Just got of the phone with Acura client services and the gal said the reason I have not been able to connect with Acuralink is that the system has not been setup yet and she is not sure when it will be running.

 

That makes no sense. I am not disputing what you were told. You know what you were told.

But how can Acura not have a service in place that they have been claiming as a service since intro of the RL in late 04?

I can believe that the service is currently down and there is no estimated up time, like our IT guys say all the time when they have not figured out the root cause of a problem, but not that the Acuralink does not exist.

 

Yes, I said the same thing, you've had 3 years and it's still not up and running. Online response listed below...


Thank you for contacting us regarding AcuraLink.

After purchasing your vehicle, messages may not appear immediately. Your dealer has to register the vehicle identification before you can receive messages. This can take several days to process. Also you need to have Data Service set up with your cell phone provider at an additional charge. The level of service required to support our AcuraLink function is the same level of service required to use a cellular phone as a direct link modem for a laptop computer.

Data transmission alone will not support our AcuraLink functions.

Service providers have data capability as part of their standard phone service package. That standard package, however, is insufficient to support the AcuraLink Onboard Diagnostics function.

Normal service plans are not that advanced because most people will never need to send the volume of data involved with this type of usage. Service providers charge for this extra capability in addition to the normal service plan. We don't know what these charges are because service providers have different packages with this feature and vary by provider.

If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to contact our Customer Service Team at 1-888-528-7876. We are available Mon - Fri, 7am - 8pm CT.

Sincerely,

HandsFreeLink Customer Service

 

Sounds like some confusion here. AcuraLink does work. But you have to configure your phone for datalink when you pair it. Second, you have to initiate AcuraLink with CS once you have paired your phone and set up a datalink.

There can be confusion with two steps. Has AcuraLink been initiated for your car (done with CS)? Second, are you sure you have a phone & carrier that supports datalink? I think you need to do the phone stuff 1st as a test message is sent to AcuraLink and verifies you can recieve text data to the car (and the car can send info to Acuralink as well).

Each cell provider has different platforms to support data transmission via the cell phone. I have Cingular with a RAZR V3. When I set up the HFL pairing, HFL automatically recognized the phone as AcuraLink capable, and prompted me to intiate. A test message was sent to AcuraLink in the setup. Then I called CS and asked them to intiate AcuraLink for my car. The next day I started to recieve messages, daily, for 30 days (informational hints on features and use). Further, when I made a service appointment via Owner Link, I recieved a pre appointment reminder in the car, as well as an appointment notification the day of the appointment (along with email alerts). It all worked. So yes, AcuraLink does work. It sounded like your CS rep was confused as to what you were asking.

If you want to verify what phones not only are supported by HFL with the RL go to the Ownerlink website and select the HFL tab. There is a link to cell Carriers and hardware. If you look closely at the models that work with HFL, very few actually ALSO support datalink. Be sure you have a cell phone, cell carrier that supports the RL HFL and ALSO data transmission capability.