Hi all- new member here looking to purchase a 2022 RDX A Spec. I can’t help but notice in my research in the past week or so I’ve noticed a lot of activity on Facebook and the internet about the rear hatch window shattering. Has this mainly become a problem recently or has it been occurring regularly since the 2019 model came out?

I’ve yet to see any owners report the issue with a 2022 model yet and I’m on the fence about ordering one because of this potential problem or looking elsewhere. I drove one the other day and came away very impressed but the thought of the rear windshield going out at any time would bug me.

Any input? Id imagine that thousands of owners have not had the problem but I’ve only been researching the RDX for the past week.

 

There are about dozen of complaints here, I dont know if it means widespread or not. It is certainly an issue. As far as 2022, I dont think we know. The older car gets the more chance for rear window to shatter.

 

Probably more prevalent on cars 2+ years old and in colder climates. I've only seen 2019s and 2020s being affected so far. I'm sure we'll be seeing 2021s starting having issues fairly soon.

 

I believe I had seen someone on the Facebook group that is going on their 3rd rear windshield and they have a 2021 RDX. I believe a few other people said they had it occur at least twice on their RDX. It's stuff like that that has me scratching my head and worrying about long term ownership as I do live in a colder climate (if that has any bearing on the issue occurring). Other than this issue, the vehicle checks all the boxes for me and what I'm looking for right now...

 

Anecdotes are not data. If you’re concerned about overall reliability check consumer reports or whatever. My take is that if it’s an actual widespread issue, Acura would know about it by now and it would be covered and have a fix.

 

The dealer in Winnipeg, CA has acknowledged the defect and is warranty replacing all claims.

 

Thousands have been sold and we’ve seen maybe a few dozen confirmed. I thought I saw a FB post stating it was changed for 2022. Lots of hearsay and assumptions about cold climates and body flexing. Could be a bad batch of windows. Nobody really knows.

At any rate, it isn’t going to happen to every single RDX.

Every car has issues but this is getting a lot of attention because it’s so strange.

 

I lean heavily toward lower margin of error + bad batch. The glass gets thinner every model, and the QC required gets tighter every model, to make it work, thus more fall out of spec. Acura sold an average of 55K RDX's in CA/US since the new model revamp, every year. I am not shocked that a narrower margin component is showing a few dozen or even a few hundred failures.

 

For some reason, the exploding rear window issue gets a lot of posts on Facebook but not on other RDX forums. Without data, no one really knows how many are affected.

 

I'm not letting it worry me too much, I placed an order for a 2022 A-Spec on Saturday.

 

They sell 50-60K RDX's per year in the US. If it were a common issue, say, 1/50th of all rear glass panes produced, that would be 1500 per year going bad at this point. There are 273 Acura dealers in the US. That is 5 rear glass panes per year, per dealer, if they were magically distributed 100% evenly, regardless of dealership service area size. If this was happening, it would NOT be going unnoticed by corporate. That is very significant.

 

Acura corporate is known for not acknowledging widespread issues for a very long time, it took them few years before they agreed that limp mode was real. It IS happening, Canadian corporate already caught up on this

 

I did a quick Google, and all brands have some issues here. It's the magic of tempered glass.

 

Seems like you are trying to brush it off as «not an issue». Wishful thinking

 

I have always read all posts with an open mind here for the last 3+ years. Sorry in Advance (pun intended)for this comment

Other posters have the same right to "brush it off as not an issue" as you have to say "wishful thinking"

 

Since mid December I’ve been on the waiting list to get my rear glass replaced. In Canada, the national waiting list for rear glass is over 300 to replace blown out rear windows. At least that’s what the dealer told me on Monday.

 

Wow. That is terrible. Sounds like the design engineer dropped the ball, and Acura should re-engineer with a fix/recall. That is a potential safety issue.

If this is happening worse in cold climates could be combo of the following: thermal stresses (temperature differential between heated interior and cold exterior), cyclic thermal fatigue, or vibration of glass (poor dampening or dampening that degrades over time) causing it to resonate at its natural frequency, combined with thermal stresses/cyclic fatigue.

In any case, Acura needs to determine root cause(s), engineer a fix, and offer a recall with complimentary fix.

Just replacing the glass in kind - the same thing will continue to happen again over and over.

No WAY would I touch an RDX solely for this issue. Buyer Beware.

 

Doubt recall, best case scenario they will cover it under warranty. Look at limp mode, its a safety issue, but they only have TSB, no recall.

 

That’s a bit dramatic. It’s a window and it’s easy to replace. If not for the pandemic-driven supply chain issues, people would be getting their windows fixed more promptly and many owners are getting it covered under warranty. So it’s a temporary inconvenience at worst.

Maybe save “buyer beware” warnings for brands that advise their owners not to park in garages because their car might catch fire and burn their house down, lol.

 

TSB just out today

http://www.urvi.net/forumfiles/SB/B22-014.PDF

 

I knew my car had a grudge against my house!! It’s trying to burn it down darn it!!

 

Bumping up this old thread I stumbled upon. I had a 2022 model year bought in February 2022, built in January 2022 that had the back glass shatter after a week of ownership. I posted in the other thread on the topic. The dealer bought back the car because the part was on national backorder in Canada and there were 6 or 7 other RDXs in this one dealer's lot awaiting a replacement back glass. Acura Canada did however repair under warranty. Back then Acura USA did not repair under warranty, not sure if that's changed since they issued a TSB.

To those that say it's just a window, it's a problem if you have children in a rear facing car seat as it would essentially explode in their face. Main reason why I fought to have the dealer take the car back.

 

Seems to be random for sure. I’ve had a 2022 since January 2022 with no issues. How a window would shatter in a week is very strange.

 

Tempered glass aka safety glass doesn't explode, it crumbles into small pieces.

 

I hope they instruct the tech to remove the back panel and vacuum out any glass particles prior to the install. Mine didn't and I have it on the dealer to-do list for next visit.

Regards -------------

 

The problem is, the panel is not removable from what I've seen. If glass gets in the hatch, your choices are to live with it, or replace the hatch. Also, it's not just cold weather related, if at all. Mine popped yesterday while it was 97F outside

 

This can happen with all makes and models. It seems to be a combination of large glass, tight tolerances, glass quality and environmental factors. A handful of people had "exploding moonroofs" on the Nissan Murano forum and were convinced it only impacted this make and model. It happens across all makes and models related to the variables mentioned above. Yes, it sucks if it happens to you, but it is a trade-off manufacturers make to keep costs down.
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/if-you-...could-explode/

 

A quick update. My rear window was replaced without charge about a year ago. No problems so far. The dealer told me that a certain rear window lot group were defective, my replacement is from a newer lot group.
Last summer my HUD melted so I’ve been waiting a year for that warranty replacement. My RDX is a 2020 with only 15,000 miles on it.

 

Very rare. Ignition of been just an inferior batch of glass. My 2021 has been exposed to -15 degrees and up to 105 degrees - never an issue in almost 3 years.

 

Mine just exploded today. We took delivery July 30, 2020 so almost 3 years exactly to the day.
I hope the back glass is not on national back order anymore…

 

2020 my?

 

yes 2020 model year.
Have an appointment this Sat at the dealer. Hope they acknowledge service bulletin as a warranty claim.

 

The last time I was in my dealer in Ottawa, I was discussing the rear glass situation. He told me that these days Acura Canada does not cover it. My 2020 rear glass was replaced and covered about a year ago, after an eight month wait. Good luck.

 

Seems the issue is not just the replacement but them being on national backorder and the car is not drivable until it is replaced....that is a huge inconvenience.

 

Especially when you don't have a garage at one's house!

Regards --------

 

Well my dealer that I got it from took me in for service late tues and I left it with them. 24h later and I picked it up perfect. It was a known issue and covered everything under warranty. At least some good news for today!!!

 

Good stuff.

 

Just picked up a 2019 RDX coming from a 2022 Nissan Rogue. The Rogues had the same issue. At first people reported that dealers told them it was not a Nissan issue and to call their insurance company. Eventually Nissan acknowledged the issue as a manufacturing defect issue and started to warranty the windows. Glad to see that the warranty part has already been sorted out on these. Hopefully I do not have to ever deal with it in the first place.

Hopefully very few ever have to deal with it.

 

Bumping this as the rear glass on my 2019 just shattered as my wife was driving home in 10C weather. Anyone know what Acura Canada is doing with these when the car is out of warranty?

 

I believe after much research that it is an industry wide tempered vs safety glass issue and IT IS GOING TO KILL SOMEONE!

Moonroofs have the same issue but Acura is not covering $3,500 moonroofs. My 2019 RDX’s moonroof exploded. Acura did not cover it under certified warranty and would not put in writing why they did not. Acura warranty customer relations READ an email to me (no I couldn’t have a copy) from Honda warranty group that handles certified Acura warranty claims that blamed it on me not using an Acura approved kayak carrier ( I had kayak tied upside down directly onto my Acura crossbars). Ridiculous excuse. Temperature was probably 80 F degree range; 65 mph on the highway. KEEP YOUR CLOTH COVER CLOSED. Acura is being sued for exploding moonroofs.

TESLA uses safety glass on their glass roofs. Can anyone find examples of Tesla failures? They are super focused on weight reduction but Elon chose the heavier safety glass. Why!?!?!

My infotainment system constantly does not connect with Apple play. Have to turn off car and open door to reboot system and restart car to connect. Acura dealer cant fix; Acura corp has not fixed the software or hardware issue that clearly is not the same apple CarPlay problem on other brands.

my brakes are now noisy on hard braking; again, no fix; pads are fine.

Transmission felt as if it slipped into neutral at 50 mph; engine could rev to over 5,000 rpm. Gear indicator still showed “Drive”. No error codes; no fix. Happened twice.

On multiple occasions the Auto Cruise Control remains activated AFTER freshly starting the car and will unexpectedly accelerate (until I brake) to 25 mph (did I press resume accidentally or did tapping accelerator activate it; not sure). ACC should not remain on after starting the car. I haven’t even gone to dealer for this I am so worn out with weird stuff in this car.

I just can’t take it anymore. Now as it turns out the 2019 has horrible JD Power quality / maintenance scores vs other years and lux SUV’s. The ratings have climbed back to very good for later years. So I guess reality is that I bought a bad year of a luxury SUV and bottom line is; it’s my problem. I am so disappointed in Acura for not putting their customers first.

just a heads up for anyone considering a 2019.