brianko

This is the first negative review I've ever posted on a vehicle I own, but I felt that it was necessary to get the word out so that others can make a sound judgement as to whether an RDX is really something they want to buy into. And this isn't a general complaint about vague ideals of what comfort means to one person or another (i.e., ride quality, quality of rear seats, etc.). Take this for what it's worth, but never say you were not forewarned.

Vehicle is a 2009 RDX, technology package, currently 42,000 miles, purchased new from David McDavid Honda/Acura in Dallas, TX. Since we've owned the vehicle, it has spent over 4 weeks in the shop. It is currently in the shop yet again, and now we are haggling over whether it's in warranty. Apparently, Acura wants you to believe the warranty clock starts ticking with the dealer takes possession of the vehicle, despite Acura's own warranty book stating that the warranty period starts upon delivery to the "first purchaser."

At any rate, here's a list of issues we've had to deal with over the life of this vehicle:

1. Total loss of all electrical systems. This actually happened twice. Vehicle was parked, then hours later, lights started flickering, relays started to click, then complete loss of power. Dealership was able to replicate, but could not diagnose the problem or determine what was causing the failure. It has never officially been resolved; we have been told it could happen again at any time. During one or both of these failures, various control modules were damaged and had to be replaced.

2. A/C failed; strong odor of PAG oil from vents, indicating a leak in the plenum. It actually blows air that is about 10 degrees less than ambient. The dealership tells us this is "normal." Currently working to have this resolved.

3. Driver's side lumbar support has failed.

4. Rear seat belts retract but do not release. The service writer is telling us this is a "safety design feature." He apparently has never heard of inertial locking. To Acura's credit, this might in fact be a design flaw. But it does make the rear seat belts rather useless in their safety function, since the seat belt must be disengaged and fully retracted, usually when the vehicle is in motion since it's quite uncomfortable to have the belts retract tight enough to make breathing difficult.

5. Front rotor warpage. I've owned several Hondas and am familiar with the rotor warpage issue that plagues these vehicles. I do not recall any of my Hondas generating symptoms of rotor warpage prior to 50,000 miles.

6. Numerous interior rattles. What's amusing about this is that Acura can't even stop the rattles. Poor fitment of trim causes any number of rattles from the front; rear seats are constantly rattling against their seat locks.

7. Exterior paint. The worst I've ever seen on any vehicle I've owned. Scratches everywhere. It appears to me the paint was never fully cured, as the slightest pressure on the paint mars it. Sides, front, even the rear. Thinnest paint coat I've ever seen; many scratches are superficial yet primer is clearly visible.

8. Interior surfaces of instrument panel are stained with unknown substance. This one is baffling, and Acura doesn't even have an answer. The inside of the speedo and tach covers, as well as the cover on the dash display, is spotted with something that looks like a vapor that condensed at some point on the inside of the covers. As Acura adroitly tells us, cleaning these would require a complete disassembly of the instrument panel. We wisely opted out of that.

9. Rear speaker blown. Easy to blame this one on the owners, except that the same rear speaker has blown at least twice.

There is more, but I'm too lazy to dig up the copious documentation we've acquired on this vehicle. We are, to say the least, very disappointed in our first (and last) Acura vehicle, as we were expecting much more in terms of quality and reliability. We've learned out lesson on this one, and will be selling it as soon as possible while it's still under warranty.

If you're considering buying an RDX, use great caution, and don't let it be said you haven't been warned.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

sounds like you got a bad seed. sorry for all yoru troubles.

the rotor warpage....it happens. i bought my CPO'd MDX that way and it only had 25k miles on it at the time. my dealer took care of it immediately after i told them about it.

the paint...honda paint is known to be a bit "soft" and easily scratched. i can attest that IF taken care of the paint will last. my TL is over 7 yrs old...even after 6.5 yrs the paint was is really good shape with only light superficial fine scratches sprinkled here and there on the car. After a good detail and paint correction...my TL is back to looking fresh off the dealer lot and then some. it didnt' look bad before hand (in other words, the fine light scratches were things that i only noticed). no swirls at all. so certainly wash technique and materials make a difference.

the rattles...again...my TL has these and they are known noises that come with TL ownership. it's best to just try and find them and fix them yourself.

the other problems you mention...sounds like you got a bad seed. since i've owned my TL (new), i have had little to no issues. my MDX so far...little stuff (not mechanical or anything that makes the car go), but nothing that the dealer isn't willing to correct for me in a prompt manner.

sorry for your bad experience with your RDX. hope you have better luck with your next ride.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

it was also the first production run of those vehicles.
sorry that it left you with a bad taste.

mrgold35

I once purchase a used vehicle that had similar problems as the miles went up (88 Merkur Scorpio). Problems like sporadic electrical gremlins, A/C working intermittently, transmission issues, paint and clear coat peeling, rear windows not rolling up, and a drive shaft exploding on the hwy. I found out later the car was in a front end accident and the car had an additional 15,000 miles odometer. This was the time before Car Fax and if you did not ask, the dealership did not tell you.

Could your 09 RDX been an auction car with some type of unreported damage (accident or water)? You are in the extreme minority with that many problems with a model well into its 3rd model year of production.

lilfeat

I have had the reverse experience with the RDX, we have had a 2007 since it was new, not one service item beyond two dead batteries , tires, wipers, brakes once in 95K miles. All normal wear items. Still as quick as ever, paint is shiny and clean. Interior has one flaw, it developed a hole in the carpet next to the dead pedal, at about 60K miles, so I threw some WeatherTech floor liners in there. I never bothered to ask the dealer to swap the carpet piece, I suspect they may have done it as good will.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, especially when its been so reliable for me.

nj2pa2nc

WOW-you sure seem to have lots of problems with your Acura. I do agree on the paint- it is lousy that chips easy. I am otherwise very pleased with my tsx. It is rattle free with the original brakes with no warping. Mechanically in Excellent shape. Love driving it.

Joe Las Vegas

Sell it to carmax, get rid of it quick and easy.

matthewk323

3. Driver's side lumbar support has failed. THIS.

Mine does not work anymore also, does anybody know of a way of getting to it without tearing the seat apart? And also I just had all 4 rotors replaced at 48k miles because they were warped, so I know how you feel there, but I strongly disagree on the paint. The RDX has some of the best quality paint I have ever seen on a car absent the ultra-luxury car companies, I believe this was talked about somewhere on this forum about how good the paint was on this car.

mrgold35

I wonder the warped rotors are caused by driving (or stopping) style? I've gone 80,000 miles before I noticed warped rotors and had them turned (92,000 miles now and no signs of warp). I have 72,000 miles on the RDX and no signs of warped rotors. Brakes are all OEM.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

i would think so. i have the original rotors on my TL in the front...57k mi...no warping or other weird stuff. hard braking from stop and go (add in hard accelerations to sudden stops to jerk your neck out of whack) i would think stress the rotors a bit too much.

our accord...warped rotors. (my guess is from his driving style). i dont' brake nearly as hard or suddenly when i drive.

i've also read that the heat build up and then say splashing through puddles will also cause them to warp as well. i'm no expert but the logic makes sense about driving style/hard braking and hot/cold effects can cause issues to the rotors.

Mr Marco

Holy bad luck Batman!

Typically people who post these kinds of messages are nit pickers. In this case you have some legitimate complaints. A couple are actually safety issues. Hope they resolve the issue and get you a bitchin' loaner.

wrestrepo

It sounds like a bunch of bad luck combined together....
I have to say though, that you are probably the exception to the rule. Most of the RDXs on this board have been pretty reliable. There have been issues here and there, but I don't think that any of the ones you mentioned (except poor workmanship and crappy paint) have been addressed before.
Try to sell the car to the dealer and see what they say....It baffles me that they are not willing to fix things, but it also sounds that there is a warranty ownership issue with them, care to elaborate a little more?
Have you contacted Acura Care?, as it sounds like the dealer that you are going to is not the most helpful, as well as, have you try going to another dealer? is that even an option?

brianko

The rotor warpage is something I'm used to, having owned several Hondas and having resigned myself to the fact that they will *have* to be replaced at some point. I'm just frustrated that the RDX rotors have started to warp before 50,000 miles. Sure, this could possibly have something to do with driver braking style...but I've also owned several other non-Honda vehicles with front disc brakes and have NEVER had to replace the rotors before 50,000 miles.

Could your 09 RDX been an auction car with some type of unreported damage (accident or water)?

Doubtful...the odometer had 25 miles on it when purchased from the dealership, and I've seen no signs of repairs or flooding.

It baffles me that they are not willing to fix things, but it also sounds that there is a warranty ownership issue with them, care to elaborate a little more?

Sure. The last two times (including this time) that we've brought the vehicle in, the service writer told us the repairs might not be covered under warranty because the warranty clock starts ticking at the time the vehicle is delivered to the dealership. The first time, I just laughed and said whatever, and indeed there were no hassles. This time, though, the service writer seemed to be much more insistent that "this time" the work might not be covered under the warranty. It's almost as if he was trying to tell us that we should think twice before pushing the issues we were having with the vehicle. Very strange behavior from a big-name dealership. Not too worried, since Acura makes it very clear the warranty clock starts with delivery to the "first purchaser" which is most definitely me.

At any rate, it is what it is. Maybe it is a bad seed, or simply a confluence of bad days on the part of several assembly line workers. Given the combination of problems as described combined with the exasperated attitude of the dealership with regards to fixing the problems most likely makes this the last Acura I own.

TruckerBomb

Almost all these problems sound a lot like they're water damage related... even at 25 miles, it could be possible.

But the MAIN issue in my opinion is your dealer not standing behind fixing these problems... I'd look at pursuing vehicle replacement under lemon laws if I were in your shoes.

markmass

Sorry to hear about the problems with your RDX. My 2009 has been mostly trouble-free. There are some annoying rattles (when front passenger side window is down) and such that I wouldn't expect from a supposedly luxury vehicle, though. My dealer's response was "that's normal" even when I told them my previous Accord didn't have that problem. I think one of the issues is that it's assembled in Ohio (or some place) so we don't get the Japanese level quality. I agree with TB--Your dealer and Acura should be standing behind their vehicle and not trying to run out the clock.

wifesRDXtech

see link:

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoram...195144624.html


I have an 07 RDX tech awd , been trouble free have only 41 k miles though

pickler

lemons happen. lol. my dad is still on his original rotors and pads after 70k miles on his RDX

brizey

Lemon?.

Oh and two words for the OP:

Goodson Acura

DRR98

The title makes me wonder.

Really?

You may be just slightly bigoted.

Here in Cali we have a lemon law. 3 tries to fix a new cars problem or the dealer must buy it back.

Notice the o/p has never posted again. Never asked for advice. Makes me go hmmm?