I have had my RDX (non tech model) for over 5 months now, but all the little problems are turning into big headaches.

First, let me say that I do use it for business, so it's driven 400m/week in stop and go conditions. I would expect lower gas mileage, higher oil consumption and more tire wear. But 14m/gallon is still a little low by me, even for a turbo. And I refuse to change the oil every 3k miles when synthetic oil is used...turbo or no turbo. And lets talk tire and alignment problems. I traded in my IS 300 because it would chew up Z rated tires. My Michelins are going at a faster rate!

I have had the RDX in the dealer twice for a constant pull to the left when driving. In fact, accelerate it from a stop, and you have to fight with it not to pull over to the left. The dealer stated they could find nothing wrong with the alignment, and it's probably the canted roads I drive on. BS! I'll get it independently checked. I wonder if the SHAWD is not working correctly.

What else! The outside thermometer doesn't work right. The latch for the hood prop up bar is broken. Parts of my taupe leather seats are discoloring. The left front strut has a rattle and needs to be replaced. The sunroof has begun to have an intermittant rattle. And I have had to have both front window leather panels replaced because of stains obtained from the factory.

Yes, the RDX handles and accelerates well, has a lot going for it for the money, but there are many problems with QA that have left me with a disgusting feeling. And please don't tell me I'm drving this car too hard etc...because I don't! I never had these problems (except eating tires) with my Lexus. In fact, after 75,000 miles, I can't think of one problem I had with that vehicle. Should have kept it but needed more room for the growing kids. Acura needs to get their act together with this car...especially my car!

 

Sorry to hear about the problems ongopt. Sounds like you have a few legitimate concerns. But just to be fair, my family's X3 has 45K on it and it's had its share of small rattles and an alignment issue. I swear it still pulls to the right a little bit even though the dealer says there's nothing wrong. Both the X3 and RDX are geared more as "performance" vehicles, which means they might have a little more upkeep than desired for those who aren't car enthusiasts.

As for the outside thermometer, it's usually calibrated wrong anyway and you'll find you have to adjust it by one or two degrees. If your temp seems to be variably off then I dunno.

Has Acura addressed all these problems? All of this stuff should be covered under warranty right?

 

sorry to hear about all your problems, hope everything gets fixed. But to be fair, I drive the wheels off this car and put about 450-500 miles a week in city traffic and I have experienced 0 problems.

 

Sorry for your RDX troubles. Knock on wood, I have 12k on mine in five months (approx. 600 miles a week), drive it fairly hard in the city and on the highway and have had no problems at all so far. Maybe you got the proverbial lemon or your service dept. needs improvement. Good luck getting those things corrected.

 

How many miles do you have? Sounds like normal stuff to me. I've had my car for 6 months and almost 5K miles on it, and besides getting a nail in the tire my Tech has been problem-free.

It definately is not a fuel miser, but then again, what car out there that has reasonable performance is? I figure I spend about $50 every 9-10 days to fill it up.

I've been toying with an MDX or Jeep SRT8 as of late. I think I would like something a little bigger. The RDX is a little to "boy racer" for me.

-N

 

I have a feeling it's pulling to the left due to the road. Try going on the middle lane of the highway....see if that happens.

 

Ongopt - I can sympathize with you. I had an Nissan X-Trail that had a similar alignment issue, rattles and lots of other "little" glitches. The dealer even said the exact same thing about the road causing the car to pull. I had taken the X-Trail in 3 times and the alignment always checked out okay. What they ended up doing to solve the problem was cross rotating the tires and that solved the problem.

In the end, I had the X-Trail about 7 months and traded it in for the RDX.

 

Hmmm... I was in a similar place. LOVED my IS300 and I needed something bigger for the kids and sports (I coach baseball)... I drove my IS hard and had not one single problem. I take that back, I had the stereo replaced and the clicking brakes were replaced. No biggy. I got 19-20 mpg in the city in that thing, punching it daily.

I love my RDX...in a different way. It drives WAY different in the extreme heat than it does in cool weather. NO punch from a start. Actually, it can sometimes (very inconsistant) be an extreme dog in first and second. It will fly if I punch it (after a few)... I am sure it could beat the IS easy in a 1/4 mile or whatever, but the IS had punch at the line. Whatever. I need to grow up so I got the RDX.
I get 15 or so in town if I punch it all the time. 17-18 in town if I baby it 90% of the time. 21 on the highway....

The only time my thermometer does not work is just after a car wash.

Other than the inner wheel wells missing a few clips, I have not had one issue. The stereo (ELS) is 2nd to none. It looks good (not too flashy) and it handles like OMFG. BUT, you have to push it (and trust it) to feel it.

(I miss the ecsaine (suede seats) in the IS too, but all leather is nice)

 

You do seem to be having an inordinate number of problems compared to most reports on this forum. Perhaps you should look into Lemon Law soon.

We drive ours aggressively and get about 5600 miles to 5% remaining. Are you actually getting 5% oil life at 3k miles or is some dealer pushing this on you?

 

Like I said I push my car hard sometimes and for the past 2 oil changes I've gone 4400 miles each at 0%. Changing oil at 3k would mean u must be driving at redline whenever the car is moving.

 

I wonder if a dealer is trying to sell him oil on the old 3k formula.

 

yeah i doubt the oil life displayed would go down that fast.

 

mine does.

I am at about 5500km, have already had to change the oil once (waited for 5%) and it is already back at 70% oil life.

 

I have had my RDX (tech) for five months and have put 11k miles on it (I have a killer commute everyday). I have only had to change my oil twice in that time (A1 and B1 service) as directed by the car's automated service monitor. At my last service, the dealership says that everything is running well and nothing appears out of line.

My MPG is 20-21mpg in mixed highway/city driving (70/30). The highest I have seen is 24mpg on a longer drive one weekend.

It sucks that you are having the problems you mentioned. I have not experienced any of your issues thus far. I would take it back to the dealership and talk to the manager/owner with your detailed list of issues and respectfully demand that they resolve the problems (and you'll drive their loaner car until they do).

 

Look at my forum titled "trading in my RDX" here
I listed all the reasons why I am going to trade it.
I just got back from a 6oo mile trip-got 16 to 23 mpg. But most annoying was the navagation. It got me lost 3x!!! Many streets not even in the data base.
When exiting highway it showed 2x to make a right when I should have stayed on.
It is the most dissapointing car purchase in my life.

 

my violin is playing for you....

 

So, what are you getting instead, still the camry hybrid?? It's a pretty nice car. My brother in law has a Prius and it is boring as heck, but does everything it's suppose to do well.

Anyways, the RDX simply was not for you. As bad as you said the nav is... it is still one of the best factory units out there. I just bought a LGT Spec B two weeks ago, and the NAV on it is bad compared to my wife's RDX! It gives me the most logical route only about 50% of the time no matter I how set it up. Still, just having a real time map in my car saves me time on commute when I can dodge traffic by taking side streets. The RDX's NAV is pretty good. It's pretty much spot on in route decisions and map accuracy (at least in the Chicago area).

Jim

 

couple notes

1) as for the thermometer, you do know that it is only accurate while moving right. The thermometer was designed to use the wind from the road to blow air over the termometer. It will read 5-15 degrees high when you first turn the car on in the heat, especially if on hot blacktop. Once you move for a few minutes look at it, and it will usually come down some. Just a thought.

2)i have had this car for 20k now. Just had my third service A1,6. Got 7.5k since last service. By way of nature of synthetic oil, shouldnt breakdown as quick or heat up as much, which accounts for longer oil life. My first service was at about 6k, second 6k later, now 7.5k. How many oil changes have you had so far?

 

sounds like you got a lemon. my wife's rdx is at 7500miles, and not one problem yet. we would both like a better, less firm ride, but unless we are traveling on some bad roads, we don't notice it at all.

 

Sorry to hear about your issues. I have 8k miles on my RDX with none of the problems you mentioned. I too use my RDX for business and I'm in stop and go traffic daily. I average 18 mpg in city traffic and 21 mpg in highway long distince cruise. The RDX is the best vehicle I have owened and I have had Honda's, BMW's, SAAB's and VW's.

 

Then you were lucky with your iS. We just traded of an '02 IS300 that had plenty of problems a $36k car shouldn't have had. Besides chewing tires (5 sets of front tires in 60k miles because the inside edges were burned off after multiple alignment attempts) CD changer jammed, creaks and squeaks in the sunroof and rear seats that could never be cured, navigation controls went out, wind leaks (that I had to tell my dealer how to fix thank to the guys on the IS internet forum), front wheel bearing went bad, the 'clicking' brakes you mentioned, some kind of brake problem when the car was cold that gave you virtually no stopping ability (also never cured), wrong transmission programming from the factory which resulted in a hesitation when accelerating from a stop, ridiculously soft/thin paint ... I could go on.

I bought the Lexus because I know they build great cars -- I just happened to get a bad one. It sounds like maybe your RDX falls into the same category. It's frustrating, especially for a vehicle of this caliber. I hope Acura takes care of you -- and I hope my experience with Acura is different than it was with Lexus.

 

My wife's is driven in very similar conditions. About 1500 miles a month, stop and go traffic (15 mile comute takes 1 hour) and a lot of heat, (I live in Puerto rico so is always hot) and the Oil life meter goes down very fast, last service was performed after 3100 miles and the Oil life warning (less tahn 15% Oil Life) was on.

At first I thought that the dealer might have some way to alter the meter so I had to go in for service more often, but then i thought that it doesn't make any sence for them as I have free scheduled maintanence for 4 yrs./50K miles

William

 

The oil change for the RDX is every 5k at the least. If you buy the garbage the dealer is saying to you, then, thats your own fault. Also, this is a turbocharged car...for all you people complaining about gas mileage, YOU BOUGHT THE WRONG CAR. if u wanted mileage u shouldve bought the CRV or anything else that wont hit 0-60 in 6.5 seconds and weigh 4k lbs. The RDX is meant to perform not sip gas.

 

i am of two minds here. the performance is great. gas consumption is poor.
slightly better than my minivan. (family guy after all)
i have had none of your issues. it pulls evenly, brakes well and accelerates like a bat out of hell. i have had no glitches except my kids have managed to scratch the drivers side door handle.
the ride is stiff. i like it especially at speed. it can wear on you on a bad road

but the gas consumption could be better. someone should tell honda.

 

I don't know how you guys get 18-19mpg in the city, I will drive as easy as possible, and the best I can get is 16-17 sometimes, usually not that good. I've got over 9,000 miles, so it should be getting about as good mpg now as it's gonna get. My usual highway mpg is 20-21, not great either.
I'm honestly pissed the mpg sucks in this car, the performance is pretty good, but I expect better mpg than this. The dealer played the good mpg deal over and over, and obviously they were full of BS (my former Murano got better mpg, and I was expecting the opposite!)

 

yeah i've got almost 12k miles now and shes getting the best mileage i've ever seen. In city traffic I will average no less than 18 and on a flat highway I will get 25-27 no problem.

 

what's wrong w/ mine then?

 

i up'ed my friends rdx gas milage from 15 city to 19-22 city by checking his tire pressure and fixing it,changed his air filter to a k/n filter and his oil change we did it with mobile one and he claims it helped.


Also take in to considertatoin on the climate do you drive in

 

whats the number for the K&N filter? I tried searching K&N's site and was looking into the AEM Dryflow but both companies don't have a filter for the RDX.

Does it share the same specs with the MDX or TL ?

 

i should have mentioned that he has an after market intake, not sure of the brand and he modified a mdx/tl? filter to fit in his stock box when he takes the car in to the dealer..... he swaps them out..... next time i see him I'll ask in more detail exactly what he did.

 

Who knows theres too many variables that come into play especially weather related such as temp, humidity, wind speeds, additional passengers/weight, ... etc. I'm usually riding by myself so figure only an additonal 180 lbs compared to maybe a full car that can easily add up to 1,000 lbs.

I'm also experiencing a slight gain in mileage after putting on a short ram intake. I'm very happy considering I only put that thing on there for the enhanced bov sound

Of course you have to factor in driving styles as well. Whenever I'm in fuel saving mode, I will never let boost build and always utilize cruise control.

 

im patiently waiting for a K & N filter as well...