NHTSA Complaint #10263166 — 2009 ACURA TSX

2009 ACURA TSX WAS PURCHASED ON 12/13 /08 IN SAN ANTONIO, TX. DURING THE 1ST MONTH THE CAR DEVELOPED AN ENGINE/KNOCKING NOISE WHEN DRIVING AND ACCELERATING. THE CAR HAS BEEN TAKEN TO THE DEALER A TOTAL OF 3TIMES. PER THE DEALER, THIS ISSUE APPEARS TO BE OCCURRING ON MANY 2009 TSX MODELS. THE NOISE IS CONSISTENTLY PRODUCED WHILE DRIVING AND ACCELERATING, FURTHER PRONOUNCED WHILE RPMS ARE BETWEEN 2000 AND 2700, AND HAS BECOME MORE PREVALENT/LOUDER AS TIME GOES BY. AS INSTRUCTED, THE VEHICLE IS ONLY RUN ON PREMIUM FUEL. THE DEALER HAS BEEN ABLE TO REPLICATE THE NOISE, BUT IS UNABLE TO DETERMINE A FIX. I ALSO CALLED ACURA CLIENT SERVICES AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS NO KNOWN ISSUE FOR THE 2009 TSX, WHICH I FIND HARD TO BELIEVE BEING SO MANY OWNERS HAVE THIS PROBLEM. HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO THE DEALER, MANY TSXS ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUE AND NOTHING CAN BE DONE BASED ON NO RESOLUTION FROM CORPORATE. GIVEN HONDA?S STRONG ROOT IN RELIABILITY, VALUE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE, I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THIS METALLIC KNOCKING/PINGING FROM AN ENGINE WOULD BE CONSIDERED ?NORMAL?. I AM VERY CONCERNED THAT THIS KNOCKING/PINGING NOISE IS A DESIGN FLAW/DEFECT THAT WILL DEVELOP INTO LONG-TERM SAFETY AND RELIABILITY ISSUE GIVEN THE DETRIMENTAL IMPACT TO THE ENGINE/POWERTRAIN. FINALLY, DUE TO THE FACT THAT I AM JUST BEING IGNORED BY THE DEALER AND CORPORATE, YOUR HELP/INTERVENTION OF THIS PROBLEM AND ANY RECOMMENDED SOLUTION WITH HONDA ACURA WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. *TR