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This car was on my short list to replace my TL next summer, but after reading all the misfortunes here, I am having some doubts.
I purchased my 05 RL in the first shipment received by dealers in October 04 and it has been and still is a wonderful car, without any reliability faults IMHO and actual experience. There have been no Acura defects at all. Only the aforementioned non-Acura NavTraffic/XM receiver issues have been noteworthy. If the RL is the right car for someone, they should not turn away to another car because of reliability concerns as that is one of its many strong points. Also, the RL user friendly electronics are light years ahead of the electronics we have in our 06 Lexus 400h.
Also as mentioned by others, if you go to the Problems & Solutions forum for any vehicle you will primarily find negative comments as that is the nature of the forum. Those without problems usually don't take the time to read and comment. I hope it is helpful to others that they have this positive counterpoint to consider as well.
Also, I've noticed some engine thrashing at around 3500 rpm. Seems the engine has some vibration at that rpm level. My engine only has 2500 miles, but I assume that's normal with the way Acura has tuned their 3.5 liter engine for the RL. Comments?
Lastly, I've noticed my NAV system has rebooted itself during normal driving. This is the third time now. . . anyone else experience this?
At first, dealer service folks said my VIN was not in the recall range, but then they called Acura, who said the recall VINs were going to be expanded to include mine, so they replaced the unit early as an accommodation.
My experience: titles switched instantly at last. After the first day, however, XM activation mysteriously disappeared, so I had to reactivate, which I was able to do on the phone. XM said my car had a new radio number (must have been caused by the new Acuralink control unit) which they had to associate with my name.
One minor continuing annoyance is that preset names still do not display right away.
I am getting feature guide messages daily so far, annoying as they are.
Also, the transmission software fix really helped smooth out shifting. I had previously complained about rough shifting before the TSB, and service folks said there was no problem, but the new software really seems to help. I think Acura service people, at least at my dealer, are not on top of RL technology, compared to you and me.
I really appreciate the folks in this forum sharing solutions.
And, like many of you, I am still excited to drive my RL every day.
Notwithstanding the technology glitches, I feel I still made the right decision. Did anyone see recent reviews, where Business Week Online was very positive on the RL, and Consumer Reports rated the 2006 Lexus GS300 (the alternative I was considering) one of the worst 2006 makeovers?
The dealer told me that having tinted windows is causing XM channels to have a delayed refresh, causing the Real Time Traffic to stop working and is interfering with the GPS causing the Navi to be 50-100 feet off.
I have the silver tint (they say titanium in it) made by Johnson.
Anyone ever hear of this?
Am I the only one?
I took it into Acura of Ramsey (NJ) and the service manager quickly informed me that it was uneven tire pressure. He evened out the pressure in all four tires, and the problem went away. The process took 20 minutes.
Question - who has the most sophisticated service department in Northern New Jersey? There seems to be a wide variation of expertise from dealership to dealership. Where should I get my new RL serviced?
Does anyone have an update on this?
Thanks,
Kris
Up to two weeks ago, I just found the warning chime annoying. Then two weeks ago, I picked my car up at the dealer after being serviced. It was dark when they brought the car around so the lights were on. As I was driving home, something made me look at the position of the headlight switch. It was set on "On" instead of "Auto". If I'd pulled into my garage as normal and ignored the chime, I would have had a dead battery in the morning. I would have been seriously upset. They need to fix this!
Other than this, I love my RL.
If someone from Acura is reading this board, please make it a priority to get this fixed. This is not new technology and the lights worked fine with the previous RL.
Still love the car though.
Kris
Since I just picked up the car last week - should I be required to purchase a new version of the NAV DVD?
Please let me know how to keep the system up to date.
Thanks
Mickey
TSBs are only done when the service department has no other choice. I picked up my car last week with the same hope/expectation. None of the work has been done.
I think you will thoroughly enjoy your RL. If not too late, highly recommend adding the wood gear shift and faux wood sport steering wheel along with the rear deck lid at the time of delivery. I think they are little touches that really enhance the appearance of the already great package. I got the steering wheel after delivery because I wasn't sure I wanted it but once it was in the car and in use, I never regretted it. I like the look and feel of this wheel much better than the relatively plain stock one.
As an aside I asked the salesman what was the amount I need to bring in tomorrow, since I wanted to get the bank check at lunch. I am at work and don't have my paper work in front of me. He said, 'didn't we already give you that.'
I really like this car despite my Acura dealership experience. I have been to 3 dealers since I started looking. All three dealers were no better than any Ford Honda, or Toyota dealerships that I have been to in the past. I knew more about their cars than any of the sales people did. I was also suprised how ghetto their dealerships are compared to Lexus. When I went to Lexus the salesman was patient, nice, and extremely knowledgable about the cars. It was first class all the way. If I only wanted the GS However, I wanted the Acura but they are really leaving a bad taste.
Acura really needs to work on their dealership experience if they want to be considered a luxury brand. Hopefully I won't get too pissed and cancel the deal. We'll see as I wait for them to call back and I vent here.
I, too bought the luxurious steering wheel a month after I bought the car - makes a huge difference - has a great feel and truly augments the sparkle and finery of the interior.
George
TIA,
Joey
Having said all that, the RL is a great car to drive!
Should I just turn up the XM?
Mickey
:confuse: So you didn't believe your research?
Maybe he, like many of us RL owners, believed the problems were isolated problems in an otherwise fine car. Actually, if one were to research any luxury cars using these boards and were to eliminate any cars whose owners reported any problems, there'd be no cars left to buy.
What gnaws at me is the tagname "Lemon 2005" :lemon:
I seriously doubt any of us were too offended. All cars have problems. I realize a dead battery is a serious annoyance. However, it would take something more serious than that to turn me off of a car that is otherwise a great car.
Looks like another Camry driver just got an advance from daddy and got a real car, but hasn't learned how to start it yet.
Interested in having the facts lemon but keep the attitude to yourself. We're really not interested. :lemon:
If I may add my own opinion in such matters---it is statistically likely that a very small percentage of every car made on earth will have a component failure early in its life. There will be bad batteries, bad tires and other defects in manufacture.
I myself would not be very happy to drive a new car home and have it break down but really, if the problem is solved and the car runs happily after that, it's just one of those things.
If you think Mercedes and Lexus and Rolls Royce owners escape such mishaps entirely , you'd be wrong I think.
Please drop it, take a breath, shake hands and come out enjoying yourself.
thank you
Shifty the Host
The battery drain issue is well documented and appears to occur in some of the RLs when they are very new. Happened to me in the first week of ownership, about a year ago, was addressed successfully by the dealer and has never ocurred again. While it does not seem to be a widespread issue, it does seem to happen enough that one would think that Acura would have addressed it by now. The silver lining appears to be that from my experience and that of others in the forums it does not appear to be a recurring problem for the same vehicle.
nebraskaguy wrote: Maybe he, like many of us RL owners, believed the problems were isolated problems in an otherwise fine car.
:confuse: The dead-battery issue is well documented. The purpose of my post was to point out the inconsistency of buying a car with a known issue and then choosing to "forever change your attitude" about the car when it came up :sick: I do not understand how someone can love a car knowing full well it is susceptible to a certain issue and then hating it after the known issue manifests itself.
.....unless we are in a fox hole and ready to have our cigarette lit by the same match our 2 buddies used. :sick: or also unless of course we had our last post deleted by the host. I thought I made a good point but concede the fact that it was AFTER you drew your line. Fair enough.