vicbastige

After spending my first week in my new 2017 MDX, I can confidently say that the Nav system is possibly the worst tech I have ever experienced in a car. Slow, cumbersome and buggy. Several steps to enter an address with dual screens and an audible system that frankly is worthless. Both the wife and I have already reverted to Waze...on an over $50,000 car. Pitiful Acura! Caveat emptor.

...at least the vehicle other than the Nav/infotainment is really nice so far.

eddiepants

Agree completely. The wife refuses to use the one in her 2015 ADV. Sadly the one built in my Honda Goldwing is far superior but it is made by Garmin for Honda. Complained to Acura about it but they just didn't get it.

CTNYC

Eh - Waze (or Google maps if you dno't like going down alleyways to shave off 4 seconds off your drive) is superior because of the traffic information -- I haven't found any factory nav that does a good job with traffic... However, that being said, I would still buy a Tech or Advance for the other features (and the map is pretty - I've gotten so used to having the map on the display to look for an upcoming street) lol

nvasquez269

Have you complaint to Acura about this, just to see what they say or do, i own a 2016 advance and i have the same problem, i did contact them and i am waiting to see what the say. Will post as soon as i hear from them. I also own a 2008 nissan armada and the navi on that one is far better.

vicbastige

I have and they are to "look at it" when I come in next. I assume it is the nature of the system as I am pretty comfortable with the technology. If I learn anything meaningful when I take it in, I'll update the thread.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

the Hardware IS ALWAYS the limiting factor.

the hardware for this model is at least 5 years old.

nvasquez269

Holy crap, i hope you are wrong, but if not, shame acura for selling these cars like this, specially because they are so expensive.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I believe this model was introduced in 2014. that means they were working on the infotainment center for at least a year before hand.

and with Moore's law and incremental updates, 4 years IS an eternity in hardware life

nvasquez269

That is so sad,
well, here is acura's response,
" Upon further research, we confirmed there are currently no open campaigns or software updates pertaining to the navigation and back-up camera. However, it is our pleasure to note your valuable feedback, as Acura strives to produce vehicles which exceed our client's expectations and your insight assists us in fully understanding consumer perspective. If you feel both system are not operating as designed, we recommend you to contact the Service Department of your preferred Acura dealership for assistance with diagnosis. "
So NOPE, no fixes. It is weird because they did make changes to other lineups such as new Pilot and Civic's.

neo1738

The nav system is notoriously horrendous on these vehicles which is sad. I blasted the speed and mapping on their latest buyers review they sent me and I hope more people do the same. This has been a problem for YEARS. It is honestly my only big gripe with the car. That being said I only found out a few weeks ago that the system has traffic routing OFF by default. You need to go into settings and enable it....SMH

RedKloud

Yes, the entire infotainment system is a piece of crap. Looks like it was programmed by an amateur in his spare time.

ostrich

Unfortunately, this is one of the weakest areas of Acura. Sadly, it applies to the entire Acura line, not just MDX. I don't understand why they won't fix it.

Nexx

user error? i have zero issues using mine. voice command is very simple and quick. touch screen works fine just input the street name and number. takes me all of 20 seconds at most.

neo1738

I would love to see a video of you input an address and having the route available in 20 seconds. The system is way under-powered (CPU wise) from many others and has significant delays.

DJ Iceman

I agree with this! It's sometimes 20 seconds from the time I push the "menu" button until I can even start entering an address. Unacceptable, really, but what are you gonna do?

What's most sad to me is that Acura used to be the industry leader in this area. Even as competitors caught up to and passed Acura in other areas, they consistently got rave reviews from both consumer and magazines on the superiority of their ergonomics and nav systems. Sigh...

rsutoratosu

My classic 05 tsx navigation was awesome... I gotta find it but someone took it (TSX) apart and it literally used the same processor as a sega genesis 16bit.. My RX nav was pretty useless too.. Waze seems to be the ultimate app..

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^NASA used the processor from the Original Sony Playstation to power some of their crafts

Nexx

i just did one, timed it and it took me 24 seconds

i filmed it and i can upload it to youtube if needed.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

without video proof, you're talkin out your ass, foo

Nexx

one thing you do want to do it is let the computer boot up. if you try it right as you turn your car on yes it seems like it takes forever. give it a minute or two to fully boot up first.

TLXinTX

Voice input was simple enough for me using the full address. Press the steering wheel talk button twice, say "Navigation" and read off the full address. The system takes 5-10 seconds to parse what was said (oddly working its way backwards through the address elements) but it worked for me the first time I tried it.

I still used Waze as a backup and ultimately took a different route from what the car's GPS indicated, although in retrospect either route would have gotten me there in about the same time. Biggest gripe is how freaking loud the default Navi Voice Guidance is, and how the volume control is buried in the menus. I still couldn't tell you where the option is to change it -- it took a lot of hunting around to find it but it wasn't anywhere where I thought it should be.

I remember the voice volume being tied to the radio's volume in my 3G TL...

TacoBello

So what you are saying is if you want to go somewhere unknown, you have to start the car and then sit parked for 5 minutes first, before being able to enter an address and go. What a fantastic fucking idea.

Comfy

Please do it.
Action speaks better than words. In fact it would have been better if you replied to the previous post with video evidence. We all would like to see how it's done faster. Thanks.

jimihaha

All car navigation systems are crap if you are to compare it with your phone or newer GPS.

vicbastige

+1

neo1738

With so much more real estate it's not really excusable anymore. I think car companies are complacent in this area because they haven't been forced to innovate. It's sad that a phone 1/20th the size consistently outpaces a full "infotainment" system. It wouldn't take much to put a faster processer in there.

jimihaha

I agree but Car Navigations Systems have to comply to more stricter driver safety regulations than a smartphone or a GPS. With navigations and other Infotainment features now being disabled while the car is moving, I don't think the improvements will come fast enough. The government wants the drivers to keep their eyes on the road and not on the nav or infotainment screens, which makes a lot of sense really. Sometimes I get so distracted browsing for songs through my connected ipod on the screen while driving 70mph and it makes me cringe when I realize my stupidity. A terrible accident can happen in a snap if you take off your eyes on the road for just a couple of seconds. Drivers should not be multitasking while driving. There's going to be a lot of temptation to take the eyes off the road if you have an ipad like interface as your nav and infotainment. Acura needs to improve their nav and interface, no question about that. But I think the voice commands should be the first thing they should perfect.

Ron.s

The government doesn't mandate lock out while moving ala Honda and Lexus. Their attorneys are probably worried about liability. My 2016 GMC truck doesn't "lock out" anything and actually has a decent Nav system. Since it has Android Auto/ Car Play, I use Google for Nav. most of the time. Say what you want about GM but one thing they are doing right is in vehicle electronics. They have made annual model year changes to infotainment the last 4 years. My 2014 was better than some luxury SUV's and GM made improvements again in 15 and now has a very good system in 2016, IMO. Probably not as good as Tesla but it is easy to use, fast and reliable. But after getting Android Auto I rarely use the factory Nav.

neoshi

The safety liabilities really has nothing to do with the lag of the system though... It kind of just boils down to the fact that a lot of features were packaged into the system, but in total they are too much for the spec'ed CPU to handle. The older gen navis tend to be smoother because their functions were more simple back then (just look at the ILX system for example vs ours). Plus, you're driving multiple screens.

Last gen, the architecture for cars used to be Windows CE based or similar, but now seems more proprietary. More optimizations are needed, but the development timeframe is extremely short. That is why you see newer vehicles using the same system have smoother interfaces and response times (though the 2017 is arguably mostly the same and the 2014 is just crippled). OTA or even annual USB fed updates and bug fixes would have been appreciated, but it's a revenue generating service for brands, so forget that point (though, Lexus and Tesla have been doing this). Not to mention, when you keep on updating tech, people tend to stick to them longer rather than going onto the next product.

A lot of boils down to money, but this system is also generating some very harsh negative reputation for Acura, so a middle ground solution was probably just those TSBs that updated 2014s and 2015s. The rest of us, good luck.