I've found what seems to be a decent condition '06 for sale, however the nav screen is "dead" - seller claims it just needs a disc.

If it's just that the disc is bad and/or missing, should the display show something at least like "missing disc" or "read error" or something? Just nervous that the entire unit could be toast which will be a bit more $$$ to repair than simply replacing the nav disc from Acura....

 

Sounds like BS to me.

 

I would look at personaly to see if it is broken or just needs the disk. I would ask the seller again to make sure as well.

 

If the disc is missing, a message displaying such is noted on the screen after fully displaying the opening Acura logo statement. I know this from personal experience with my RL. If the screen is blank, it's not working.

 

Thanks - I had the seller verify (car is in another city so not possible for me to check personally) and he claims the screen says "insert disc" (or similar) and when he checked the drive slot in the trunk, it is in fact empty.

Otherwise everything seems to check out OK with the car (not my preferred color - black, nice high maintenance type of finish LOL - but anyway)...I think I will try to negotiate the cost of a new disc into the purchase price before making the trip to check the car out in person. Is it as simple as popping the new disc in, or is there any extra work/setup required with the nav system that would have to be done at the dealer for example?

 

It all depends what version of the disk was in the car in the first place.

 

If it is an 06 RL it likely has v 4.3 or higher loaded in the flash memory.

It should be OK with any NAVI disc 4.3 or higher should you locate one to test it with. But certainly VERIFY the NAVI works accordingly before buying.

Why there is no disc is more of the puzzle to me. I guess sometimes used cars get pillaged for key fobs, NAVI discs, owners manuals and accessories to make a buck on Ebay.

I'd have it checked out by an Acura tech if you can arrange.

 

Is the car under warranty? I purchased an '05 in February that was still under original warranty. The nav unit wasn't dead, but refused to read any discs and just constantly rebooted. Getting a new unit was covered by warranty. As an added bonus, new unit/disc was latest version too!

 

^^^

I would not rely on the warranty coverage without an Acura tech checking it out.

Even if the car is within mileage and time parameters for the warranty, the previous owner may have done something aftermarket with the system which could void the warranty.

The NAVI system components are expensive, and without confirmation from Acura, you could be out several thousands of dollars to fix, replace or repair.

FatNoah was fortunate his RL was not damaged from the previous owner in such conditions and made the warranty repair.

 

If the car is couple of hours away, could the seller have it checked out at the local acura dealership (you could pay over the phone) and then dealership could fax you the report or your could speak with the Tech !!! I beleive most dealers have a reasonable inspection package.

 

I should have added that I was able to access the service menus for the nav system to verify that the various components reported that they were working properly. That gave me more confidence that the issue was with the main nav unit in the trunk and therefore was likely going to be a warranty covered fix.

 

even if it isnt under warranty...alpine, maker of the DVD nav unit does flat rate repairs of these units for 152 plus freight.

It only takes about 20 minutes to remove the DVD Nav unit, box it up and it will be back to your door in 1 week.

 

Thanks for the info guys. The seller is going to get the nav unit working with a new disc before I make an offer on the car. Assuming we reach an agreement on price, I will def be getting the local Acura shop to check the car out thoroughly before making the purchase.