RDXguy

I previously had read in this forum that when IOS 13 is released (which is now being beta tested) Apple CarPlay issues should greatly improve. I tend to disagree. At least as far as Waze is concerned. This past week while on vacation I rented a Chevy Tahoe which had Apple CarPlay. The Tahoe connected instantly with CarPlay and worked flawlessly with Waze. The Tahoe NEVER disconnected from Waze or CarPlay. This leads me to believe that since I have been using IOS 12.3.1 in both my 2019 RDX and in the Tahoe, the current issues I am having with Waze in my RDX are not the fault of Apple. Therefore, the problems will not be improved by IOS 13. I hope I am wrong but suspect I am correct.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

I'm not entirely sure how it all works, but I'd imagine for Apple Car Play or Android Auto, the engineers may work with car companies to fix different bugs and issues. After all, it would be to Apple's advantage if their software works with a certain car. Car manufacturers on the other hand would also have a team of engineers to make sure their infotainment system would work with as many iOS and Android versions as possible. So they will probably work hard with the engineers at Apple and Google. It's actually also why BMW is now charging for Apple Carplay.

Every infotainment system is different between the different car makers. The RDX one is an Android system. It's a new design and unfortunately it's likely to be more buggy than something that is on the market for a longer time.

So it's possible that Apple is aware of the issues with the RDX infotainment system, and they may have worked with Acura to get some of these bugs fixed via iOS 13.

Madd Dog

IMO, it is Acura, not Apple.

The BSOD was on Microsoft, not WordPerfect, or Lotus 123.

NooYawkuh

Can't wait for Android auto so I can have these problems too.

EFR

Correct. It's not Apple, it's not the RDX, it's not anything, except Acura. Acura has been pretty absent in any issues this car had. And I have to say, given the number of cars I have owned in my life , and this is my first Honda product, I have been surprised.. First I have been surprised by the dealer network. We bought our '19 A-SPEC in Vegas due to inventory issues where we live. I don't think there has ever been a dealership where I have been lived at the end of the sale, but that was the case there. No doubt I would never buy there again. Back in our home town I have to say the dealership here has been less than impressive. It's almost like they have been told to keep tight lips about any RDX issues. When you try to engage them in conversation about the infotainment, the soft brakes, the lack of Android, limp-mode and so on, you get....nothing. For a car that is about 14 months old, that Acura has not resolved these infotainment issues is unbelievable. At this point I have no faith they will...I almost wonder if Acura has any clue of the issues existing. I have always held Honda and Toyota (and Japanese manufacturers) in high regard. I love driving my RDX. I get cars will have issues. But I expect them to be all over getting things resolved and I expect them to have better dealerships. Our BMW dealers between Vegas and Reno, as well as the Land Rover dealers have been nothing short of great, knowledgable and accommodating.14 months tells me a lot. But mostly it tells me that next year when our Land Rover gets replaced, we will be looking elsewhere. So yeah...it's not 'anything'....but it is Acura.

tecwerks

Ditto on your assessment. I had Acuras in late 99 (CL) and again in 2004 (TL) and loved them and the dealerships. I bought my 19 RDX one year ago and totally different experience. Everyone at the dealership has the personality of a turnip (even that might be generous) which is very evident after the sale. Real bummer. Luckily I leased and have kept the miles super low at 5k the first year. I am going to bail before the 3 years for sure and look elsewhere. I was hoping my experience here would be localized to North Carolina as I just moved here 3 years ago from out west of the rockies but your post leads me to believe otherwise. One thing living here is quite a few business's think everyones gullible.

tntrac

WordPerfect 5.1

Madd Dog

I loved 5.1. I sought and obtained authorization to buy the macro editor after the company rolled 5.1 out, and I made lots of macros. TBH, the person I sought and obtained authorization from was me, but I wore the hat of procurement manager, not operations manager when I did it.

Wander

Do canines like to chase spinning beachballs?

I think there's enough blame that Google can have some too. Although they will claim that the problems with Android stem from the hack job that was done to force-fit it into this application that it was never intended to serve.

jonarogers

I have been in contact with a "District Manager" from Acura. After going over my myriad problems with the infotainment system, he responded that Acura is "aware" of an issue with the system. He said they don't have a fix, and that no matter how many times you "Factory Reset" or do anything to fix it, it won't help. (Side note: All the theories from the dealer about using apple only cords etc are exactly what they sound like - B.S.) It sounds like there is a hardware issue. Either a processor is not up to snuff or not enough RAM or something. I bet they will do a mid-cycle refresh where they change the hardware. But, that doesn't do anything to help us with 2019s and 2020s...

tecwerks

I said it was a hardware issue months ago in another post so its good that it is now verified. If new infotainment hardware is installed in subsequent builds of the RDX to eliminate the issues then Acura is obligated to replace all the current systems.

kebel87

Honest question : On what ground are they "obligated"? I truly wish you're right, but it didn't crossed my mind they could upgrade older models.

Also, did you figure out the chip specs (CPU architecture, die size, clock speed, etc, and RAM?)

JB in AZ

While it may or may not be hardware issues, I disagree with you on Acura being obligated to replace all current systems if new infotainment hardware is installed in subsequent builds of the RDX. What do you base this comment on?

tecwerks

Warranty. If the guts of the system are modified/replaced in subsequent builds to fix Infotainment system issues that owners are having problems with then current owners still under warranty are entitled to having the systems replaced with the newer version. I will be the first in line. They really do not have a choice.

fiatlux

Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath on Honda/Acura doing something like that.

tecwerks

What if your engine only operated on 3 cylinders or even your electric seat stops working. Under warranty it would be fixed or replaced if necessary. Same applies to infotainment system. Acura dealers as reported in other threads has already replaced buggy infotainment systems under warranty.

Wander

According to whom do they not have a choice?

If a component of the system is demonstrably non-functional in an individual vehicle, an Acura dealer will replace it with the current replacement part. The replacement part may change with future revisions, but there is no assurance it will be the same as the factory installed part in any future model year vehicle. And there is no assurance it will be capable of running any future software revision, aside from what is offered for the model year of the vehicle in question.

Unless Acura is required to replace all of the installed base of infotainment system "black boxes" or some other component because of a government mandated recall, there is little chance they will do so. And unless there is a critical safety issue involved, that won't happen.

There is a good chance Acura will release a software patch to address the most egregious issues with the current hardware. Let's hope it happens sooner rather than later.

acuraada

LoL. First time owning a car, yes?

It's already buggy for over a year now and what warranty actions have resulted ?

Acura probably outsourced the infotainment development to the likes of Boeing's contractors.

Wander

Did the "District Manager" explicitly state that there is a hardware issue, or is that "reading between the lines" based upon what was actually said?

There are lots of personal opinions masquerading as facts on this topic. Which is somewhat understandable, because this whole thing is personally frustrating to those of us who have to deal with this thing. But the BS opinions allegedly coming from different levels of Acura are especially annoying. There are probably only a handful of engineers and executives who actually have a clue what is going on, and they probably don't respond to consumer queries.

Wander

Ouch.

Actually, they outsourced the hardware to Clarion. So you might have overshot the mark on that one...

And they outsourced some of the software to HERE, which is owned by a consortium of German car manufacturers who happen to be direct competitors to Acura in the sporty luxury vehicle segment.

fiatlux

They won’t replace it with a new version of the engine or the seat; they’ll replace it with a “fixed” version of the old one. And that’s for things that are critical to the function of the car; for something like the infotainment system you’ll be lucky to get a software patch at all.

tecwerks

Lets say a component which is part of the Infotainment system is causing issues and the affected one has a part number of abcd123-revA where A is the first revision of that particular component of the Infotainment hardware. Acura figures out what's causing the problem and releases a new version of the component with a part number of abcd123-revB which is a fixed version of a particular component of the system. The system in your vehicle is having the reported issues, you take it t the dealer service department which replaces the component with the new version of the part. Whats so hard to understand about that?

fiatlux

What’s so hard to understand about how that would require replacing the whole infotainment system? You think a service center will be able to replace a chip or processor? Doing something like that is going to cost Acura a lot of $$$, which means it ain’t happening. You clearly haven’t had much experience dealing with automakers, especially Acura.

ceb

Don't make me stop this car and come back there.

What did Acura promise and what did they deliver? As long as there is basic functionality as promised and the system doesn't keep crashing, then they have fulfilled their obligation. Further, if there is any version of iOS that works, then they can always place blame on Apple.

Integration with other items is always difficult because they can't account for all variables. Somewhere down the line, manufacturer's will get smart and just drop in a screen with Displaylink and let the phone manufacturers deal with the updates.

Madd Dog

Well, they did promise AA, and quarterly or yearly map updates, depending on the Acura postings, and general serviceability of the advertised components. Those promises have yet to be kept.

when they say that the RDX has Apple Carplay, do they say, but it doesn’t work?

Wander

It seems that for most 2019+ RDX owners, Apple CarPlay works, just not quite as well as we would like. And the same with the infotainment system overall.

For SOME owners, the infotainment system sometimes crashes, and sometimes even takes out the dash display. That's a much more serious issue. Whether it's because of failure of some component of the dash/console electronics, wiring harness/bus issues, or whatever, that needs to get fixed. I have no idea how prevalent this is, and forums are a notoriously biased sample set.

But as has been said, if there's a problem with the hardware of the main infotainment system "black box", Acura doesn't build those and they don't repair them. They contract that out. All Acura service can do is swap them out and/or run diagnostics to rule out bus problems or issues with other components, of which there are many.

acuraada

Perhaps but I live in the world of tech and even the best of the best has an arm in remote locations. Quick search of HERE career site reveals several software engineer job posting in Mumbai.

Automotive is an industry of supply chains and OEMs. You never truly know where things are actually made or developed unless you dig.

acuraada

There. "Assumption is the mother of all f*** ups"

tecwerks

What does this have to do with Acura replacing a defective part of an automobile I purchased from them with features that do not work? Just because they outsource parts, software or whatever does not mean they get a free pass.

Wander

Acura can't replace it with something they don't have. If it's just a sporadic manufacturing defect, they can slap in replacements until they find one that works, but if it's a design issue it will need to get revised somehow and that's gonna take time.

And you can bet your a$$ there will be lots of finger pointing about stuff not playing nicely with other stuff. It's not like the infotainment system just gets plugged in and does its thing. It's connected to all the rest of the electronics in the car. So any revision, hardware or software, needs to get tested in the vehicle to make sure it doesn't mess up something else in unexpected ways. Glitchy audio or nav is annoying. Glitchy brakes could spoil your day.

Rmsanger

This is why you never buy the first model year of a new generation. Wait until the C8 comes out people are in love with it now and it's price... But sometimes you get what you pay for.

Model year 3 for the RDX should be great and they will have all these bugs corrected by then. Thank you beta testers!

Wander

You're welcome.

After buying a 2016 Honda Pilot Touring with a brand new glitchy infotainment system and a newish and glitchy ZF 9-speed transmission, you would think I would have learned my lesson.

But even with its warts, the Pilot was a great road trip vehicle, which was its primary purpose, and the RDX is a fun little crossover that reminds me of the sporty cars of my youth. So I'm trying to focus on the positives.

tecwerks

Totally agree, The comfort and driving dynamics of the AWD ASpec RDX are nothing short of awesome! and do remind me of my youth. I feel very secure in the RDX. Now, if it wasn't for the.....oops I should stop while ahead........

deke

I believe its the interface chip between the acura hardware and the android auto hardware that runs the display. the most150 bus.
https://www.eenewsautomotive.com/con...ainment-system

Wander

Well that's interesting. Do you have an opinion on whether a software patch is likely to succeed in plugging that hole?

deke

It kinda feels to me like an overflow condition due to the inconsistency of the faults. i'm not sure if that chip would even be field updateable. what they could do is better handle a graceful reset that would bring the system back on its own vs us having to manually pull the fuse/battery.

Azdorf

Have the same issue in my ‘21 TLX (irritating electronic beeps and freezing with CarPlay) has anyone heard any updates? Confirmed if it is hardware or software?
I complain to acura/Honda infotainment line bimonthly. They just keep saying they are aware, and to wait for a software update.

foxwiz5262

I just purchased a new 2023 Acura RDX and I am using Apple Carplay with my iPhone 13 Pro Max. Everything seems to run smoothly with no freezing, beeps, or any other issues. I am going to guess that the issue is with Acura and the firmware in the electronics of the vehicle. If they haven't fixed by now and you keep on them month after month, it probably won't be updated.