Honda Car Forum

I am considering purchasing a 2003 Acura 3.2 cl. I have heard that they have transmission problems. It is the automatic transmisson and it is not a type-S. It has 80,000 miles on it. Does anyone know if the cl transmission issues pertain to this model. Thanks in advance.

If previous maint shows transmission fluid change at least once..hopefully twice, the trans should be ok. It is difficult to hide a problem with the trans. Drive the vehicle cold and if it doesnt shift hard or slip into neutral while you gas it around a corner.....It should be ok. Just service it when you buy and do it evert 30,000. Mine has 200,000 and is still good.

the v-6's which is the 3.2 does have a history of tranny problems. Acura extended the warranty to about 100K. you can search for the VIN on the honda recall websitehttp://www.hondatransmissionsettleme.../php/login.php































http://www.hondatransmissionsett

I have a 2003 cl type s auto and I bought the car with 60k miles on it and the transmission was replaced already in the car. Acura did extend the warranty to 100k miles so you have at least 20k miles to find out if it is slipping or not. Have a certified acura tech check it out before purchasing.My car now has 92000 on it and not a lick of problem with the transmission.

Honda has resolved a longstanding roundabout with their automatic transmissions mated to their J series engines (3.0, 3.2 & 3.5 liter V6). I'm familiar with the issue since our family drives an '00 V6 Accord & an '06 TL. Apparently the problem affects 1998 - 2002, with a few 2003's also affected. The problem seems to be a defect in the 2nd & 3rd gear clutch packs...possible defects in materials. I've also read that the overal design is defective, however annecdotal experience doesn't seem to support that. That is, Honda claims only ~ 3% of these vehicles are affected, whereas again, I've read Honda blog sites that claim that the numbers could be as high as 8%. And the models affected are: Accord, Odyssey, Pilot, MDX, RL & TL (both base model & Type S TLs). Honda lost a class action lawsuit during 2005 I believe which encumbered them with extending the warranty of their transmissions out to 108,000 miles. The lawsuit settlement states that the financial responsibility to Honda could run around $180 million. I recall some of the symptoms from the failure of these transmissions are:- rough shifting- delayed shifting- transmission slippage- failure to shift in/out of certain gears- complete transmission failureSome recommendations to owners of these cars & who fortunately have not experienced transmission problems (my opinion only):- be sure to be meticulous about maintaining your drive train...especially, change the transmission fluid within the factory specifications (refer to your driver's manual); should your transmssion fail, you'll have a better case to make since you can prove it was not from driver negligence. And KEEP MAINTENANCE RECORDS.- avoid unreasonable taxing the drive train...don't tow anything beyond vehicle specs- avoid extreme performance modifications (e.g., supercharges & turbocharges stress the transmission beyond engineered factory specifications)- consider the addition of an offboard transmission cooler...these are a good idea anyway since they lower the operating temperature of the transmission fluid, which definitively extends transmission life. IMO, if your car has a lot of miles on it with a factory original transmission, that could be a very good sign...it's not likely one of the defective ones.