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A firm commitment to style over substance, combined with aggressive cost cutting?
Divert resources to product placement and advertising rather than engineering and testing?
They must have studied Jaguar and Jeep. But they haven't quite caught up to Land Rover. Yet.
Just read something similar from JDPower survey for most reliable (least problem cars) this morning. Lexus and Toyota is still # 1. Acura came in 6th I think. This is disappointing.
Just read something similar from JDPower survey for most reliable (least problem cars) this morning. Lexus and Toyota is still # 1. Acura came in 6th I think. This is disappointing.
Where did you read that? This article is based on the JD Power survey too.
Maybe they should shift production back to Japan...
This would make an ENORMOUS difference in my opinion. Japanese built cars tend to be really really put together well.
As per the above comment on taking notes from the Jaguar and LR playbook, I have to admit I'm sometimes double checking that I'm not on the BMW forums with some of the things people are mentioning on here.
I have to say though I'm incredibly impressed with Porsche! They always always are at the top of these reliability and dependability surveys. I'm wondering are Porsches really this reliable? A German car that handles very very well with great brand prestige and reliable? Is Porsche a unicorn? Also, I was like please please let FCA be under Acura and well Jeep was ahead....the end times are coming.
The fact that Chevy and Buick placed 4th and 5th make me 🤣🤣😂😂😂😂🤣🤣😜🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 what a joke, and Volkswagen (Porsche) getting 2nd. Lmfao, should be the highest cost to own and maintain ratings, they just want people’s money like any other buisness
J.D. Power U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study is a joke in itself, wonder how much this company gets paid to make these ratings up. Toyota and Lexus being in the top I can see, but GM 😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
to top that off Chrysler scored the same as Honda and almost as good as Subaru, go out on the road and see how many old Chrysler’s you see driving around, almost none 🤣🤣
I’m not saying Acura is the best, but I sure as hell wouldn’t buy a dodge, fiat Chrysler over a Honda Acura product, I do wish Honda built there stuff in japan. And where is Mazda, they build some great cars, my 06 Mazda 3 I beat to hell is almost to 200k
Last edited by Dereileak; Feb 13, 2019 at 01:32 PM.
Admittedly I’m biased. In the small sample size of my household vehicle history the Japan built vehicles have fared much better.
Japan built:
Mitsu Lancer. Zero issues
4Runner. Zero issues
Infiniti G37. Zero issues
Highlander. Japan sourced powertrain. Final assembly in US. 83k miles and so far zero issues.
Lexus NX. Too new to judge.
US built:
Chevy Beretta. Too many issues to list. Junk.
Honda Accord. Suspension repairs.
Acura TL. Suspension repairs, rear brake failure, transmission shifting issues and lots of rattles.
You have to forgive me, I've been burned rather badly by BMW and I am very biased against them.
Originally Posted by Dereileak
The fact that Chevy and Buick placed 4th and 5th make me 🤣🤣😂😂😂😂🤣🤣😜🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 what a joke, and Volkswagen (Porsche) getting 2nd. Lmfao, should be the highest cost to own and maintain ratings, they just want people’s money like any other buisness
J.D. Power U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study is a joke in itself, wonder how much this company gets paid to make these ratings up. Toyota and Lexus being in the top I can see, but GM 😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
to top that off Chrysler scored the same as Honda and almost as good as Subaru, go out on the road and see how many old Chrysler’s you see driving around, almost none 🤣🤣
I hadn't even payed attention to that. They had the audacity to put Chrysler that high on the list? Lmfao what a load of bullshit. Hahahahahahhaah what an amazing joke!
to top that off Chrysler scored the same as Honda and almost as good as Subaru, go out on the road and see how many old Chrysler’s you see driving around, almost none 🤣🤣
That's a fair criticism, but the JD Power survey measures Initial Quality ( relative absence of immediate problems and defects ), by design.
Edmunds attempts "cost of ownership" calculations, and Consumer Reports and others track emerging issues over time.
That's a fair criticism, but the JD Power survey measures Initial Quality ( relative absence of immediate problems and defects ), by design.
From the article:
"The annual J.D. Power study gauges dependability of 3-year-old vehicles over the last 12 months, meaning this year's survey assessed the 2016 model year."
The fact that Chevy and Buick placed 4th and 5th make me 🤣🤣😂😂😂😂🤣🤣😜🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 what a joke, and Volkswagen (Porsche) getting 2nd. Lmfao, should be the highest cost to own and maintain ratings, they just want people’s money like any other buisness
J.D. Power U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study is a joke in itself, wonder how much this company gets paid to make these ratings up. Toyota and Lexus being in the top I can see, but GM 😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
to top that off Chrysler scored the same as Honda and almost as good as Subaru, go out on the road and see how many old Chrysler’s you see driving around, almost none 🤣🤣
I’m not saying Acura is the best, but I sure as hell wouldn’t buy a dodge, fiat Chrysler over a Honda Acura product, I do wish Honda built there stuff in japan. And where is Mazda, they build some great cars, my 06 Mazda 3 I beat to hell is almost to 200k
This list is a complete joke. I'm sorry to say but the GMC, Chrysler and all that crap is just that crap! My friend at work has a new Chevy Cruze and it has been at the shop the first year more times than I can count! Let alone the pick up trucks! Plus we have a fleet at work that are all North American pieces of ...fill in the blanks! No disrespect to the Americans!
From the article:
"The annual J.D. Power study gauges dependability of 3-year-old vehicles over the last 12 months, meaning this year's survey assessed the 2016 model year."
I stand corrected. I wasn't half asleep, I was just too damn lazy to look up the article.
But for those of us who tend to hang onto cars, a 3-year old car is just a toddler. They don't start to cause serious trouble until they are tweens or teens.
From the article:
"The annual J.D. Power study gauges dependability of 3-year-old vehicles over the last 12 months, meaning this year's survey assessed the 2016 model year."
So for Acura, that would put them in prime ZF9 problem territory on the TLX and MDX, right?
And where is Mazda, they build some great cars, my 06 Mazda 3 I beat to hell is almost to 200k
I think they have to get a certain minimum number of responses in order to be part of the survey and Mazda being a smaller manufacturer, they might not have made it.
This list is a complete joke. I'm sorry to say but the GMC, Chrysler and all that crap is just that crap! My friend at work has a new Chevy Cruze and it has been at the shop the first year more times than I can count! Let alone the pick up trucks! Plus we have a fleet at work that are all North American pieces of ...fill in the blanks! No disrespect to the Americans!
What’s your point? There are people here who have had the same experience with their RDX....
A firm commitment to style over substance, combined with aggressive cost cutting?
Divert resources to product placement and advertising rather than engineering and testing?
They must have studied Jaguar and Jeep. But they haven't quite caught up to Land Rover. Yet.
I firmly believe this to be true. Honda/Acura has been riding on their reputation from 15+ years ago and they have been consistently making less reliable cars since. I don’t think they make bad or unreliable cars but they certainly do not make exceptionally well built cars and certainly their reputation for reliability is much better than their actual reliability. I’ve owned a few Honda/Acura products over the years and they get about 80% of it right and then cheap out on the remaining 20%. The thing is they have Toyota/Lexus to look at if they want to do better - they don’t care. They sell enough cars as is and there is not incentive to build more reliable cars because everyone still thinks they make some of the most reliable cars.
Reliability is just one of many aspects people consider when buying a car but it’s really not top on most people’s list. I really love the Jeep Wrangler. I really love the redesign. I would love to own one but if you spend just five mins on a Jeep forum the only logical conclusion you can come to is they are a total piece of shit. People have welds in the frame separating. A “death wobble” in the front suspension/steering system that has damn-near killed people. Quality control issues out their rear end. Jeep dealer experience is also horrendous with dealers who clearly don’t want to do warranty work.
With all those issues Jeep sold 240K Wranglers in 2018 compared to 190K in 2017 and 2018 was by far their best year ever...selling a complete and total piece of FCA junk. People don’t know and/or they don’t care even though FCA has a terrible reputation in the general public. Now imagine Honda/Acura’s position? So sure, they can cut costs, make an OK but not exceptional product and somehow people still think they make bullet-proof cars. That’s a win-win for Honda all day every day and until their reliability actually hits the bottom line...don’t expect any improvement. Matter of fact expect things to get progressively worse as Honda figures out how far they can go to maximize profit by cost-cutting and especially when people still think they’re awesome. Jeep is proof design over substance sells in America.
...Jeep Wrangler...A “death wobble” in the front suspension/steering system that has damn-near killed people...
Damn, I had a '95 Grand Cherokee with that - you'd think that by now a fix would be implemented. All it is is a bad steering stabilizer, kind of like a shock absorber for the steering.
Damn, I had a '95 Grand Cherokee with that - you'd think that by now a fix would be implemented. All it is is a bad steering stabilizer, kind of like a shock absorber for the steering.
death wobble can be related to any front suspension peice being worn, I had it bad on my 97 Jeep XJ and fixed it by replacing the control arms, steering stabilizer, sway bar end links, and a few other parts, and getting my tires road forced balance, after that it was gone, was an old car tho, having a new one get it that’s rediculous
How do you respond to lower quality, reliability and profit? Cut costs!!! No one will notice, right?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.23e2ee9b6996
"Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. reported a 71 percent decline in its fiscal third quarter profit as air-bag recalls and flat vehicle sales offset gains from cost cuts."
Agreed - it showed up in my GC at less than 300 miles, took 2 trips to the dealer for a correct diagnosis and repair. I got real used to dealer visits with that POS.
death wobble can be related to any front suspension peice being worn, I had it bad on my 97 Jeep XJ and fixed it by replacing the control arms, steering stabilizer, sway bar end links, and a few other parts, and getting my tires road forced balance, after that it was gone, was an old car tho, having a new one get it that’s rediculous
These are 2018 and 2019 Wranglers with less than 2000 miles on them.
How do you respond to lower quality, reliability and profit? Cut costs!!! No one will notice, right?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.23e2ee9b6996
"Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. reported a 71 percent decline in its fiscal third quarter profit as air-bag recalls and flat vehicle sales offset gains from cost cuts."
There ya go...but the cost cutting started long before this past year. The best part...the masses have not noticed....lol. It’s a brilliant plan.....
JD Power Initial Quality measures quality of the vehicles in the first year of ownership and they ask random owners to fill out a survey with a ton of questions. Acura has been having issues with their Infotainment systems and people would report those as issues. I owned a VW CC before the RDX and I would rather have the Acura's Radio freezing once in a while than a stalled car on the highway with the check engine light on. The VW CC started falling apart after five years and my Odyssey is eight years old and running as new. Look at Consumer Reports data instead and they look at reliability over the past few years (and weigh engine and transmission issues higher) and their ratings make much more sense...
JD Power Initial Quality measures quality of the vehicles in the first year of ownership and they ask random owners to fill out a survey with a ton of questions. Acura has been having issues with their Infotainment systems and people would report those as issues. I owned a VW CC before the RDX and I would rather have the Acura's Radio freezing once in a while than a stalled car on the highway with the check engine light on. The VW CC started falling apart after five years and my Odyssey is eight years old and running as new. Look at Consumer Reports data instead and they look at reliability over the past few years (and weigh engine and transmission issues higher) and their ratings make much more sense...
Here is an article about Consumer Reports’ assessment of Honda/Acura reliability for 2018. Any one of these reliability surveys can be dismissed but taken as whole there isn’t a single one that puts Honda/Acura at the top or even close to the top...not one. This, combined with personal past and current experience, as well as forum member experiences is hard to dismiss. Although, I’m sure many here will still dismiss it because the article mentions the infotainment units, or out of some misguided loyalty to a brand that is intensionally producing a worse product to make more money off of them or to not feel like they made an uninformed purchase. I get it...no one wants to feel used but these data as a whole paint a clear picture IMO.
I still don’t think Honda makes bad cars...just not exceptionally well-built cars. Many others do it better than Honda/Acura and yet don’t get the credit as far as reputation in the public.
1. 2010 Acura TL SH-AWD - Improper weld around moonroof - dealer had the car for 5 weeks and it required extensive body work.
2. 2011 Honda Pilot - Transmission replaced at 55K and engine mounts replaced at 57K. More rattles and squeaks than I car to remember. Chrome exterior trim pieces started peeling at around 40K miles.
3. 2018 Honda Pilot. - Blower motor for ventilation replaced at 800 miles for bad bearings. Car need to be aligned and steering wheel centered at 300 miles - a service that Honda refused to do (wouldn’t even put it on the alignment rack) because it was “not possible it was out of alignment from the factory.” I paid for it on my dime and it was out of alignment and the steering wheel needed to be centered properly. Now with 11K miles there’s a loud “boing” noise coming from the second row seat (sounds like a spring door stopper being flicked) and the third row seat constantly squeaks while moving.
Experience of family and friends:
1. 2014 MDX transmission replaced at 22K for coolant contamination.
2. 2015 MDX engine mounts replaced at 30K. Rear seats replaced at 10K due to faulty folding mechanism and third row needed to be torqued down as it was improperly torqued from factory (sounds familiar).
3. 2016 RDX front struts replaced at 14K miles.
4. 2015 Honda Accord transmission replaced at 50K.
Even with this I still bought Honda/Acura products because the design fit my needs, my wife and I drive about 8K easy miles on each car per year and we do not plan to keep any Honda/Acura products long-term. It’s not that people should avoid Honda/Acura because while not the best they aren’t the worst either but they should be honest about what they’re getting themselves into. I feel best about these cars when my ownership is within the bumper-to-bumper and I never plan to keep these past 6 or 7 years.
1. 2010 Acura TL SH-AWD - Improper weld around moonroof - dealer had the car for 5 weeks and it required extensive body work.
2. 2011 Honda Pilot - Transmission replaced at 55K and engine mounts replaced at 57K. More rattles and squeaks than I car to remember. Chrome exterior trim pieces started peeling at around 40K miles.
3. 2018 Honda Pilot. - Blower motor for ventilation replaced at 800 miles for bad bearings. Car need to be aligned and steering wheel centered at 300 miles - a service that Honda refused to do (wouldn’t even put it on the alignment rack) because it was “not possible it was out of alignment from the factory.” I paid for it on my dime and it was out of alignment and the steering wheel needed to be centered properly. Now with 11K miles there’s a loud “boing” noise coming from the second row seat (sounds like a spring door stopper being flicked) and the third row seat constantly squeaks while moving.
Experience of family and friends:
1. 2014 MDX transmission replaced at 22K for coolant contamination.
2. 2015 MDX engine mounts replaced at 30K. Rear seats replaced at 10K due to faulty folding mechanism and third row needed to be torqued down as it was improperly torqued from factory (sounds familiar).
3. 2016 RDX front struts replaced at 14K miles.
4. 2015 Honda Accord transmission replaced at 50K.
Even with this I still bought Honda/Acura products because the design fit my needs, my wife and I drive about 8K easy miles on each car per year and we do not plan to keep any Honda/Acura products long-term. It’s not that people should avoid Honda/Acura because while not the best they aren’t the worst either but they should be honest about what they’re getting themselves into. I feel best about these cars when my ownership is within the bumper-to-bumper and I never plan to keep these past 6 or 7 years.
I switched to other brands after having issues with an Accord and a TL. I wouldn’t put up with all those issues you’ve had. Don’t reward them with more sales.
Warranty is great but what a pain to keep taking it in for repairs. What’s your time worth?
This would make an ENORMOUS difference in my opinion. Japanese built cars tend to be really really put together well.
As per the above comment on taking notes from the Jaguar and LR playbook, I have to admit I'm sometimes double checking that I'm not on the BMW forums with some of the things people are mentioning on here.
I have to say though I'm incredibly impressed with Porsche! They always always are at the top of these reliability and dependability surveys. I'm wondering are Porsches really this reliable? A German car that handles very very well with great brand prestige and reliable? Is Porsche a unicorn? Also, I was like please please let FCA be under Acura and well Jeep was ahead....the end times are coming.
Porsche's rating cold be a bit misleading. Consider that many Porsches are fair weather machines, and not daily drivers. An issue that would drive you crazy in a DD would be much more tolerable on a car driven a few thousand miles a year. A lousy navigation interface, for example, or seat heaters that might perform poorly, but have never been used.
Originally Posted by anoop
How does Toyota do it?
Primarily management. My wife works for a Fortune 500 Company. Her and a group of her colleagues visited Toyota's Kentucky plant years ago to see how they do it. She was absolutely blown away by their efficiency, and she still raves about the experience today. I've also theorized that Toyota is deliberately slow to develop new technologies, not [necessarily] because they're cheap, but at least in part because new tech tends to be glitchy, and nearly always involves a learning curve for customers. Having said that, I can't understand is how the Lexus mouse-style controller has had little to no impact on the brand's quality ratings. It might be the worst interface in the industry.
I've owned many Toyota products, in fact we always cross shopped Honda when looking to buy, and always found Toyota to have quieter vehicles (a big priority for us) than the competing Honda product. Most of our Toyota products were trouble free. MOST. Not all. Anyway, something changed in either my and my wife's backs, or Toyota changed the seats, as we can no longer drive a Toyota without having serious back aches. Just one of several reasons we have moved to Honda/Acura.
This RDX is our 4th Honda product. I had "less than expected" experiences with the first two, but better than expected with the third, an '18 CR-V Touring which led me to trade up to the '19 RDX. I hope my experience with the RDX will match that of the CR-V, as I intend to keep this one several years.
I tend to look at all the surveys and look at the overall picture, rather than looking at one as the "gospel" so to speak.
I switched to other brands after having issues with an Accord and a TL. I wouldn’t put up with all those issues you’ve had. Don’t reward them with more sales.
Warranty is great but what a pain to keep taking it in for repairs. What’s your time worth?
I really debated the Pilot. I needed three rows, AWD and a biggest third row I could get without going body-on-frame. That leaves the Traverse and Atlas which both have much worse expected reliability than the Pilot and the CX-9, Highlander and rest of the unibody SUVs were too small in the 3rd row. So it was a gamble. If I can get away with a blower motor and some seat issues over the next 5-6 years then great.
I'm here because I like the RDX and it would be perfect as far as size and features but I'm holding out to see if Acura get its act together. I'm trying to figure out what are first year woes and what is typical Acura build quality issues? I'm not here to bash Acura - I like their cars - but that doesn't change my opinion of their build quality.
Toyota seems to be slow to update powertrains. My wife’s 2013 Highlander has the 3.5L V6 with a 5 speed auto transmission. That’s some old tech even for 2013. It’s been bulletproof so far though and she enjoys it.
As for the Lexus touchpad. I hated it during test drives but I’ve gotten used to it now. There are a couple quirks but I don’t hate it. Although my wife isn’t a fan but it’s not her daily driver. They did refresh it a couple years ago.
I really debated the Pilot. I needed three rows, AWD and a biggest third row I could get without going body-on-frame. That leaves the Traverse and Atlas which both have much worse expected reliability than the Pilot and the CX-9, Highlander and rest of the unibody SUVs were too small in the 3rd row. So it was a gamble. If I can get away with a blower motor and some seat issues over the next 5-6 years then great.
I'm here because I like the RDX and it would be perfect as far as size and features but I'm holding out to see if Acura get its act together. I'm trying to figure out what are first year woes and what is typical Acura build quality issues? I'm not here to bash Acura - I like their cars - but that doesn't change my opinion of their build quality.
I’m in the same boat. I’m waiting to see what the RDX shapes up to be in 3 years when my lease is up. I’m not loyal to any brand but I’ve been impressed with Toyota’s reliability based on personal experience.
