aces2412

I know folks have mentioned this prior but it became more noticeable today for me. The quality of the back up cam is awful. I compared it with my 2009 TL and wow what difference. The 09 is very clear. The strange thing is when rain rolls across it clears up as the water acts like a lens. I guess this was one of those cost cutters.

mrgold35

I think the reason for the poor quality camera in my 11 MDX is because of the multi-view capabilities of wide, normal and hitch view. I'm not sure how the camera works? It could be transmitting all three views at the same time and you can switch the inputs between them OR there are 2 or 3 individual cameras/digital lens in the housing for the different views. I just know the MDX camera was very expensive compared to single view cameras.

RL06tech

Its just very sucky. Cant be adjusted, there is no cogent reason for it to be this bad, just CHEAP One of the few things on the MDX that is undeniably just bad. We all hope that Acura reads these posts and decides to spend the extra 5 bucks on a better screen or camera (which ever is to blame) during the MMC.

RL06tech

The multiview has nothing to do with it, my F150 does exactly the same tricks and has great clarity. Its simply a cheap cheap setup. It works, but it sucks that a Honda Fit's kit has a clearer camera.
Just chalk it up as a demerit on an otherwise great car. We can only dream that if we complain enough Acura would consider it a defect and fixed it as a TSB. DONT GET YOUR HOPES UP. Particularly, since they seem to be F&CKING everything else up with the TLX and RLX sport hybrid releases not to mention the maimed from birth ILX, beautiful design hopelessly hobbled utter performance mediocrity (I'm being charitable here).

LongBallLarry

My guess: It'll be improved in the update year.

aces2412

With all of these issues who within Honda motor corp is in charge of Acura's quality control?

Edward'TLS

Acura is going cheap by putting in a low-resolution camera as standard equipment in the 2014 MDX.

However, the "Surround View Camera" on the Canadian-only top-of-the-line Elite trim MDX, has a much better resolution, and is as sharp in video quality as the one used on the 4G TL.

upnorth85

For the new car survey, I gave 0 for brand loyalty - will you buy another -0, will you refer anyone to Acura - 0.

My new Acura still does not have a working DVD since pointing this out at delivery time. Acura brand is dragging down the Honda brand rather than the other way around as in Lexus and Audi. It is time to tweet and post on their Facebook page in order to wake up the top leadership from their slumber. No one cares what we write here. Only public shaming wakes companies out of deep slumber.

Lalin

It is not only a terrible camera, but also a very low res screen.
The difference between the MDX camera vs the RX350 is astonishing. I envy my wife's RX camera view, especially at night. In my MDX I cannot see anything at night even with the brightness cranked up and under the same lighting conditions she has a crisp view...

nvsage

They seem to be cutting so many corners! Can someone please tell me why one would buy an Acura again? This will definitely be my last Acura. If you want reliability, I don't see the point of buying an Acura, when you can get a Honda. I am paying in hopes to get better quality parts Acura! At least when you buy an Audi, you can definitely see the money spent vs a VW.

unr1

if it's anything like our '13 accord it's not a bad backup camera. It's no HD but it gets the job done, especially with the dynamic guidelines. It's sad to say that I put a deposit down an MDX without checking the backup camera. But upon inspection I would expect it to be at least on par with Honda.

Lalin

Keep your expectations low. The camera/display are pathetic and the lines are not dynamic, at least in the 2013 model. They are simply fixed lines that dont turn when you do so. Even in my daughter's Elantra the backup lines are dynamic!

rhn75

The lines on the 2014 are dynamic.. Having said that it is a really poor quality camera and extremely disappointing to the point I would also think twice about buying

nvsage

I went from a 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee to a 2015 MDX for size. But assumed features like backup camera and back up sensors should be up to par. Well you can say I was surprised. At first when I backed up I thought the backup camera was defective, then found out it wasn't. Then to make things worse, it doesn't even have backup sensors, unless you get the Advanced package. Now I have to spend more money getting the sensors installed to make up for that pathetic camera. I hope the car ends up being a reliable car. But right now, I don't know what to think.

012TL-GLM

I just got a '15 MDX tech last night as a loaner while my '12 TL is getting some TLC. The camera on my TL destroys whatever this shit is on the MDX. Really disappointing too, I was surprised how much I like the rest of the vehicle and would consider it down the road. While it seems like a fairly trivial piece of equipment to stop a potential purchase, consider this, in the dark I couldn't see outside the back window. The backup camera is a necessity, and the cloudy, low res picture was more annoying than helpful. I don't care for the lines moving either. It was messing me up, paying more attention to the lines on the screen than the lines in the parking lot

Edward'TLS

Due to the pitiful low resolution of the rear view camera, and the utterly useless picture details when doing back up at night times, I have no choice but to have the expensive rear parking sensors installed afterwards.

driver

Where could we report the camera as defective since it's unusable at night? It's quality is barely useable during the day. I can't believe this is what the engineers/designers had envisioned this working when they sat down to design the new MDX.

012TL-GLM

Just like a woman, its the little trivial things that will drive you to drink. After 2 days with the MDX the only complaints I have are the backup camera, and the lack of SH-AWD on this loaner. I used it last night to help my parents move to their new house. Very impressed with all the storage space with the rear seats down.

I have my own *speed* test that I run on all my vehicles. There's a speed limit sign just outside my neighborhood I pass every day. There's a T intersection where I have to stop, and generally with traffic patterns I have to goose it if I ever want to make it out alive. The sign is 55mph, my TL is usually close to 70 by the time I pass the sign, my GF's camry is close to 50, and this MDX loaner is almost to 60, so its no dog. I would imagine the SH-AWD would be a little quicker

I did find the setting to turn off the dynamic guidelines, which is better for me, but the image quality truly needs to be addressed, and when I return this loaner I plan on telling the service manager as well as the sales team exactly what I think of Acura's poor choice in camera. Were the last gen cameras this bad?

rubineri

I am currently driving a 2010 MDX, base model. It had the rear view camera in the rear view mirror. The picture is pretty good, as long as the lens isn't dirty. If it gets covered with rain or dirt, I just wipe it off with a paper towel and windex and it's crystal clear again.

I've put a deposit down on the 2014 MDX and will be picking it up a week from today. I'm worried I'm not going to be happy with the back up camera after reading this thread. I love my back up camera and was looking forward to having it on a bigger screen.

unr1

For those of you who have experience with the 14-15 MDX backup camera, please spare a few seconds to compare your quality versus the one in this video.

Skip to 30 seconds in for backup camera video


Is your quality as good (or better) than that video? Because that's what I get in the Accord I drive and it's good enough. Not great but does that job like I said earlier.

Edward'TLS

My advice is to go back to the dealership and take a closer look at the back-up camera picture quality on a demo MDX. Then cancel your deal if necessary.

The last thing you want is to be disappointed by the poor picture quality after you've bought the MDX, and to have regret your purchase later on.

kinmanc

I'd say it is comparable. There is a Youtube video on the MDX bcakup camera.

unr1

that's not bad... it's definitely a poor quality but it would serve its purpose for me at least

unr1

here's a video of it, skip to 30 seconds for anyone interested.

Edward'TLS

Wait til you see it in action during night times or low light environment, before deciding.

Worse case scenario is to try to back up, when it is raining at night.

012TL-GLM

Another annoyance, features locked out while the car is not in Park - is the industry that retarded that they forget most vehicles have passengers that could be playing with the phone or navigation while not driving!!!

unr1

Here's a thread going on in the Macan forum on backup camera quality issues. The (US) MDX tops out at ~57K so you can imagine how Porsche buyers feel when the picture quality lacks
http://www.macanforum.com/forum/maca...fferences.html


It doesn't make acura's situation right in any way but it shows that it's not an exclusive issue.
I would say if your camera isn't up to par, compare it with other MDXs on the lot to at least make sure it's not defective

unr1

that's definitely a lame move by acura. Perhaps a liability issue to them because of the new two screen setup. But a passenger should at least be able to do it. I hope there's a "fix" down the road.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

But how does the car know if it is the Driver or if it is the Passenger, who is messing around with the system, while the vehicle is in motion ?

Therefore on the safe side, Honda decides to lock out all inputs while the vehicle is moving.

unr1

if they can detect weight for airbags...

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

The point is that even with the presence of a front-seat passenger, the driver can still mess around with the touch-screen system, while driving the vehicle simultaneously.

I don't know about others, but I always find it faster and less error prone if I'm the one who enters stuff into the navi, rather than telling my wife (passenger) what exactly I want to do with the navi.

Edward'TLS

You know, I also find out that the driver can still start entering locations into the navi, while the MDX is in motion.

All I need to do is to use the select-knob cross-hair to pin-point my desired destination location in the map.

One big oversight from Honda.

012TL-GLM

In my humble opinion locking anything out is just stupid. So I can still reach over and push buttons for audio controls, but I can't view a text message that just came in? WTF is the difference. The industry needs to stop being nanny - either lock out everything or nothing, no more of this bullshit. I'll be keeping my TL for a long time if this is the future

kcinac

Can you install a 2013 TL Tech package Camera and rear view mirror in a base model and have the camera work? Otherwise, does the Base model have the same wiring harness as the Tech package for the camera?
Thank you