CyanideDN

Looking to buy a 2022 RDX Advance. Current we have a black 2010 TL and it’s so hard to keep clean. We want to get something that won’t show dirt easily or need frequent cleaning like our black TL. Also we live in Southern California so something really dark would make the car quite hot.

What’s the best color for this? We are considering white, silver metallic, and the new liquid carbon metallic.

R3amir

Grey, gun metal or silver color stay clean for good amount of time

russianDude

there is a difference between staying cleaning and appearing clean. The only thing that can be different is the appearance of car being clean, but in reality it attracts same amount of dirt

Vince D

White is the obvious choice to reduce and reflect heat.

Question is: is heat reduction a more important issue than keeping your car looking clean? Personally, I love the liquid carbon metallic for the simple fact that Espresso is an interior color choice. I have Espresso with my black Advance and it looks amazing.

UDFlyer

Glad to hear you like espresso. I have a 2022 liquid carbon w/espresso on order. Hope to have it in early Jan. This will be our first RDX after many years of Hondas. My first car was a 1990 Integra.

Vince D

Congratulations. Last year I originally wanted Gunmetal because of the Espresso interior color choice, but back then (August 2020) all the dealer had was Black in the showroom with Espresso. Took me all of 10 seconds to make that decision. Of course I had to involve my wife in the decision-making process but she was 100% onboard at the same time.

After 15 months and 21,000 miles it wears well; the Espresso seats reminds me of sitting in some old time vintage-style club chair. Like it's been around forever; just looks fantastic.

Jim7707

When I purchased my 2016 I was living in Phoenix and wanted white for the same reasons as the OP. None of the dealers has a white Advance so I reluctantly bought a Graphite Luster Metallic. Somewhat to my surprise I've been very happy with it. In PHX if your car is outside it is going to be hot no matter what color it is so the darker color didn't really bother me. But I was surprised how well it hides the dirt. I was scared it would be like black and show every spot but that has not been the case at all. In fact my vehicle is just a slightly lighter color than the RDX.

anoop

White or silver exterior. Beige interior with white, or graystone interior with silver.

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

I've owned over 60 vehicles...yes, I'm older! I've owned ONE black car....and I said "never again." I've talked to many friends and others over the years that said the same...
"never again." YES...black when perfectly clean, waxed and polished looks great. But, keeping it that way is constant work. Most of my cars have been white...hides the
dirt the best...many don't believe that, but, I should know, and light silvers or lighter grays. But, IF you like to wash and wax your life away then dark colors will want that from you!

No black interiors either. Shows dirt so easily, and are HOTTER. Oh, of course, lighter colored ext. colors reflect sun and thus heat better than dark/darker colors. Just a fact.

russianDude

I own black pearl aspec, and absolutely love the color

leomio2.0

White or silver …

If you’re concerned about the car being hot on warm-ish days, I’d avoid the RDX entirely. The A/C system is subpar. Even the wife and female friends who are almost always “cold” have commented on how poor the system is. The air from the vents is cold, but something about the interior design doesn’t seem to allow the cold air to circulate well (Lo setting, fan high, recirculate on)

If you must have an Acura, look around to see if the MDX system works well.

jmhumr

I don’t think it’s fair to assume that’s some kind of common RDX thing. My RDX cools as well as any other car I’ve owned.

CyanideDN

I personally like the carbon metallic color but wife is afraid it’s a shade too dark and will show dirt easily. We don’t have the 22s in the dealership to see it in person yet.

EFR

I also said 'never again' after my first black car (78 Camaro). I lived in South Tahoe, would wash/wax it and within minutes it was covered in pollen from the pine trees. Later, I bought another (85 Firebird) and swore 'never again'. And then I bought another (2006 BMW 5), and swore never again. But...you can fairly easily tell by touch how much hotter the black paint is than say, white. So, black generally being very difficult to keep clean (but beautiful when it is) is also extremely hot. White, oddly, is very easy to keep clean and is more tolerable here in the Vegas heat, to keep a car cooler (relevant term). Fortunate, in a sense, to not be working anymore, so our car is in the garage at our house most of the time. It's why our 2006 LR3 still looked practically brand new. With good, strong tint on the windows, I am not as concerned about the interior color.

Waetherman

I hard a dark blue Honda previously and while it hid dirt a bit, it showed water spots easily. My white RDX now is the opposite. I prefer the white but depending on the kind of dirt it does show.

Vince D

Good point about those water spots, Waetherman. I have two black Acuras so I knew what I was getting into, but just the same, it's water spots, bird droppings, pine/spruce/eucalyptus tree sap and oil marks that drive me insane. I mean, granted - most people wouldn't even notice, but - I know they're there. Even after a thorough wash, at a certain angle there can be faint outlines that only a polish will get out.

I would think White would be the best choice to fight off these minor pesky little threats.

As far as the OP living in Southern California I'm not sure how much dirt, relatively speaking, can be spat upon the paint? Up here in the Pac NW it's all four seasons of weather and it's downright messy. Currently all my cars are as dirty as they can be and naturally I'm going bonkers, but what can I do? I'll wash on the next sunny day (yeah right..in Seattle?) and plug along until spring when I can do a complete detail again.

Oh, well...first-world problems

anoop

Another advantage of lighter colors is that if the car ever needs body work, it's a lot easier for the color to match. With darker colors, because of UV fading, getting an exact match becomes harder.

Waetherman

Absolutely. Bird poop is terrible on dark colored cars, not so bad on light ones. Of course on either one it’s important to get it off ASAP, but at least it doesn’t look as bad those first couple of days on a white car.

As for dirt, I get some soot (NYC, thanks deblasio) and some residue from leaves this time of year, and maybe some mud in the winter but I think mud looks good on an SUV of any color, at least to some extent. The worst dirt is when there’s heavy winds and dust in the air, especially after a dewy night, and the whole car gets a coating. That definitely looks bad on a white car. Not great on a dark car either. There’s no getting around some dirt and any car color is a trade off, but I’m happier with the white than I was with the dark blue.

jmhumr

I’m really happy with my white A-spec. It’s the first white car I’ve owned and I went shopping expect to buy a gray car, but I went with white because I ended up liking the white/black contrast on the A-spec so much.

My last car was dark blue and I didn’t like how much it showed dust/pollen. That stuff hits during two seasons here in VA (pollen in spring, leaf dust in fall). White is much more tolerant.

One warning though: If you get PPF, be sure to have the whole hood covered on a white car. My one gripe with the white car is that dirt collects at the edge of the film on my hood. I’m PO’ed about it because the installer told me not to worry about that line on the hood. Grrr.

Hou-RL

White or Liquid Carbon Metallic is the best options

ColoRDX

Walk the car lots after a rain and compare. Silver will always appear cleaner looking and then the color white. Another (look) cleaner color is Champagne. A very light silver'ish/gold'ish color.

eneka

lighter colors, and get high quality ceramic tint all around including the windshield. We did Pinnacle Stratos and Air80 on the windshield. Socal here as well.

TxOZ

I got the RDX white pearl with mocha interior, I feel that washing the car once a month is sufficient to have the car look clean. We took the RDX to a detailer to get it coated with Ceramic Coating, I think that has really helped the look and the maintenance.

Baldeagle

The color of dirt where I live is very light brown and any light gold or champagne hides it well. However white is an extremely close second. For heat, white is by FAR the best color. On a sunny day, place your hand on a silver car and then on a white car and feel the temperature difference for yourself. It is large. Then compare it to any dark colored car; that difference is massive.

spinedoc777

White by far. 3 years and I've only washed it once, lol, it's a lease so I didn't really care much.

anoop

Wow. I thought I was bad. In 3 years, I have washed it around 8-10 times. I usually take it in when the interior looks dusty.

ColoRDX

That's gross!

EFR

I think mine (white) has been washed maybe 5 times in 38 months...and that's just at the dealer. I have never washed it myself....but it is ready! Fortunately I keep it in the garage, and it's there 90% of it's 'life'. 38 months, 10K miles and not a single door ding or anything...looks brand new!

UDFlyer

Finally got mine. Ended up pulling the trigger on white with espresso (SH-AWD w/Tech). Just couldn’t hold out until March for the Liquid Carbon Metallic. We’ve had dark gray cars for 10 years, so am loving the white so far. Am sure that’ll change as soon as the weather gets nasty, but she’s a beauty at the moment.

UDFlyer

I’m an idiot. This is an MDX. We decided to go with the bigger car and I forgot which forum I was posting in. Sorry folks.

mcmdds1

That looks really nice. Just got our RDX in Espresso leather with a Liquid Carbon exterior. I gave it a lot of thought before picking the colors. I wanted something different coming from a beige interior minivan prior. Liquid Carbon Metallic hides dirt pretty well as it just rained and really could't see spots on the car. We didn't want a black interior as So Cal can get pretty warm in the summer, so Espresso was a good choice. I have Greystone leatherette in my TLX and it's great too. Seven years old and still looks new. We are very pleased with the Espresso.

anoop

I don't think I can tire of a white/beige or white/light gray type of combo.

The only other color that I really liked was BMW's liquid blue metallic, but that is a rare color, with BMW offering it only on limited models for a limited period of time.

JB in AZ

I was wondering...