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Current owners - would you still buy knowing that infotainment issues continue
Hi all - I know there are many posts about the infotainment issues but I wanted to make one starting at current day - most of them begin in 2018 when the car was new so some issues can be expected / forgiven. I'm currently in the following situation and could use your advice as current owners:
Currently I've done all of the paperwork (minus the actual contract to buy) on an 2020 Advance RDX SH-AWD that should arrive in a week or so. Mean time the dealer gave me another 2020 RDX SH-AWD as a loaner. In the past few days with my very little driving ( I do maybe 20-30 miles a day tops) I've noticed the entire audio system crash multiple times where not even FM radio works until the car is restarted. On top of that I've experienced the 'usual' skipping in audio. I primarily use car play. I was coming from a 2018 TLX A-spec where, of course, the audio system and what not was 100% solid. My question therein lies - if you were me and now seeing the ongoing 2 model year history of these issues would you back out while you still had the chance? I'm certain the dealer is going to be pissed but I also don't necessarily want to get nearly 50k in on a car that can't do the basics of a stereo correctly. Other than the infotainment I absolutely love the car handling wise etc so part of me thinks 'hopefully they will work out this software issue soon' but in reality they have had the entire dev cycle of this car as well as a full out in the wild year so I'm not certain that's the best.
Any input would be appreciated - I'm certain all of us prospective buyers will find this very useful.
Hit the boards of the competition, especially if you expect to do a lot of carplay.
BMW charges a subscription, so that is a big negative. To option up the Bimmer, which this car drives most like, to match the RDX will cost a measurable amount more. Take a heavy look at the Audi and Volvo, and those sites to see what problems and glitches they are having.
As for me, if I could have found an X3 with what I wanted within 5K, I would have bought it. I couldn’t and didn’t. Same goes for now. The occasional and random glitches are annoying when they happen, but not >$5K more annoying.
Hit the boards of the competition, especially if you expect to do a lot of carplay.
BMW charges a subscription, so that is a big negative. To option up the Bimmer, which this car drives most like, to match the RDX will cost a measurable amount more. Take a heavy look at the Audi and Volvo, and those sites to see what problems and glitches they are having.
As for me, if I could have found an X3 with what I wanted within 5K, I would have bought it. I couldn’t and didn’t. Same goes for now. The occasional and random glitches are annoying when they happen, but not >$5K more annoying.
YMMV.
I don't disagree with you in the regard of 'need a car now' scenario but I guess in my situation I don't really need to move up now - It was more of a 'would be nice' to have the extra space over the TLX. I could just as easily wait another year or two. (tho i'd miss the sh-awd… I really wish I hadn't let them talk me out of getting that on the TLX.)
My 2019 RDX Advance is my 3rd Acura since 2009. I got it back in August 2018. I love the car mechanically, but the tremendous amount of infotainment problems & their overall lack of support makes me think they are treating all of as a beta tester. Their support is horrible & no matter what problems are brought to their attention I get the same reply " I've not heard of that before" & I'll look into it further & get back to you. BULL> I’m sure that's what they are being told to say. I will not buy another Acura because of the ongoing issues that have plagues my RDX since Aug 2018. Their OTD Updates have not fixed the large # of issues everyone on this forum has been discussing since the Fall of 2018 which Acura keeps saying they don’t know about. REALLY!!
I have the 2020 Platinum Elite (Canadian), so there are a lot of things that could go bad. I also bought it in the 2nd week it was available in Canada (June 2019), so not many people had any personal knowledge of how the 2020 compared to the 2019.
For the first 2 months I had no problems at all. I figured Acura must have fixed all the known problems. Then, on a 500 km drive on a very hot day, the Nav system locked up as I was 1/2 hour away from my destination. I also was unable to change stations on the FM radio, or even able to change modes. I pulled over and turned off the ignition, and even with the door open, the music wouldn't stop. Upon restarting the engine, all the problems resolved themselves.
I also experienced the HUD showing different information than the screen, and the Nav map showing that I was driving through fields almost a mile from my actual position. All these instances occurred within 30 days of each other, and during the hottest days of the summer, I haven't had any problems since. So in 4 months of ownership, I had about 4 problems, and of them fixed themselves, and required no visits to the dealership.
So my answer is, YES, I would buy this vehicle again based on my rather short 4 months of experience.
Of course I am still waiting for Android Auto which could be a deal breaker for many people.
I don't disagree with you in the regard of 'need a car now' scenario but I guess in my situation I don't really need to move up now - It was more of a 'would be nice' to have the extra space over the TLX. I could just as easily wait another year or two. (tho i'd miss the sh-awd… I really wish I hadn't let them talk me out of getting that on the TLX.)
I’m the type that keeps a car a long time. If I could have easily waited, I would have. My 535 was 11 years old, was beginning to cost me significant coin, and I could see that another $4K in maintenance was around the corner, with unknown repairs out there. Adding other time constraints put me in the market at that time.
If you can wait, I suggest you do so. We keep hearing about an update just around the corner, so I would wait and see if it materializes and what it does.
I'm surprised that the infotainment system is so inconsistent across the board in quality for people - in my case it's been fine. It has never crashed (CarPlay has crashed a couple times though) and the only problem I've experienced is the audio will sometimes skip with CarPlay and the fix is just to unplug/plug my phone in. That is a bit annoying but is relatively infrequent and not unheard of for these systems.
I don't love the touchpad interface but I also do not like ANY of these infotainment interfaces. Car makers have cluttered up our lives with too much stuff into the software - stuff like HVAC and core audio controls should be dials or physical buttons. At least the Acura system is not a touchscreen which is the worst type of solution for moving vehicles.
I’m the type that keeps a car a long time. If I could have easily waited, I would have. My 535 was 11 years old, was beginning to cost me significant coin, and I could see that another $4K in maintenance was around the corner, with unknown repairs out there. Adding other time constraints put me in the market at that time.
If you can wait, I suggest you do so. We keep hearing about an update just around the corner, so I would wait and see if it materializes and what it does.
I agree with MADD Dog. I’d wait until the supposed “Major update” to one see if it actually even materializes and two if it fixes issues. Vote with your wallet is the best option by not spending money until they get their $hit together on this software load.
I’m not a current owner, I’m a future owner. I found this board a few months ago along with the Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Lexus, Honda, Mazda, And Subaru forums. On all of them you’ll find people complaining about problems with all the new models. I read about them all as I whittled down my choices for my next vehicle. I finally decided that “for me”, a new RDX Advance is the best value. Even with all the problems discussed here. At least I’m not going in blind. I could pay $5k more for an Audi, BMW, or Mercedes, and I would if any one of them was without their own set of problems. But they all have problems, unless you want to buy a few year old used car, which has its own problems. The new Mazda CX-5 was really the best value overall, but it was a bit too small for me and I couldn’t get comfortable in the driver’s seat.
so, next week I’m hoping to take advantage of some end of month deals to buy my 2020 RDX.
my current vehicle is no longer reliable so waiting isn’t really an option for me. But, if I had reliable wheels right now, I’d consider waiting until Spring to monitor the situation, but I’m confident I would still choose the RDX.
I’m not a current owner, I’m a future owner. I found this board a few months ago along with the Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Lexus, Honda, Mazda, And Subaru forums. On all of them you’ll find people complaining about problems with all the new models. I read about them all as I whittled down my choices for my next vehicle. I finally decided that “for me”, a new RDX Advance is the best value. Even with all the problems discussed here. At least I’m not going in blind. I could pay $5k more for an Audi, BMW, or Mercedes, and I would if any one of them was without their own set of problems. But they all have problems, unless you want to buy a few year old used car, which has its own problems. The new Mazda CX-5 was really the best value overall, but it was a bit too small for me and I couldn’t get comfortable in the driver’s seat.
so, next week I’m hoping to take advantage of some end of month deals to buy my 2020 RDX.
my current vehicle is no longer reliable so waiting isn’t really an option for me. But, if I had reliable wheels right now, I’d consider waiting until Spring to monitor the situation, but I’m confident I would still choose the RDX.
Everyone’s circumstances are different, and If I were you, I’d pull the trigger and get the RDX. At bottom, it is an SUV that drives great, is comfortable, has a lot of useable space, and is a good value. The niggly things are annoying, but that is about it.
Everyone’s circumstances are different, and If I were you, I’d pull the trigger and get the RDX. At bottom, it is an SUV that drives great, is comfortable, has a lot of useable space, and is a good value. The niggly things are annoying, but that is about it.
In my experience, the infotainment issues are annoying around town, and infuriating during cross-country travel. Which is unfortunate, because otherwise it's a good travel vehicle within its size class.
I’m not a current owner, I’m a future owner. I found this board a few months ago along with the Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Lexus, Honda, Mazda, And Subaru forums. On all of them you’ll find people complaining about problems with all the new models. I read about them all as I whittled down my choices for my next vehicle. I finally decided that “for me”, a new RDX Advance is the best value. Even with all the problems discussed here. At least I’m not going in blind. I could pay $5k more for an Audi, BMW, or Mercedes, and I would if any one of them was without their own set of problems. But they all have problems, unless you want to buy a few year old used car, which has its own problems.
This is exactly what I had observed as well. On all these of these boards people complain about everrrrrrything. It is mostly because when people have issues they will go online to vent/research. Online does not capture the non-enthusiasts who are content with their car.
In my experience, the infotainment issues are annoying around town, and infuriating during cross-country travel. Which is unfortunate, because otherwise it's a good travel vehicle within its size class.
It's so weird to me because I actually like the infotainment and have had no issues or freezes in 8 months of ownership. I don't think my infotainment parts are any different than others so I have no idea (shrug).
In my experience, the infotainment issues are annoying around town, and infuriating during cross-country travel. Which is unfortunate, because otherwise it's a good travel vehicle within its size class.
On long trips, I keep it simple. For each driving segment, I wait for the system to boot, choose only one nav and only one music source, and take it that way. My wife can look up supplemental stuff on her own phone.
It's so weird to me because I actually like the infotainment and have had no issues or freezes in 8 months of ownership. I don't think my infotainment parts are any different than others so I have no idea (shrug).
Do you use Apple CarPlay? Do you attempt to listen to music while using nav applications? This is certainly something the iPhone is capable of, but it seems to be more than the car can handle.
The only way I can avoid audio dropouts is to play music from a USB thumb drive, but then I'm stuck with the built-in Nav. Why on earth Acura thought they should reinvent the wheel with that crappy app is completely beyond me. The Garmin system in current Hondas is far superior.
Yes, I would buy again. I have a 2020 RDX AWD Tech. Despite not liking the nav/traffic visibility, the only hiccup I’ve had is Sirius favorites disappearing while using car play. This is easily solved by switching modes/input momentarily. The RDX is obviously not the same as our previous Lexus RX but it was also $14k less.
I bought this car not because of infotainment.
yes, I would like to use apple car play, but if I can’t, its not the end of the world.
but it does suck that its glitchy.
I
My infotainment is mostly problem free. Maybe once every couple months i'll get a glitch, so it does happen, but it's pretty rare for me. I've never had a crash, or any other problem that i couldn't resolve by just clicking out of the app and back into it.
It used to be worse in the earlier days, but the OTA updates have stabilized things.
Would i buy again? I would because i have seen the OTA updates fix issues, so i have some faith that it will continue to get better.
And it looks like acura is going to be putting this system in their new cars going forward, so i imagine they will have an interest in resolving the issues.
I picked that I would buy knowing the infotainment issues but that is true for > 1 year ago when I bought the car and also given the situation I was in. Acura makes shopping easy. Pick the trim, pick the colors, pick AWD or not, and you are done. With other manufacturers I would have wanted to order because they either tend to have loaded ones or strippers on the lot, not ones with careful selection of what I consider to be useful options. So even if I knew about these issues, there's a good chance I would buy this car. If I had the luxury of time, though, I probably would go with something like a 2020 GLC, although it's a bummer they don't offer air suspension in the US.
Nearly eight months with 2019 RDX Tech. Pkg. Have had no Infotainment issues, except a few freezes which set themselves right after the car was restarted. Only once did I need to do a factory reset of the Infotainment system as I had multiple "home" buttons in the Nav. and there were posts here to do the reset. I've used Carplay (with iPhone X) only occasionally and so cannot fairly comment on that.
I am curious, since someone brought it up at some point recently.... I wonder if there is any relation to which version of I-phone you have to the level of infotainment issues one is having. Even though it accepts the latest gen of software, my phone is old (by phone standards), being a 6S Plus. My daughter has an 11....something and will be here in about a month, so I am anxious to give it a go with the latest and greatest. Not sure the phone itself makes any difference...but we'll see. The issues for me seem to be escalating as time goes on (13 months---3000 miles). It would be...up-lifting...if Acura would communicate something about the issue, about the supposed software update 'this winter, or something. About the only issues I have seen fairly prevalent lately were the continuing air-bag issues and and over the last couple of months stories on the automated-emergency braking systems kicking off in cars for no apparent reason. I had this happen a few weeks ago on the freeway while beginning to exit....scared the living hell out of me.
I can tell you that the loaner I had was actually fairly ok until I let it update to the most recent update. after that it was completely worthless. I have an iphone xs with the most recent ios installed. Also as an update - I ended up picking my trade in back up (2018 tlx aspec) and cancelling my sale. I really enjoyed the car but i need the basics to work. I really hope they get this all worked out asap. Maybe this is a pro as now I can wait for a types instead. I felt bad cancelling my sale but I can tell the salesmanager is aware of the issues because he didn't push back at all and was very agreeable. (mind you the salesman tried to send me the hour off TSB and claim that would fix my issues... ugh )
I'd be hard pressed to recommend or return to Acura due to the poor build quality of the interior on my '20 RDX. Rattles have sprung up like herpes on a sorority chick. If I start having the infamous infortainment glitches as well, this will most definitely be my last Acura product.
I'd be hard pressed to recommend or return to Acura due to the poor build quality of the interior on my '20 RDX. Rattles have sprung up like herpes on a sorority chick. If I start having the infamous infortainment glitches as well, this will most definitely be my last Acura product.
I have a lot of rattles too. But do you know for certain other brands won't have this problem? My 2003 325i felt rattle free through 150K miles. But my 2014 & 2015 328i's were both very rattle prone.
I have a lot of rattles too. But do you know for certain other brands won't have this problem? My 2003 325i felt rattle free through 150K miles. But my 2014 & 2015 328i's were both very rattle prone.
My RDX is not quite as solid as my E60 535, but it is very solid compared to my wife’s Accord.
Just found this in service news in July, looks like they are aware of the issue and advising dealers to wait for update. Except the issue impacts 2020, not just 2019.
Just found this in service news in July, looks like they are aware of the issue and advising dealers to wait for update. Except the issue impacts 2020, not just 2019.
July? What have they been doing since July? Fix the damn thing already.
They say “appears to be related to software”, meaning they have no idea what it is, but they know that they do not want to pay for components swap.
Its matter of money, if they put enough resources/money, it would be fixed, acura does not want to open their wallet and pay
Last edited by russianDude; 10-27-2019 at 02:37 PM.
Other than the infotainment I absolutely love the car handling wise etc so part of me thinks 'hopefully they will work out this software issue soon' but in reality they have had the entire dev cycle of this car as well as a full out in the wild year so I'm not certain that's the best.
This is what it comes down to. Does the car drive well enough to overlook the infotainment problems? It's a yes from me.
I love the driving dynamics and comfort. That said, I have all the latest updates and experienced big time CarPlay issues and it was no way the phone or cable. It’s going to be a permanent issue imho. Glad I leased. 7500 miles but I think I can off it soon and break even. Going to start seeing what’s coming in 2020.
You can always stop using car play, that makes most of the issues go away.
however, if usage of carplay was significant factor buying this car, I can see why people are very upset.
You can always stop using car play, that makes most of the issues go away.
however, if usage of carplay was significant factor buying this car, I can see why people are very upset.
For me, Carplay would be less of an issue if the Navigation system didn’t suck so bad. Traffic information is worse than stuff out there 10 years ago.
I wish I could have the money back for the stock Nav as I never use it. It is pretty horrible so prefer carplay. If I had to do it over again I probably would not buy the RDX but more for the terrible off the line lag with the transmission nanny. So much else to love about the car but that one I have to deal with repeatedly whenever I drive the car. It is annoying and a safety issue both. I've only had one carplay issue so far and it never returned.
For me, Carplay would be less of an issue if the Navigation system didn’t suck so bad. Traffic information is worse than stuff out there 10 years ago.
Funny you say that. I recently updated the map in my 2013 TSX with the most recent version. I was surprised that it included most of the recent construction in the DC area - roads that weren't updated in the 2020 RDX I drove a couple of weeks ago and it didn't look any better than my sister's old RL.
always a compromise...
The RDX is my wife’s car so I only drive it on weekends. My daily driver is a 2017 Lexus ES. Yes, the 6 cylinder moves and the transmission is as smooth as silk...
10-25-2019, 09:06 AM
