What is more reliable and durable. 2007 mdx or 2007 rdx turbo. I am looking at buying either with same amount of miles. About 150k both have.

 

Take your pick man, they're both rock solid!


My 2007 RDX has 247K right now, and drives like new!



The RDX will be more like driving a TSX, wheras the MDX is more like an RL, in SUV terms, of course.


The RDX is really fast and zippy, and the MDX is smooth and quiet, but still pretty fun to drive. Pick you passion!

 

At this point, whichever one has the better set of documented maintenance.

 

I've had 3 RDXs but after being told it's $9,500 to replace the turbo, I won't be buying another one. MDXs have a timing belt that needs to be changed, the older RDXs have a timing chain that doesn't, but a turbo that does eventually.

 

You do understand that they drop the engine out to access the turbo, right? There is a bunch of labor involved, I just had my turbo upgraded by Blouch, it'll probably last long after I won't have it.

 

my wife has an 09 rdx with about 110k miles on it.
I would never buy an acura again.
Between the electrical problems, the side mirror issues, the ridiculous battery draining issue, the transmission cooler thing failure that mixed antifreeze and coolant in the transmission issue, the cruise control button failure issue, the radio knob failure issue, the air conditioning failure issue and probably 5 other things im forgetting, no thanks...

 

Forgot the newest issue, the leaking coolant pipe. Im sure there's 4 other things im still forgetting

 

In reality though, for a 14 year old car with over 100k miles on it, is it that bad? It's kinda like saying, "I'll never buy another car with air bags", because they got recalled.

 

is 100k really that much? ok 14 years is a decent amount of time, but think mileage is the more important factor.
my 09 accord has 415k. 2 axles broke, one at about 315k and the other at about 350k.
my air conditioning doesnt blow cold any more. slowly stopped working last year, 380k or so.
it has that issue with the rings that i have to add some oil every 1000 miles or so.
acura is honda, we were expecting the same type of durability and quality actually from the acura we would expect from honda.
oh, and my moon roof occasionally will stick open and i have to do that special sequence to get it to close, so i just leave it shut. that started happening at no less than 250k iirc.

 

100K isn't that much if all highway miles, especially for a Honda or Toyota. Other makes are basically worn out at that point. Electronics become a problem and of course wear items. The turbo on the first gen RDX has a major wear item, the boost controller attachment. It's not sealed so it can't have oil or grease to help prevent wear. I thought about putting a sealed ball bearing in it but went with lubing it with graphite spray that won't collect dirt and cause even more wear.

 

So as others have said it depends on what you are looking for.

At 200K miles, the rdx my partner has still drives very well. We have done fairly significant maintenance ourselves (starter, power steering pump, alternator, transfer case fluid, oil change, differential fluid, tranny drain and fill), it does have a bit of rust but that engine is golden. We fortunately have had very few electrical issues (hand rebuilt the trunk switch to get it to work), and have had the car drive strong.

My specialty was Volvo's, but i have also gone through a few other makes and models while helping some friends.

I will say this, the acura turbo replacement is a big ticket items as many people point to replacing it given a set of diagnostics. That is many things can throw off the engine slightly as can happen in many cars, however a lot of trouble shooting manuals lead to replace the turbo. It is likely not necessary.

What you get in these cars is a 4000 pound suv that can fly on the highway in a pretty controllable manner. Its suspension has been absolutely solid for our short ownership thus far, and its engine has not been fussy. The car currently runs with no codes (knock on wood), which differs from our bought new 2012 honda pilot which has some periodic trans codes. Our pilot has needed fairly significant suspension work over the years however it has also been very reliable.

The MDX will handle non premium fuel a bit better since you do not have that turbo boost to contend with. If that is a game changer then go with the mdx. They look fairly similar in that year, and should be similarly loaded.

The RDX is better for light utility while the MDX would be my choice if you needed actual utility (towing, big trunk space, etc). The RDX acts more like sedan/sporty while the MDX is more of a boat.

From a forum support perspective i suspect the MDX will do a bit better as they have a dedicated forum and sold a bit better AFAIK.

Drive both, see what you like more is probably the best answer. Have a dedicated honda code scanner and check those for stored engine codes, transmission codes, emissions, etc.