Acura Repair and Service in Arvada, CO

Acura is Honda's luxury arm, which means you get Honda's reliability with a bit more power and a nicer interior. Under the skin, these are Honda drivetrains — J-series and K-series engines, Honda automatic transmissions, and (on the TL, MDX, and RDX) Honda's SH-AWD system. We know all of it.

The models we see most are the TL, TSX, MDX, and RDX. The 3.5L and 3.7L V6 engines in the TL and MDX are strong, but they share the same timing belt interval as other Honda V6 engines — 105,000 miles. The TSX uses a K24 four-cylinder with a timing chain, so no belt to worry about on that one.

The SH-AWD system is worth talking about. It's a capable system that sends torque to the rear wheels and can even shift power side to side, but it requires its own fluid changes. The rear differential fluid on SH-AWD Acuras should be changed every 30,000 miles. We see a lot of SH-AWD vehicles come in with 80K+ miles and original diff fluid — that's asking for expensive problems.

Acura dealers charge luxury rates for Honda-platform work. That doesn't make sense to us, and it shouldn't make sense to you. A timing belt job on a TL or MDX is the same procedure as the Honda equivalent — same engine, same belt, same water pump — but the dealer charges more because there's an "A" on the grille instead of an "H."

We use OEM-spec parts and fluids on every Acura service. That means genuine Honda/Acura transmission fluid, OEM-equivalent timing belt kits, and the right differential fluid for SH-AWD. We've done enough of these to know what fails, what's overkill, and what's worth doing while we're already in there.