The contact owns a 2004 Acura 3.2tl. The consumer hit a pothole on the front passenger side. The rim broke into pieces and the tire was damaged. The rim needed to be replaced. Updated 11-24-08 updated 11/25/08.

- Sun Valley, CA, USA

2004 Acura TL right front ball joint broke in half. The consumer believed the incident happened because of a manufacturing defect. The dealer blamed the failure on after market rims that the consumer purchased, the business where the rims were purchased stated they were a proper fit for the vehicle.

- Auburn, NY, USA

I have owned this car since April 2004 and have had trouble with front wheel balance since almost new. Every time I have requested dealer service they have diagnosed the problem as a bent rim. My wife drives this car and she has absolutely no recall of hitting any potholes. As a result of these failures I have real concerns about the strength and integrity of the materials used in the wheel design. Three rims have now failed in the 7 months I have owned this car and I'm worried about the safety of this vehicle.

- Durham, NC, USA

A crack in the alloy wheel rim on the right front of my 2004 Acura was associated with a loss of air pressure and loss of positive tire seal resutilng in the tire separating from the rim. My wife was able to retain control. An inspection by leith Acura found no evidence of a puncture wound to the tire. The sidewall was deformed to the point that the tire was unuseable. Leith Acura and Acura client services refused to replace the rim and tire under the new car warranty. Acura insists that the rim was damaged as the result of a severe impact to the tire (pothole ??) and therefore not covered by the vehicle warranty. My wife reports experiencing no such impact either at the time of the incident or during any period preceding the incident. I assert that the crack was the likely result of a undetected defect in the manufacturing process and/or the particular materials used, and that it was the accentuation of the pre-existing crack associated with the 'impacts' of normal driving that caused the tire to suddenly fail.the dealer asserts that there was observable damage to the rim, but is unable to determine whether such damage resulted in the crack or that the damage was the result of the rim having been weakened by the crack plus the impact of the rim with the road surface when the tire deflated. My unreimbursed cost for a new rim, tire, and alignment was $625. My concern is that this is an equipment problem, perhaps inherent to the use of alloy rims; that Acura is aware of the problem (reports frequent similar occurrences) and that they simply refuse to honor claims for this type of equipment failure under the warranty. As a highway safety researcher I am concerned that this is a potentially serious crash risk problem over and above the problem of manufacturer and dealer integrity in honoring warranty claims.

- Cary, NC, USA