I am at 8200 miles on our '16 RDX. Noticed a new issue this evening. Not a good harbinger of quality I am afraid. The instrument cluster is separating from the dash along the curved edge at the top of the binnacle(it has dropped as I can manually push it back where it is supposed to be but it drops back as soon as I release it.. I am amazed an Acura has such an issue within 3mths of purchase. I am sure the dealer will fix it, but how many other pieces will fail? Will the issue happen again in 3mths?

 

I would say you are the exception and not the norm. However you might have just found the next "common issue" like how many older acuras had peeling center console trim and torn arm rest trim. Time will tell

 

At least it happened during the warranty period.Sad that You have to waste Your time to get it fixed.Still a great SUV!

 

My 2014 has been flawless. I suggest this is a one off.

 

For the sake of other owners I hope so. In the three months so far I have had to have the sensor for the parking brake fixed(it wasn't hooked up at the factory so the car had no indicators when the parking brake was on...) and have a horrible panel gap repaired (the driver side quarter panel at the A pillar) and now have the creaking steering wheel, front brake noise, inconsistent functioning of the no touch unlock door handles, periodic lack of radio preset names and now the drooping instrument binnacle. It will be a busy first oil change for them when I go in. Panel gaps in general are very poor on my car(especially compared with the Hyundai Tuscon I was also looking at). QC deficits are huge on my car for sure.

 

Sounds like the last car on the last shift on a friday build. I would say by and far your rdx is not the norm. Sorry for all the issues, them forgetting to install the e-brake sensor is a dead giveaway thay quality control was rushed on it. I would expect this on a crv, not an rdx.

 

I hope your RDX is good from now on. I suggest to you that the panel gaps to my 2 RDX's is very good, but not up to Lexus RX and NX standards. There is no question Acura does not make a vehicle like Lexus, but there is a large extra price with a similar equipped Lexus, and with the reliability I get with the Acura, I can overlook that, but I admit if I was in your shoes, I would be very weary even if things were being repaired under warranty.

 

I would also call Acura corporate to inform them of your problems. The maximum they may tell you is to go to a dealer and get it fixed for free but at least you'll have it documented at the corporate level. If any other thing fails in future, you can have other options......may be your car was a lemon.

 

I'd personally say to start complaining to the dealer now and get these issues taken care of before waiting for regular maintenance. Your RDX sounds like my ILX Hybrid -- Haven't been able to drive for 10k miles straight without something failing (car is still in the family with ~70k miles). If there's a dealer, call them up and make an appointment (if they require) and request a loaner. I tried to put off getting small things fixed and I regret not trying to get it repurchased under Lemon Law (although I have an ongoing breach of warranty claim against Acura right now). Best case scenario: your issues get resolved with no other issues. Worst case scenario: your RDX is like my ILX and you'll at least have a case/records against Acura.

I love Acura - Even bought another Acura after my ILX and looking to buy an MDX or TLX in a couple months, but my ILX was just a bad one out of the bunch. Just some issues off the top of my head -- Car left me stranded at least 8 different times (fist time ~2 months into ownership @ 8k miles), happening sporadically since then, on its 3rd battery under warranty, smart key (push start) system replaced, battery cables replaced, sun roof tracks rebuilt/replaced, horn replaced, etc. This car has gotten me many many loaners - Lets just say I've driven every model Acura has made since 2014 multiple times.

 

I have it in the shop now hopefully getting all my issues addressed along with the first oil change(it was just under 9k with 15% oil life shown on the meter). I asked about a tire rotation since I purchased the maintenance plan and was told I could not get one since it was the first oil change. pretty lame if you ask me. Should be case by case as obviously i need a rotation at 9k. Fortunately, I can get a rotation for free at the local Discount Tire Store. I will report back on the dash issue and what was done to resolve it.

 

So much for the maintenance plan. And, how do you get free rotations at Discount?

 

I'm guessing .... he might have bought a plan for the life of the vehicle for $199 from the tire shop.

 

I am starting to think I should have passed on the maintenance plan as we drive too much for it to be worthwhile.

Any Discount Tire will rotate your tires and check air pressure for free(also plug holes if in the tread center). They use it as a method to catch bad tires and hopefully get you to buy there. This does not include balancing, but if you pay around $50 you will get lifetime balancing as well. Best deal around. I have the OEM tires on my RDX so nothing purchased at DT yet.

 

I don't think you'll lose any money by joining a maintenance plan. Most of the time it'll save you money compared with dealer prices (unless of course you do it yourself or by a trusted Indy shop). For most of us the maintenance plan is simply less hassle and costs less money.

 

They don't sell it because it's good for you.

 

In most cases I might agree, but in our case the first oil change is coming at 9k miles. I am not going to get many services within the 50k time frame and I can't even get a tire rotation included when I have driven 9k miles. How good is a factory Acura maintenance plan that doesn't cover rotations on a car driven 9k miles?

 

Hey "Chickdr" Did you happen to get this problem fixed?

I actually have the same issue as well.. I went to acura to look at all the RDX's inside the showroom and outside and noticed all; the rdx's outside have this issue. So I wonder if it has anything to do with the heat and adhesive used to stick it together. Regardless of what the issue is, its pretty disappointing to have such a problem. Let me know if they fixed it and what they did, im taking mines to service on Wednesday.

 

Funny that you say that. I was going to take a look at other cars at pick up as I was told this morning - ALL RDX's have this issue. I don't understand how that makes it a non issue. Obviously the dash is put together poorly. Acura needs to develop a fix.

 

Okay this is confidential. Go to a different online dealer. State that you have 5k miles. Buy the warranty and after a few months get it serviced. No one checks the mileage except during service.
They don't have tire rotation? That's strange. The same plan I have does everything.
I agree that the RDX has a poorly fitting dash in the console. Not a deal breaker compared to the other goodies. But they should have done better.

 

Not getting what you mean. I already bought the service plan when the car was purchased. Now realizing I won't get the best value out of it. It does include rotations - just at the A2 interval. I only reached A1 at 9k miles. It needs a rotation, but that isn't included in the A1 service.

 

This is the issue I have BTW... I might expect it on a Chinese car, but not an Acura.

 

If that was spelled out in the paperwork you signed you have nothing to complain about.

 

Of course the A1 includes a tire rotation. That is what the "1" is.

If you bought the Acura maintenance plan then it includes the services as indicated by your car plus the time based brake fluid drain/fill.

 

When I picked up the car they had in fact done a rotation. Not sure why the first service writer told me it wasn't included.

The thing is, I had no idea driving 140 highway miles 5 days a week would extend the service interval from the typical 5k up to 9k for the first oil change. I assumed it would come up at 5k and a second one around 10k so i would get the tires done then.

 

So did the dealer fix your issue with the dash? just wondering as I'll be taking mine in tomorrow.

 

In general, the car will request a service every 6000-7500 miles. That 9000 is pretty unusual unless you are at 0% oil life at that point.

The maintenance agreement will pay for the service as soon as it pops up on the MID - at 15% oil life.

 

That is my point. We were still at 15% at 9k miles. I could easily have reached 10k before hitting zero.

 

Nope - I was told this is how all RDX's are.... My girlfriend looked at a 2017 on the showroom floor just for fun and sent me a photo. It looked just like ours.

I sent an e-mail to Acura complaining about the piss poor quality of the RDX. They have replied asking for more info. I am sure it won't go anywhere but I feel better telling someone about it. Of course they asked for the dealer info which I am sure means they get a call. It isn't the dealers fault we have these issues. They were all factory generated.

 

Oh man, thats brutal. So there is no fix nor will they fix it? thats messed up. I am in Toronto, im taking mines in a hour. I'll update you guys with what they tell me, what I actually did was complain to Acura Canada on there Facebook page, they then contacted me and opened up a case and they also contacted the dealer to let them know as well. They also gave me 500 dollars in accessories for the inconvenience(which I haven't selected yet, but im going to make them give me LED fogs for free)

 

Very unusual.

 

I think it something to do with the fact the car is driven 140 R/T miles to work each day - all highway miles. I know fuel consumption has something to do with the maintenance minder on my M roadster and I suspect Acura is the same..

 

Did you get the same answer I did?

 

Oh hey, so I actually did get an answer. The Service manager first looks at it goes how it could be feature of the dash, design feature, which i found to be laughable and a slap in the face. Then he was like i could but a some sort of foam to cover the gap, which I said absolutely not to that. In the very end, he did say he could order a new dash cover and replace it, but then he was like when you try to fix one problem, more problems could occur, especially with a new dash cover.

So I actually contcated a person at Acura Canada to report what happened today, waiting on that response.

I think this is a huge design flaw, i wouldn't be surprised if more than %50 of rdx's have this. Check your dashes and see if its completely sealed.

If anyone has a 16/17 RDX. please post pics of your instrumental cover.

 

Do you have a photo of the issue

 

 

Yeah, that's not right.

 

Whoops - just saw the picture. That's not the way it should be.

If the gap would have been intentional, then it would be even all the way around.

Does someone have a picture of a dash withOUT the gap?

 

yeah it's not intentional at all.

I can't even believe that those words came out of a mouth of a service manager.

I'm hoping more owners of 16/17 rdx's have some picture of there dash.

 

My 2016 RDX dash is the same. It was like that when I bought the car in July of 2016. I just thought it was a poor design. In fact, I thought that poor design was responsible for the rattle I used to have in that area. The rattle has gone away on its own.

 

This is my 2016 Advance: Either I can't see the gap or it's not as pronounced.