Last October (October 8, 2010). I was visiting a friend in CT and while driving down the road my car suddenly lost all power and the engine stalled out. I was able to restart it and drove for about another mile when I lost all power again, this time the car would not restart and I had it towed to an Acura dealer in Manchester, CT. They found that my A/C condensation tube had become clogged and that water had gotten on the ECM/PCM and fried it. At this point my car had 89,xxx on it and after calling Acura Customer service I was informed that my car was so out of warranty I would need to pay for it myself at a cost of almost $1200. I was very unhappy as I couldn't believe that they would engineer the car to have the drain tube run directly next to such a sensitive and expensive component and not shield the computer, but I ended up paying for the repair and having the computer replaced and my drainage system unclogged and cleaned out. I asked the service manager and technician if there was anything I could do to prevent this from happening again and they told me that there wasn't really anything I could do and that they couldn't confirm that this wouldn't happen again. I left feeling a little uneasy at what they had told me, but very happy to have my TSX back and able to return home and to work in Syracuse, NY.
Fast forward to September 29, 2011. I was driving home through my neighborhood and suddenly lost all power to the dashboard and radio/center console area then came back on half a second later, without stalling out the car. I was about 1.5 miles from home and the same thing happened to my car 3 more times before I was able to get home. In a panic that these seemed eerily too familiar to a year ago I parked the car and pulled the carpet back to look at the drain tube and ECM/PCM. The drain tube wasn't clogged and I could see any moisture in this area. I called the Syracuse Acura dealer and scheduled the earliest appointment I could make which happened to be first thing on the following Tuesday, October 4, 2011. They looked the car over and couldn't find any problems despite me telling them that the same thing had happened slightly less then a year ago. They didn't charge me their standard $99 diagnosis fee and sent me on my way. I went problem free until this past Thursday October 13, 2011 when the car shut off, stalled the engine and I almost went through a four way intersection due to the sudden loss of power. I was able to make it over to an independent mechanic that has been in business for 30 years. He plugged my car into his diagnosis equipment and the code (and only code) being pulled up was P0685 ECM/PCM Internal Circuit Malfunction (Power Control Circuit). I called Acura customer service and they informed me that I would need to have an Acura dealer diagnose the problem and at that point they would see if there was anything they could do to cover the cost of the repair. I brought the car to Crest Acura on Friday (it lost power and stalled out 12 times over the 7 mile trip, but I made it there). Yesterday, on Monday, the dealership called me and told me that the computer was bad and that it would be $927.13 to replace it and that they couldn't do this for free or reduce the cost. After several phone calls back and forth between Acura customer service the regional case manager called and informed me that because I performed my own maintenance (or took it to an independent mechanic) and didn't take it to the dealer that is was unlikely that they would be able to reduce the price. He didn't have any answers for why I didn't have any problems until last year, but then the same part had failed twice within one year. He said he would need to get the local case manager, dealer and himself on the same page before he called me back tomorrow with the verdict.
At this point I don't have very positive feelings about the possibility of getting any assistance from Acura, either way I will never buy another Acura again.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Last October (October 8, 2010). I was visiting a friend in CT and while driving down the road my car suddenly lost all power and the engine stalled out. I was able to restart it and drove for about another mile when I lost all power again, this time the car would not restart and I had it towed to an Acura dealer in Manchester, CT. They found that my A/C condensation tube had become clogged and that water had gotten on the ECM/PCM and fried it. At this point my car had 89,xxx on it and after calling Acura Customer service I was informed that my car was so out of warranty I would need to pay for it myself at a cost of almost $1200. I was very unhappy as I couldn't believe that they would engineer the car to have the drain tube run directly next to such a sensitive and expensive component and not shield the computer, but I ended up paying for the repair and having the computer replaced and my drainage system unclogged and cleaned out. I asked the service manager and technician if there was anything I could do to prevent this from happening again and they told me that there wasn't really anything I could do and that they couldn't confirm that this wouldn't happen again. I left feeling a little uneasy at what they had told me, but very happy to have my TSX back and able to return home and to work in Syracuse, NY.
Fast forward to September 29, 2011. I was driving home through my neighborhood and suddenly lost all power to the dashboard and radio/center console area then came back on half a second later, without stalling out the car. I was about 1.5 miles from home and the same thing happened to my car 3 more times before I was able to get home. In a panic that these seemed eerily too familiar to a year ago I parked the car and pulled the carpet back to look at the drain tube and ECM/PCM. The drain tube wasn't clogged and I could see any moisture in this area. I called the Syracuse Acura dealer and scheduled the earliest appointment I could make which happened to be first thing on the following Tuesday, October 4, 2011. They looked the car over and couldn't find any problems despite me telling them that the same thing had happened slightly less then a year ago. They didn't charge me their standard $99 diagnosis fee and sent me on my way. I went problem free until this past Thursday October 13, 2011 when the car shut off, stalled the engine and I almost went through a four way intersection due to the sudden loss of power. I was able to make it over to an independent mechanic that has been in business for 30 years. He plugged my car into his diagnosis equipment and the code (and only code) being pulled up was P0685 ECM/PCM Internal Circuit Malfunction (Power Control Circuit). I called Acura customer service and they informed me that I would need to have an Acura dealer diagnose the problem and at that point they would see if there was anything they could do to cover the cost of the repair. I brought the car to Crest Acura on Friday (it lost power and stalled out 12 times over the 7 mile trip, but I made it there). Yesterday, on Monday, the dealership called me and told me that the computer was bad and that it would be $927.13 to replace it and that they couldn't do this for free or reduce the cost. After several phone calls back and forth between Acura customer service the regional case manager called and informed me that because I performed my own maintenance (or took it to an independent mechanic) and didn't take it to the dealer that is was unlikely that they would be able to reduce the price. He didn't have any answers for why I didn't have any problems until last year, but then the same part had failed twice within one year. He said he would need to get the local case manager, dealer and himself on the same page before he called me back tomorrow with the verdict.
At this point I don't have very positive feelings about the possibility of getting any assistance from Acura, either way I will never buy another Acura again.
- hglide82, Syracuse, NY, US