We have been on the road for hours, heading home from our trip to Orlando. We're on I-10, about 20 miles east of Pensacola, cruising along, about to pass an 18 wheeler, when all of a sudden......
The dash board lit up with five sensor warnings. The engine went from 1500 rpms to 5000! What the hell???
The sensors were saying: check engine light, emmisson system warning, transmission warning, blind spot warning, and no cruise control warning. Dang! Only 15,000 mIles on this sucker!
The spousal unit was driving at the time, looks at me, "do I pull over? Or keep going?" The engine was still running, car was moving, at 5000 rpms, don't stop, phone calls were being made.
First call to Acura of Jackson: "sorry, we're short on service technicians today, one moment please. Service tech: with what you are saying, we would need to hook it up to the diagnostic machine to determine what is wrong. I guess you can pull over, kill the engine and try again."
At this moment I don't think I said "bull shit" but I sure thought it, and then some. Next call was to the salesman to see what our options for getting home would be. More of the same, "I'm on my cell phone and can't transfer to the service department". Sorry we've been there, done that!
My Boy Scout training then went into high gear. Smartazz phone here we come. Internet search for the nearest Acura dealership. It's now 3:30, hopefully there is one that will be open when we get there and they can do the diagnostics! Ah, Joe Bullard Acura, Mobile, AL here we come!
A call to Joe Bullard. We explained our situation, about an hour away according to Google maps. Their service technicians usually shut down at 5:00 each day. They say, "bring it in, we will have a tech here waiting for you." Yes!!!
We make it to Joe Bullard Acura. There are three cars in the service assessment area already, now 4:30, oh boy. We explain who we are, and our issues, and we called ahead for advice. The service manager hears our name, and he is "Johnny on the spot". He barks "send that car to diagnostics immediately, and do not turn off the engine!" I'm liking the sound of that already!
They confirm that 5 sensors have gone waco. The transmission is not communicating. There are two computers under the hood, one is easy, the other is inside the transmission, not so easy.
An hour and a half later: we need to do a full diagnostic run. The error messages have never been seen on this model by Acura before. We will get you some transportation to get home. Major relief, especially since we had two other passengers with us!
There were no SUVS available at the local Hertz. All their loaner cars were out. They gave us the keys to another MDX that they were using off the used car lot, with less than 7000 miles. Joe Bullard Acura, you are the bomb!
When our car is ready, I will have to return their car to pick up ours. No big deal. Somebody is gonna get some cheese straws as a big thank you on the return trip.
If you live in the Mobile area and are looking for a car in the near future, check out the Joe Bullard dealerships along I-65. I don't know about their sales departments, but their service is top knotch!
Retired in 2012. I'm trying to out run old age and boredom. So far, I'm winning the race!
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