My very first impressions
 

Picked up our 2016 RDX yesterday and only have 35 miles on it so this is just first impressions. Wow, This thing is impressive and so smooth to drive. One thing for sure is the advance package has it all and then some and sure will take me a while to grasp. Right now wife and I are having fun getting both our phones on Bluetooth, lol! The steering is just amazing to me for whatever reason as it is effortless. Only negative thing for us is it just seems the rear view mirror is like right in our face and I have the seat all the way back but again all so very new to us. We are loving our RDX so far as we have been in accords for years. Glad we ordered the color we wanted as we like the basque red Pearl. Seats to us are very comfortable. Right now whatever we do this RDX beeps at us so having fun learning all the options. We also went ahead and got the extended warranty. I know some think it's a rip off but I have used them before and we will hang on to the RDX longer then most of our previous vehicles and there are just to many bells and whistles for us. I mentioned it in another post but very impressed with the all weather floor mats as well as glad we got the cargo cover and cargo tray. I will share more later when I get some more seat time. Right now enjoying the RDX experience!

Congrats!

Congrats on taking delivery of the new car!

Our Advance model has racked up closed to 1600 miles already, and yes, with all the warning systems enabled, you'll get beeps, lights flashing, and feel the car steering itself.

Definitely agree that an extended warranty is something you need to purchase if you plan on keeping the car for a long time. Just look at the lower display panel which controls the HVAC / Radio / Navigation. Hopefully you did not purchase it from the dealer as they have an exorbitant markup on the price.

I'm in the same boat, little over 500 miles on our '16 Advance and everything is great. Only minor complaints so far. The MPG is fantastic, and all the tech makes getting back in to my '12 TL SH-AWD feel like going back in time. I wish the steering was heavier, and a fatter wheel, but otherwise the handling is best in class

Congratulations on finally taking delivery of your new RDX. Sounds like you're enjoying it so far and look forward to reading more impressions of the car as you put some miles on it.

In addition to the generally exorbitant prices charged for extended 'warranties' AND the often-hidden requirements(like service at the dealer, renewal of various 'protection systems'), most of us have a hard time paying FOUR years in advance for something that may or may never be used. Depending on the price, it may be a worthwhile gamble...or not.:what:

The dealer offered me their Acura Care product. For the 8 Year 100k mile warranty with $0 deductible, they wanted $2,600. (You are correct that the warranty is in addition to the factory warranty, so effectively you are purchasing an additional 4 years and 50k miles of coverage). If you look online, you can purchase the same factory extended warranty for close to a thousand less. There aren't any other 'protection systems' that you need to purchase or renew. Additionally, the warranty is transferable if you do sell your vehicle, so this would be an additional feature in case you part with vehicle before the warranty expires.

Warranty is like sleep insurance - You can prepay now or just bank the money away and pay as you go. I've found I've usually broken even on the cost of the warranty. I see the potential for a lot more problems with all the new electronics / touchscreens, and with the going rate of $115 for labor today (rate will most likely be higher years from now), one repair might easily take you the cost of the extended warranty.

To each his own.

It's a crap shoot on the warranty but I like it and have had to use it before on previous vehicles and sure glad I had it then.

The Acura warranty is actually quite comprehensive and a decent value if purchased online (or if the dealer matches online pricing). Curry, Bernardi and Saccucci all sell the Acura warranty at cut-rate prices. Saccucci will even knock $200 off the maintenance plan if purchased with a warranty - a decent deal for those taking the car to the dealer for routine servicing.

Similar to you (although mine is a '15 RDX), I go back and forth between the RDX and the wife's '12 TL SH-AWD. The interiors are almost identical funciton-wise - so the technology is similar in that regard - but the steering feel difference is huge. When I go back and forth I swear the TL has no power assist at all, but after driving it for a while, it feels normal and proper for the handling of that car. But compared to the RDX's lighter steering (which isn't bad either, IMHO), the difference is really amazing :racing:

andy

Little OT:
The bottom of the dashboard, driver side, misses a cover (pedals area). It would have been such a cheap piece of plastic to place, Acura.
Little disappointed.

I agree, Acura did some very obvious cost cutting in certain areas. Other brands tend to hide the cost cutting a lot better.

This may, or may not, have been a cost cutting. There are odd regulations in place concerning crash integrity. In general, there must be "supports" behind the dash to prevent submarining. There obviously is no such requirement if there is no "dash" so putting a "cheap plastic cover" there might have worked out to an expensive engineering proposition - or it could have been cost cutting.

I would never bother with the extra warranty. I have had very little in the way of problems with my Acuras and when there was a real problem, Acura always steps up to the plate to help, ie the dreaded transmission to my 02 TL.

That too is possible, but the use of plastic vs aluminum or wood and non fabric covered pillar leads me to cost cutting.

Yeah well sure glad I had it with my accords. Came in handy several times

It could well be - but - you always need to be mindful that there may be technical or regulatory reasons for using a particular product in a particular spot.

In the 70's, luxury was a wood dash. Until the regulators realized that wood splinters and wood splinters in the eye aren't a good thing. Today's "wood" dashboards are a thin wood veneer on plastic covered in polyurethane - not because of cost cutting but because of safety. An added benefit is that it lasts longer. Aluminum dents easily so that may be a factor as they are either telling a customer "you dented it, not our problem" risking an upset customer or they are swapping pieces under warranty - an expensive proposition. Aluminum over plastic solves the denting issue but that scratches easily because you can't cover that in polyurethane.

With the advent of side curtain airbags, the pillar covers serve a new function. No longer are they merely trim pieces that snap on but now they are intricately designed to break away in a controlled manner during an airbag deployment. That's we cannot just run wires for radar detectors and what-not willy-nilly up the pillar because it may interfere with that deployment. Depending on the design, the cloth covering may - or may not - be too much of an engineering issue to implement.

Or it could just be a cost cutting measure.

The point is that manufacturers do everything for a good reason and always look at the "if we do this then does it impact anything else?" Sometimes it is for engineering, sometimes for cost.