New cars are mobile devices as much as they are mobility. Most automakers now offer whole suites of connection services that let you use a smartphone to lock and unlock your car, start it remotely, monitor its maintenance needs, and even track it if stolen.
Until they don’t, that is.
Acura will soon shut down its AcuraLink connection service for many cars. Affected models include:
2014 – 2020 Acura RLX
2015 – 2020 Acura TLX
2016 – 2022 Acura ILX
2014 – 2020 Acura MDX
2016 – 2018 Acura RDX
2017 – 2022 Acura NSX
Service for those models will end July 21, the company says. The change only affects “a limited number of customers currently in a paid subscription.” If you have a paid subscription that expires later than that date, you’ll receive a prorated refund for the unusable period.
Acura provides three years of complimentary access to its system with the purchase of a new vehicle, so those with a 2022 model still in their free period will not lose access yet. But they won’t be able to sign up to continue the service when their trial period ends.
We asked Acura why they’d discontinued the service, but they declined to explain.
This Happened to Many Drivers in 2022
Something similar happened in 2022, when cell phone providers discontinued service in the old 3G band. Cell phones and other high-tech products communicate using parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. That spectrum has a limited number of frequencies. There is no way to add more. So companies periodically abandon old spectrum bands used by few phones to free up space.
Americans upgrade their phones more often than their cars. So many cars were still using the 3G band when cell phone providers closed it. Connected services that relied on 3G, like Lexus Enform, shut down because the cars didn’t have the equipment needed to operate in the still-active 4G and 5G bands.
The cars still worked, but connected services apps, which can include accident reporting that notifies emergency services of a crash, do not.
But Acura’s move doesn’t seem related to a loss of signal. Unless the company decides to explain later, we may never know why Acura is stopping the service.
But car shoppers should learn a lesson from the move. Your car’s mechanical parts may work much longer than its electronics and software. If you like depending on a connected service, be aware that it may not be available for the life of your car.
For some 2022 Acuras, they barely lasted three years.