Took delivery of a C Silver/Ebony w/ A-spec body and "chrome" A-spec
18's, 2 weeks ago. Build date 1/05.

First and quite annoying- the paint is chipping off the hood and front
bumper of this car like no Acura I've ever owned....(13 all from new- of which 4 were NSX's-all sold- so now I have 2 '05 MDX's+ my '05 RL)...

This is unacceptable in Acura's flagship or any vehicle for that matter.

I have the brake "clunking" issue that is being handled this week. Some
kind of replacement spring and new pads...they also turn the rotors-
I'm not quite sure about the "turning" business because I'll expect new
rotors.

Something is out of balance/alignment + the Michelin Pilot Sports-I get lots of vibration & these tires find every groove in the road...the shaking
starts at 75-80 mph...the dealer is going to address this stuff this week
too.

The XM radio resets to the preview station periodically but my presets
stay.

I haven't experienced the dead battery syndrome but it's disturbing
that there is no fix...they know why it happens (the trunk release and
then remote lock the car causes it over a short period of time).Are
there any other reasons, other than the key left on, that causes the battery to go flat?

This is the first new vehicle I've purchased that has multiple things wrong at delivery.....I've returned to Acura vehicles over the years because they've, up to now, been bulletproof. 1st year, new model excuses don't cut it with me. Get it right from car 1 or don't sell it!

My intent was to install the A-spec suspension on this service but I'm
now I'm not so sure this is the car for me....

Do Acura/Honda QA people read this forum?

 

paint chips from the hood? strange...the RL has the most expensive pain job out of all the luxury cars i know of... maybe the hood was re-sprayed once before

 

I'm sorry you are having these problems. I am also experiencing the XM preview bug that you have. It does get annoying at times, but I',m sure there will be a fix soon.

Also for you paint chipping, that is unacceptable and would notify the dealer immediately or call Acura client services. What might have happened, and this is only speculation, is upon arrival in the US, there might have been some damage to the vehicle on the transport over from Japan. What Honda will do is repair all damages that are repairable at their delivery location in the US prior to delivering them to dealerships. If this is the case, then it seems like the re-painting of the front of your RL is not up to spec. it happens more than many think. Its not a big deal, and does not effect the value of the car, but the dealership or Honda will fix it for you.

You have a beautiful car, and remember it is a first year run. There will be some bugs, but just be patient. Trust me, I have to remind myself this at times too.

PS Acura Client services takes notes on all your comments and forwrds them to the appropriate channel. Trust me on this, they have questioned me on many of my comments after the fact. I would call them and let them know. They want a strong product, and we the customers are the "real" feedback that they get to make their product better. if we just post on these boards and hope for someone to see it, then we all lose out.

 

Now that I have read this....me too!

Happened only once since I took ownership of
the car nearly a month ago, but one day the XM
was acting really weird, constantly switching back
to the preview channel.

Since it happened only once I shrugged it off, but
it's alarming to read that this is a reported bug with
no fix.

 

sorry for your troubles - just be thankfull you dont have a 4 hr round trip to the dealer as i have.....

i have a two week csm 05 rl - no probs with the paint

i too have the same vib probs but i have the stock tires the dealer claimed flat spots from the vehicle sitting on the lot for a month - i believe that there is a resonant frequency or a harmonic that makes these cars suseptable to tire/wheel/balance probs at 75-82 mph.....i hope to dear god that it is not the shawd system. please pm me with how they fix your vibration problem as i cannot afford to take multiple 4 hr trips for a fix.

do you have the Aspec suspension - that could theoretically shift the resonant freq (vibs) to a higher speed - the prob is that most of my highway driving is at 75-85/90 mph - so i am costantly reminded.

the xmradio refresh is a pain in the ass as well - hope they come up with a software update to rectify this.


even with all this griping, i still love the car - just past 600 miles and am starting to get on the trottle............

 

forgot the brakes...

is the clunking just after you start moving after you have started the car after it sitting overnight? if so it is probably the ABS "test" that occurs. you can read about this on threads in the TL forum. this "clunk" is normal. i would have them give you new disks - turning a two week old car's disks is below the standard on any new car, let alone the flagship RL.

 

Thanks Melly,

Acura is aware of this problem in fact there is a TSB with the fix...
We will see tomorrow how they are going to handle it.

Steve

 

Steve, what dealer are you going to?

 

I decided to "clay bar" the car and see just how many chips I had...
I'm somewhat embarrasssed to say that with exception of 3 or 4 they
were mostly residue glue that looked just like chips on the silver car.

I have to stand corrected about the original paint chip issue....the
clay cleaned it up very nicely (I'm not happy with the chips I do have
though)

I'll report back on the other issues after service.

Thanks,

Steve

 

Glad to hear the paint is holding up better than what you thought. Hope all the other problems get worked out. I know how you feel--little problems/annoyances on brand new cars can be a pain. Best of luck at the dealer.

 

Just to let you know, there are RLs out there with not a single thing wrong with them. I know because I own one. Since mid-October of last year, my RL has been 100%. The exterior finish is perfect. I've never had a problem with refresh of the XM (though some channels are notorious for putting up the wrong info), never a reset to the preview channel (unless the car has been in a covered parking lot). Plus, no clatter from the brakes and no problem with a dead battery whether the trunk was opened after shut off or not. No rattles either. Since Acura can deliver a problem free (and thus carefree) automobile, I strongly suggest you demand that yours meets the same standard. For the money, I know I would accept nothing less.

 

Hi DCRL....When you mentioned being in a covered parking lot...the garage I keep my RL in has a second floor over it and while in the
garage I get the "no signal" until I pull out...could that be why it resets
to the preview channel? I think the "wrong info" stuff is a XM lack
of attention.

Both my '05 MDX's have XM and I've never experienced this quirk
with them in the same situation...they go from "no signal" to the
station it was left on the last time it was driven....no preview.

Glad your RL is working properly...mine will be, I guarantee it!

Thanks,

Steve

 

I love that explanation for vibration due to flatspotting tires from to sitting on the lot for a month. Every new car is gonna sit somewhere for a few weeks anyway, at the assembly plant, on the boat, waiting in parking lots. Seems like a lame explanation. The TL has had that problem too, then why does Acura keep using tires that do this?

 

totally agree - a $48K car should have premium tires - my 05 TL had those POS Bridgestone Turanzas - i live in a cold climate - that car would vibrate at 50 mph for the firrst 10 minutes every single morning.......

 

Yes, the RL's XM system (at least mine) resets to the preview channel only when the car has been in a covered area, such as a covered parking lot or garage. When I drive out into the open, I just push a preset button. Otherwise, I never get the preview channel, ever.

 

50 grand says I could find some problems with your RL if given the chance

No car is problem free...

 

Well, I'm not willing to put up $50,000 without a detailed inspection. (Who knows, a screw could be turned too tight somewhere—besides my head anyway.) But since October, 2004, I've had not one problem of any kind with my RL. Door handles work perfectly. No XM, Nav or Traffic problems. No dead battery problem with the trunk (and I use the driver's trunk releaser often after turning off the ignition. No rattles or other noises. No problems with dealer service. (And I never had, nor needed, the 4 point update issued earlier this year.)

It has been, thus far, the most carefree experience I've ever had with an automobile. That especially includes my problem-plagued Benz. Of course, you're right, no car is perfect. But my RL is doing one hell of a great job giving that impression.

 

I park in covered parking lots all the time and my XM has never gone to the preview channel. If your XM goes to the preview channel, you must have a bad XMbox. Better have it replaced.

 

I'm in agreement with DCRL - I too have had mine since 14 Oct 04 and with the exception of the XM Radio refresh, I've had no problems with my RL...I'm very pleased with my purchase...

 

I've had my CSM RL for 2 weeks and I had to take it into the shop because the front passenger window would not operate at all. Also, my seat memory would not work either. I'm not exactly sure, but on day #2 of ownership, I dropped the RL off to my window tinting company and when I came back to pickup the car, it was dead.

Yes...the battery issue struck me on day #2!!! I later figured it out that they tinted the windows, parked the car and popped the trunk to let the car air out. This could've possibly caused my window/seat memory issue--not sure.

Anyway, dropped off the car to Acura today and they needed to get a part shipped in to fix it. So I am carting around in a TL for a few days...

Still love the car, and as long as they fix it properly, I'm still very happy. So much more luxurious than the TL!

 

I had the problem with my XM radio playing the pre-set channel for about 30 seconds, then changing over to channel 001. I would switch back to the pre-set and 30 seconds or so later, im back at 001. I know there is a song in there somewhere.

Anyway, XM reloaded the radio last night and so far so good (although I have had the car a month already and this was the first time I had the XM problem). The guy a XM indicated he thinks there might be a hardware problem, but wasnt sure.

This is my 8th Acura. ( Integra, Legend, Vigor, TL, TL, TL-S and now I own a TSX and RL). The quality of the cars and service have been consistently great since buying my first acura in 1989.

I am trading my RL in when the 06 comes out in a month or two and would love to know if anyone has seen the trade-in value yet???

 

Same here. Zero problems so far with the exception of the XM returning to preview channels issue. The original Michelins are so bad they need to be replaced immediately! I have posted about a few little things that annoy me, like the door stops, the thick A pillars that reduce visibility when crossing an intersection, etc. But, overall, a superb car!