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Found out about unreported accident after purchase millimeter wave radar not working
Recently bought a 2017 RDX Advanced with 48k miles from a non-acura dealer, it was a trade in. The car is moderately beat up cosmetically, little dings and scratches, paint chipping in areas, driver side mirror has deep scratches, one tiny spot of rust. Car was reported to be in one minor accident in 2022, dealer stressed how it was very minor and there is no structural damage. Goes without saying this car was heavily discounted. Dealer service said the car looks good mechanically but they replaced the front struts as one was leaking. Before I purchase my mechanic does an inspection and says bumper and fender were definitely repaired but he's not a body guy and cant really comment at what extent. No codes besides an evap and car looks to be in good shape mechanically, no leaks, nothing that needs repair. Since I'm driving this car into the city a few days a week I decide the cosmetic stuff isn't that important to me and I'll spend 1k fixing the mirror and a few scratches, so I purchase.
As I'm driving home from the dealership the dashboard lights up: 'Some driver assist systems cannot operate: radar obstructed'. Followed by 'Advanced driver support system: P2583-97 collision mitigation and cruise control have stopped working'. Google says the code indicates that there is dust or dirt on the millimeter wave radar. I clean the radar which is behind the emblem on grill and the windshield where the cruise control camera is behind the rearview mirror, restart the car code still remains. I bring it right back to the dealership who keeps it for a few hours and says it was just the camera behind the rearview that was out of place because previous owner had a dash cam and must have bumped it. 20 mins into my drive home same codes pop up. In doing research I think its likely that millimeter wave radar is either broken from the accident or when the body work was done an non-oem front grill or upper molding was installed which the wave radar can't see through. Could also be the windshield replacement with non-oem glass. Dealer has had it back for three days now with no word on what's going on, I just hope they are consulting with acura/honda. I believe this issue is not under my limited warranty so if they wanted to they could tell me to kick rocks.
So part two to this story; yesterday I got an idea to call the to the shops listed on the carfax service history and see if they would tell me what it had done there (wish I would have done this first). I call the most recent shop it had service with exactly a year ago in 2023. They look up the records and tell me it was in for a tire alignment and was actually transferred to them from a collision shop. This means it was in a second accident (unreported) a year ago. I'm thinking the first one in 2022 likely was minor and this one an actual collision. I call the collision shop who tells me they don't keep records by vin, I need the former owners name to find the repair records. I'm working on that now, found a home address stored in the nav but he is from a certain religion/culture who often have large families. That address lists 20 adults as residents. Once I have the repair records I guess I could consult a frame shop and see if this is something likely to give me issues going forward.
Just wanted to share my story in case it can help anyone else. I'm resigned to the fact that I made a bad decision and I'm SOL. If anyone has thoughts or advice I'd love to hear it
A common situation when buying a car from a non-specialized dealership, if you have a warantee for this, then let the dealership solve this problem, if not, then go to the Acura dealer to calibrate the radar.
I bought it from a legit Audi dealership, not an auto sales place. The warranty doesn't list any technology coverage. But they have verbally agreed to fix it, for now. I'm assuming they agreed because it happened 10 mins after I left and also because I suspect they thought it was a simple fix. They could turn around and say yeah we aren't going to fix it if they want to. I just meant that I was hoping their Audi technicians were consulting with acura/honda. If its just the grill and molding that needs to be replaced with oem material no big deal. If its a broken sensor its very costly to fix with Acura 7k+. A dealership quoted someone $8600 for this exact part on his MDX, he bought a used one on ebay and paid a collision shop to recalibrate cost him 1k.
I don't disagree, I think its insane but look at this thread with all the quotes from people who needed it replaced. Granted they are quotes for several MDX's but I doubt the price would be much different
I don't disagree, I think its insane but look at this thread with all the quotes from people who needed it replaced. Granted they are quotes for several MDX's but I doubt the price would be much different
Today, 03:58 PM
