CarComplaints.com Notes: The 1999-2003 Acura TL has a known & widespread defect with the transmission.
Honda fixed some vehicles with a recall in 2004 by changing the oil cooler return line. To settle a class action lawsuit in 2006, Honda extended the transmission warranty on some of these Acura TL's to 93 months / 109,000 miles.
Now these vehicles are past the warranty limit, so buyer beware.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
40,840 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Transmission failure. Got replaced, but I see there is no guarantee that it shall work fine in future and it is really scary as it could fail in speed and could expect problem.
While driving at 65 mph, the vehicle lost power. The consumer pulled onto the shoulder and waited a few minutes. Then the vehicle was restarted and everything was back to normal for a little while. After a mile or two, the vehicle jerked and lost power again. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who determined that a new transmission was needed. This problem occurred again and another transmission was replaced. The vehicle had been repaired. The brakes were replaced.
I have had the transmission replaced in my car twice in a 2 year period. Each time it was very frightening, and an accident could have occurred. I feel this a very unsafe vehicle.
Automatic transmission failed which caused the vehicle to shake violently and the driver momentarily lost control. The consumer was told the transmission needed to be replaced.
- Philadelphia, PA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Various problems with the 2001 Acura TL. Bought used and has been in shop 6 or 7 times in less than one year. Brakes, transmission replacement, master cylinder. Brakes continue to seemingly have a problem...you have to almost go to the floor to stop, but dealership says this is normal on this type of vehicle. True or not-I don't know. Also, the check engine light keeps coming on, also the ABS and tc lights keep coming on. Also, it does not make sense that my car now has 50,000 miles on it when I hardly go anywhere. It seems the odometer is very inaccurate. There is no way I have put 30,000 miles on this car since April of 2003. Could not find any other information concerning the odometer issue, but was told by a mechanic that it's possible their could be a speed sensor issue in the transmission, which would also cause the check engine light to come on.
My Acura 2001 3.2tl automatic transmisson was started by turning on the ignition. As soon as it was started, with transmission in park, the car took off in reverse. Stepping on the brake didn't slow down the car, neither did shifting the gears. The only way the car stopped was when it hit the fence and house across the street. There was significant damage to the car, well over $7000. I called Acura customer service and stated that Acura should take responsibility for the incident. They didn't help at all. I wrote a letter to the CEO of american Honda and they just referred it to Acura customer service. They refuse to help at all when it is clear from all the incidents reported in the NHTSA website that there is a clear problem with Acura transmissions. The NHTSA should take action since there are many incidents with Honda and Acura's. I am definitely afraid to drive the car. I don't see any reason to buy a Honda or Acura again.
While driving, the vehicle started to shake violently, the consumer was propelled toward the windshield and momentarily lost control of the vehicle. The consumer took the vehicle to dealer and after a diagnosis was performed, the consumer was told the automatic transmission failed.
My transmission went out on me the other night it was dark and pouring down rain. I was driving on a back road at 55 mph when all of a sudden the car went from 55 mph to 40 mph. I had already scheduled the car to go in the next morning, but realized that the car would not make it until the next morning. I turned the car around and headed for the dealership. I called and told them I was bringing it in. I road with my hazard lights on the way back to dealership. The car would only go as fast as 40 mph with the RPM running at 4500. This was scary for me because it was dark and raining and it was hard to see other cars. I got the car to the dealership and they gave me a loaner car. The next day I got a call from the dealer they said that they confirmed with their computer that the transmission needed to be replaced. I then said, I can't believe it. This will be the 4th transmission put into the car. They said, they have to send this transmission to Acura and they would put a new transmission in the car. Well from the web sites that I have read today says they are putting rebuilt transmission in brand new cars. They knew about this time bomb and that is why they extended the warranty. I think that the rest of America and world should know what Acura is doing to their customers and I think they need to fix this problem right away, or give us our money back so we can go buy another car and not Acura.
To whom it may concern, I own a 2001 Acura 3.2 TL for 3 years. I am going on my 4th transmission. Acura is aware of this problem they just keep putting rebuilt transmissions in a brand new car. They extended the warranty on the car to 100,000 miles. I currently have 82,000 miles on the car. I have two years of car payments left. The dealership said they would see if Acura will extend the warranty again. That is fine if they do, but they still have not fixed the transmission problems yet. I have looked out on the internet there are many complaints about transmissions in these vehicles, but yet consumer report still gives these cars the highest rating on there transmissions. I also find that there is pending lawsuit against the Honda motor company. I was wondering if you could do a story on this consumer problem and see if there is other people out there then the ones that know how to use a computer. Thanks, jacqualine martin 9601 looking glass court bristow, va 20136 (H) 703 335 0119 (C) 703 967 3991
The wife started having transmission problems on 11/3/2003 in the morning. I called the dealership and told them of the problem. They set the appointment for 4 days later. By noon time the transmission would only go into reverse and we called to have it towed to the dealership. The next day they said that someone may have gotten soda down in the shifter and that is what they were going to check out. I called them around 3:00 and they said that they were now going to replace the transmission and they said that the new transmission has the problem fixed. I am very mad at the service dept. Of the Acura dealership, 1. they know of the problem and would let my wife and our one year old ride around for 4 days like that when you read that some people have the transmission. Lock up on them on the highway. Are they just trying to save the money on a rental car? 2. they know of the problem and tried to say that soda got into the shifter. 3. is the problem fixed liked I was told or are they just putting in another rebuilt junk transmission for us to have problems later down the road. They are trying to cover up the problem and they should recall the problem and fix it. We tried to call my wife's girl friend who has a cl and let her know about it before something bad happens to her. Acura and NHTSA should all do the proper thing and recall the cars today.
Numerous transmission failures, 4 each and 1 in a 2001 3.2 TL "loaner". this vehicle just "locks" up when traveling at high rates of speed, downshifting without warning from 45 to 10-15 mph. The engine redlines, and the governor takes over preventing damage to the engine. It is only a matter of time before someone is rear ended and dies in this vehicle. Acura keeps installing "new" remanufactured transmissions with the "hope" it is fixed. My last occurance actually broke a hydraulic filled motor mount - that's how much force the transmission failure puts on the vehicle
My 2001 Acura 3.2tl transmission died after 35K miles. The car shifted gears on its own for a few months, then finally decided to stop working on 10/18/03 on the way home. The car right now is in the shop waiting for the replacement transmission. I am very concerned as I did my research on the internet. Too many complaints filed at(www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/petition-sign.cgi?Acura). I don't want to get caught in an accident like others because of the transmission problem. I spent a lot of money for this car. I use it for my business everyday, and I am now afraid to drive it on the street. This problem seems to be a defect and should be classified as a recall. I would like american Honda to take my car back and return my money. P.S. I had previously own a 2001 Acura rl and had similar transmission problems. My Acura dealer tried to fix it 3 times. Problems still exists. Finally, I returned the car.
On May 7, 2003, at 32,905 miles my 2001 3.2tl experienced a transmission failure. Took it back to dealer who replaced part number 37820-PE8-305rm. This morning while driving into work, the car was once again slow to engage 3rd gear and did not seem to cycle to 4th or above.
Transmission failed in car which almost caused it to stall in acceleration because it was unable to find third gear while accelerating with other cars behind me. I was able to keep the car under control and move it off road to a safe spot. I had researched transmission problems with my car so I realized the symptoms immediately but had less than a day's notice before it happened. Others have reported even less notice with their cars on the highway at a high rate of speed dropping from 5th to 2nd gear jerking them forward and causing the car to swerve.
2001 Acura 3.2 TL automatic transmission was slow to shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. Problem became progresively worse over a period of a few days. Transmission was eventually replaced by dealership.
2001 Acura TL transmission failure. Without warning, the car died while accelerating from a stop (red-light). I was almost rear-ended by the vehicle behind me. My vehicle is only two years old with 31,000 miles. After the incident, I was able to drive the car very slowly. I went straight to Acura dealer, who stated the transmission was defective and needed to be replaced. While no one was injured in this specific incident, the defective Acura transmissions have the potential to cause serious injuries.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Quincy, MA, USA