jperdoch

Same problem, my wife weights 100 lbs

gurney

Arbitration was 4/16, heard on 17th, unanimous decision in our favor.

JB in AZ

Congrats! So, what is the result? Acura buys back your RDX? Or? Sorry if I missed that somewhere.

Thx

gurney

Acura will be repurchasing the vehicle.

Dereileak

This sounds more like a programming glitch then a hardware issue, they need to correct this with a software update, someone messed something up in the airbag light enable programming

jperdoch

You going to buy another one or look elsewhere ?

gurney

Acura's lack of regard for safety for passenger, insisting the car was " working as designed" despite seeing video of it not working and seeing it in person. Probably not another Honda/Acura pruduct. They were content with having us just drive it as is.

REALM

I hate social media, but I can almost guarantee a posting of the video and tagging Acura on Facebook will get you a response fast, as nearly all major companies now have social media labs that just watch for complaints and respond to them fast before they get out of control.
The bad news... that may somehow void your arbitration agreement and get you nothing in the end, or a lawsuit.

Madd Dog

I am glad it was finally resolved in your favor, and that there was never a real-world test. It sucks that you had to go through all of this, man.

Good luck on your next car.

Alias1431

To be fair, was this "ACURA" or the lazy assholes that worked at whatever dealer you took it to?

gurney

Factory rep told me in person, after watching video that the car was working "as designed" and they would not be doing anymore repairs re the airbag switch. They said they would be bound by the arbitration results.

Jtz1229

I’m having the same problem as gurney. It’s definitely not the dealership. When they get an unusual problem like this Acura makes the decisions on how to repair it. The dealership had the vehicle four times and tried to recalibrate the sensors,did a software update, and then finally changed all the sensors. The problem still exists. The service manager has seen the airbag off light stay on when my wife is sitting in the passenger seat. Acura finally claimed the system is working as intended.
Acura refused to do anything more. Unfortunately it is now in the hands of lawyers. I just keep taking more pictures and videos of the airbag light malfunction. My wife doesn’t want to even drive in the vehicle. This is our first Acura. We have also owned two Honda’s. The way we’ve been treated I will never own another Honda vehicle.

Mephibosheth

Dude, I just bought my 2019 ACURA RDX last Tuesday and at first the Apple CarPlay wouldn't work. So they hard reset two days later and it worked fine. But then I noticed the same problem you had, which is the passenger airbag light not turning off when my mother sits on the passenger seat. She weighs 95 pounds. The manual says 65 pounds. So they're looking at it for the first yesterday and I'm supposed to go pick it up today. I have a ceramic tint/clear bra appointment for tomorrow but I'm not sure if I should postpone, just in case I may have to eventually pursue arbitration and get rid of the vehicle. The light comes on and off whether mother is sitting on it or not. I have a photo and video to prove it as well, like you guys. What was interesting is that my loaner was a 2018 ACURA TLX and there was no passenger airbag off light that was turned on. ACURA says the light is supposed to be one when no one is sitting on it but then what happened to the TLX? I think the light is not supposed to be on when no one's sitting on it. It doesn't make sense aesthetically. Thanks for this post. Any guidance? Should I look into lemon lawyers already? As advised by you guys, I submitted a report with NHTSA this morning as well so that they can get involved.

Jtz1229

I’m in New Jersey. With our lemon law you have to bring the vehicle in at least three times for the same problem or it has to be out of service for 30 days. Make sure you document everything and take pictures and video with your mother in the seat with the airbag light on. Keep bringing it into the dealership. Don’t expect a quick resolution. Our RDX has been doing this since the day we bought it. The dealership had the vehicle most of the month of November. Have pictures of the airbag malfunctioning light at least a dozen times. My wife doesn’t want to be in the passenger seat at all. We filed suit the end of 2018 . It’s May now and I have no idea when this case is going to be settled.
anything you spend on the vehicle such as interest on a loan or things like oil changes is supposed to be included in the settlement. You would have to ask a lawyer about cosmetic things like the tinting.

Mephibosheth

Thanks for the quick reply. Man, it seems like a long road ahead...

Mephibosheth

Just reported to NHTSA this morning. Good advice.

homepro

I also have this issue, and my wife weighs 105 lbs. I have to turn off the car and restart to reset it. Dealer re-calibrated the seat twice. no fix. Have about 6 other intermittent issues that they can't reproduce. Transmission has the 2nd and 3rd gear harsh shift since I bought it. Always claims they can't reproduce it or its normal. None of the other RDX that I drove have this problem. I filed for Lemon Law in January. Waiting for hearing in June. Acura has not been helpful in resolving these issues.
Issues I still have: Parking brake (E-Brake) get stuck on sometimes. Navigation not routing properly. Audio cuts our randomly. Climate control erratic. Intermittently won't shift gears (RPM goes to 5000) with normal acceleration. Unable to change radio stations from steering wheel. Loss of engine power when passing a car at 70MPH.
Since all these problems are intermittent, they keep saying can't duplicate. 1st Acura out of the last 18 years of ownership (7 acuras) that have been defective. Never again!

gurney

Acura/Honda bought back my RDX on June 1st,2019 after completing the arbitration process. Glad it is over, wish Acura had stepped up to take care of this rather then insisting the car was working as designed , even after their representative watched the videos.
That being said, my overall impression with our RDX except for the safety issue, it was quiet, comfortable, fun to drive and handled well. I did not like the navigation system, I found it difficult to use and had problems getting it to find any address, frequently took a long time to load and did not like the touchpad. Sound systems 16 speakers sounded great, no complaints.
I have front floormats and windshield screen and complete window screens from Weathertech that will be available for very reasonable offers. Thank you all for your posts re this issue.

unhappy

Just returned from Acura on passenger air bag light coming on with wife in seat. We also have car play and posted speed problem. Was told by service manager that there is no problem because it is working now. Been in 3 times for this problem. Help with Az lemon law. they are getting this rdx back

Madd Dog

How can they be sure?

unhappy

Not sure left and plan on going after Az lemon law. Service manager a jerk

DriverOne

I think it's hilarious how everyone in this thread is telling us how much their wives weigh. LOL

gurney

Do you find the issue with the airbags funny as well? The issue has been with the airbags not functioning for any passenger who weighs under 120 lbs.

DriverOne

Calm your nuts, dude.

unhappy

Vince stated that there was nothing wrong with you light either, I said the judge didn't agree

Dereileak

His user name is unhappy 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Jtz1229

We finally went to arbitration. Filed suit the end of December 2018. Have pictures and videos of the airbag light malfunctioning 25 different times. We won the arbitration case but unfortunately it is non binding. Acura still doesn’t want to settle. It’s off to court sometime in the future. Still no idea when this is going to be resolved.

zroger73

What am I missing here? The 2019 Acura RDX Warranty Booklet states:

"NCDS’s decision is not binding on you unless you agree to accept it. If you accept the decision, Acura will abide by it."

Jtz1229

This case has been going through the NJ lemon law. I guess what Acura says and what they actually do are two separate things.

Madd Dog

I am at a loss to understand why Acura cannot fix this problem in the cars that have it. How can they be so sure that the airbag will go off in an accident if the car says there is no passenger there?

While they say they do not know what is going on, they also say everything is fine. That is terrible.

drssyoon

Need to revive this old thread. Is this a common problem?

I have a 2020 RDX Advance with 3000 miles. My wife weighs around 105lb and the airbag light has been going on and off.

I called the dealer and I was told that this is normal.

I cannot understand how this is not a severe safety issue. My other cars don't have this problem.

I like the car otherwise.

Jtz1229

My wife weighs about the same. Dealer and Acura said the same thing as your dealer. My advice to you is to record with your phone every time this happens. This way you have visual proof. We filed a lemon law claim which we won. We received the purchase price of the vehicle back including sales tax, registration, and dealer fees. I think the main reason we won is we had 20+ videos of the airbag light staying on with my wife in the passenger seat. You can PM me if you need more specifics.

drssyoon

Thanks. I have started to record these events.

I cannot understand how Acura can say this is normal.

zroger73

Buying back a few vehicles under lemon law and reselling them is cheaper than recalling tens of thousands of vehicles to fix them.

It may take a death and seven-figure lawsuit for a recall to be issued.

Acura isn't under oath outside of the court room, so it's not illegal for them to tell you such behavior is normal even if it's not.

DJA123

I think it's reasonable to assume that the the C-Suite of most large corporations has, at some point, hosted a discussion weighing the costs of damage to people against the costs of fixing a problem causing damage to people.

Doing the right thing is often not the least costly thing.

In cold reality, corporations, and their leadership, have a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. The money matters. Not everyone would be able to work at that level with those rules. I could not.

zroger73

Yep - happens all the time.

That was certainly the case in the 1970s when Ford calculated that it was cheaper to pay legal fees and settlements than to recall the Ford Pinto over exploding gas tanks. They did something similar last decade over the 6-speed PowerShift DCT in millions of Focus and Fiesta models. GM knew people were dying because of faulty ignition switches, but did nothing about it. VW chose to install software to cheat on emissions tests. The list goes on.

Honda has another problem on their hands with fuel injectors on hundreds of thousands of 2016-current Pilot, Ridgeline, and Odyssey vehicles that are failing due to debris left over from the manufacturing process. Owners are having to replace the fuel injectors and fuel rail at an average cost of $1,200 to $1,800 just - typically around 40K miles - sometimes multiple times. Honda issued a TSB for this 2+ year-old problem, but there's still no mention of a warranty extension and no sign of a recall.

drssyoon

Are there car companies that take these kinds of issues seriously and take appropriate actions?

Jtz1229

My lawyers told me the car companies are scared to death of recalls. They want to make it appear that these are very isolated problems. They don’t pay these claims easily. It took over 15 months to get our case settled.

JB in AZ

Good for you for persevering! I bet the manufacturers and their lawyers hope that most will give up during the long protracted time.

DiceF

Is there a fix at all for this after two years??