rbreeze

My wife and I had a look at a '16 RDX AWD Elite (Advance) yesterday and took it for a test drive. All in all it's a very nice vehicle, with some great (albeit late arriving) additions for m-y 2016. One of those additions is an available 8-way power adjustable front passenger seat, a feature a lot of people have been waiting for. Disappointingly (for us).. when my wife began adjusting the passenger seat she discovered that the range of travel for both the "up/down" and "fore/aft" directions is quite limited - significantly more limited than the ranges of travel on the driver seat. With the driver seat adjusted to the almost full highest position, and the passenger seat adjusted to its full highest position, the passenger seat remains significantly lower than the driver seat. As well we discovered the (8-way) passenger seat on the '16 doesn't travel as far rearward as we'd like ; we prefer sitting further away from the dash as what can be achieved with the (8-way) passenger seat on the '16.

We're (still) considering the purchase of a '16 RDX Elite, however similar to the '13-'15 RDX there remains (at least for us anyway) front passenger seat concerns. We've decided to wait until sometime in July or August to decide what to buy; by that time the all-new larger '16 Tucson and updated '16 Santa Fe Sport (as well as most other 2016 vehicles) should be out and available to sample.

Joe Las Vegas

Sucks! SFS was my first choice back in a 2013, but the off the line power sucked, I wish they had the V6 in the SFS then I would seriously consider it if the price is right. New Tucson is nice, but performance won't match want I want, so I'll probably test drive it just for the hell of it. Resale value of the RDX is great compared to anything else, whatever comes out, I always go back to the RDX in the end.

rbreeze

^ Joe - if you always go back to the RDX in the end, regardless of what comes out, then why, may I ask, are you waiting to buy one? Performance and price appear to be your main criteria, therefore a pre-owned '13-'15 RDX FWD model would appear to be exactly what you want/need.
For me/us, the main criteria in the purchase decision of a small upscale CUV are features (the more the better), contemporary styling (exterior and interior), build quality/reliability and price/value. We're not terribly concerned with 0-60 performance in a daily-use CUV; fuel economy is actually of greater importance. Besides - for our enjoyment of performance we have a very nice 304 HP luxury sport sedan parked in our garage! When we finally get a new small CUV this summer our ultra-low mileage (and always detailed) 2011 sport sedan will be assigned to 'fair weather driving' only.

Rocket_man

That does suck. It probably has something to do with the airbag and safety. I wonder if this is a limit switch somewhere or a physical stop that prevents it from moving further.

Joe Las Vegas

What am I waiting for to buy one? For my wife to get a FT job that pays well, she lost her job as a teacher when the economy turned to sh1t, since then all she's had is PT crap barely making 15K a year. I've been wanting to buy a ride I actually want since 2013, but I cant do it with my pay only, I'm always broke.

Comfy

Don't worry at all. She WILL get the job and you WILL buy your favorite car. Just keep trying.

sumoto

rbreeze,
I agree with you on the height adjustment. I was all set to pull the trigger when I discovered this. Seems unacceptable for a "premium" vehicle in this price range. I'm looking elsewhere presently, hopefully I'll find something I like as much as the RDX, actually I like the 15's appearance better and knew I could get a decent price on one. Alas, I'm still searching.
Sumoto

rbreeze

Joe, sorry to hear about your temporary issues; I'm sure things will resolve before too long and you will have the ride you've been looking for.

rbreeze

Sumoto - yes, I appreciate what you're saying. I too was getting ready to pull the trigger. My wife and I couldn't believe the outcome of our front passenger seat height test when we looked at and test drove the '16 RDX Elite/Advance a couple of days ago. It's nice that Acura finally offers an 8-way front passenger seat on the '16 RDX.. but it's definitely not nice that the maximum seat height of that 8-way seat is virtually no different than the non-adjustable standard seat height of the '13-'15 RDX! How could Acura get this wrong? What Acura/Honda "parts bin" did they borrow from to apply that 8-way seat? It can't have been purposely engineered like that for this vehicle. The icing on the cake for us was when we discovered the seat has limited rearward travel. For anyone wanting to place the seat a greater distance than "normal" away from the dash (as you can with the driver seat) - forget it!

Good luck in your continued search for the right vehicle. I haven't decided what to do yet, other than wait until July/August to have a look at all the new & updated vehicles for 2016, and then make up my mind. If the all-new feature-laden '16 Tucson with Limited/Ultimate package impresses me as much as I think it might when it arrives in July, I will probably buy one.

ceb

I'm sure you're right. I've said this before and I'll say it again - manufacturers do everything for a reason. It could be economic or it could have an engineering reason.

In this case it is undoubtedly an engineering reason. I suspect that a greater adjustment range would have required a full dashboard and airbag system redesign - and that would have been too costly. You'll note that the fore/aft adjustment in the older RDXs are different side to side.

rbreeze

^ Whatever the explanation/justification... IT STILL SUCKS.