me that it'll be in my best interest to look elsewhere.

How could a company with a steller reputation for quality steer themslves into a bag of lies and denials is beyond me. But what really gets me is that consumers by and large, look at me and the relatively few who complain as belly-achers, and prefer to believe Honda and their reputation. And the truth is that their reputation is still so strong, that this recall will do little to shake the faith of the masses.

In 2002 they extended the tranny warranty to 100K miles; now it's a recall. "We are acting out of an abundance of caution to ensure that this doesn't become an issue for our customers,'' An abundance of caution... yeah right... Honda's known about this issue for more than 2 years, and it took them this long to recall the cars. Trannies were locking up at 70mph on the highways... the only caution they considered was to their own pocketbook.

O..K... gotta stop now... talk about your repressed anger. I took a $5K hit to get out of the TL and into the G... guess I'm still PO'ed.


chinee
03.5 G35s

[deadmanincbh]

Well that got to hurt for Acura owners damn. They should give owners like 3k just to keep them happier.

[ColdFusion]

There arent that many new TL's that have tranny problems. Actually, very few have tranny problems. The TL is in its first year of production so there is bound to be some problems. The 98-03 TL's and CL's had alot of tranny problems though. At least acura if fixing them all under warranty.

[GeoBau]

The new TLs haven't been out long enough for a problem to become apparent, should it exist. If Honda says it's a problem, it's a problem- just give it time.

G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow G35
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint
Z-tube, Pop-charger, Borla True-Dual Exhaust, Eibach Pro Kit, GroundingGear

[G35_TX]

It took a while for the TL/CL to originally show the tranny problems. The new TL is already showing signs up problems.

2004 Infiniti G35S, 6MT, Premium, Sport, DP
Mods: JDM Clears, 20% tint, Z-tube, K&N Drop In
Track: 14.32 at 98.79 mph 2.2032 60ft
http://www.g35world.com

[BamaMT6]

bummer of it is, we did buy an Acura - a 2002 TL-S, and after the tranny was replaced, we worried everytime it made a weird noise.

At least Honda has decided to make it right - after 2+ yrs.....

[Neon01]

Personally I'd rather buy from a company that actually issued the recall. And if it seems like it took them forever to make it, just think about how quickly you'd decide to take on a $63 million dollar loss. I applaud them for taking responsibility.

Not knocking Infiniti by comparison, but credit where credit is due...

2000 Audi S4 - 400hp/450ft-lbs
1991 Toyota MR2 - 130hp/140ft-lbs...but just as fun
Soon to be G owner

[chinee]

"Personally I'd rather buy from a company that actually issued the recall.

Then go buy a Chrysler or Ford!

My 02 TL was the wife's car. When the tranny died in June 2002 at 18K miles, I started researching the problem and discovered that it was not uncommon for this failure to reoccur a second, third or fourth time. At times the second and third trannies would fail after just a few hundred miles! And the safety factor... locking up at highway speeds... not good, especially with my wife and kids in there.

I'd speak to the dealer service departments, call Acura corporate... could not get a straight answer about what caused the failure, nor any assurance about the safety issue. "We've extended your transmission warranty to 100K miles" but we can't guarantee you that it won't lock up on the highway. The TL quickly became my car... traded my 96 Altima for a Sequioa for the wife.

But Bama was right... I "...worried everytime it made a weird noise." And I drove 100 highway miles at 80mph everyday... that Acura made a nervous wreck. Every mistimed shift, every engine/tranny vibration, every clicking sound... made me anxious; I had to dump the TL. So I got a G.

BTW... my family's lives and my own are worth more than $63 million!


chinee
03.5 G35s

[glennp_1999]

well keep in mind manual tranny G's are having the same problem right now. to think when i bought my G i had rattle problems from the get go. ang some other little things that are not supose to go bad on a 35k car. so who is to say that honda /acura is not a good car to buy. i still think that honda/acura is still the car to beat when it comes to build and finish quality. my everyday beater 91 integra is still going strong at over 200k miles. other than the normal wear and tear on the car it has paid for itself 10 times over. my 99 accord is still looking like new and no major problems on it. then again i bought the wife a 03 TLS and i had plenty of problems with it in the first year of ownership. my mom bought the same exact car and her car is running flawless. got rid of the TLS and bought a G to replace it. inspite of some annoying things that drive me nuts about this car i still love it. of course this is just my 2 cents on this.



04 CB COUPE / WILLOW / PREM PACK

[Z06ified]

In reply to:

---

well keep in mind manual tranny G's are having the same problem right now.

---

They're not having the same problem. Grinding into gear is vastly different from having a tranny lock up on you at 70 MPH.

And the G's manual tranny problems are not nearly as widespread as Acura's tranny problems which are much more common.

2003 G35C, 6MT, DG/G, Aero/Nav/Premium
2002 Corvette Z06, Electron Blue/Black

[glennp_1999]

nevertheless jon it's still a problem that needs to be addressed by the manufacturer. and who knows how many tranny's that went bad on a inifiniti cars. it might be more widespread than one would think. and what about the rattles that everyone is experiencing with the infiniti's? my accord has almost no rattles and it's 5 yr old car. i guess the old saying goes if it's man made it will go bad. oh well, i'm happy with both cars so who the hell cares as long as it's not happening to me.......yet.



04 CB COUPE / WILLOW / PREM PACK

[Z06ified]

In reply to:

---

and what about the rattles that everyone is experiencing with the infiniti's?

---

I hear ya on the rattles. My car has had plenty of rattles, including one that was there from the day I picked up the car new. Seems as soon as the dealer fixes one rattle, another new one pops up somewhere else. Pretty frustrating for a car that is only 1 year old and with only 8k miles. And now I've got a passenger side power window that doesn't work, and a malfunctioning CD player with the error "CD ERROR FO". So I'm beginning to wonder if I'll keep this car. Its only a 2 year lease (glad I leased it) which is up in 11 months. I'll see how the car does in the next 11 months - if it continues to give me problems I'll just turn it in. If it doesn't give me any more problems, I'll probably buy it at the end of the lease, but I don't think I'll keep it past the 5 year warranty, as there's too many electrical doo-dads that can break on this car and I don't want to deal with them out of warranty.

2003 G35C, 6MT, DG/G, Aero/Nav/Premium
2002 Corvette Z06, Electron Blue/Black, headers, intake, exhaust, 380 rwhp