andysinnh

In earlier conversations I've been an advocate for the Curt aftermarket hitch (both for the MDX as well as other vehicles). It did the job, had a great protective finish, and was a lot cheaper than OEM.

As most know I moved (with dealer assist) from my '17 MDX Tech lease to a '19 MDX Advance lease thanks in part to navigation issues I was having. As a part of this transition, I had the dealer remove the Curt hitch from my '17 and my intent was to bolt it up to the '19. I figured I might have to use new bolts (likely overkill) to make sure I had a secure and tight fit.

What I didn't count on was, after 2 years, how badly the Curt hitch had fared. Yeah, I live in NH and after running thru 2 winters, the hitch was exposed to a couple of seasons of salt/sand. The bolt heads were corroded as expected. But the amount of rust forming on the Curt hitch was surprising. And most surprising was the amount of rust forming UNDER the powder coat in places where there was no apparent hole thru the powder coat to let in moisture. I started using my grinding pad to cut thru the bubbled areas and the rust was spreading under the powder coat well beyond the bubbling. And we're talking all over the hitch. plus there was rust at almost every weld location. I figured I'd just scrape away any loose rust and/or coating and spray with some Eastwood Rust Encapsulator I had in stock from earlier projects - but it was much more than I anticipated.

So I'm making the decision to not use this hitch on my new '19 and will likely go for an OEM hitch setup, but not opt for the wiring loom and stick with the aftermarket Curt one that does the job (I store the pigtail in the storage area inside the rear of the MDX). Local dealer is knocking 20 percent off of list on the hitch so I get it for just over $300 - which is about double the Curt cost - but given my experience my satisfaction with aftermarket is waning.

So I'm modifying my position on the aftermarket vs OEM hitch. Not because of aesthetics, but because of quality / longevity issues. Something about bolting a rusty hitch to my new MDX just didn't sit well..... Will the OEM hitch fare better? Not sure - but will give it a shot!

andy

Donn0128

Have you looked at the price from Curry Acura? Remember the factory harness screws directly to the hitch platform, so there is no cheezy loose wires to deal with.

andysinnh

Most of the mailorder part places standardize on 30 percent off of Acura's list. But most also charge for shipping - and shipping the hitch is huge cost. So if I get a mailorder cost of $280-ish, the shipping is at LEAST $50 depending on how close they are to me. - So we're talking $330 to my door at a minimum. My local dealer sold it to me for $310 and slid the box in the back of the MDX. Can't beat that.

In terms of the wiring - if I did more regular towing or something that would benefit from electric brakes (or similar) I would agree that putting the factory wiring in made sense. But for me I tow a small utility trailer mostly to pick up big stuff or go to the dump - so the 4-pin wiring pigtail gets used infrequently. Leaving it in the storage area and feeding it out the few times I tow is by far the much simpler approach - plus I have the wiring kit already to just plug-n-play. If at some point I decide to do something more I can always add the factory stuff in later.