NHTSA Complaint #10229264 — 2001 ACURA MDX

I PURCHASED MY 2001 ACURA MDX IN AUG 2004 AND THE TRANSMISSION RECALL HAD ALREADY BEEN SERVICED PER RECORDS ON THE ACURA OWNERS WEBSITE. APPROXIMATELY 18 MONTHS AGO I NOTICED THE CAR SPORADICALLY BEHAVING AS IF GOING OVER RUMBLE STRIPS ON A ROAD. I TOOK IT IN FOR SERVICE HOWEVER COULD NOT GET THE VEHICLE TO REPLICATE THE EVENT. IN THE FALL OF 07 AGAIN I TOOK IT TO THE SAME ACURA DEALER AND TOLD THEM TO CHECK OUT THE BIZARRE BEHAVIOR. AGAIN, TO NO AVAIL. IN FEB 08 I TOOK IT IN FOR THE 120K MILE SERVICE WHICH INCLUDED CLEANING BRAKES, CHECKING BELTS ETC. I REMINDED THEM OF THE NOISE ONCE AGAIN. THEY SAID THE CAR WAS FINE. LAST WEEK I TOOK IT IN AGAIN AFTER DETERMINING THE RUMBLE-STRIP NOISE WAS OCCURRING BETWEEN 25 & 35 MPH. INITIALLY I WAS TOLD I NEEDED A SERPENTINE BELT & WHEN I REJECTED THAT NOTION, THE DIAGNOSIS WAS THAT I NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION. I CALLED CORPORATE ACURA AND SPOKE WITH 3 DIFFERENT PEOPLE. THE LAST REPRESENTATIVE READ THE REPORT TAKEN BY THE PRIOR PERSON AND I HAD TO CORRECT MY ACTUAL STATEMENTS SEVERAL TIMES. WHEN ASKED WHAT ACTION I WANTED ACURA TO TAKE, I SAID THAT ACURA SHOULD ABSORB THE COST SINCE MY CAR WAS INVOLVED IN THE TRANSMISSION RECALL THE "FIX" WAS MERELY A "PATCH" AS OTHER CARS HAD THE SAME ISSUE UPON REACHING THE 100K MILE + MARK. MY CAR HAS 125K. WHEN CORPORATE ACURA CALLED ME TODAY, THEY SAID ESSENTIALLY THEY WERE NOT GONG TO BEAR THE COST OF ANY OF THE REPAIRS THAT IT WAS MY RESPONSIBILITY. I HAVE BEEN A LOYAL ACURA OWNER TO ONE DEALER AND WAS PREPARING TO PURCHASE YET ANOTHER MDX. THESE CARS COST A LOT OF MONEY IN THE FIRST PLACE AND THERE IS NO REASON FOR THEM NOT TO ABSORB THE COST. IN FACT, THEIR COST IS WAY LESS THAN THE CONSUMER COST AND THEY CAN WRITE IT OFF AS CUSTOMER GOOD FAITH EXPENSE OR SOMETHING OF THE SORT. *TR