NHTSA Complaint #10313967 — 2000 ACURA TL

INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) IN MY ACURA 3.2 TL YEAR 2000, IT WAS FOUND THAT THIS MODEL HAS A DEFECT THAT MAY RESULT IN THE PARTIAL OR COMPLETE FAILURE OF THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION AT ANY SPEED. FOLLOWING THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ([XXX]), THE WARRANTY ON THE TRANSMISSION OF THIS VEHICLE WAS EXTENDED TO 109,000 MILES. MY CAR'S VIN NUMBER IS PART OF THIS RECALL. MY CAR STARTED TO SHOW SIGNS OF TRANSMISSION ISSUE AT ~100,000 MILES (ANOTHER ~8000 MILES LEFT WITH THE WARRANTY). I NOTICED THE SLIPPING OF GEARS, HESITATION AND DOWNSHIFTING OF GEARS AND THE D5 INDICATOR BLINKING. MY FAMILY AND MY CAR POOL PARTNER, CAN ATTEST TO THIS ISSUE. MY COWORKERS HAVE HEARD ME TALK ABOUT THIS ISSUE. WHEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND EXPLAINED THE SYMPTOMS, THEY SUSPECTED TRANSMISSION AND ADVISED TO ALSO CONSULT ACURA UNDER RECALL. I CALLED ACURA CLIENT SERVICE AND HE ADVISED ME TO TAKE THE CAR TO THE DEALER TO GET IT CHECKED UNDER THE WARRANTY. THE TECHNICIAN AT THE DEALERSHIP DROVE THE CAR AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND COULDN'T REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. THIS PROBLEM WAS INTERMITTENT, SOMETIMES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WOULD COME ON AND AFTER DRIVING COUPLE OF TIMES IT WOULD RESET ITSELF. NOW THE PROBLEM HAS BECOME WORST AND THE CAR IS NOT DRIVABLE, DEALER HAS CONFIRMED THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. I FILED A COMPLAINT WITH ACURA, AND THEY DON'T WANT TO TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY BY SAYING THE WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED. I UNDERSTAND THAT THE CAR NOW HAS DRAGGED TO 145K MILES AND HAS PASSED THE RECALL LIMITS BUT IF THE DEALER PERFORMED CORRECTIVE MEASURES AND DID THE TEST CORRECTLY WHEN I TOOK IT UNDER THE WARRANTY, I WOULD NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM TODAY. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS MODEL AND YEAR OF THE CAR HAS FAULTY TRANSMISSION, I HAD THE PROBLEM WITHIN THE WARRANTY PERIOD, REPORTED AND GOT CHECKED. SINCE THE CHECK WAS NOT PERFORMED CORRECTLY, I WOULD LIKE ACURA TO TAKE RESPONSIBLY AND FULFILL THE RECALL COMMITMENT. *TR