NHTSA Complaint #11113035 — 2012 ACURA TL

ON TUESDAY, JULY 3RD, 2018, AT AROUND 8:30 AM WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY A POWER STEERING FAILURE MESSAGE POPPED UP ON THE DASHBOARD, AND THE WHEEL BECAME RIGID, AND EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO TURN. I PULLED OVER TO THE SHOULDER, AND CALLED THE DEALER SERVICE AT LEHIGH VALLEY ACURA. I WAS TOLD THEY COULD NOT LOOK AT THE VEHICLE UNTIL FRIDAY, JULY 6TH AT THE EARLIEST, AND WAS INSTRUCTED TO TURN OFF THE CAR, LET IT SIT FOR THREE MINUTES, AND RESTART BECAUSE THE COMPUTER PROBABLY JUST NEED TO BE REBOOTED. THAT CLEARED THE ISSUE. I THEN DROVE THE CAR HOME, AND KEPT THE DRIVING TO SHORT TRIPS (1-10 MILES). I MADE AN APPOINTMENT FOR A DATE ABOUT TWO WEEKS OUT JUST TO HAVE IT DOUBLE CHECKED, BECAUSE THAT WAS THE FIRST DAY THEY HAD A LOANER VEHICLE, AND I THOUGHT FOLLOWING THE SERVICE CENTER REPRESENTATIVES ADVICE HAD FIXED AN ISOLATED OCCURRENCE, ON SUNDAY, JULY 8TH THE SAME INDICATOR CAME ON, AN WOULD NOT CLEAR, EVEN FOLLOWING THE EARLIER ADVICE FROM THE SERVICE CENTER. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE DEALER SERVICE CENTER ON MONDAY. THE VEHICLE WAS FIXED ON TUESDAY. IT NEEDED A NEW STEERING COMPONENT WHICH COST ME $1120. I ASKED WHY THIS WASN'T TREATED AS A MANUFACTURER'S DEFECT, OR A SAFETY RECALL, SINCE I HAD SEEN MULTIPLE INSTANCES DESCRIBING THE SAME ISSUE IN A SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH. THE SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE SAID THAT THEY DIDN'T SEE IT THAT WAY. I'M VERY CONCERNED THAT A CRITICAL SAFETY ISSUE WAS TREATED SO NONCHALANTLY, AND THAT THE COMPANY PASSED THE COST THE CORRECT THE ISSUE TO THE ME (THE CUSTOMER). ALSO, I SHOULD MENTION, THE VEHICLE HAS ALWAYS BEEN MAINTAINED AT THAT SERVICE CENTER (LEHIGH VALLEY ACURA), AND HAD BEEN THERE FOR THE YEARLY INSPECTION A MONTH OR TWO BEFORE THIS ISSUE. I CAN PROVIDE THE SERVICE BILL IF REQUESTED. *TR