Which accessories would you define as "Must Haves" for a silver tech, and which would you say are must "HAVE NOTS??"

- side moulding
- running boards
- leather shift knob
- 19" rims - mat or chrome
- roof rack
- cargo liner
- cargo tray
- all weather mats

Am I forgetting anything??

I'm definately going to go with the rear spoiler, front spoiler and the bumper decal if I my RDX actually gets here, so I haven't listed those items.

Thanks

 

I'd definitely get the side moldings if you want extra protection (see the thread about the moldings on whether you get them with the dealer or not). The mats and liner you can order from Curry Acura...I find they're useful in keeping the car clean.

Good call on the spoilers - I think they really enhance the look of the RDX.

 

I've added the shift knob, rear view mirror, back "sticker", back up sensors, and side moldings. I'm probably also going to do the mud flaps and front spoiler.

Not really sure about the "rear diffuser". I think I will have to see one on an RDX, as I'm not sure what it does for the car.

The side steps look nice, however, they are expensive and not really needed for stepping on.

 

Well, first you need to separate the "gotta-haves" from the "wanna-haves".

Some accessories (e.g. front spoiler) are for looks only and that's a matter of taste. Personally I wouldn't put something solely for appearance on my gotta-have list. That doesn't mean I wouldn't want or buy something like that, just that if I needed to limit the cost, that kind of item would get scratched off the list first.

There are a lot of cargo-carrying accessories: cargo liner, cargo tray, cargo organizer, cargo net, and the roof rack and its add-ons. One or more of these could be gotta-haves, depending on what you need to carry around. In my case, I hate it when I put smallish items (especially grocery bags) in the trunk and get home to find everything scattered around. So I bought the cargo net and the cargo organizer. And I might be hauling a dirty mountain around sometimes, so I bought the cargo liner. I couldn't think of anything I'd need the roof rack for.

My last car had an auto-dimming rear-view mirror and I liked it, so I got that, too.

But you also have to factor in price. How much are these things worth to you? In my case, I got all of the accessories I mentioned above for $200 when I bought the car. The biggest wanna-have I paid for was the tech package.

 

Here's my list of add-ons that I have and a review of each:

Rear bumper applique: Very useful and easy to apply. I have a dog that jumps in and out of the back tailgate, and this prevents my dogs nails from touching the paint. People just call it an overpriced sticker, but it is much more durable than that, and also it is not just a peel and stick installation if properly done. Not that anyone would buy one and try this, but the material is very durable, and very difficult to tear or puncture.

Rear Cargo Liner: Again very useful for the above mentioned dog that rides in the back. Easy installation, and well thought out design inclusing holes for the cargo light to shine through and holes in front of the subwoofer, which aren't really necessary, but makes you feel like the music is coming through. I never attach the rear portion of the liner up to wear it is designed to attach to protect the liftgate door, but rather just fold it over and pull it out to protect the rear bumper when loading/unloading stuff.

Autodimming Rear View Mirror: I thought this should have come with the car to begin with. I got used to having one from my Ford Expedition that had one. Hardly ever use the compass that is on there, especially if you have the navigation on. Installation is fairly easy, took about 20 minutes. The price is kind of high, but now that it is in, I am happy I got it.

Acura MusicLink for iPod: Installation was fairly easy (less than an hour) if you enjoy taking your dash apart. I've always beenone to install my own stereos, so it was second nature to me, but I could see how many would shy away from this installation. Pros- Clean glovebox installation so your ipod isn't visible, Clean sound with no ground loop whine from the unit while it charges the ipod and plays back, pauses ipod playback automatically when using hands-free-link and just when shutting car off. Cons- Terrible navigation of the ipod using TTS (Text-to-Speech), Doesn't display any track/playlist information anywhere.

Acura sunshade: I got this from Curry. It said it is deisgned to fit all acura windshields. It does not fit the RDX windshield very good at all. It is too short and I would not recommend it.

Wheel locks: Dealer threw these in. I'd definitely get them if I had the upgraded wheels, but not too worried about someone stealing my stock wheels, at least not in the area I live and work in.

Non-Acura add-ons:

NavVideo: Very easy installation, completely hidden to keep the factory appearance. NavVideo allows video input to the navigation screen so that you could connect an external video source to watch on the nav screen such as a DVD player or TV tuner or whatever has a video output. The resolution isn't fantastic on the nav screen so it is not ideal, but watching video works well. Connecting a computer does not work well as the resolution isn't high enough. If you are familiar with the Apple Macs, I am going to be connecting an Apple Mac Mini to it in order to use the Front Row application to play music and video.

Tinted front side windows: in my opinion, a must to have! keeps the car slightly cooler in the summer, blocks 99% UV rays. Keeps the sun wear on the interior down. The only question is how dark do you want it. I have 20 on mine, but I figure most would go with 35 for safety reasons.

Add-ons I'm still considering:

Front spoiler: Anyone install this themselves? They look great.

Rear Diffuser: not really sure this one is worth the money. Pretty sure it is purely for looks and doesn't do any diffusing at all. Would like to see a real rear diffuser made for the RDX eventually.

Body Side Moulding: So the idea behind these is that they protect your door from dings by taking the hit themselves. And I suppose the thinking here is if the moulding gets damaged, you could easily replace the moulding as be as good as new. So has anyone ever done that? I think I'd be just as pissed if I got a ding on the moulding as if I got one on the door, cause I'm not going to pay another $179 for another set of mouldings. I guess there are those that just like how they look too. I'm up in the air about that one.

would like to see some wheel well protectors as this is where I usually see dings and scrapes on SUVs.

 

Doesnt the tint do enough for you to cut down on glare? As well as the fact that the RDX is higher than almost all cars? Never really been a problem for me, don't see any need for it.

 

Yes, the tint is good enough for me.

What I am thinking is to get the rear sensors which I think it can help me back parking a lot

I don't want to spend too much on other cosmetic accessories. All the accessories I put on my last SUV (thousands of $$$) really does not mean much to the dealer when I traded it in........... that's why I am not going to waste my money this time. Especially, I think the RDX original package looks really nice, definitely does not need the front/rear guard like other SUVs

 

Yeah I forgot to mention the rear-sensors. Definitely a MUST in my opinion. I have them on my current SUV and they have saved me in tight situations.

One other item you might want to consider: a clear bra around the front grille/hood. doesn't detract from the looks of the car like the front shield guard does.

 

I'm in the same boat -- thinking about what options to get.

I'm still torn about the body side molding. I kind of agree with Sasair's comment about getting dings on the side molding. If it's a part of my car I would be really pissed if that got dinged too. Plus, I'm still worried a lot of other cars doors will not hit mine at that level anyway.

any thoughts about whether the rear bumper applique is redundant if you also get the cargo liner? is the cargo tray redundant to the liner?

i know that boon likes the rear sensors -- even in addition to the rear view camera. anyone else share his opinion? I'm just not sure they are worth the extra 500 bucks.

Also - are the mud guards really helpful in preventing dings from road gravel? that's the main point for them right?

thanks to all for their help

 

I love the rear sensors. Installed them myself and they work great. Well worth the bucks.

 

I miss having the rear sensors that I had on my Expedition, but the RDX isn't near as big as the Expedition was. I am fine with the camera though. I would like having the rear sensors if they came on the vehicle, but I probably won't add them on.

I don't agree on the tinting being dark enough, plus in my area, there are more SUVs and trucks on the road than passenger cars, so I find the auto dimming mirror very useful. The RDX sits pretty low compared to the other SUVs, and if you have a semi behind you, forget it, their headlights are right at eye level and usually pretty bright. The fact that they are auto dimming is the key. If the lights behind you are bright and at eye level, it will adjust automatically, and if there is a passenger car behind you that is low and not in your eyes, it will adjust accordingly.

 

My usual opinion is that if I feel torn about an item, I can probably live without it, and if I can live without it, I see no good reason to spend money on it. But that's me and I do make exceptions. No sense being too doctrinaire about it.

The cargo liner has a flap that you fold out to cover the rear bumper during loading and unloading. The cargo tray covers just the portion of the trunk floor available when the rear seats are up, whereas the cargo liner covers the rear seatbacks and the sides of the trunk compartmentas well (I think it covers the sides, but I'm not sure I remember that correctly). So I'd say that if you have the cargo liner in place, you don't need the rear applique or the cargo tray.

The cargo net and the cargo organizer, which I mentioned in my last post, wouldn't be redundant with the cargo liner. So if you intend to carry stuff that you don't want tossed around in the back, one of these would be good. I actually bought them both and now I'm thinking that the net alone might have been good enough.

 

>>Ditto on the Rear bumper applique. The first one didn't stick very well, but the second I'm having no problems with.

>>Rear Cargo Liner - I think I'll get one of these. The cargo tray is just too small...the dog crates don't quite fit inside it well enough.

>>Wheel locks - I have them, but they forgot the give the key...so they have to replace them.

>>Tinting on the front windows is on my list.

>>I've got the side moulding...but mainly becuase I like the look.

>>Roof Rack - I need it to get the Christmas Tree home!

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I didn't like the leather shifter knob at all. I thought it looked weird. I stuck with the original.

Since I have the black interior, I don't worry about the all weather mats...I've always had black interiors and never found them to be a problem. I would probabaly get them if I had the tan interior thoug.

 

We purchased the auto dimming mirror with compass, all weather mats, and soft cargo organizer for our base RDX. The dealer had included (or, because this was a dealer trade, perhaps the original dealer had installed) both wheel locks and splash guards. We didn't pay for either, nor did our salesman mention them as throw-ins. In fact, I didn't even realize we had the splash guards the night we bought the car. I didn't notice them until today, walking around the car trying to take pictures.

For those with the all-weather mats, are you swapping them with the regular mats by season, or laying the all-weathers on top of the standard ones? The dealer put them on top, and they seem to fit fine. I had always swapped out in other cars, but maybe it's not necessary here?

 

Personally I'm keeping the carpet matts stored away unless I take a road trip where I know people are going to want more comfort. Leaving them above the carpet is almost as bad as not having them at all IMO. Plus when I go to sell the car one day if I put in new looking matts that are stock I dont think it will hurt in the interior appearance.

 

IMHO ...

Exterior:

1. Wheels and roof rack make the biggest difference in appearance (Just put on my 19" Acura rims w/ summer tires and wow!)
2. Side molding, splash guards, front spoiler, and rear diffuser are nice, but their contribution to overall appearance is more subtle
3. Opted not to add running boards and have no second thoughts -- excessive for the look I want

Interior:

1. All-season mats and cargo tray are must-haves
2. Auto-dimming mirror was well worth adding
3. Leather shift knob is nice, but probably wouldn't have, if I had the chance to do it over again
4. Definitely wouldn't have added wood trim -- I hardly notice it and when I do, it seems superfluous since it doesn't tie in with the rest of the interior

Of course, everyone's tastes are different.

 

Do any of you have photos of the RDX with some of these accessories installed? Do they make a big difference to the appearance? Thanks.

 

Tried to post a couple of exterior pictures, but haven't earned the right to include attachments yet (# of posts threshold, I think).

Happy to email them though -- PM me.

 

For me, the roof rack was a necessity. I do alot of outdoor activities and needed this vehicle for transporting my gear. So far, I've purchased (still haven't installed since I'm waiting for the arrival)

- Roof rack - but will only use the side rails
- Yakima lowriders to secure yakima bars to side rails (then can strap 2 kayaks on the rack)
- Yakima Raptor bike racks (secures bikes onto rack)
- Yakima powderhound (secures snowboards onto rack)

I'm also waiting for Husky Liners to come out w/their product for the RDX. I prefer their thinner liners over the heavy duty all weather mats. Especially the cargo liner. I need something that doesn't soak up water since I toss diving gear in the back too.

Oh, what's Acura's cargo liner made out of?

 

What color interior do you have? I have not seen the wood trim in person yet, but in photos it looks OK with the taupe interior, but out-of-place with the black interior.

 

I'm getting the cargo liner and a trailer hitch (for a bike rack).

 

I'm not sure what it is made of, but I love it. One of the reasons we went with the RDX was for more utility than with our previous cars. We are doing some home remodeling and have packed up the back end with a bunch of stuff and it has really done its job. The lining is pretty dirty but it is doing a great job of keeping the carpet and back of the seats clean.

Of course, I did shut the hatch on it accidently and ripped two small holes in it , but thankfully they have not spread further. I was a little hesitant to spend the money. But now, I think it was worth every penny

 

Should add a 'Got Boost' sticker to the poll.

LOL

 

I've got the taupe interior, but I'm not thrilled. Its a personal preference, but I regret getting it.

Also, one of the two small pieces came unstuck and had to be reattached -- they're attached with double-stick strips. Now if they'd all come off without leaving residue ...

 

Hilarious, great idea.

XDRARUCA: The Acura cargo liner is made of a thin polyvinyl material. I didn't like it at first for this reason, thought it was overpriced, too; was gonna return it. I've since changed my mind 100%. It is the thinness that makes it so versatile. You can flip one seat up and leave the othe down and the liner stays intact through it all. It also covers the ENTIRE back area, even the sides -- it's got velcro strips that affix it to every carpeted surface plus you can also choose to cover the rear speakers. And it flips down in the back to protect the bumper during loading. It's quite utilitarian and a good value if you get it from one of the discount sites.

I'd say it's non-water absorbent due to the rubbery/vinylized material. Only possible drawback I might see for scuba gear is it is dimpled such that sand kind of "sticks" to it. I took mine out to shake it the other day and had to brush it hard with my hand to get the sand off of it. (A scrub or wire brush would likely do a better job.) Then again, this might be a PLUS as you know the sand won't be traveling all over your vehicle, even with windows down -- it'll stay on the liner which is exactly why you have the liner.

No, I don't live near a beach but I do play beach volleyball. And yes, my scuba gear is WAY too dry! Arg, I just came across it in my basement the other day. Time to book a trip!