NHTSA Complaint #10333914 — 2003 ACURA TL

THERE WAS A SUDDEN DOWNSHIFT IN GEARS WHILE DRIVING IN THE VEHICLE AND CHANGING FREEWAYS LATE AT NIGHT. THE CAR, AS A RESULT, DECELERATED QUICKLY IN FAST MOVING TRAFFIC ALMOST CAUSING AN ACCIDENT. THE CAR WAS PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE FREEWAY AND WAS RENDERED INOPERABLE DUE TO TRANSMISSION FAILURE. THE CAR WAS PART OF THE ACURA 00-04 CL & TL A/T RECALL (AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SECOND GEAR INSPECTION). AS PART OF THE RECALL, IF THE CAR WAS OVER 15,000 MILES, THE DEALER WOULD INSPECT THE GEAR FOR HEAT DISCOLORATION. IF THEY FOUND DISCOLORATION, A NEW TRANSMISSION WOULD BE INSTALLED. THE CAR WAS OVER 15,000 MILES AT THE TIME BUT THE DEALER REPORTED NO DISCOLORATION. AS A RESULT, ONLY AN OIL JET KIT WAS INSTALLED ONLY. DUE TO A LARGE NUMBER OF CASES OF TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS WITH THE TL AND A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT, ACURA EXTENDED THEIR TRANSMISSION WARRANTY FOR MODEL YEARS 1999-2002 AND INCLUDED ONLY SOME 2003 DEPENDING ON VIN NUMBER. MY VEHICLE IS A 2003 MODEL, BUT DID NOT FALL WITHIN THE VIN NUMBER CUTOFF. THEREFORE, MY CAR DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR THE TRANSMISSION EXTENDED WARRANTY. I HAVE A FOUND A LARGE NUMBER OF OTHER COMPLAINTS ON THIS WEBSITE, AS WELL AS OTHERS, REGARDING 2003 ACURA TLS THAT DID NOT MAKE THE VIN NUMBER CUTOFF BUT STILL SUFFERED FROM TRANSMISSION FAILURE. OBVIOUSLY, THERE IS A SAFETY ISSUE REGARDING THESE CARS AND THEIR TRANSMISSIONS THAT WAS NOT ADDRESSED IN THE INITIAL RECALL. (THE APPROPRIATE REPAIRS WERE NOT MADE). THE SECOND RECALL, WITH THE EXTENDED WARRANTY, ALSO DOES NOT APPEAR TO COVER ALL VEHICLES EFFECTED BY THIS TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. *TR