1. Name: Monica Varisco
Location: Leage City, Tx

I have NO complaints about the dealership, my complaints are with Acura itself.  I own a 2002 Acura TL-S and have issues with the paint quality.
I've talked to other owners (of TL-S', Integras and CLs) and all are complaining that their paint is fragile.  Within the first month of ownership, several of us experience multiple chips that go down to the metal.  The paint does not withhold against any of the elements and I for one am angry about that.  Looking down the road, it appears that after a year of ownership my car will have the look of a car of 4 years!  I've written our regional VP (who sent a thank you lttr for the purchase)...to which no reply has yet been sent!  My next step is to send a 2nd letter and copy of it to some news station (to one of those consumer segments).

Any suggestions?



2. Hello

I noticed you beat me to registering acurasucks.com.

I'm having some pretty serious quality problems with my brand new TL, and I'm getting stonewalled as I try to escalate the issue through Acura/Honda.

Do you have any contacts for people within the Acura/Honda organization who actually care about customer satisfaction? Or any other suggestions for effective ways to communicate with Acura?

Thanks for any help you can give,

Willis Morse



3. Let me first say that I think my 1995 Integra GSR is a great car. With that said however, I think that Acura has intentionally been hurting their future sales by the way they treat their current customers, one could even say that they are cannibalizing future profits for measly short-term gains. First, it's incredibly expensive to replace parts and repair the car. Second, they show total disregard for their customers by making no effort to inform current owners about rampant problems with theft of parts from the car or even the entire car.

Now, I bear full responsibility for problems with the car, as well as security, but it's Acura's attitude in dealing with the problems that really irks and will most likely prevent me from ever dealing with them in the future when I choose to buy a new car. Here are two examples of problems I've had:

A). My anti-lock brake system is currently out because it leaks (and I'm past warranty). I'm told I must replace the entire unit, not just some seals to prevent the leaking. It's all one unit, a unit that costs $1200! I don't know much about car design so maybe this has to be one unit, but I find that hard to believe. What I don't find hard to believe is that they see major profits from this -- fixing the seals would be a lot less profit. This part costs 6% of the original cost of the car! So while the dealer (and an independent repair shop) says "Oh well, that's just what it costs," I have to drive without ABS until I can come up with the cash.

B). Two years ago my wheels and tires were stolen from my car while in my driveway. When I bought my car for less than $20,000 in 1995, I thought "hey, it's not a theft target, it's not a very expensive car relative to others." Apparently, the rest of the car must not cost much to build, but stock 1995 rims and tires came to over $2400! Fortunately, my insurance picked up the tab minus my $500 deductible, but the incredible part is that the dealer repair guy says to me "This happens all the time. Your car is the 3rd one this week." What?!? This happens all the time and the dealer and Acura make no effort to contact their customers with even a simple letter?

I did more research on this and found out that the local police are aware of theft rings that ransack Acura Integras. Wouldn't this have been obvious to Acura after noticing that dozens of cars were coming in for new wheels, seats, etc? I had no idea that the rims were that expensive or that they are desirable, otherwise I would have made sure to get locking lugnuts and a better alarm. I see this as a blatant attempt to make profits for the dealer's repair shop.

Before all this happened, I used to recommend my car to people as an inexpensive alternative to overpriced cars. 6 people bought the Integra on my recommendation alone...3 of them have now had thefts and feel just like I do, that Acura makes no effort to explain to purchasers of the car how large of a theft target it is.

H. Fram San Diego, CA

 

4. George Oprea, Toronto, Canada

Acura Legend Back seat support

5. Melissa Green, Cincinnati, OH

Whatever happened to "Our commitment doesn't stop when you turn off the engine"? This is Acura's promise to its customers. On July 31, 2003, I purchased a 1992 Acura Legend. I have owned the car for approximately three months. I love this car, and have became a big fan of Acuras. I have even said that when I trade in the Legend, that I wanted to buy a new Acura since I was so pleased with the Legend's performance. In September, we drove it to Chicago and back and my family was very comfortable in the car. We were pleased that we had made such a good decision in purchasing this used vehicle. On November 2, 2003, my 1992 Acura Legend CAUGHT FIRE while we were driving it. The fire was caused by a faulty amplifier located in the rear of the car. Acura knew about this PRODUCT DEFECT since early 2001, yet I was never notified of any such danger. The fire department had to come to put out the flames. We were lucky that my children, ages 5 and 10, were not in the back seat or they possibly could have lost their lives in this senseless situation. Acura was notified of the situation on November 3, 2003. At that time, we were informed of the recall that occurred two years ago, and about the possibility that the factory amplifier could catch fire. Erin Hafdahl from the Customer Service Center in the Torrance, California location contacted us later that day to inform us that an Acura representative would be out to inspect the damage and to make a determination on the matter. Until the determination was made, Ms. Hafdahl informed me, there was nothing that she could do to assist our family regarding rental or loaner vehicles. In the mean time, our active four member family has been reduced to sharing one car to take two children to two different schools and two adults to two different jobs in two different parts of town. I am unhappy. My family could have been seriously injured because of your defective product. In the mean time, Acura and its staff have no sense of urgency regarding the situation. I am a mother, I work full-time and I attend law school part-time. I need my vehicle. I have been deprived of the use of my vehicle through no fault of my own, and Acura is not moving very quickly to correct the situation. When I spoke to Barry on the customer service line today to inform him of my unhappiness, and asked to speak to a supervisor, he practically laughed at me. He said "supervisor's don't take calls from customers". What's wrong with this picture? I am a supervisor and I spend 50% of my time on the phone with clients. Barry also suggested that if I wanted immediate access to a rental car, that I should file a claim with my insurance company. I must admit that this sounds borderline fraudulent and would be of more benefit to Acura than it would be to me. If I filed a claim with my insurer, inevitably MY insurance rates would rise and Acura would not be responsible for the cost of the rental. If the insurance company paid for the damage to the car, it would most certainly drive up my rate and leave Acura no responsibility in the situation. Barry's comment definitely made me think twice about Acura as a company. It seems as if there will be no satisfaction by Acura to this situation at this juncture and the fire occurred nearly a week ago. It is chilling to think of how me or my family would have been treated had the injuries been serious or caused death to one of us. If we had been in a remote location where the fire trucks couldn't have reached us or stuck in Cincinnati's gridlock traffic, I shudder to think of the consequences. I think that this is probably an indication of how Acura thinks of its customers as a whole. I contacted Acura repeatedly just to request a replacement vehicle. Erin Hafdahl of Acura Customer Service continues to say that the liability for providing this loaner is too high for them to risk. I ask you, what about liability issues when the car that you manufacture catches on fire? Is there no liability there? Or, is it a bigger liability to approve a rental car for a loyal Acura owner? To me, that doesn't make sense. Acura sucks.