NHTSA Complaint #10637812 — 2014 ACURA RLX

WHILE DRIVING SOUTH ON U.S. 1, A SIX LANE ROAD, I PLACED A TELEPHONE CALL USING THE BUTTONS ON THE STEERING WHEEL. SHORTLY AFTER THE CALL WAS CONNECTED, THE CAR'S WARNING ALARM SOUNDED AND AN "I" APPEARED IN THE INFORMATION DISPLAY. FRANTICALLY TRYING TO DETERMINE THE PROBLEM WHILE DRIVING IN HEAVY TRAFFIC, I USED THE CONTROL ON THE STEERING WHEEL TO SCROLL DOWN THE INFORMATION LIST AND FOUND A RED DISPLAY SAYING "12 VOLT BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEM PROBLEM". BECAUSE TRAFFIC WAS SO THICK, I DECIDED NOT TO TRY TO GET TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. WHEN I GOT TO A RED LIGHT, I TURNED THE ENGINE OFF AND RESTARTED IT. THE MESSAGE DID NOT REAPPEAR. BECAUSE THIS PROBLEM DID NOT REOCCUR FOR A MONTH, I ASSUMED THAT ACURA USED ITS LINK SYSTEM TO REMOTELY CORRECT THE SOFTWARE ERROR. THE ASSUMPTION WAS INCORRECT. OVER THE NEXT 5 MONTHS, THE SAME THING HAPPENED 3 MORE TIMES. ON SEPTEMBER 19 I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS AN ACURA BULLETIN ON THIS SOFTWARE ISSUE DATED APRIL 16, 2014. IN MY OPINION, THIS SOFTWARE ISSUE THAT ISSUES A FALSE ALARM THAT THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM HAS FAILED SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECT OF A NOISY RECALL, OR AT LEAST A QUIET RECALL. MY CAR WAS AT THE DEALERSHIP ON 2 OCCASIONS BETWEEN MAY 15 AND SEPTEMBER 19, AND THE SOFTWARE ERROR WAS NOT CORRECTED. IF ACURA COULD SEND AN E-MAIL TO ALL OWNERS ON SEPTEMBER 16 ADVISING OF A SOFTWARE INCOMPATIBILITY FOR STATIONARY VEHICLES WITH THE IOS 8 FOR IPHONES, WHY COULDN'T ACURA SEND AN E-MAIL REGARDING AN ERROR IN ACURA SOFTWARE THAT AFFECTS MOVING VEHICLES? I RAISED THIS ISSUE WITH ACURA CLIENT RELATIONS AND WAS UNABLE TO ESCALATE THE ISSUE. MY REQUESTS FOR CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE OFFICES OF AMERICAN HONDA AND AMERICAN HONDA'S CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER WERE DENIED. I DID NOT EVEN SUCCEED IN SPEAKING WITH A SUPERVISOR. *TR