rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Not a bad choice...
Perfect colors to stand with the boys in blue.

ceb

I spent quite a bit of time with a Rav4 and must say that I came away semi-unimpressed. It was the XLE (I think - the trim right below the Limited) and while the features were nice (including the camera in the rearview mirror that looks just like the rearview even if your car is loaded up (or you have a big dog in the back) but the interior finishes were very low rent. Even the 4Runner looked like it used far higher interior materials than the Rav4.

The interior is what we look at the most and the Rav4 interior reminded me of a Dodge Neon - interior by Rubbermaid and the interior on my wife's 2013 Civic is far nicer. I'm sure that Lexus will have a Rav4 Prime equivalent and I'd consider that.

fiatlux

Was that the current generation Rav4 or the previous gen? If it was the previous gen then I wholeheartedly agree, but I thought the new one is substantially better.

anoop

RAV4 seats are not comfortable on long rides according to some YouTube reviews. If you can (hard to do on a short test drive), try and pay attention to that.

ceb

It was a brand new one with about 20 miles on it. I had it as a loaner over the weekend.

I also thought the vinyl seats looked and felt cheap and the material hard to the touch.

See if you can get one for an extended test drive.

mathnerd88

Which model of the Rav4 was it? LE? XLE? XSE? Limited? There's a huge difference between all of them.

ceb

Yes, there is a big difference between the trims. It was the trim right below the Limited - XSE? It had that nifty mirror with the rear camera and parking sensors and was the Hybrid.

hans471

Our adult son and his wife were long time Toyota fans. They had a 2009 Rav4 V-6 and when they went to replace it my previous (2017) CR-V caught their eye. I advised them to wait for the latest model of the Rav4 to come out and to take a hard look at one before buying anything.as they were Toyota and Rav4 fans. Well, they waited and finally the dealer got one in. (top model I am sure as they always go for the top dollar ones first). I can only say that after giving the newest Rav a close look they drove up the street and bought a new CR-v as both agreed it was a far nicer vehicle, more "car like" as my daugher-in-law said. After over a year of ownership I asked her how her car is doing. Every time I ask I get the same answer, "I LOVE MY CAR!!". The new Rav4 is not for everyone. They complained about style and how "truck like" it was.

anoop

This guy has a nice comparison of RAV4 v CRV and has a slight preference for the CRV.

mathnerd88

I do like the CRV but RAV4 wins it for me because of its option for the plug in hybrid and that $7500 federal tax credit. CRV won’t have any of that.

The RAV4 Prime for us will probably end up thousands cheaper than the CRV. My SO also hated the 2015 CRV and how it drives. She prefers the boat like feel and how well Toyota’s absorb bumps. The seats were very uncomfortable and the sound system was very lacking compared to her 2015 RAV4. She says CRV is not even on her list.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

How did we get here?

markm929

mathnerd88

IMHO, not really a thread jack because the thread is about people who are semi regretful about their RDX purchase. It’s only natural to talk about possible alternatives.

But if you want it to get back on topic. Yes, I’m a little torn about my RDX. I love it yet also hate it. Semi regretful is the perfect word to describe it. The gas tank on this car is way too small. Would love it if they could fit a 20 gallon tank instead.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Are all you semi guys aspec?
I think that's a sharp looking SUV...moreso than most others on the road.

mathnerd88

Mine is Advance SH AWD, black on black. Yeah it’s a sharp looking vehicle, but I think the rear definitely won’t age well. The dragon taillights are kind of off to me especially when lit at night. I think it’s too long horizontally. The front is much better.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Did you lease or buy?

mathnerd88

I bought it.

nemesis04

I was pretty close to deciding that the RDX was going to be my next vehicle but after reading these threads it seems like many dislike their ride and have problems. It definitely makes me pause a little now.

mathnerd88

I mean as a vehicle and it’s driving characteristics it’s fine. However given that Acura is technically a luxury brand from Honda I expect the car to work as designed and not have to be taken to service for quality control problems. Brakes squeal, infotainment sometimes glitches, rear tailgate moan, sunroof issues come to mind. The paint is peeling off my gear selective buttons and that’s unacceptable given the car is only a year old.

mathnerd88

Looks like the Rav4 has a software update available at the dealer which helps it perform WAY better in the MOOSE test and now passes it.

fiatlux

Food for thought: would Toyota have came out with that update if that test result didn't get publicized? Given their past tendencies to only build to pass known tests, I suspect the answer would have been a resounding no.

mathnerd88

You could say this for almost every company out there, including Acura. Apple did the same. People find faults with vehicles, and the manufacturer will try to correct it. That's what TSB's are for. VW tried to cheat emissions test.

hans471

There is a problem with reading these threads: They are heavily weighted down by the people who don't like their vehicles. They come here to vent. I have had my Advanced SH-AWD for about a year now. I have done trips from one side of the country to the other. Been across the desert, through the mountains, rain, snow, etc. I love it more now than when I got it. If it has had any issues they have been so slight that I don't even recall them. I was over at the dealer one night dropping it off for service and another lady my age was there dropping off hers for some minor issue. (Actually she just needed to read the owners manual to learn how to set the lighting or something simple). We were talking about red verses blue or something. She looked over at me and said, "I love this car!". I agreed with her, I love mine also and would buy another tomorrow.

People on many forums tend to be the unhappy ones. They vent. And, in today's world if there is a problem or something they don't like they swear the product is a "Piece of junk!" One of my favorites were the few people who swore they would NEVER again by an Acura because this car didn't have LED tail lights. (the reality of it was if you put LED's in the flasher wouldn't work right due to a change in current flow....or something like that). I mean a car is a POS because it doesn't have LED tail lights?

If I believed every review I ever read about most of the things I currently own I would not have bought half of them. Somehow all these terrible products seem to work OK for me, maybe I am blessed or lucky....or maybe I know no product can be perfect for every person. I loved my CR-V's and when I decided to move it up a notch I went with the Acura. (and yes, I looked at all the main competitors). Our family has bought over 35 new Honda products over the last 30 years and we have been happy with them. But, your experience could be different. I would not read all the negative posts here and let them make up my mind for me. I would look at cars, drive them, see how they feel and drive based on my tastes. I would read the crash tests, look at the used car values for those models when they are say five or six years old and consider ownership coats. My brother-in-law loves BMW's but cries every time he has to get one serviced.

I am so happy I didn't let the negative posts here influence me to not buy my lovely red Advanced RDX. And for you who dislike yours, I am sorry you picked the wrong car or were let down by your dealer or Acura. Me, I am keeping mine as it is the right car for me and what I want out of a vehicle.

fiatlux

I wouldn't go as far as saying that. Toyota is unique in that they have a history of doing the bare minimum. Take for instance the new small overlap tests. After they got caught with their pants down and practically all their cars received a Poor rating from the IIHS, they redesigned the front of the car to pass that test...except they only reinforced the driver side and not the passenger side, because only the driver side was being tested. When the IIHS started testing the passenger side, they noticed that these Toyotas performed poorly, and discovered that the front of the car was asymmetrically reinforced.

russianDude

I like my 2020 RDX, enjoy it every day

quantum7

I am also happy that you have had great fortune with your RDX and enjoy your purchase.

But I like it when buyers come here to post their complaints/problems. That allows others to be aware of these possible issues and look out for them during test drives or dealer visits. I would be pissed if I bought an RDX and had a messed up suspension, glitchy infotainment, soft and then squeaky brakes, Limp Mode, etc, only some of which may/may not show up on even an extended test drive. I think that some customer awareness of known issues also helps buyers to get resolution from dealers when bringing cars in for warranty service.

So I encourage everyone to keep bitching about your car. We all realize that no car is without some dislike and that a purchase is a compromise with what you can deal with for the price, but I want to know what I am walking into when I drop $40 or $50k. This site has always been awesome for finding great information, both good and bad.

mathnerd88

The scenario you described sounds exactly what most manufacturers do, IMHO. The only difference is that Toyota was caught and publicized doing this. You don’t think this happens to other manufacturers? The RAV4 is now a top safety pick.

Remember Apple bendgate? You think Acura is doing more than bare minimum? Look at the infotainment issues that Acura had and how long it took to fix some of the bugs. It required a class action lawsuit to finally get Acura to take action. Everyone is just trying to appease the public in the most economical way possible. Manufacturers are in the business of making money and pass the minimum required about of tests to make that happen. This is normal.

russianDude

It has to be balanced, when people are happy, they rarely come to forums like this to say how happy they are. So this small portion of people make it sound like this car is a big problem, its not true. Yes, it has issues, but so do other cars, and its not the end of the world.
And in my opinion, suspension, brake seaquakes and infotainment glitches (which are now 98% resolved with latest software update) are not serious issues for most people to care.
Limp mode? Only happened to few people, its not a wide spread problem.

quantum7

Totally agree, but I still want to hear about the problems. On my test drives I checked everyone of these things out.
And people who love their RDX are more than welcome to post their praises as did hans471 and others. I like to hear as many reviews as possible....but not just by blind Acura loyalists (and I AM an Acura loyalist). Again, these issues are not a big deal....as long as you don't have them.

fiatlux

Actually, it doesn't happen to a lot of other manufacturers; that's the reason why this was big news when it came out. What I'm referring to is doing the bare minimum to pass the safety tests, but not actually doing all that much to build a safe car in the real world. As another example, take a look at the rear crash test results for the Sienna. It's absolutely atrocious compared to every other minivan tested as the 3rd row occupancy area completely collapsed. However, passenger safety isn't part of the rear crash test; only fuel tank integrity is looked at, and that passed. Now, do you trust a product built by a company to get a good score in specific laboratory conditions, or would you rather trust a product built to a higher standard?


Or as another data point, consider when the small overlap tests were first introduced. All the Toyota cars were exposed by receiving a Poor score, whereas many other cars of the same vintage (some even older) from the likes of Honda, Volvo, Subaru, etc. scored substantially better.

russianDude

There are some people on this thread that are working really hard to prove that RDX is not a good buy for the money and that you can get better value for your buck with another car. I often wonder if they have some agenda or vendetta against Acura. You have to look at problems that matter to you. And couple of visits to dealer to fix not safety critical things like squeaky suspension is really no big deal to me. But some will scream loud how unacceptable it is.

mathnerd88

These are tests for models almost ten years old. If they can pass the current safety standard, I don’t have a problem with this. The RAV4 doesn’t currently have this problem. I’m not buying a car like the ones you’ve listed. I’m actually partial to Honda odyssey’s having currently owning one myself.

Toyota’s is probably the most selling brand in the world. I don’t see huge reports of people dying because of an accident in a Toyota and a severe lack of safety in the vehicle.

fiatlux

You don't think their current models are just barely passing the known tests? Just wait until the IIHS adds a new test, and I'll bet dollars to donuts that Toyotas will again perform poorly before they scramble to patch it. They've already done that twice in the last 10 years, after all.

murdermaschine

I don't think this car is a bad Value overall but there are enough quirks that it drives me nuts.

I may be selling this lease off to a company and take a little loss to get out of it.

I'll update ya'll soon....

ceb

Actually, virtually every manufacturer did this and justified it by saying that small overlap crashes were more common on the driver's side which was also the reason that the IIHS initially only tested for that side.From the IIHS:

Passenger-side small overlap frontal testManufacturers have responded to the driver-side small overlap test by improving vehicle structures and airbags, and most vehicles now earn good ratings. However, IIHS research tests demonstrated that those improvements didn't always carry over to the passenger side. Discrepancies between the left and right sides of vehicles spurred us to develop a passenger-side small overlap test and begin issuing passenger-side ratings in 2017.
__________________________________________________ ________
In actuality, small overlap crashes at any significant speed are rare - moderate overlap crashes are far more common.

The problem with testing is that you have to create tests that replicate real world events. Being in the industry, I believe that the EuroNCAP, US NCAP and ANCAP testing programs are far more realistic than some of the IIHS tests. The IIHS tests - although they have contributed to automotive safety - does have an agenda unrelated to safety.

Let's create a test simulating a harpoon shot at a car. Probably happened and most cars today would fail - but does it happen enough to design for it?

Ludepower

the problems you originally listed seem minuscule. Not worthy enough to take a big financial loss returning your lease in early. Wish I was rich enough to be fickle minded.

ceb

And there are some people who are trying real hard to justify their purchases.

I've found this forum to be far more balanced than most other forums that consist of "I love this car, it is the greatest car ever built" and "this is the biggest piece of dog doo-doo ever."

No car is perfect and each has issues that you only find out about after you've owned it awhile.The RDX is a fine car marred by a couple of annoying issues - it is up to each person considering the car to decide if those annoyances are deal breakers or just minor niggles.

But this is where these forums come in handy. By discussing issues that may not be evident on a test drive, you can get a much better idea of where problems might be. Remember that most people spend only a half hour or so test driving a car - usually with a salesperson in the car watching your every move and running off at the mouth.

ceb

Fixed your post for you.

Every test driver/owner needs to determine what issues are significant for them and we cannot say what is - or isn't - insignificant.

russianDude

nobody needs to justify their purchase, but so many negative comments about RDX are way off. If you are happy with your car - you are labeled as brand loyalist, because how can anyone be happy with such a horrible car.... Glad I ignored most of the complaining before I bought the car, otherwise I would indeed start thinking it’s really horrible.
as I said before, RDX is not perfect, and no one claims that it has #1 quality, but it’s pretty decent car. Someone was just complaining that RDX does not support NFC, common, really?

mathnerd88

I agree that the RDX is a decent car IF the problems that shouldn't have happened didn't. However, there are problems with it that shouldn't have been there in the first place. I've never had a car that had brake squeal which continued happening even after the latest TSB has been applied. I've never had a car where I had to take it in within a year to have the battery replaced and AIS stopped working because of a sunlight sensor failure. I've never had a car where I had to bring into the dealer because the interior trim pieces were misaligned. I've never had a car where the infotainment freaked out on me and the screen between my gauges and my infotainment system shut down in the middle of driving. I shouldn't have had the tailgate groan. I shouldn't have the audio popping noises at times and some breaks in my music when connected using Apple Carplay. Keep in mind this is a $50k+ car for me, the second most expensive vehicle I have ever bought. Even my cheaper cars never had these issues. The camera quality is even worse than my 2013 G37x which I traded in, and about on par with the 2007 Lexus ES I currently own. The camera is pretty unusable at night. I have to admit, the QC on the RDX is pretty abysmal, judging by my own experiences and experiences of many others on this forum. Maybe some owners aren't as OCD about it, but if you look closely, I guarantee you'll find more QC problems than other manufacturers. Even CR blasts RDX reliability, and removed it from the recommended list before. Maybe you haven't experienced other cars within this price range to compare and understand what I am talking about or maybe, you're one of the lucky ones that has a problem free car.

Acura advertised all these features for the car, but some of them feels half baked to me and that Acura threw it in there just to list it as a feature.

Most of the negative comments I see here are pretty legit. There are only a couple threads here and there that are kind of dumb to complain about.