Are those huge holes where the rear license plate mounts normal (see attachment)? Am I missing a license plate bracket that creates a water seal and covers the holes? Seems that water will enter the holes and stay in between the rear door. There is no way for the water to escape other than through the cracks.

 

Yes- that is normal. I agree it is kind of a big opening

 

Aside from installing a WeatherTech frame I never paid any attention to this. Water that gets in, and it will, must drain somewhere.

 

there are drain holes at the bottom of the gate but this is pretty disturbing nonetheless! Salty roads here in winter, the salt tends to accumulate on the rear, rinse it off, in goes the salt water ...and areas like that bottom seam are just the kinds of places rust sets in...ggrrrrrr

 

Just go to autozone or pepboys and get a plate frame that covers that hole, the have full size covers.

 

The hatch is two pieces and the lower half of the hatch is plastic, so no need to worry about rust. Also, if you happen to get rear-ended, they can potentially only replace the lower half instead of the whole hatch.

 

What do mean about the lower half being plastic? In the photo the whole piece is metal down to the bumper - right?

 

From the bottom of the tail lights down is plastic. I learned that after trying to put my wife's magnetic breast cancer ribbon on the tailgate. The only place it sticks is below the window and above the horizontal chrome trim piece that stretches from tail light to tail light.
Cheers.

 

Wow..I just checked this with magnet, you re correct...what a revelation !!! I never would have known this.

 

I discovered it the same way when I tried to put a Disney vacation club magnet on my wife's RDX I thought it was weird! Lol

 

Yeah someone mentioned about this plastic tailgate to me last year. But it feels sturdy enough to touch. Well it doesn't feel any different than the carbon fiber hoods seen on high end BMWs and stuff like that. When I felt those BMWs and realized it wasn't metal it felt weird. Now the plastic in RDX doesn't feel that much weird to me. Ha.

 

While I appreciate the value of a composite lower door to remove rust/corrosion from the equation, the open space behind the plate can be a real eye-opener on a rainy day or when you wash the car. Opening the hatch results in an interesting drain pattern from the leading edge of the door right on your head from the water that's laying in the door bottom. I thought about covering the large opening behind the plate with something to prevent so much water from getting in, but I'm also not sure the other water entry points into the lower hatch. Interesting design with a few annoying side effects.....

andy