ceb

This is the problem with enthusiast forums. You have the fanbois that won't admit that there are flaws with their cars - even with faced with overwhelming proof of significant flaws - and the other side that focuses on the problems and can't admit that there are significant advantages.

Me? I think it is inexcusable that Acura released the half baked infotainment system and screwed up what would otherwise have been a class leading car and their continual false promises (AA is coming soon, quarterly map updates) are not only deceptive but border on fraud.

We've lived for decades without GPS in cars, and now 20+ years with GPS but no AA/CP, so the lack of AA/CP isn't a big deal, but the broken promises are an indicator of a far greater issue. My current Acura doesn't have AA, but the nav is pretty decent (even if the graphics are dated) and I can my passenger enter a destination while moving, but that car is 5 years old - about 100 years in electronics years.

Madd Dog

It is well over a year, and no AA, no map updates, buggy and practically unusable navigation, random glitches, and complete stonewalling from Acura.

It remains a very good car, but other car makers make very good cars too. I keep my cars a long time, and I am not getting rid of this one, but the brand has been tainted in my view.

RDX10

Well said! I honestly can't believe that some of these people telling OP to stop complaining and all this other B.S. Promising AA and not having it is (in my mind) basically fraud. They promised to deliver a feature and it's nowhere to be seen. Is that not fraud? I really wonder what a court would say if someone was to sue Acura to take back the RDX because of no AA. I'm just speaking hypothetically here, would it hold up as fraud in the court system?

That aside, if my phone and tablet can work virtually perfectly 100% of the time, why are automakers still having issues with infotainment? I get they do a lot, but so do tablets and phones. It's just lazy engineering.

mathnerd88

It won’t hold because they didn’t promise you’ll get it by a specific time and there was no contractural agreement. They can deliver it 10 years from now.

RDX10

That's what ai figured. I vaguely remembered Acura saying something about a year but that must have been for something else. Guess if they never promised a timeline then you can't really complain about it not being there. So yeah nvm lol.

Waetherman

A court could say that it is fraud (in the inducement) but returning a car because of that? No. Entitled to damages, maybe. Which would be the difference in price between an RDX with AA vs the price of one without it. So, pretty small. But the class action lawyers would make a mint!

I haven't read the fine print (who really does?) but I'm pretty sure you buy the car "as is" so that would undermine any lawsuit.

As for the general jankiness of the infotainment system, I agree it's pretty bad. Lots of room for improvement which from the sounds of it hasn't been coming very quickly. As a new user I'm not familiar with all the problems, or whether the problems affect everyone or just a limited set of owners. I don't like it, but I think I can get used to it, and get around its failings. But there are also things I really do like, such as the dual screen and the touchpad, which honestly is almost great - it would have been so much better if they'd actually created physical areas in the pad to go with the 4x2 layout that the menus mostly follow. That would make it much more muscle-intuitive. Anyway, like I said I'm still new so I'm on the fence. I'll probably have a different opinion, one way or the other, in a few months.

Meto

512GB? So you are willing to wait an hour for it to "Initialize"? 😅

ceb

Well, that isn't quite true. I'm sure there is a "reasonable time frame" that would be considered.

How about those "quarterly map updates"? It's been what? Two years and we've yet to see the first quarterly map update.

Y'all think that Bernie Madoff could have used the "I never told them when I'd pay them back" as a valid defense?

If Acura would say "we know that we promised you AA, but here is what is holding it up" is something that everyone can understand. We can't understand radio silence.

ceb

Kinda-sorta. You could easily argue that it is like the "we owe" paper the dealer gives you for things that they still need to do after the purchase. While an oral promise won't hold water, the AA promise was in writing in many adverts and promo materials.

EFR

Just happened to me about a week ago. Exiting the freeway with blinker on, and all of a sudden the brakes went pretty hard. I was paying attention enough to know there was nothing to alarmed about in front of me so hit the gas which over-rid the brakes and then everything was fine. Really have no idea what happened, but hope that is the last time that ever happens. My enthusiasm for technology in cars is fading fast.

Meto

Hopefully it doesn't happen to you on the Interstate at high speeds. We were on vacation and everything went flying and we we're fortunate that we just had bottled water in the car when it happened. This was after a recalibration was done for another incident.

dmski

It will be interesting to see what happens with the new Gen TLX just around the corner. If that car doesn't have AA right out of the box you know Acura is full of shit. The new system is just garbage. New econo boxes have AA now and they function well. Just scrap the stupid touch pad and put a good quality touch screen.

Ludepower

2020 here with no note worthy problems as of yet. I didnt buy this car for AA. My bluetooth spotify and Sirius XM keep me throughly enjoyed with the music selection.

I bought the car for the value for the money compared to it's more expensive peers and knowing itll be reliable for a very long time. The RDX is a grown up handsome car. The A-spec trim is sugar on top.

hockeyaddict

This is very normal in software development. Sales teams over promise and developers are stuck with fulfilling those visions and requirements.

Wander

The problem is the whole dash and console design is based upon the touch pad. Precision Concept, remember? Bringing the screen close enough to be within reach of the driver would require a complete redesign. And in case you haven't figured it out, it's all about THE LOOK.

This is what happens when an artist gets put in charge of a car company. Function is an afterthought.

anoop

Which is really weird since they have touchscreens in their Honda cars. Toyota does that too--they have touchscreen for Toyota cars and funky controls for Lexus cars.

RDX10

Luxury/premium automakers feel they have to be different than mainstream brands so you always end up with crazy controls and gimmicky features. I don't care that it's not a touchscreen, I just want to know what that stupid touchpad does better than the old style scroll knob.

not2envy

clearly you dont know how business works, marketing and software developers are two different departments. i cant tell you how many times my sales team have over sold/promised on things that resulted in over worked developers. there are two seperate groups here the developers and sales/marketing. not when the 3rd gen RDX came out tehy said AA will be coming out, that statement has not changed. but i can only imagine that said SOON simply because Google promised to them to have a Updated AA out soon. so acura's marketing team had to try there best to keep up while waiting on google. and it's not like they can say "hey, it's coming out, but we are waiting on Google" because it wasnt known to the public that google was coming with a updated version of AA, from a legal stand point. once the software is out, now work can be done. It's a balancing act trying to keep buyers to not change their minds from buying the RDX becasue of AA. it's not they could have done much better honestly. but as far as updates for nav maps and system bugs....there's no excuse, they should be on top of it a releasing periodic updates as promised.

not2envy

so your saying that there has never been phone that had major issues when released....galaxy 7 exploding becasue of a new batter design....galaxy fold ......iphone with bad structure designs....pixel phone with bad displays........windows 10 with security flaws and buggy apps.....the list goes on and on...

ceb

Everything is just great. This car has no issues and Honda/Acura has delivered on all promises - and more

samiam_68

The rotary knob was genius and its location on the center stack was excellent. You can actually SEE it with your eyes and not have to memorize where the buttons are on the touchpad. What if a driver alternates between several cars during the course of a week? Recent moves by automakers to have everything by the arm rest where you can't see it is truly idiotic. Infotainment and climate controls belong in the center stack where they are easily reachable and visible. And don't even get me started on push button transmission controls... Looks like proper ergonomics are going the way of the dodo bird.

not2envy

I'm glad your see it!

Meto

This is a bad comparison as phones and PC/laptops do not cost 50K and are not considered a major investment compared to a daily driver.

Acura has had the AA code prior the the latest AA update, so that is not an excuse for why it has taken so long. The entire software system on that vehicle is being run on Android 5.x and the new AA will not run on it properly. In fact, the hardware in the head unit is under powered as most in-car system are to save money. I fully believe that is a reason for the Carplay issues as well. As a former RDX owner, I have access to the behind the scenes training information for the vehicle and I can tell you that there is nothing on this site for Android Auto training for the RDX as of today. I really think the plan for AA is going to be scrapped eventually. They certainly are not going to perform a recall to replace the head unit just so some users will have AA access.

Just my .02

not2envy

the software side of the RDX does not add upto 50k, so yes this is a fare comparison, since the overall car is not in the rant in this post. and as far as being a underpowered headunit is simple not true when AA can be optimized properly for the headunit, as a current RDX owner i DO not have access to behind the scene training information but it's obvious that it is not going to be scrapped seeing how this is a new platform and it's going to be implemented through out the line up coming forward. and yes AA code was in the software since the beginning but as we all know, google was working on a update to be able to adapt to different size screens, this current screen is much wider and bigger than last gen.....so why enable the code when most likely they saw it was going to cause more issues than anything . I mean why am i even stating something thats so obvious? honestly i needed to post something so that someone else doesnt make a decision or convinces him or her self of assumptions and baseless statement. honestly we will all find out soon enough, am i right?

Meto

You are definitely right one way or another and I hope it works out in the consumers favor.

ceb

Don't hold your breath.

Wait. You're not... you went and got a car that worked.

mathnerd88

I wouldn't be too annoyed at Acura...Other manufacturers have bigger problems than just an infotainment issue. Hyundai and Kia reached a settlement over engine fires in even 2019 model SUVs and some sedans. 4.1 million vehicles at risk.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/h...-fire-lawsuit/
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-recalls-defects/hyundai-kia-recall-sedans-suvs-for-fire-risk/

Personally, I would rather have infotainment issues rather than be at risk of an engine fire. Yes, the infotainment system sucks, yes there's wonky software glitches in the Acura, but 90% of the time, it's sufficient. At least I don't have to worry about my car catching fire as I'm driving down a road.

https://www.fox4now.com/news/nationa...-to-catch-fire

ceb

See my post above

mathnerd88

And I agree. I’m not condoning Acura for doing this and believe they should be punished for releasing an unstable infotainment system. Overall, however, I’m happy with the vehicle.

There’s always improvements that could be made on any vehicle and infotainment is definitely something Acura needs to improve on.

russianDude

Buy iphone 😀

ceb

Right. CarPlay works without any issues on the RDX

omygod711

If you are stuck with the RDX and still waiting for the AA. You can side load headunit reloaded into the system and use AA. However, It takes some work to sideload it and you need to go into service menu and disable "driver distraction" every time you restart the car. The true touchpad works but the visual cursor is missing making it hard to navigate, you can survive on muscle memory and if you press and hold you will see where you are pointing. I have been using it for a few months and I am happier with the car than I was before. I am using it with Pixel 3 and it does not have any of the crashing problem like iPhone with carplay. Seems like the software and hardware are ready for AA but not sure why Acura will not release it, if I find a way to permanently disable "driver distraction" or white list headunit reload, i would probably don't care if Acura ever release their own AA. I like the comfort and space of the RDX and I am having trouble thinking of a alternative that meet my needs. I see it as a compromise I have to make until something else comes up or my need change.

not2envy

Is there a guide on how to do it, because I'm down to try

EFR

If it was just based on the driving mechanics I would buy this car all over again no question. Why I wouldn't is because of the infotainment system, the carplay issues, the lack of nav updating, 18 months of no Android Auto, etc. and the complete silence on Acuras part to owners about what its plans are to resolve these issues. I've had about 4 updates from Apple for my phone in just the last few weeks. Yes, Apple put out a buggy upgrade (again), but the difference is they are all over fixing the issues. I would have expected the same from Acura, but it's pretty hard to imagine anymore that anyone is looking at any of the infotainment issues, any map updates, anything. Someone mentioned the other day how bad the built-in Nav is. I finally used it the other day and have to say I was stunned at the terrible directions it was giving....it was just crazy. I finally took my phone out of my pocket and just let Waze do the work. I wanted to compare the things the built-in Nav was telling me to do vs Waze on my phone. It was a bizarre difference. I do really enjoy driving the car, I just wish I enjoyed Acura.

ceb

And this is what many corporations don't understand - it is often the little "almost insignificant" things that will lose you customers. I moved from VW because the dealership lied to me about a replacement part (not that anyone is interested, but on the 2008 R32's they came shipped with a grill cutout for a Japanese sized license plate, so they swapped all of the grills out. Dealers routinely gave you the old grill back. My dealer said "VW needs it back" and a week later I found it on the local Craigslist. I was pissed not over the grill but that the dealer lied)