NHTSA Complaint #10620953 — 2014 ACURA RDX

MY WIFE AND I PURCHASED A NEW 2014 ACURA RDX WITH NAVIGATION IN EARLY MARCH 2014. IN CONSIDER THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM AND THE BLUETOOTH INTERFACE 'UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED'. ACURA IN ITS INFINITE WISDOM DECIDED NOT TO OFFER A TOUCH SCREEN INTERFACE AND TO DISABLE MANUAL CONTROLS WHILE THE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION. 1 - THIS PREVENTS A PASSENGER FROM ENTERING TRIP DESTINATION. 2 - DETAILS OF A LOCATION MUST BE ENTERED ONE CHARACTER AT A TIME. 3 - THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE BY VOICE COMMAND FROM THE DRIVER'S STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS. 4 - AFTER PRESSING THE TALK BUTTON TWICE AND SPEAKING A LETTER, THE SYSTEMS RESPONDS WITH THREE NUMBERED CHOICES THAT MUST BE SELECTED BY PRESSING THE TALK BUTTON TWICE AND SPEAKING THE NUMBER NEXT TO THE CORRECT LETTER. THIS MUST BE REPEATED FOR EVERY LETTER IN THE PLACE NAME, STREET NAME, STREET NUMBER AND CITY. IT IS SO DISTRACTING TO BE INFINITELY MORE DANGEROUS THAN A TOUCH INTERFACE. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, THE PRE-LOADED MAP IS INACCURATE. FOR INSTANCE, CALIFORNIA STATE HIGHWAY 1 IS NOT CATEGORIZED AS A MAJOR ROAD. SO DIRECTIONS FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TO BIG SURE FOR EXAMPLE WILL BE 2.5 HOURS LONGER THAN THEY SHOULD BE BECAUSE THE SYSTEM WANTS TO TAKE THE DRIVER DOWN TO SAN LUIS OBISPO AND THEN BACK NORTH UP THE COAST ON US 101. NEITHER THE SALES DEPARTMENT, THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT, THE MAPPING COMPANY OR ACURA CLIENT RELATIONS SEEM TO BE REAL CONCERNED. THIS WAS A TOTAL WASTE OF APPROXIMATELY $3,000. WE MUST RELY ON A GARMIN IN THE CAR TO GET ACCURATE AND SAFE USAGE FOR NAVIGATION. WE HAVE A CASE NUMBER WITH ACURA CLIENT RELATIONS AND WE WILL PURSUE THIS UNTIL WE RECEIVE A FIX OR RECOMPENSE. I WORK IN THE TECH INDUSTRY IN USER TECHNICAL SUPPORT, SO THIS IS NOT A USER ISSUE. *TR