camelhive

I wonder how many of you are experiencing what I'm going through.

My 2012 Acura TL lease has recently ended so I was excited to get a new Acura, and opted for the TLX. My old TL was a FWD 6V with Tech, it was the best car I've ever had. I particularly enjoyed the navigation and sound system, in spite of the somewhat cluttered dashboard.

The TLX looks awesome, but I find driving 6V is very slow to respond (except when in Sport mode) and the transmission changes is jerky. I should have probably gone with the regular version.

The new Tech package comes with some nifty features that were previously only available on the Advanced package, but somehow Acura managed to destroy everything that used to be nice about the old TL.

Let me start with the Navigation -

The UI is slow and unresponsive; Extra screens were added to the process of selecting a destination, making the thing painful to use. Pressing the "Menu" has a default option "Sound" (which says the instructions again, even though you can see the instructions on both screens); in the old TL it was "Cancel Route" which made much more sense. Selecting "Go Home" doesn't set the navigation to Home - instead it takes you through an additional prolonged process of setting your destination.

The voice recognition has the most stupid flow ever; requiring 3 button presses and long response time before taking in a single (!) letter. Did the engineers of the NAVI system ever bother to spell a city name that was longer than "Ada, MI"?

And worse yet is that the people at Acura decided to disable most navigation menu while the car is moving. You can try to battle with the voice recognition (no way!) but why not let the guy in the passenger seat feed in the address? Nope, say the geniuses at Acura, our system is already slow and irritating, just use your damn phone for navigation.

Bummer.

Moving on to the audio system. We now have some 11 sources of music to chose from, but whereas in the old TL we had 6 buttons to switch between them, now there's only one scroll button. I only have two sources - either FM or music on a USB stick. Why do I need to scan through 9 irrelevant sources, including "Pandora", "aha (tm)" and "XM radio" in order to switch between them? This is 2015, Why can't I remove some of these from the loop?

Back in the day I found a great article on Acurazine instructing me on how to set up my music on a USB memory stick. I enjoyed this solution for 3 years on the TL. The TLX acknowledges the USB stick and attempts to read it, but in most cases - just gives up half-way through my 32GB of music. So now I need to get an iPod for my car.

While removing buttons Acura removed some buttons that completely made sense. Such as seat heaters; you now need to go into two button presses on a somewhat clunky interface every time you restart your car. It doesn't matter if you live in Montana in mid-winter - these buttons are mandatory. And if you miscalculated the heat, and now your ass is frying while you're doing 65mph on the highway - well, you're out of luck trying to fumble through those on-screen buttons.

A staple of on-screen buttons stupidity is the ventilation button. Ventilation can either be - circulation or not-circulation; there's no other option. Instead of a single on-screen button to toggle the thing on/off, the Acura geniuses stayed true to their idiom, and slowly display a screen with the two options, prompting for a second click.

So basically, everything that was previously at the touch of your hand, is now two blind clicks away, because you're not supposed to look at the bloody screen anyway.

All in all, in one week of driving the TLX, I miss everything I had in the old TL, and wish I had just bought it. I know Acura was aiming to upgrade and bring in more happy customers for their new TLX, but so far it feels like a step back.

Treblig

I guess hindsight is always crystal clear, but did you ever take one out and test drive it before buying it? Most, if not all of the things that you are disatisfied with would have been apparent. Just asking...

tlxsteve

I would have had more compassion if this wasn't your first post.

panamera125

Too bad you're disappointed with the new car. I can see where you're coming from, but there are a lot of positives that come with the new TLX. Maybe try not to focus on the nav/audio and leave it in sport mode? Probably not what you want to hear when you've just signed for a new car...

These problems sound like you might have them with a lot of cars, though. Unresponsiveness is a push towards higher MPG, and the complication of the new systems is really aiming for more choice/ability in the technology. It's common to have buyers remorse, but you might just not be used to the TLX. Once you know where all the buttons are, and know how to get better response out of it, you might be happier then.

smoore

Camelhive I suspect that you may be Canadian due to the reference to "Advance". I am too. In the US you can you use voice commands to input an address all at once. The suspicion is that this has been disabled in Canada because that option would not be available in French. I am hoping that eventually gets corrected.

The transmission will smooth out as you use it. I agree that there is some lag unless you are in the sport mode. It is better than the lag I had in my 2011 G37XS.

You can use voice command to "cancel route". I find pronouncing it with the American pronunciation works better.

I have had no problems using a USB key on my TL. Your key may be corrupted in some way.

When I want to change audio sources I usually use voice commands rather than the scroll wheel.

I leave seat heaters in automatic and have been quite happy with the automatic setting.

For recirculation and fresh air I just use the voice commands.

I didn't have the 2012 TL but I did have the 2004 and 2008. While those cars were quiet this one is much quieter. It is the quietest car I have ever owned. I find the visibility out of this car much better than my old TLs and much better than my G37XS. I love how I can have the main screen set to Audio but still see the directions and a compass on the main dash. There are a number of other things I love about this car as well. I hope some of my suggestions help you to enjoy the car better.

Comfy

I suspect that if the OP switches back to the old TL after 6 months of driving the TLX, he will have another remorse waiting. That's the nature of the beast. We all get used to our current car so much that every change seems frustrating.
Ever rented a car and found the navigation (and other issues mentioned) live up to your expectations ??? Most of the time your own car (even if lesser spec'd) seems more intuitive and easier to use. Just saying.

CheeseyPoofs McNut

1) The 8 speed DCT has some issues as well - that said - I believe both are software issues and will eventually be ironed out. Right or wrong that's what we get for getting a first year model.

2) The extra layer of button presses during voice commands is indeed bad UI - my sales guy pointed it all out to me while doing the walkthrough so it was no surprise to me. They must have had a reason for this but I can't imagine what it is.

3) That said - there is a way to give it a complete address via voice without going letter by letter - at least on my model (US i4 With tech) there is.

4) You don't have to scan through the audio sources to switch between FM and USB - after using it for a while you'll know where your favourites are. And - while I'm certainly not trying to spend your money - the iPod interface works great and should be much easier to use than the USB IMO.

5) Moving many of the switches to the touch screen gives the cockpit a nice clean modern look - but sadly you're correct - it's a bad user interface in the end. You shouldn't have to go through the multiple presses to turn on the heated seats every time you exit/enter the car etc.

In summary - you've hit on most of the minor flaws/quirks of the car but there are many many good things too - smooth ride, quiet cabin, excellent gas mileage, attractive styling both in and out, great tech features, awesome lights, etc. Every car has compromises.

quantum7

Thank you for providing a frustrated owner with constructive feedback that I am sure he will appreciate. This is why many of us come to the site.

astig

Got a loaner yesterday with the base model.I was so suprised that this car is quite plus with comfortable seats.My number one complaint is very very slow engine like a 98 rav4. I agreed that Acura mess up this interface there is no flow I gave up on first minute. I limited myself to XM and FM. Why not put the base 07 RDX display (which I think is not clutter among Acura) and just add like 3-4 buttons. Other problem is the side mirror for some reason showing the mirrored vent on day which is annoying.

benjaminh

Small point, but it appears that the new 2016 ILX has kept the physical switches for the heated seats:

CARandDRIVER

a77

I hope everyone remembers to disable the stupid voice prompt and interface dial feedback. That immeasurably improves things. But agreed the hvac and its control system are appalling. No auto heated seat option in plebian models. Just use freaking proper buttons.

The 8/speed is fine in sport. Eco and norm just too dead and lethargic and I don't believe for one second it makes any real difference to mileage. I override it when necessary anyway.

Other wise its a great car and superior to the tsxs and TLs I have owned/driven. Maybe some interface improvements are coming.

Tony Pac

sorry to hear that but you should have tested the car before purchase. You didn't do yur homework.

Colin

B..b..but buttons are bad. The auto journalists told us so.

Also, there has already been an update to the UI, perhaps the OP should doublecheck to make sure that his car has already had this applied.

Do you remember when drive-by wire was first introduced, there was so much drama about how it ruins the cars. It was all people could talk about on the forums for well over a year. Then, gradually it seemed that nobody talked about it anymore. Did the cars change? Or did people simply get used to (or resigned) to it? I suspect it's the latter.

012TL-GLM

I don't blame anyone for disliking touch screens in cars. I'm a netadmin for a living and deal with poorly executed touch technology every day. Someday it will be decent, its not there yet.

We have a 2010 MDX we're planning to trade on a lightly used 2014 within the next year. We had a 2015 as a loaner. The touch screen interface greatly annoyed us both. I'm sure with time you get used to it, but that doesn't mean its better, just that time heals all wounds Only reason for upgrading our 2010 is the huge increase in MPG. If my 2010 got even 24 I would keep it until the wheels fall off, but sadly even on long interstate trips I barely break 19mpg

Stew4HD

I find the touch screen very easy to use. I don't get why there is so much complaining about it. There is not enough space on the dash for a button to replace the functions of the touch screen.

The heat/cool buttons? They are so easy to get to on the touch screen.. I mean right there on the bottom of the screen..

I guess change is hard for many... It takes very little time in the car to get used to the way things work. The EX-L Accord I had came with the dual screens and was no problem for me, at all. *shrug*

CheeseyPoofs McNut

Says the guy from Texas

There's nothing "hard" about turning on the heated seats - but it's a poor user experience. While Christmas shopping (in below freezing temps) my wife and I probably made 10 stops in one day - each time we got back in the car we had to wait for the intro screen to clear then make the 4 touchscreen presses to turn on both heated seats. Every. Time. We. Got. Back. In. The. Car.

It's a poor design.

weather

^^ I never thought about that. That could be annoying for those frequent start/stop.

Stew4HD

*shrug*

JM2010 SH-AWD

As Colin said, the auto journalists continually slammed Acura for too many buttons on the 4G and some criticized the lack of a touch screen. This is what we get.


I personally prefer a button I don't have to look at and scroll through, but the TLX's set up seems to be the way of the world, these days.

camelhive

Hey,

Sorry if I'm a newb writing a complaint, I didn't expect to get the fiddle. I did a bit of research and a bit of test driving, but most comments I read didn't bother me much (buttons replacing transmission lever, FWD not as satisfying as the 4WD etc). I was hoping to point out issues and provide some info for people who consider switching from TL to TLX, and perhaps get some answers to my concerns. So I thank everyone who took the time to give constructive feedback.

There are obviously a lot of positives coming with the TLX tech; I've had some experience renting high-end BMWs and Volvos when traveling to Europe, and I think Acura's TL and TLX delivers a very good bang for the buck. Perhaps I was wrong, in second thought, to compare and complain about the TLX jerkiness - after all, the TL and TLX are completely different cars.

But human interface is a different issue. On that, I don't expect to see such an obvious regression: a navigation interface that used to work while driving is now blocked; handy physical buttons being tucked away under virtual buttons menus and heir settings cleared when the car is stopped, a dashboard computer that's too slow to interact with - all these things are very disappointing. I used to hear my friends, back in 2008, raving about the comfort of their MDXs and how the Acura's technology was ahead of the curve. I enjoyed a sense of that in my 2012 Acura, but can't attest to any of it in 2015.

Following your advice, I tried voice commands today, and spent the last 10 minutes of my trip trying to cancel my route; the car got into an awkward state of trying to satisfy my wills by ejecting CDs at me, switching audio source and turning on/off the climate control. Next time I'll try it in a faux-French accent, who knows...

I guess I'll have to do some adjustment, learn to do more voice commands and perhaps just acknowledge I'm going through that thing you wrote - "buyers remorse". I'll keep following on Acurazine to see what others are going through.

camelhive

A77 wrote: "I hope everyone remembers to disable the stupid voice prompt and interface dial feedback" - yes, I suffered that for the first 2 days before terminating them and realizing it improves quite a lot.

Thanks for mentioning it, this is a great recommendation!

BEAR-AvHistory

There are too many buttons then there are not enough buttons. Maybe Honda over compensated regarding the criticism.

Some cars have multi-function buttons that change based on what major mode the computer is in.

Quandry

- Manual navigation interface disabled while driving is a transport regulated safety requirement and Acura like all other car manufacturers have to comply.
- Buttons moved to the touch screen - their operation is well implemented in the Advance and Elite trims, seems like not as functional in the others trims that do not have Auto settings.
- slow computer, yes it could be faster but in reality it is only used less than 1% of my driving time.

My overall rating of the car is an "A", and expect that an "A+" would have cost significantly more.

dmski

Do you guys even read your manual anymore??? You can set your hvac settings and seat heat preference under shortcuts. Therefore, you dont have to toggle through the screens every time. Simply hit shortcuts and select your preset saved setting.

Same goes for Audio Sources, you can remove or modify audio sources so you dont have to scroll through the ones that you never use.

Manual is your friend....

ostrich

Professor, I live in frigid Calgary and I must say that I never had problems with the heated seats. I love using the feature and I do not find the touch screen control to be problematic. Even better is the fact that I have now switched it to the automatic setting now, so the heated seats will come on automatically now according to the temperature and it's wonderful. If it's really cold the seats will be heated at the maximum setting. If it's just a little bit cold then it will be turned on to the lower setting. Once the temperature reaches the desirable level then the heated seats will be automatically turned off. It's a great design!

And to combine that with the heated steering wheel makes my winter driving in Calgary so much more pleasant!

vbx

Newer isn't always better. I wasn't all that happy with my G35 due to all problems BUT, now that I have the Q50. I regret selling my G35 coupe.

The Q50 double screens, the 360 cameras, the remote control steering. All that gets old fast.

The G35 was more Raw. More fun to drive. Hugged the corners with ease due to the (rear active steering), the exhaust sounded nice and throaty, came with a 6mt, got way better MPG's. etc etc.

Not sure what my next car will be. But my lease is up in Nov. I might get a 2015 G37 (Q60) Coupe limited edition.

The 2016 Q60 coupe has the same newer tech the Q50 has. So I know I won't be happy with the 7speed slush box, the remote control steering, etc etc.

TacoBello

I can't believe so many of you love this.

I wish my TL was louder

narnia

I agree with Stew4HD, touch screen is very easy to use and I appreciate the fact that the "buttons" on the screen are large so it's easy to select the correct button to tap while you're driving.

The heated seat switch in my '04 TL used to annoy the heck out of me because I would often hit it by accident and turn it on. As for the double prompt on the navi, I just rudely interrupt her. Press the button a second time while she's speaking, it's not a big deal.

I've had my car 4 months, driven it 12,000 miles, and love it more each day! Maybe it's not true for those of you coming from a 4G, but I consider the features in my TLX a huge upgrade vs. my 3G.

Stew4HD

12k miles? Oh my, you have had a lot of seat time in the car. I am glad to hear how much you are loving your car.

I had a 4G advance model and find the TLX Advance to be and upgrade in nearly every way. The driver's seat is the only thing I am working on and just need more seat time is getting the seat adjusted correctly.

I have had my car a month and a half.. 850 miles.. at this rate, I might hit 5K this year.

Mr Hyde

I have an Advance with "set it and forget it" auto seat heaters, and I have already created climate control, and audio, and phone shortcuts.

kevTL888

that is expected since Acura's goal is to combine the TL and TSX with the new TLX (boy a lot of letters there isn't it). so it's understandable previous 4G TL owner will get some kind of letdown because the TLX is not a next gen TL, it's a hybrid of both TL and TSX. conversely, previous owners of TSX will say they love the TLX because it feels like a step up.

jeremyw

Hello, Camelhive: you will probably regret more with the 8-speed DCT transmission, which has a different set of problems (discussed by other members extensively).

I drove a Lexus GS for a while and Toyota had disabled GPS inputs from 10 years ago. It seems like Acura had resisted in the last 10 years but eventually jumped onto the bandwagon. Perhaps out of the concerns of being sued for accidents caused by distractions from manually inputting an address to the GPS? I cannot think of any other reasons to disable GPS inputs while the vehicle is moving.

Rocketsfan

This is what I do. But the interface is still oddball design for those that don't use shortcuts. It's just bad UI design.

Maybe someone can help me with this : when you get in the car, can you just hit "shortcuts" and then hit your climate control shortcut? Or do you first have to turn the climate control on before you can use the shortcut? I keep asking why, on a digital/touchscreen interface do I first have to turn something on before I can use the shortcut for that something.

Ah well, it's still been a great car.

accord1999

I agree, I haven't adjusted the heated seat settings all winter because the automatic logic is really good. Almost at the exact moment I feel a little toasty, it'll go down a level.

If Acura would enable the automatic control of the heated seats for the non-Elite/Advanced models that would probably eliminate most of the complaints of the UI.

Definitely, the steering wheel used to be the last thing to warm up during a really cold day and now it's so nice to have it comfortably warm within a minute. I'll never buy a car that doesn't have it again!

ostrich

I was going to say exactly the same thing - that I will never have another vehicle without the heated steering wheel!!! Last time I felt that way was when I got the 1G TSX with navigation - I swore that I would never get another vehicle without navi and I have never done without one since!

Just so that people know, in Canada, you cannot get any A4 or Q5 with heated steering wheel at all, even though you may be paying close to $60K for a loaded version of either.... how totally ridiculous! I imagine it's the same in the US. That's actually a huge reason why I didn't go for an Audi, in addition to their rude and snooty sales staff....

camelhive

Thanks for all the suggestion, I tried trying them out and here's my follow-up:

I live in N. California, so heated seats are not an issue, and definitely I don't need a steering wheel heater. It's only the winter morning chill, which get me looking for those missing buttons. The "Auto" mode is not available on the Tech package. I tried voice commands and discovered saying "Driver Seat Heating Off" is a bit of a mouthful, and easy to forget. So I'm going to stick a post-it on my windshield in attempt to overcome the car's lack of physical buttons and my personal feebleness of mind.

@dmsk - your suggestion of using Shortcuts for audio source is not applicable, cannot be done. The same for removing audio sources. Please correct me if I'm wrong, and if so - how? @Rocketsfan - indeed, the shortcuts indicate somebody understood there's a problem, and yet they are too many clicks and too much waiting time away. While we're at it, doesn't everyone fill it's silly how, in the gas station, when you use accessory mode and then ignite - you have to go through the entire set of screens again? Why oh why oh why?

But I did get the hang of using the audio commands for switching audio sources, so at least there's a minor improvement here. Thanks everyone for the tip!

I realized today that the sales guy at the dealership did not give me a walk through of the car, which is very different than when I got the TL 3 years ago. I think a lot of my questions could have been addressed by him. For example, I was surprised to find today that the TLX 2015 Tech don't have a spare tire - only an electric air pump. Better not drive too far from home then, definitely not on some desolate road where the Acura roadside service can't find you. The owners manual makes no mention of that; did any of you bother to check?

Till later...

Pens Fan

The 2009-2014 TL is an awesome car that was slammed out of the gate by the recession ( bad timing not Acura's fault) and the polarizing beak (Acura's decision). With the 2012 MMC the beak and rear end became classier and less polarizing. I intend to keep mine much longer than my previous vehicles and enjoy all of its attributes for years to come. Not surprised to hear anyone say they miss this model when they move out of it.

Stew4HD

It's been known from release that a spare tire kit is an option. Like it or not, that is what they are doing nowadays, not just Acura. I can only guess statistics show that a pump is all that is required more often that tire replace.

PRNole47

Well, I still have my 2012 TL Tech Pkg and tested out the TLX back in December. I had a similar revelation as you have while on my test drives (did about 3 of them) and found it lacking vs. the '12. I then decided to hold off on switching to the TLX for a while.

Now I see why the sales staff kept on wanting me to trade my 12 for the 15. As one of them told me: "We're looking for 12s and 13s right now. They're 'hot' right now and we can give you a terrific deal on the 15."

I'll just sit with my 12 for a while longer and then see what happens with Acura. I'd hate to switch brands -- I've bought 12 Acuras in the past 14 years for me and my family -- but will consider another brand if I'm not satisfied with whatever comes down the road.

I know what you're saying.

BEAR-AvHistory

Doesn't the car come with RFT which are pretty much standard on cars without spares?

BTW was it a Research Triangle dealer?