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I have a Acura TLX Tech 2.4 that I bought back in May 2016 at an Acura dealer in Houston, TX. Since I bought it, I noticed that on a sunny warm day, when the car has been parked in the sun for 8hrs, the Nav System will not bootup/connect to Acuralink or Bluetooth. So I can't use any of my Acuralink services and can't use Pandora or connect to Handsfreelink.
This problem happens to me about 90% of the time when I try to start my car after work. In the morning, evening, if the car is garaged, or on a cloudy day my Nav System works fine.
I took my car to the Dealer and their diagnosis was that I had stuff plugged into the USB ports and is was jacking up my system. Sounds strange as the USB ports are there for a reason. Oh well, nothing plugged into any USB port or power outlet but I noticed that I still have this issue.
Took it back to dealership a 2nd time. Explained to them exactly how to reproduce it. Just my luck we had thunderstorms and cloudy skies. Dealer called me and said that they couldn't find anything wrong.
I explained to them it has to be a sunny day. They were like oh well we didn't find anything wrong. Sighhhhh.
A day later was the 1st sunny day for that week and after work when I started my car.... Acuralink and Bluetooth were not working. Grrr!!!!
So frustrated and I don't know what I can do to prove to them this is a real issue and make them fix my car. Any advice on what I should do next?
One of the tech I spoke with thru american acura, he told me to try to record the issue on your cell phone or a camcorder and show it to those tech at the dealership. that way, you have some sort of hard proof other than just words. I am planning to do it on mine but it a bit tricky on my issue lol.
I might be wrong but if I remember correctly, someone on here said those system can be acting weird if the temperature inside the car is high, and even the manual said it too?
Agreed on taking a video of it. It won't necessarily make them fix it, but at least you'll have some proof. You may also want to take it to another dealership, as well, but not until you have the video showing what's happening. I did this when I was having the limp mode/wheel actuator issues with my car. The service manager told me it was good I took a video of what was happening and not just say "all the warning lights came on". But he said he had seen what I was talking about before, so he knew what was going on. Anyway... take a video.
I submitted to the service tech 2 videos of it not working . I was able to replicate it 2 straight days. We'll see what they say.
My concern is that even with video proof that unless they see it in person.... it never happened. My dealership seems very hesitant to work on it. I have dealt with the other dealer before and I fear that will behave the same way. The Acura dealers here are not that helpful. I love my car but service is disappointing.
I might be wrong but if I remember correctly, someone on here said those system can be acting weird if the temperature inside the car is high, and even the manual said it too?
Well my car is black with black interior... and I have ceramic tint all around. It is November in Houston so the weather the other day was Sunny with a high of 77. Basically a nice day but my Acuralink and Bluetooth would not bootup after the car has been sitting in the parking lot all day. That is just not acceptable .
On the bright side, at least it's not "a major issue that's causing the vehicle to be out of service for a long time" (like a CEL). This is probably just a teeny tiny minor software issue.
I work at a dealer, my advice is what the other members say. Take video and footage of it, and also get the service manager's e-mail to start a paper trail. Timestamps are the way to go, and obviously you aren't really putting pressure on the dealer, but the dealer will put pressure on Acura to have one of their techs come out and diag it. This could be the beginning of a buy-back.. just document everything. Hope this helps.
I work at a dealer, my advice is what the other members say. Take video and footage of it, and also get the service manager's e-mail to start a paper trail. Timestamps are the way to go, and obviously you aren't really putting pressure on the dealer, but the dealer will put pressure on Acura to have one of their techs come out and diag it. This could be the beginning of a buy-back.. just document everything. Hope this helps.
I really like my car so I hope they don't have to buy it back. Yeah I have been bugging my Acura Service manager. Each day after work I video record the car starting and the system not bootup up correctly. I then log the time, how long the car was parked , weather and temperature . I then email it all to him. I have done this for the last 3 straight days. After a replication rate of 3 of 3.... He said he is having the Technician look at it. I will continue to video document until it is fixed!
One of the tech I spoke with thru american acura, he told me to try to record the issue on your cell phone or a camcorder and show it to those tech at the dealership. that way, you have some sort of hard proof other than just words. I am planning to do it on mine but it a bit tricky on my issue lol.
I might be wrong but if I remember correctly, someone on here said those system can be acting weird if the temperature inside the car is high, and even the manual said it too?
recording video is not helpful.
I had my 4G passenger side window moving reversely as stated in TSB. it happened very randomly. I recorded video, when I shown it to dealer. they said, they have to see it in person otherwise they can not replicate issue. what the fuck!!! let me tell you which dealer, Sunnyside Acura in Nashua, NH and Prime Acura NH also.
somehow, I found the way of pressing the button to replicate the issue, I shown them in person, then they said "oh we will replace switch". this fucking obvious issue recorded by phone did not let them to fix it. somehow they inspired by looking it in person. fuck
recording video is not helpful.
I had my 4G passenger side window moving reversely as stated in TSB. it happened very randomly. I recorded video, when I shown it to dealer. they said, they have to see it in person otherwise they can not replicate issue. what the fuck!!! let me tell you which dealer, Sunnyside Acura in Nashua, NH and Prime Acura NH also.
somehow, I found the way of pressing the button to replicate the issue, I shown them in person, then they said "oh we will replace switch". this fucking obvious issue recorded by phone did not let them to fix it. somehow they inspired by looking it in person. fuck
Yeah that was basically the response I got from my Acura Service Adviser / Technicians in Houston (Katy). If they don't see it in person... they can't do anything about it.
I wrote to Acura Client Relations and sent them the same videos I recorded and sent to my Service Adviser. So we'll see if that does anything.
Since Friday, I have video documented the issue each time to prove how often it happens and will continue to until they fix it.
Are you positive that whomever did your window tinting actually used Ceramic film? The problems sound so similar to what metallic tints can do to Navigation and Bluetooth systems?
Are you positive that whomever did your window tinting actually used Ceramic film? The problems sound so similar to what metallic tints can do to Navigation and Bluetooth systems?
Yep my car has ceramic tint. Besides, I am pretty sure it is a heat issue and not a tinting issue.
The issue only happens when the car has been sitting at my work parking lot on a sunny day for 8 hrs. It does not even have to be that hot. I had this issue all last week in November and it was sunny in the 70's in Houston.
The car is garaged so in morning I have zero issues with the system.
I also live in Houston. I also have ceramic tint all around including my windshield. I can't imagine a owning a car here without it. I have the grey interior, silver exterior. I have never had this problem. Sounds like something that heats up and makes contact somewhere shorting something out. Probably a nightmare to troubleshoot, they would have to just replace things and hope they find it. I'm very close to AutoNation Acura on the south side, but bought my car at Sterling McCall. Can't say either service department is better than the other. Acura seems so programmed to deflect any request for service that isn't obvious. Hopefully Acura Customer Care will do something but they also seemed to be programmed to 'deny first' and hope you will go away. It has been a lot cooler lately so you may have to take this up with them again in the summer. Keep going back to the Service department to keep documenting it. That they won't acknowledge video is just more of their 'denial' approach to service in hopes that you will go away.
I also live in Houston. I also have ceramic tint all around including my windshield. I can't imagine a owning a car here without it. I have the grey interior, silver exterior. I have never had this problem. Sounds like something that heats up and makes contact somewhere shorting something out. Probably a nightmare to troubleshoot, they would have to just replace things and hope they find it. I'm very close to AutoNation Acura on the south side, but bought my car at Sterling McCall. Can't say either service department is better than the other. Acura seems so programmed to deflect any request for service that isn't obvious. Hopefully Acura Customer Care will do something but they also seemed to be programmed to 'deny first' and hope you will go away. It has been a lot cooler lately so you may have to take this up with them again in the summer. Keep going back to the Service department to keep documenting it. That they won't acknowledge video is just more of their 'denial' approach to service in hopes that you will go away.
I live in the Galleria area so Sterling McCall is my closest Acura dealer. I bought my wife's previous RDX from Autonation, they had the best price. IMO sales and service there was great but they where too far for service. Sterling McCall is where I ususally go for my Acuras.
When I traded in my TSX for a TLX @ John Eagle Acura, I figured I'd just have it serviced where I bought it. I had the TLX for 6 months now and service there has been unsatisfactory. The service advisors are not very friendly or helpful.
My wife currently has a Lexus purchased at Westside Lexus. The service advisors there are well... awesome. Any problems we had they were top of it. They even paid for a rental car when they ran out of loaner cars. Anything to make us happy. I've been a loyal Acura enthusiast since my 1st Acura in 2008 but sadly I think this TLX is my last one.
Acura Client Services did call and said that when the weather is warmer that they will schedule me to bring in my car to have it looked at again. Yeah right... who know when that will be. The saga continues....
When they had the transmission recall for my car I brought it to the dealership in Santa Monica. They took 2 days on it and when I got it back I could tell they didn't fix the transmission. They said there was nothing to fix even though they had it for 2 days. I said it had the same problem and it needed to be repaired. They said it was fine and there was nothing to do. I ended up taking it to the dealership near my friend's place in Calabasas since I was out that way on a regular basis. They said the transmission needed to be fixed and fixed some other stuff that I didn't even ask for at no charge. I would NEVER go back to the dealership in Santa Monica again. You may be able to take it to another dealership if it is under warranty. For things that aren't under warranty I'd go to a mechanic. I consider dealership mechanics on average like public sector employees - doing just the minimum to get by and at twice the price and twice as long to accomplish it.
I consider dealership mechanics on average like public sector employees - doing just the minimum to get by and at twice the price and twice as long to accomplish it.
As a retired public sector employee, I call complete BS on that statement. I often worked 50-60 hour weeks without overtime, was on call 24x7, and worked many many evenings and weekends. Stick to the facts about cars, please.
As a retired public sector employee myself I think I know of what I speak. I've been a budget analyst in the public sector and private on local, state and federal level. There are certainly exceptions to the rule and you may have been one of them- I worked about 60 hours a week myself but other than public sector employees collecting overtime - working extra hours is pretty unusual. Everything I did through the unions was significantly more cumbersome, time consuming and poorly executed. Privatization was a pleasure and often came in under budget. Sorry for going on since you wanted to point out my analogy as being facetious but I do feel a right to defend my opinion which was just a one line analogy originally.
When they had the transmission recall for my car I brought it to the dealership in Santa Monica. They took 2 days on it and when I got it back I could tell they didn't fix the transmission. They said there was nothing to fix even though they had it for 2 days. I said it had the same problem and it needed to be repaired. They said it was fine and there was nothing to do. I ended up taking it to the dealership near my friend's place in Calabasas since I was out that way on a regular basis. They said the transmission needed to be fixed and fixed some other stuff that I didn't even ask for at no charge. I would NEVER go back to the dealership in Santa Monica again.
Too bad Acura 101 closed. They had great service. Now we are relegated to either Van Nuys, Thousand Oaks, or Ventura.
I'm tired of Acura's canned response on every issue. "Works like all the others on the lot".
As a retired public sector employee myself I think I know of what I speak. I've been a budget analyst in the public sector and private on local, state and federal level. There are certainly exceptions to the rule and you may have been one of them- I worked about 60 hours a week myself but other than public sector employees collecting overtime - working extra hours is pretty unusual. Everything I did through the unions was significantly more cumbersome, time consuming and poorly executed. Privatization was a pleasure and often came in under budget. Sorry for going on since you wanted to point out my analogy as being facetious but I do feel a right to defend my opinion which was just a one line analogy originally.
It depends on leadership. Our entire Bureau, indeed Department was full of good, hard working people, until Scott Walker got there as Governor. Completely destroyed morale, and salaries have been so stagnant nobody wants to work there anymore. I was lucky, and got out within a year, which I planned to do anyway. 40% loss in our Bureau because of a private-sector is-better leader who would not listen to ANYONE. It is not wise to generalize based on one organization, in either direction.
You need to threaten the dealership that you are out of patience and sick of the run around that they are giving you. If the dealership doesn't fix it right away that you're going to give them bad publicity via the local TV news station. Some TV news stations have a complaint investigation department to help the general public. You know the TV news stations love to stir shit up. Once you drop this pile of shit on the dealership they will clean it up real quick... guaranteed.
when I had an issue with my dealer, I just sat down with the service manager and spelled it out for him... granted I had been their customer for 10 years and that got results. Since then I have had no issues with them
On the bright side, at least it's not "a major issue that's causing the vehicle to be out of service for a long time" (like a CEL). This is probably just a teeny tiny minor software issue.
Well it is good to know that by selling my Acura and buying a Subaru, I made a good choice :o
Well it is good to know that by selling my Acura and buying a Subaru, I made a good choice :o
Tell that to the guy in the thread where he got rid of his Subaru because it blew its turbo twice and bought a TLX for its reliability. Besides, it looks like Acura is moving up 6 spots in reliability and Subaru is dropping by an equal 6 spots to arrive at basically a tie of sorts.
By no means am I defending Acura (I'm not going to do that after they've screwed me over), but all these companies generally suck at some point if you look at the right charts. Well, except for Lexus -- they seem to always do well. And there are people on here who know there are exceptions to that, too. lol.
By no means am I defending Acura (I'm not going to do that after they've screwed me over), but all these companies generally suck at some point if you look at the right charts. Well, except for Lexus -- they seem to always do well. And there are people on here who know there are exceptions to that, too. lol.
My wife's Lexus has it's issues like any other car. The rattling and squeaking is unexpected for a luxury car. In fact her Lexus NX F Sport had more rattles and squeaking then my TLX. The difference is that when you brought up the issues to the Lexus dealership, they took it seriously and resolved them. They even called after the fixes where done to see if we were happy. Now that is service and probably why Lexus owners rank them very highly.
As for my ongoing TLX issue, I'll have to wait till winter is over for it to be resolved since it is a heat related issue.. Even though I have documented a weeks worth of videos of the issue happening, they want to see if in person before fixing it.
Tell that to the guy in the thread where he got rid of his Subaru because it blew its turbo twice and bought a TLX for its reliability. Besides, it looks like Acura is moving up 6 spots in reliability and Subaru is dropping by an equal 6 spots to arrive at basically a tie of sorts.
By no means am I defending Acura (I'm not going to do that after they've screwed me over), but all these companies generally suck at some point if you look at the right charts. Well, except for Lexus -- they seem to always do well. And there are people on here who know there are exceptions to that, too. lol.
he blew his turbo? twice you say? well inquiring minds want to know.... did he spit or swallow? :o
bad luck happens to everyone... but Acura has not really been on their game for quite some time now...
I really wonder though sometimes how they exactly measure the "reliability". Although the TLX may have it's fair share of problems, to say Acura is lower than a BMW makes me cringe a little lol. Also, I always thought Porsche were very reliable, but pricey to fix. They are using Audi pieces, and Audi is #4.
The issue of why the dealership has been unable to help is due to the fact that you have a wiring gremlin somewhere in your system, or a bad unit. But it comes down to time. They have to pay the tech to work, and sitting around spending more than 30 minutes to an hour to diagnose an issue with no apparent code when they get the chance to touch your car is going to result in the experience you've had. My best advice for fixing this, is to drive your car to the dealership in the morning, and park it in a guest spot somewhere that wont be a burden during the day. Then, go to the dealership in person after your car has been sitting in the sun, grab a tech, and re-create the problem for him. At that point, you have control over the parameters/conditions needed to make the issue happen, and you're there so they know that you know that they know there's a problem.
If you just drop your car off and they cant re-create the issue, and there's no code, then your car isn't broken. Yes it acts up, but you don't discipline a child when they're being good. They need your car to act up in front of them so they can fix the issue. Otherwise they lose on the tech and they're at a loss with nothing to show for it.
Well I patiently waited all winter until it warmed up to bring the car back to the dealer. I checked weather forecast to make sure it would be sunny with a low of at least 65 degrees. I also wrote up detailed steps to reproduce including what time of day it acts up on me. I also included 7 videos of it happening on 7 consecutive days and a video of it not happening when it is cool and rainy.... just to prove it is heat related.
Well the tech did replicate it following my instructions. He called Acura and they told him to replace the Acuralink Telematics Unit.
Can't tell you how vindicated I feel that they finally acknowledge that my car is not "working perfectly" as they told me. Honestly the Service reps treated me like I was a crazy difficult customer. I wasn't trying to be difficult because the issue is very real.
BUT wait there is more....
When I picked up my car from the dealer, before I left I decided to test out my Acuralink. I noticed I couldn't connect receive any Acuralink messages and My Acuralink app wont connect to my car. Pressed the Link button in the car and asked the Acuralink agent if I need to reset my account. He said my car is not sending any info to them at all and that the dealer need to look at it. I was so glad I didn't leave the dealership!
Flagged down my Service Rep and Tech to look at my car. They where not happy to see me (LOL) but the tech said he would have to call Acura to see why it is not transmitting. Service Rep put me back in a loaner car and now I wait for them to fix it again this time. Amazing!
Well I patiently waited all winter until it warmed up to bring the car back to the dealer. I checked weather forecast to make sure it would be sunny with a low of at least 65 degrees. I also wrote up detailed steps to reproduce including what time of day it acts up on me. I also included 7 videos of it happening on 7 consecutive days and a video of it not happening when it is cool and rainy.... just to prove it is heat related.
Well the tech did replicate it following my instructions. He called Acura and they told him to replace the Acuralink Telematics Unit.
Can't tell you how vindicated I feel that they finally acknowledge that my car is not "working perfectly" as they told me. Honestly the Service reps treated me like I was a crazy difficult customer. I wasn't trying to be difficult because the issue is very real.
BUT wait there is more....
When I picked up my car from the dealer, before I left I decided to test out my Acuralink. I noticed I couldn't connect receive any Acuralink messages and My Acuralink app wont connect to my car. Pressed the Link button in the car and asked the Acuralink agent if I need to reset my account. He said my car is not sending any info to them at all and that the dealer need to look at it. I was so glad I didn't leave the dealership!
Flagged down my Service Rep and Tech to look at my car. They where not happy to see me (LOL) but the tech said he would have to call Acura to see why it is not transmitting. Service Rep put me back in a loaner car and now I wait for them to fix it again this time. Amazing!
Finally looks like you're getting some results. Congrats! Hope they get it working perfectly.
Yep my car has ceramic tint. Besides, I am pretty sure it is a heat issue and not a tinting issue.
The issue only happens when the car has been sitting at my work parking lot on a sunny day for 8 hrs. It does not even have to be that hot. I had this issue all last week in November and it was sunny in the 70's in Houston.
The car is garaged so in morning I have zero issues with the system.
I would suggest that you try lowering all the windows and see if it still does it to eliminate the tint.
Finally got my car back and Acuralink/Bluetooth is now "working perfectly" even on sunny days now.
It all started last May (2016) when I bought the TLX, that I started noticing the issue.... It took multiple trips to the dealership, Complaint to Acura Client Service, Detailed written log of every time it happened, video log if it happening, and waiting thru the winter till weather was warmer so Acura tech can reproduce it since that's the only way they will fix it.
I'm sure the Service Advisors at my Dealership where not fond of me nagging to them about my issue by email, phone and in person. And I'm sure I was labeled a "difficult" customer.... but if they just believed me and genuinely tried to resolve the issue then it wouldn't have taken almost a year to fix my TLX!!!
11-14-2016, 04:16 PM
Anyway... take a video.
I often worked 50-60 hour weeks without overtime, was on call 24x7, and worked many many evenings and weekends. Stick to the facts about cars, please.
Besides, it looks like Acura is moving up 6 spots in reliability and Subaru is dropping by an equal 6 spots to arrive at basically a tie of sorts.
