BTW....My "nailed it" comment was intended to hand-filer....Rocket_man must have posted just as I was typing that small comment.

Rocket_man....I agree to extent with you as well. It is really hard for consumers to know what the real issue is. Are we be blown smoke up our a$$ or we simply don't understand the legality of the car business etc. I agree that Acura has done a poor job of testing this enough in cold climate. Keep in mind that the ILX and RDX came out in the early summer of 2012 so the problem would have been reported until the winter of 2012/2013 so that ate a little bit of time.

I am frustrated BEYOND belief and as you saw in my previous posts, I am at the point of also leaving Acura behind while they sort out their $hit. I think that its taking too long and as you stated quite well, the TLX could be a disaster should the noise in the rear suspension develops and then you add 2 new trannies to the mix and the tech that some MDX and RLX owners are experiencing with the slow response screens, and all kind of warning lights showing up. I have had nothing but the utmost confidence in Acura but recently, that confidence has been put to the test....

I am willing to give them a little bit of extra time but if I don't get any update on the RDX's rear suspension problem, that will be it for me. The RDX will be going anyway as I want 2 daily drivers and one good weather vehicle. Either I'll keep my TL until the lease is up next spring giving me the chance to see what the TLX will be like this upcoming winter and if its good, I'll take the plunge OR, get rid of my TL soon (Mike...still there ) and then get an Audi/Lexus or anything that will tickle my fancy when (IF) the snow melts!

 

Patiently awaiting your decision, my friend.

I am one of those that have had the dampers replaced and have had very little to no improvement. I was told that they were from a different supplier. It is very telling that there are nine pages in this thread.

 

Fortunately the gf is ignorant of the noise and loves her RDX. I can't stand the suspension noise, drives me nuts every time I drive her RDX. I mean really, how hard is it to fix a shock issue. This is not new technology, shocks have been around forever. I wonder if the CRV is having issues as these are based on same underpinnings.

 

They are not the same underpinnings. The CRV utilizes a modified strut assembly (spring and shock combined), the RDX a conventional separate shock and spring.

 

Well maybe Acura should have stuck with the CRV design ;-)

 

Or awarded the contract to the second lowest bidder

 

Agreed. I just dumped my RDX. For reasons more than this shock issue, that was one of them. The car has the suspension of a 10 yr old car when hitting bumps... Hollow thuds, going over bumps instead of absorbing them. It's embarrassing when you have someone in your brand new Acura, they are questioning why the bumps sound worse/louder than their Civic. I brought my Acura twice into the dealer. No problems, totally normally, yeah right...

 

^^ Sorry to hear about your RDX but I fully understand. Amazing what a few little irritants can do when left unresolved. Hand-filer has given me an alternative to deal with the noise issue which is my biggest peeve with the RDX. I am strongly interested in departing with the RDX and lease something as a daily driver rather than having two vehicles that aren't exposed to the element.

I still LOVE the RDX and if I apply hand-filer's fix, then the RDX would be even more amazing....though decisions. What did you get to replace your RDX?

 

Other issues i had...VCM can be annoying at times, esp at highway cruising, which is a characteristic of the honda vcm. I had a 1st gen 2008 accord V6 that was terrible with vcm. The rdx wasnt that bad. Id rather get 2mpg less highway and have all 6 cylinders firing. I had the break squeal, tsb on that. My rotors warped at only 14k miles. Stuff happens. I also had a bad wind sound starting at only 20mph. I found and fixed that problem since the dealer could never duplicate it. Various rattles that were not expected in a 1yr old car let alone an Acura. Navigation you cant adjust unless you come to a stop. Kind of makes the system half useless. My honda oddy 11 with the same built in nav system. I can adjust at any speed. Voice controls dont work that well. All said i still liked RDX.

I got new G37 sport coupe. We already have an Oddy van. So didnt need another mommy mobile. Lol. I have the GTO as well. Got great resale value on the RDX.

 

^^ Sorry to hear you had so many issues with your RDX. Mine doesn't have as many issues as you had with yours but I still have lost my enjoyment in the RDX.

The G37 sport coupe is quite a nice vehicle and little bit different than your RDX (lol)

Hope you keep coming here and continue your valuable contribution to the site.

 

Roughly what percentage of owners are experiencing this? Do all RDX's exhibit this to some degree? Is there a way I can attempt to duplicate this problem (on the test drive) before negotiating with the dealership?

 

Test drove the 2014 RDX front wheel drive in March at the Del Ray Acura and very much enjoyed it. Had them locate an AWD version with tech and noticed as soon as I drove it home the drive line vibration which I did not feel at all with the test drive FWD car. My heart sank! Thanks to this forum I found the TSB, went to Acura of Palm Beach and they replaced the shaft and rebalanced the tires This past Tuesday- All the logistics done by other family members. I will test drive it again Monday. I do not have the clunking at all but it sitting is a warm climate until next winter.
Regards to all contributors on this forum!

 

bee-man....unless you live in a cold climate, you shouldn't worry. My RDX is amazingly quiet from May-Oct. Judging by where you live, you should not have this problem at all.

 

diawa944...We are always willing to help other Acura owners....we are a pretty friendly bunch of people. A little sarcastic and quirky at times, but all with the desire to help each other. Hopefully, you will enjoy your time on this site and help out other people too

 

Thank you! The Acura/Honda 3.5L V6 might be more refined than the Infiniti/Nissan 3.7L? part of it is the more aggressive exhaust note, which I like. Performance sound. I wish Honda/Acura would put a timing chain, otherwise you have to spend $1k on the Honda, that you don't on a timing chain engine, once you hit about 7 yrs old..

 

^^ I never keep my vehicles more than 3-4 years so that should not be an issue for me

 

The issue I had with my RDX was the cheap/loud hollow bang sounds the rear suspension made going over bumps... reminiscent of a economy car or worse. Definitly should just be a new strut/shock replacement that Honda/Acura should be coming out with... Don't understand it. A lot of people have complained. For me I would just keep radio on a decent volume to not hear it, LOL! It's also very unacceptable for a luxury branded vehicle that costs $40k MSRP. My dealer, twice, nope, nothing wrong, totally fine.. They would not let me go for a test drive with the service mechanic so I could point it out to them. Where as other dealers like Infiniti or even Pontiac would let me.

 

bee-man....Mine is the EXACT issue as "danmangto" and why I am not enjoying the RDX.

This doesn't bode well for the TLX if the same type of rear suspension is used. The problem is there on the ILX, RDX and now some RLX owners seem to have some similar symptoms. If I lived in a warm climate, I wouldn't be worried too much though.

 

Updated profile to even warmer climate

If I test drive, I'll make sure to find some speed bumps to launch over.

Thanks!

 

Blame it on Acura's failure to issue a TSB. I know there's a lot of optimism that Acura is working on a fix, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Keep bitching and cross your fingers.

 

So I called my dealer to make an appointment for my first A1 service (8K miles) and I mentioned I wanted to have the rear shocks checked. The service rep asked if they were "noisy and rattling"? I guess I'm not their first RDX owner to have the problem. I'm not sure if that's a good thing?

 

What TSB for the shaft? The gf has a 14 AWD RDX Tech and I drive it occasionally and have not noticed anything.

 

keith,
the tsb is for the drive shaft. tsb#14-001.
you will find in another forum on this site. lot's of postings on the subject.

 

Thanks, will look into it.

 

My quick fix was to leave the radio on at a decent volume so I didnt have to hear the hollow sounding like a blown speaker sound when i went over certain bumps. The 2011 Odyssey when it came out all new had an issue with front struts making creaking sounds at low speeds turning. Honda issued a fix/tsb. My problem was fixed. Not sure why Acura is now this long into the production cycle with no fixes.

 

I took my RDX that I have had for 2 weeks to the dealer this afternoon and the service manager drove the car with me. We were able to replicate the clunking, hollow sound when we drove over bumps. However, I was told that the sound was normal. We even took another RDX for a ride to compare. It also made the same sound. I appreciate the time he took with me but I told him I do not agree that this sound is normal. I said it cheapens the vehicle and I expected a better suspension on a "luxury" car. I ask that he research a replacement shock for me but I don't expect that he will. The only recourse I feel I have is to wait a couple of years and sell the car.

 

Jeez, guys...ditching the car because of allegedly bad shocks seems kind of drastic to me. I mean, replacement shocks aren't that expensive and if you know which end of a screwdriver is the handle, they're not that hard to replace yourself. Seems to me that would be a better solution than taking a bath on the depreciation.

And if they all do it, doesn't that make it 'normal'? You can argue whether they should make the noise, but that's another issue then whether it's 'normal'.

FWIW, I haven't noticed the noise on mine but I might not know what I'm listening for.

 

Agree with you markAZ. I guess we're lucky living in the warm climate so we don't have this or the propeller shaft issue but for those that do I'm sure it's very frustrating

 

To each their own. It was more than just the rear shocks/rear suspension of why i ditched the car. Also had other issues. Why should I have to replace or pay to replace shocks on a very new car under warranty? Then i risk the warranty on that part of the vehicle with aftermarket parts. I can replace shocks, , but it takes more than just knowing which side of a screwdriver as you mentioned. Lol.

 

Issues I had..
1. rear clunking, hollow, sounding like blown speaker sound when going over certain bumps, this happened whether it was a hot 95 degree day or a cold 5 degree day. It was not temperature related.
2. Starting issues from time to time. RDX always started, but sometimes it would crank 2x or 3x longer than normal, That would come and go. 95% of the time it started right up instantly.
3. blower motor.. esp in the winter when first starting up, like a small leaf was stuck in the blower? minor chattering. Dealer always said could not duplicate. I had a similar problem years ago with a 2003 Honda Odyssey and it turned out to be a small leaf stuck in the blower which they easily fixed.
4. VCM.. it's improved over the 1st generation (That now has class action lawsuit going on) But it's still vibrates/makes sounds at highway cruising. Mine does at a 60mph with the cruise control on. It's on and off. Very minor, but still there. You don't get that in a Infiniti/Audi, etc. I'd rather get 2mpg less and have a smoother engine. Some are more sensitive to it.

Minor nit picking issues...
5. Interior door panels.. Cheap/hard plastic, other than nice leather panel at the top of the door, and little piece of leather on the door arm-rest, it felt like something from a CRV. Even the dash and interior door handles with that cheap grey flat paint that easily chip/come off. You don't expect in a $40k+ MSRP vehicle. If you want case in point, sit in a similar priced Infiniti EX35, much nicer interior door panels/dash etc.
6. GPS.. which is useless while driving. Yes, there are the voice commands, but those don't work that great. My 2011 Odyssey that has the same GPS system as the 2013/2014 RDX you can fully use it while driving. Honda/Acura must have changed that for 2012 or 2013 model year. Why is that nice big 8 inch GPS screen so hidden into the dash? It's too far away. No touchscreen which is silly. Jog dial is a pain. The competition like Infiniti has a smaller 7 inch but it's more flush with the dash, thus it looks just as big and is touchscreen.
7. For a luxury brand... a brand new Honda Accord has more tech features... lane assist, auto braking, etc that you can't even get on the better Acura.. very silly...

Otherwise a decent vehicle.. but you expect more from an Acura... Their quality has def. dropped over the last 15+ yrs of owning luxury branded vehicles.

 

I forgot the crooked steering wheel housing, the box behind the wheel.. I'm not the only one on here. Way to go Acura, quality.

 

This has been a fascinating thread. I have a 2013 RDX, which is my first Acura. I noticed a thunk in the suspension back in December. It bothered me, but I knew I was coming up on my 2nd oil change within 4-6 weeks, so I ignored it through the holidays and mentioned it to the dealership when I took it in back in early January.

I took the technician for a ride to reproduce the sound for him. Unfortunately, we had received a few inches of snow overnight, which had smoothed out the roads and lessened the noise. I could still hear it because I knew what to listen for, but the tech wasn't quite sure. He checked the suspension and said everything appeared fine. They put a note on the service record and said to come back if it continued and if I could reproduce the noise.

Fast forward three months and this thunking is driving me bat-%}!# crazy! I travel a lot on business, so I haven't had time to take it back, but finding and reading this entire thread has motivated me to find the time!

It's not the cold weather. It started in November (in NE Indiana), but it was 78 degrees here yesterday and the noise was as pronounced as ever. It happens on even the SLIGHTEST unevenness in the pavement. Small cracks in asphalt, expansion joints in concrete, you name it. At first, I thought it was limited to happening at low speeds, but I've gotten so attuned to recognizing it, that I can now detect it on the interstate at 70mph.

I just crossed 21,000 miles on my RDX yesterday. I'd guess the noise started at about 16,000-17,000 miles, which is much longer than it took many to notice it. I'm making an appointment tomorrow to get it back into the dealership. I'll be more than happy to point out this thread to them as supporting evidence, but there should be no difficulty in reproducing the sound for them now.

Thanks, all. Happy driving!

 

Dropped off my 2014 RDX AWD/Tech this morning for 1st service and noisy shocks. The service writer immediately said he would order new shocks for me, he's had to do it for 4 other RDX owners. Said there was "a group of bad shocks" installed that needed replacement. We'll see what happens after the work is done next week. The 2014 RDX AWD loaner with 71 miles on it was quiet over bumps, the build date was 12/2013.


On another note, I noticed the top of the steering column near the dash on the loaner RDX is plastic, mine is a cloth-like material? Was that a change at some point? Or is mine missing a piece?

 

Never mind, the cloth material shows when the steering wheel is pulled out, like when you have a height challenged wife.

 

Finally got the dealer to take the car to replace the rear shocks today. Will post with results when I get it back.

 

Just had the rear shocks replaced today, clunking is gone, ride is much better. Temperature here is 46 degrees, it clunked on the way in, quiet on the way out. Hope it doesn't return next winter. Same part number as the original shocks, go figure?

 

Got the car back today. All is quiet! I hope it stays that way

 

So took the gf's RDX AWD Tech in for for first service and complained about the clunking. They checked and said they found a bad strut and are ordering it. I asked about a redesign and he knew nothing. I asked about replacing pair and they will not. I am going to call Acura Monday and complain that I want to know if this is a redesign and if so wan the pair replaced. Even though car has 6100 miles on it I still like pairs of struts and/or shocks replaced.

 

I'm surprised they aren't changing both shocks. The dealer invoice showed a price of $249.50/shock that I'm sure Acura is reimbursing the dealer under warranty.

 

Yeah, I plan on calling Acura, but suspect I will be in for the losing end of a fight.