CarComplaints.com Notes: The automatic transmission on the 2nd generation CL (2001-2003) is a downshifting mess. According to reports it slips, flares, and eventually fails --- sometimes around 40,000 miles.
The troubled transmission got an extended warranty for some CL owners that was later extended even further thanks to a class-action lawsuit in the United States. But even with the extended warranty, the transmission in this car is well known for overheating and locking up suddenly and without warning.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
37,494 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 : 2001 Acura Cl type S traveling 50 mph on US6 transmission down shifted abruptly and made me swerve out of traffic next day transmission totally died and was replaced under warranty the second transmission is giving signs of the same problem Dec 2001 first transmission replaced Jan 2003 second transmission checked and fluid is burned plus transmission is on its way out, I am afraid my vehicle is unsafe to drive.
I was driving my 5-year-old son home from school. After more than half of the stops, upon acceleration, the car's engine would race up to as high as 7,000 rpms. While maintaining 45 mph on surface streets, the car would down shift erratically, as if I had slammed on the brakes suddenly for no apparent reason. Luckily, we live in Arizona, where the landscape is flat and the weather is warm year-round. According to Acura client services, cold weather and uphill/downhill driving could instigate the trouble we've had. They'll need to come up with something better than that for us. We have owned Honda vehicles since 1989, so for the past 14 years, we have been loyal. Now, the priciest purchase is what I would call a lemon, since we are now without a car for at least a week and they are replacing the entire transmission with a refurbished one. This is not acceptable. Plus, no recall was ever issued" why not? are we the 2% of the Acura-buying population that does not matter? all I know for sure is that if we owed the american Honda motor company something, they'd be all over us like white on rice. What about the little guy? who's going to give us what we deserve" not Mr. Yakamikimoto-son living large over there in California.
2001 Acura 3.2 Cl type-S transmission failure. Transmission failed at approximately 20,000 miles w/ little warning signs. Any signs my wife felt were attributed to traction control engagement due to inclement weather. The vehicle failed while driving on the highway, obviously a potentially dangerous situation. Acura has replaced the transmission, but the replacement is beginning to fail also. The first signs were transmission slippage when attempting to cross a busy highway, again a potentially dangerous situation. Only reporting this due to obvious nature of issue and the fact no recalls have yet been issued...fixing this problem on an occurence basis is not sufficient. Even barring direct accidents due to loss of control, it is still a potential safety issue to have your vehicle lose velocity on a busy highway or intersection.
There is a huge space of time in 3rd gear when the transmission basically feels like it's in neutral and won't respond to throttle. The engine revs higher but the car does not move while in middle of motion. The rev range when it happens is between idle (700rpm) and 1300 RPM. It happens all the time.
After several abnormal gear-shifting patterns (as was described in a letter from Acura that extended powertrain warranty due to such potential transmission problems, affecting only certain car models) being noticed, the car's engine abruptly died while the car was traveling on I5 at about 65 mph with all warning lights suddenly lit on dash panel. Luckily, there was minimal surrounding traffic at the time and we were able to coast maneuver the car to the right shoulder before it stalled out completely. We feel that Acura by extending the warranty was acting responsibly. However, after our harrowing experience, we strongly feel that Acura should have taken more initiative in addressing this problem perhaps by doing a full recall so as to prevent such life-threatening situations from occurring. It is irresponsible for anyone to promise a fix after imposing life and death situations onto their consumers.
- Hacienda Heights, CA, USA
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In March of 2002 my 2001 Acura Cl type-S had its transmission replaced with a factory rebuilt one. Not even a year after the replacement the rebuilt transmission went out(2/19/03). Fortuantely I was not on a highway as I lost a lot of engine power to the car.
While driving 75mph on tollway, while tranny was in auto mode, not ss mode. The car shift out of 5th & into 2nd or 3rd, going from 75mph to 30mph within less than a second. Engine RPM revs to redline, the car swerve & almost out of control. Cars behind me had to swerve & braked hard to avoid rear ending my car. Acura dealer will replace transmission.
My car is 2001 Acura Cl type S 35000 miles. Been driving for less than a year. My transmission was failed past Saturday. Was travel at 50 mph suddenly transmission failed and won't accelerate. The car behind me almost hit me. I received a recall statement from Acura back on Dec. 2002 about the transmission. I took my car to local dealer to have the transmission replace but they refused cause my car warranty has been cancelled since Feb. 2002. Because of the recalled, should my car cover under this warranty even my car have savage title?
I own a 2001 Acura Cl type S. on January 5th the transmission of my car failed to engage while I was travelling South on hwy 101 in ca, at approximately 70 mph. No one was injured. The situation could have been drastically worse if I had been travelling in heavier traffic because there was no warning before the transmissions failure.
I have a 2001 Acura Cl type-S with 69,855 miles. The transmission failed on wed Jan 29,2003 while I was leaving the parking garage from the court house in downtown ft. Lauderdale. I was on the road going about 35 miles per hour and the car wanted to shift into third gear, but the transmission failed resulting in my rpms to redline. The car started buckling violently; luckly I wasn't going very fast, but I did swerve into the other lane partly due to the buckling of the car. I was able to make it home albeit very slow and only in third gear with my hazzards on. Had the car towed the next day to the dealer (rick case Acura) and they are currently replacing the transmission. I will be selling this car because I no longer feel safe. Imagine if this had happened while on the highway.
When I am at speed of 40 and above the car has a tendency to downshift unexpectedly, almost causing 2 accidents thus far. They claim it is just "grade logic'' I would argue the opposite though.
My transmission kept going out causing me to lose control of my vehicle at interstate speeds. It was eventually replaced after two attempts of fixing a less serious (and costly) diagnosis that the Acura dealer made.
My 2001 Acura Cl suddenly downshifted while I was driving on a highway and I caused a injury to me. This happened while on my way to the dealer to replace a defective automatic transmission. In the course of that trip it sudddenly downshifted in 1st gear 4 times.
Failed transmission in 2001 Acura Cl 3.2 at 38500 miles. Would not shift from 2nd to 3rd gear and transmission revved in neutral as this was happening, putting me in a dangerous position as I was driving in rush morning rush hour traffic.
Purchased 2001 acural 3.2cl S-type with 32K miles. At 38K miles, car began to slip in 3rd gear. Transmission would completely disengage in 3rd, and I would have to shift it to adjacent gear to re-engage transmission. Over the course of the next week, slipping became increasingly more frequent. I have read many similar such complaints, and I am seriously concerned about the reliability of the Cl transmission.
I have a 2001 Acura Cl type S. the transmission has blown and replaced by Acura with a refurbished unit. This one so far is working property. However I have made several trips to Acura previous when my transmission was having hard time shifting to reverse and engage to reverse with loud metallic sound and hard thump. Dealer tech were helpful and tried to call Acura tech line to assist me in resolve the matter, but the tech line continue to deny the problem and insist it is normal for a transmission to engage hard. Finally when the tranny blown and I took it to dealer using 2nd gear on street. Dealer said this (a blown tranmission) is the evidence they need to replace it. Even with a refurbished one not a new one. Also I have experienced 2 times on freeway where the transmission downshift on its own reducing the vehicle speed dramatically. Luckily there were no vehicle behimd
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Dartmouth , MA, USA