I installed a USA-Spec unit in my 2005 RL last year. A few months ago I noticed that the XM button on the radio stopped working. I purchased a replacement radio from Ebay and it did not fix the problem. Figured that the XM unit in the trunk went bad. So I replaced the XM unit with another one from ebay. That also did not work. Once I unplugged the USA-Spec from the XM unit, everything went back to normal and the XM button works again. So I emailed and called USA-Spec and told them that my unit went bad. They told me that it was over the one year warranty by 2 months and I would need to pay a minimum of $75 to troubleshoot. Horrible product and even worst customer service.

 

It sounds like you diagnose the same way a dealership does: just keep swapping parts until something works!
How about a USA-Spec from Ebay!

 

I was thinking the same thing haha

 

You bought a new XM unit AND HU, and $75 or a new USA-spec unit is too much?

 

Lucky for me, I was able to return the XM unit and Head Unit. Just had to pay for return shipping. I'm not gonna buy another USA Spec, don't want to keep replacing it every 14 months.

 

my isimple gateway has worked flawlessly for the past 4 or 5 years. just saying

 

I have the same problem with the USA spec device. I'd say I lose the XM about 20% of the time. If I turn off the car and restart it will usually fix the problem. Sometimes if I wait long enough I will get XM back (so I can use the iPod) but not always. The car toys guys don't know what to do about it and USA spec has never heard of this before. It's only been 6 months so I guess I'll try to get it replaced but I suspect it's going to be a problem with the design.

 

isimple website says no vehicle support for 2006 RL ... I tried other years too (2005, 2009) and also no support

 

USASpec working good for 2+ years here *knock on wood*

 

My POS USASpec stopped working a few months ago. It would charge and show all information on screen but no music could be played. Decided to burn CD's instead. What a waste of money.

 

Man, this was the go to solution here for the longest time. I am a bit surprised.

I wonder how the MediaBridge reliability compares.

 

Still is my go to.

 

Gosh-Darn-It

Am I the only person trolling the RL Forums?

 

 

If your USA-Spec still works, you must be one of the lucky ones. Sucks for me, my cd player also no longer plays CDs. FM radio.......here i come.

 

ertpecs , if I may ask, are you using the isimple in a RL with Nav? If not the systems may respond completely different. Another RLer suggested a Grom Audio HON1N2 for our 2005-2008 RL's.

 

Just had the USA-Spec unit replaced. It's working but as I drove away the battery is now not charging. They say there is nothing they could have done to affect the alternator. Grrrr. Is there a fuse I should check first?

 

hmmm, maybe you are finding the root cause.

 

Well I suppose some kind of unstable voltage or electric noise could be a contributing factor. Anyway stealership says the alternator is kaput so $530 for a new one and we shall see.

 

So far so good. In addition to a new unit I had the new one installed with an aux cable too. This means I lose the XM-1 channel when my iPhone is not plugged in but so far I have not had issues with the unavailablity of XM. I still have XM2 always available but xm2 always shows the USA-Spec menu.

Also I had my alternator replaced so its possible the voltage is better or more stabile or something.

 

thanks for checking back

 

New to the scene - just bought an 05 RL, and so far, so good. I picked up the USA-Spec PA15-ACUxl yesterday, but have yet to install. Is there a better option out there that can still display iPod data on the Nav screen? I've done a fair amount of research, and it seems that sooner or later all of these devices (USA Spec, DICE, Neo, etc.) have an issue of some sort...