My 04 TL navigation is kaput. It started going in and out for about a month and now the screen is totally blank. Took it to the dealership, they said that Alpine doesn't let Acura work on the unit, so I would have to remove the entire unit and ship it off to Alpine where I could expect to pay $700+ for them to fix it. Took it to a local shop that had a guy that is good with electronics, but they couldn't figure it out.

Is this a common TL issue? Any suggestions on what I can do, can't really afford the grand right now.

 

It can happen to any electronic device, no way to determine a life expectancy. Try some local radio shops and see if they can repair it or send it to Alpine to have it repaired. Dealer is obviously going to hit you with a higher mark up.

 

Unfortunately, you have little choice. Honda uses Alpine electronics in their cars and they are notoriously unreliable. Both my Honda Accord and Odyssey had major issues with the in dash CD/radio and navigation system. In case of my Odyssey, Honda can only take out the navigation unit and send to Alpine for them to repair. It took three trips to the dealers and it takes Alpine 6 weeks before they got it back to the dealer. Both Honda and Alpine are suck at their service for expensive electronics that should have been reliable at least for 10 years and the service duration should be days vs. weeks. At any rate, your only choice is to send it in for repair by Acura dealer or get new one installed. There is no guarantee that the new unit will last any longer but in both cases, you will be out $1000-$2000.