Acura Owners Complain Of Cracking Dashboards

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga.,None — Channel 2 Action News consumer investigator Jim Strickland is awaiting a response from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to his questions about 2004 and 2005 Acura TL sedans.

The issue is the dashboard.

A Cherokee County man who drives one said the problem started with a hairline crack on the passenger side of the dash, right next to the airbag.

The research Strickland did reveals that's not where the problem ends.

"I have no doubt that it'll end up like some of the pictures I've seen where the cracks are horrible," said car owner Adam Thompson.

Strickland found the pictures of which Thompson speaks. Dashboards from 2004 and 2005 TL sedans from several southern states are shown to be suffering multiple cracks.

The pictures are posted to a Facebook page on the issue. It has 300 members. That's where Strickland also found Atlantan Cathy Barnes.

"It makes the car look awful. You see it every time you get in," said Barnes. She also has a 2004 TL.

LINK: Acura TL Defective Dash Facebook Page

Multiple cracks are on the passenger side, and a deep gash appears on the cowling over the instrument cluster.

"It's a high-end car, and you pay big money for it, and you shouldn't have big cracks in your dash board," said Barnes.

"I don't know, you know with a crack like that, if the airbag were to deploy if it would cause any sort of malfunction," said Thompson.

Airbag deployment is a concern in many of more than two-dozen complaints Strickland found filed with federal regulators.

Honda's Atlanta spokeswoman told Strickland that they don't have a huge volume of complaints and have no reports of any safety issues with air bag deployment.

She said concerned drivers should call 800-382-2238.

WSBTV