2002 Acura Mdx

ON OCTOBER 13, 2009, AT ABOUT 12:45, I PROVIDED MY 2002 ACURA MDX TO JERRY DAMSON ACURA, HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA FOR THE '82,500 MILE SERVICE'. AT ABOUT 1:15 I RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT STATING THAT TWO ENGINE MOUNTS WERE BROKEN. THE PRICE WOULD BE ABOUT $500. ALTHOUGH I WAS CONCERNED HOW ENGINE MOUNT FAILURES COULD HAPPEN ON A VEHICLE WITH THIS MILEAGE, I AGREED TO HAVE IT REPAIRED FOR OBVIOUS SAFETY REASONS. LATER THAT DAY I DISCOVERED OTHER COMPLAINTS ON THE INTERNET FOR BROKEN ENGINE MOUNTS FOR THIS VEHICLE. WHEN I ARRIVED AT JERRY DAMSON ACURA TO PICK IT UP, I ADVISED THE SERVICE PERSON THAT I FELT ACURA SHOULD PAY FOR THIS. THE ACURA SERVICE MANAGER, GIL WILLIAMS, WAS CALLED-IN TO DISCUSS THIS PROBLEM WITH ME. HE STATED THAT THEY/ACURA WOULD NOT PAY FOR THIS. I ASKED HOW A FAILURE OF THIS NATURE COULD HAPPEN AT THIS MILEAGE. AFTER SOME DISCUSSION HE STATED THAT THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER IS LOCATED NEAR THESE PARTICULAR ENGINE MOUNTS AND CONTRIBUTES TO INCREASED TEMPERATURE IN THE AREA, RESULTING IN FAILURE OF THESE ENGINE MOUNTS. HE FURTHER STATED THAT HE HAD PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED THIS PROBLEM WITH ACURA AND THEY ADVISED HIM TO 'SELL IT AS A MAINTENANCE ITEM'. I STATED THIS WAS AN OBVIOUS DESIGN DEFECT THAT ACURA OR JERRY DAMSON SHOULD PAY FOR. HE SAID THEY WOULD NOT. I ASKED HIM TO ELEVATE THIS TO THE JERRY DAMSON GENERAL MANAGER. HE REFUSED TO DO THAT. HE PROVIDED ME WITH THE PHONE NUMBER FOR 'ACURA CLIENT SERVICES', HE WOULD DO NOTHING ELSE. I RELUCTANTLY PAID FOR THIS BROKEN ENGINE MOUNTS REPAIR AT $483 IN ORDER TO RETRIEVE THE VEHICLE. IT IS A LOGICAL DEDUCTION THAT THE BROKEN ENGINE MOUNT PROBLEM IS A DESIGN DEFECT SINCE HE ADMITTED THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER'S PROXIMITY TO THE ENGINE MOUNTS CONTRIBUTES TO THIS EARLY FAILURE. IT'S THEREFORE CLEAR THAT THIS REPAIR COST SHOULD BE BORNE BY ACURA/JERRY DAMSON. *TR

THE SUV WAS DRIVEN AROUND 5 MILES, AND THEN SUDDENLY WOULD NOT ACCELERATE IN THE MIDDLE OF FAST MOVING TRAFFIC. THE ENGINE RPM WAS SHOWING MUCH HIGHER THAN NORMAL (WITH HIGH ENGINE NOISE), BUT THE SUV WASN'T MOVING INTO HIGHER GEAR. THIS SUDDEN SLOW MOVING CAR IN MIDDLE OF FAST MOVING TRAFFIC COULD HAVE CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. AMOCO CHECKED THE TRANSMISSION, AND SAID THE OIL LEVEL WAS FINE, BUT PART OF THE OIL WAS "BURNT". THE TRANSMISSION IS BEING REBUILT BY AAMCO. THE SUV IS 8 YEARS OLD AND LOW MILEAGE - 63K MILES, AND WELL MAINTAINED. TRANSMISSION OIL WAS REPLACED 5 MONTHS BACK. *TR

A MONTH OR SO AGO I NOTICED THE VEHICLE WASN'T SHIFTING AS SMOOTHLY AS IT SHOULD. THAT WAS FOLLOWED SHORTLY THEREAFTER BY THE TRANSMISSION SLIPPING OUT OF GEAR BRIEFLY. THEN, RECENTLY, AS I WAS MERGING INTO FREEWAY TRAFFIC THE VEHICLE WOULDN'T SHIFT OUT OF A LOWER GEAR AND I WAS FORCED TO PULL TO THE SHOULDER TO AVOID BEING HIT FROM BEHIND. I SAT THERE UNTIL TRAFFIC CLEARED AT WHICH TIME I WAS ABLE TO SLOWLY CONTINUE DOWN THE ROAD. THE TRANSMISSION THEN SHIFTED CORRECTLY. I BELIEVE THIS TO BE A SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN, AND IN LIGHT OF ALL ELSE I HAVE READ REGARDING TRANSMISSION ISSUES WITH ACURA MDX'S, SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 ACURA MDX. THE CONTACT HAS EXPERIENCED MULTIPLE FAILURES WITH THE VEHICLE SHIFTING INTO NEUTRAL. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE WILL SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL. THE VEHICLE WILL THEN RESUME NORMAL OPERATION AND DRIVE IN THE CORRECT GEAR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AND THEY DETERMINED THAT THE TORQUE CONVERTER IN THE TRANSMISSION FAILED. THE CONTACT IS IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING THE VEHICLE REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT NO COMPENSATION WOULD BE PROVIDED BECAUSE THERE WERE NO RECALLS. THE CONTACT WAS ADVISED TO FILE A CLAIM FOR GOOD WILL WITH THE MANUFACTURER. SHE FILED A GOOD WILL COMPLAINT WITH THE MANUFACTURER AND WAS INFORMED THAT THEY WOULD COVER HALF OF THE REPAIR COST; HOWEVER, THE 105,000 MILE SERVICE WOULD HAVE TO BE PERFORMED AT THE DEALER. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 97,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 ACURA MDX. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WERE RECALLS ON HIS VEHICLE TO REPLACE THE TIMING BELT AND THE WATER PUMP. NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 02V226000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE) WAS REFERENCED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THEY REPLACED THE WATER PUMP AND THE TIMING BELT, BUT COULD NOT PROVIDE THE REPAIR DATE. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THE REPAIR WAS COMPLETED, BUT COULD NOT PROVIDE A DATE AS WELL. THE CONTACT IS EXPERIENCING ISSUES WITH HIS VEHICLE AND WANTS TO KNOW WHEN IT WAS REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 65,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 ACURA MDX. THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT WHENEVER THE SPEED REACHED BETWEEN 20-35 MPH, THE GEARS WOULD STICK. IN ADDITION, THE CHECK ENGINE INDICATOR BEGAN ILLUMINATING ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS DEFECTIVE AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE REPAIR, THE GEARS BECAME EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO SHIFT THAN BEFORE THE REPAIR WAS PERFORMED. THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN BACK TO THE DEALER, BUT THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE FOLLOWING DAY, WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH, THE VEHICLE BEGAN SMOKING FROM THE REAR AND ALL OF THE WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE STALLED AND WAS TOWED TO THE NEAREST ACURA DEALER. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE INTERMEDIATE BRACKET FAILED, WHICH CAUSED THE TRANSMISSION TO FAIL. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THEY WOULD ISSUE A NEW TRANSMISSION, BUT WERE NOT LIABLE FOR THE REPAIRS FOR THE INTERMEDIATE BRACKET. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 61,900 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 61,000.

2002 ACURA MDX TRANSMISSION FAILURE AT 109100 MILES, EXTEND WARRANTY EXPIRED @ 108,462 MILES. THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THE TRANSMISSION THAT REQUIRED ACURA SERVICE DEPARTMENT TO DO AN INSPECTION, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN COUNTLESS TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS WITH THIS MODEL VEHICLE. THE REPLACEMENT COST IS $4400 WHICH IS WHAT THE DEALERSHIP IS CHARGING ME. IT SEEMS CHEAPER TO BUY ANOTHER VEHICLE. THERE HAVE TO HAVE BEEN THOUSANDS OF OTHERS ON YEAR MODELS 2001-2005 ACURA MDX SUVS. *TR

RECALL NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 04V176000, RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY, WAS ISSUED FOR OWNER'S VEHICLE. RECALL WAS FOR DEFECTIVE ACURA MDX TRANSMISSION. ACURA FAILED TO NOTIFY OWNER OF TRANSMISSION RECALL, EVEN THOUGH OWNER HAS LIVED AT SAME ADDRESS FOR NEARLY TEN YEARS. ACURA'S RECORDS CONFIRM THAT ACURA FAILED TO NOTIFY OWNER OF TRANSMISSION RECALL. OWNER DISCOVERED TRANSMISSION RECALL ON NHTSA WEBSITE IN 2008. OWNER BROUGHT VEHICLE TO AUTHORIZED ACURA DEALER IN OCTOBER OF 2008 FOR REPAIR OF DEFECTIVE RECALLED TRANSMISSION. ACURA DEALER DETERMINED THAT OWNER'S TRANSMISSION WAS DEFECTIVE AND REQUIRED REPLACEMENT. ACURA DEALER ESTIMATED COST TO REPLACE OWNER'S TRANSMISSION AT $5,500.00. ACURA REFUSED TO PROVIDE ANY FREE OF CHARGE REPLACEMENT SERVICE OR REPAIR TO RECALLED DEFECTIVE TRANSMISSION. OWNER'S VEHICLE HAS REMAINED ON PREMISES OF THE AUTHORIZED ACURA DEALER SINCE OCTOBER OF 2008. *TR