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I would like to make a complaint and find out what my options are on this matter. First let me say I own a 2004 Acura MDX, this is my primary family car. I have 4 children and use this car to take my kids back and forth to school and to buy groceries. I have never had any problems with this car it has always worked great. Until I took my 2004 Acura Mdx to have my brakes replaced because they didn’t seem as responsive as they were a few years back which I am sure is normal wear and tear. I took my MDX to Acura of Pleasanton California. They were nice and gave me a courtesy car for the time being. When I got my car back it was one problem after another. The VSA light would come on and my car would veer to the left. They replaced all VSA sensors and they somehow found a problem with the transmission torque system. This had never been a problem before. It worried me that I use this car with my little ones and this was happening. I took the car back and forth a few times and then finally got it back after what seemed like 3 weeks of back and forth. So when my husband brought it home I tried it out and the steering wheel was off, ( the steering wheel was not aligned) you had to turn the steering wheel to the left to drive straight, and I noticed a rattling noise in the dashboard area on the driver’s side everytime I make a turn. I had never heard this rattling noise in my car before, so I thought that it was odd. At this point I am thinking this is just ridiculous, how do you give someone a car back like that. This shows how careless they are. What if it was something else, are they playing with people’s lives. I started to become nervous about taking it to Acura again but they made a mistake and needed to correct it. We took it back and they fixed the steering wheel only. I got my car back and then everytime I would turn my steering wheel to take turns or speed bumps my stereo speakers get this loud scary zappy popping screeching sound, I don’t know how to describe it but it’s horrible. At this point I am horrified to have to take my car back there and I was thinking how much more could they possibly mess it up. I waited a few weeks hoping the problem would just go away but I did not so we took the car back to Acura and they wouldn’t fix It because they couldn’t find anything wrong .Finally until the last when my husband went for a drive with the technician he heard the noise. Isn’t that convenient, it happens everytime I drive and my 4 little ones all get scared and can’t even listen to music or watch DVDs. I would say its temperamental some days it works and today I could not listen to anything on it. Acura of Pleasanton wanted us to pay for diagnostic for this problem and I cannot comprehend why. They were the only ones who have been working on my car and I Never had any stereo or speaker problems until I left my car with them. I know they messed it up. Daniel Hines that works there had the nerve to say that maybe my cell phone is making this occur. I cannot believe this. I don’t use my cell phone while I’m driving with my children or anytime I am driving. You can’t blame this on something else. Is this the common procedure what they try to do and make it seem like the customer is causing the problem to cover their incompetent errors and messing up customers vehicles there at Acura of Pleasanton. Acura of Pleasanton caused this and I would like my car in the same condition as when I originally took it to them the first time. This is so unfair, how could they get away with doing this. My 2004 mdx worked like a champ before taking it to them. Now my car has speaker problems and a rattling noise in the dash on the driver side which they claim to be the motor mounts because supposedly one collapsed and I need to pay them seven hundred dollars for them to fix it. Is it normal wear and tear for a car that is driven around town only and never had any major accidents to have a motor mount collapse? Is it normal wear and tear? Either they did something, or maybe it’s a defective motor mount I can’t see a motor mount just collapsing all of a sudden after I had been taking my car to them. I even suspect they purposely or maybe accidently messed up my car, and they are acting dumb about it. All I know is my car was a great car before I took it there; this so sad now I'm stuck with these problems. I am a very upset and a displeased customer. I was hoping the problem would just go away and maybe there is just a lose wire from the work they did. This problem is not going away. I figured it’s time to take the next step and Acura of Pleasanton needs to be held accountable. We would greatly appreciate it if you would contact us and let us know what we need to do to get this problem resolved. We tried to speak to the manager and he was unhelpful and blamed the problem on the cars age, mileage and wear and tear, which I disagree because we never had any problems before and the car was in excellent running condition. We are highly considering seeking legal action if this goes unresolved. I am uncomfortable taking my car back to Acura of Pleasanton for any service for fear of car safety of for my family. I really feel that Acura’s technicians, service advisors, and manager need a lot of additional training. I don’t want this issue to be swept under the rug like all the other incidences I have been researching about Acura of Pleasanton. There is a major issue with the service dept.
The only issue before any service was brake pads needing replacement
After the service for front brake pads being fixed then 3 VSA sensors needed to be replaced, Torque transmission system replaced, steering wheel miss aligned, motor mount collapsed, rattling noise in drivers side, speakers not functioning properly
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Unfortunately, I had to call in to the Acura Customer Care line today because I received some very disturbing news from my local dealership, Gillman Acura, about a power-train warranty on my car. I was told at the dealership, after they conferred with an Acura representative from the Acura Warranty Dept., that the power steering pump is not covered under the power-train warranty. Baffled by this, I called in to speak with someone who might be able to clarify how this could possibly be when the car is almost unable to be driven without power steering. The representative that answered the phone asked how he could help.
I then began explaining my concern to the representative. He asked for the VIN of the car, and after provided, he asked for my name and reviewed the purchase. I told him all of the information was correct, and I then explained my frustration of being told that the power steering pump is not covered by the power-train warranty. He went on to say that the parts that are covered with this warranty are only basically the engine and transmission. I told him that this was a useless warranty then since new cars rarely blow an engine, and he then went on to say that it could come in handy. I stated that I understand that it could since Acura is well known for having faulty transmissions, but I really thought that was supposed to have been cleared up. I again stated that the car cannot be driven without power steering, and then he asked me an asinine question that infuriated me. He wanted to know if I signed the papers for the car. Obviously, I did since I now have to deal with another issue for this car, but it was his way of letting me know that it was my fault for not reading every detail of a contract with Acura clearly. I now realize that I cannot trust Acura sales representatives to inform me completely when making a sales pitch either, so I will accept responsibility for being too trusting of their sales personnel.
He went on to state that I should read the warranty. I informed him that I did not call Acura Customer Service, a term being used loosely, to be scolded. He then stated that I wanted an answer that he was not authorized to give, and I then requested to be transferred to a person that could give the answer that I needed, and I was then told that no one was available. I told him that was fine because agencies such as the Better Business Bureau are great for dealing with poor customer service, and I ended the phone call.
This occurrence ranks among one of the worst that I have ever experienced with someone that is supposedly in a customer care facility speaking on the behalf of a company, such as Acura, that I used to believe actually cared about their customers. Now, I realize that the alleged caring about customers is a front. Instead of allowing me to speak with someone that could actually take some personal responsibility and assist me with something that is, and continues to be, very frustrating for me, I am instead told to read the contract and not put my name on it until I have. I agree that this is great advice, but as I stated earlier, I was actually trusting of another group of customer care representatives for Acura. I sure have learned a lot about this company that I will definitely share with others so that the same mistakes are not made in the future!