Originally Posted by russianDude

Alignment of tailgate (uniformity of gaps between openings) is off on many RDX. I even took the time to walk the dealer lot and in about half of the RDXs I could spot some wider vs smaller gap in tailgate openings, some worse than others. Most people wont notice this or wont care. For badly misaligned gate dealer will offer to take it to body shop, but not sure you want them to start taking it apart when its not a big deal. What happened to “Acura Precision” ?

Originally Posted by russianDude

Alignment of tailgate (uniformity of gaps between openings) is off on many RDX. I even took the time to walk the dealer lot and in about half of the RDXs I could spot some wider vs smaller gap in tailgate openings, some worse than others. Most people wont notice this or wont care. For badly misaligned gate dealer will offer to take it to body shop, but not sure you want them to start taking it apart when its not a big deal. What happened to “Acura Precision” ?

Originally Posted by Jordster

My 2020 also has a *slight* (but visible) misalignment on the left side of the hatch.

My Accord also has some significant fit and finish issues.

It seems like a theme. Luckily, both cars have enough going for them that I don't really care. Oh, and my RDX is a lease, so I doubly don't care

(It's my first lease in 20+ years of ownership, as it's 50% a business car, and it's such a freeing experience!)

Originally Posted by russianDude

lol, looks like my comment about panel alignment made many people look and start discovering things they did not know they had.
Here is the thing, if it does not bother you, you dont see, or dont want to see, than its all good.
I am sure some people never looked closely, and now that they start looking they are getting upset, maybe better not to look?😀

Originally Posted by Madd Dog

...

This is one fine car, make no mistake.

Originally Posted by supafamous

I picked up my 2019 RDX A-Spec last July and it's a car I love but also a car that's more "really good" than "great" and I wanted to dump some thoughts on that out here figuring there's some conversation to be had about it. I hope Acura addresses the issues I've run across (and others have) in their 2022 refresh as this could be a class leader car rather than a competitive car.

Stuff I love: Terrific motor (for a 4 cylinder it sounds great), lots of room (lack of the hump in the rear is awesome), great looks, pretty spot-on for sportiness (more on that later), right quality of luxury (the pano roof is terrific), great seats (fits me perfect, my wife less so), Sport+ mode is the real thing when I use it, and 10 speeds(!). SH-AWD works as advertised - drives far closer to a RWD car than a FWD car - drives close enough to a sport sedan that I don't miss my sports cars THAT much.

Stuff I'm disappointed with:

• Build quality is pretty terrible for a Honda/Acura. I've been in for the squeaky brakes (still not resolved), a squeaky tailgate, a seat that never returns to its saved position correctly (unresolved), squeaks abound, and a very flaky infotainment system (choppy CarPlay, regular crashes. My RDX has been to the dealer for non-regular service in 1 year more (3 times) than my 2007 TSX has been in 10 years of ownership (twice). While some folks have had no problems, it's pretty clear that this RDX is not up to Acura's reputation. I sure hope the 2021s are more consistent.
• That brake pedal. How did a car with otherwise such dialled in controls launch with such a terrible brake pedal - long pedal travel that's far too soft making it difficult to modulate well. I'm not asking for Porsche pedal feel but how about something firm with consistent modulation. This is an economy car brake pedal. A nice firm pedal with smooth modulation would really tie together the "Precision Crafted Performance" tagline.

Stuff that I'd like to see improve beyond what's noted above (and which can be realistically improved):

• Sport mode isn't really sport mode. It's too close to Comfort mode and too far from Sport+. I'd like to see a touch heavier steering and slightly perkier controls. Also next point...
• The automatic is too conservative. In Sport and Sport+ it should know to downshift into corners so I'm in the right gear coming off it. The programming does notice when I pick up the throttle early off a corner but often holds the gear too long. Manual downshifts are too slow to be useful (it's kinda hard to ask for 4 downshifts in under a second though). Between the brake pedal, conservative Sport mode, and the automatic programming it's hard to be smooth when I'm driving briskly.
• The damping on the shocks could be better, it's just a bit too brittle on the high frequency stuff - the heavy wheels (35lbs!) don't help though. Spring rates and roll control are good for the class of car.
• Those shitty Eagle RS-A tires!!!! OMGWTF. What terrible tires. Noisy, no grip in any conditions. A nice set of tires would go a long ways to making the A-Spec a truly sporty car.
• Bigger volume knob. I don't use it much but it's silly to place it so far away and have it be so small. Put it down next to the touchpad (like in the new TLX).
• Dial down the fake engine sounds. I like the tone but it needs to be a touch quieter - stop stuffing a sock into your Jockeys.
• A bit more sound insulation. A CX-5 is quieter than a RDX and that's not good. Big pano roofs reflect a lot of sound so a bit of extra noise management is useful.
• Minor thing: Slightly lower ride height - would be great if the A-Spec came in 20-30mm lower like the TSX A-Spec did.
• Reclining rear seat - if the CR-V has it the RDX should also have it. These are great for comfort especially when my wife wants to nap on longer drives.

All in all, I'm really happy with the purchase and it's served me and my family really well. I don't think there's anything else out now that I would have liked better especially for the money (or thereabouts) - I think only a BMW X3 M40i would beat this but that's a heck of a lot more money. I've had my TSX for 10 years (handing it down to my in-laws next) because it's just a stellar car - one of Acura's best, and the RDX comes up slightly short of the TSX's standard. My fingers are crossed that the 2022 refresh addresses a number of the issues that make the car mostly a "really good" car instead of a great car.

Originally Posted by GW208

Originally Posted by DJA123 [img]images/maestro/buttons/viewpost.gif[/img]

• A bit more sound insulation. A CX-5 is quieter than a RDX and that's not good. Big pano roofs reflect a lot of sound so a bit of extra noise management is useful.[Probably trying to steer people toward the more insulated Advance. Mine is very quiet.]

I'm always surprised when someone says this, we have the Advance and on many of the roads in our area the road noise is almost deafening. It's the only thing about the car that we're not happy with. I've been back to the dealer and they couldn't find anything unusual about our car so we've been living with it for now.

Originally Posted by hans471

I have no complaints with my late 2019 RDX Advance. I never notice any body fit issues but then I don't go around with a micrometer to double check! I was looking over a BMW owners forum one time before I got my RDX. These guys were telling stories about how they took their cars apart and made sure each and every body piece was made to perfectly align. I guess BMW owners must closely examine each other's cars to make sure all the seams are perfect! These guys were sharing hints on how they made adjustments.
Sorry, I got my car to drive, not be a work of art! Back in my working days we looked at bodies being plus or minus one millimeter as being GTG. As my Daddy use to say, "You are looking too close, step back a little further!".

Originally Posted by DriverOne

That's pretty hilarious how BMW owners think that they can put their cars back together better than the BMW factory. I'd be laughing my ass off at them if I was BMW.