anoop

I thought I had decided against the NX450h+ because of RFT but curiosity got the better of me and I stopped by the dealer today when they informed me about having one in. The color wasn’t my preference but sales guy still allowed me to drive it to get a feel.

My back was in pain when I got there and somehow it stopped hurting during the test drive. In other words I found the seats magical. It felt heavy when driving compared to the RDX but the suspension made the ride feel way smoother than the RDX.

If the color was to my liking I would have been tempted to buy it right there.

It is way pricier than the RDX but if one factors the tax rebate then it’s not that much.

Anyone else try this? What are your thoughts comparing it to the RDX?

fiatlux

Was there any markups on it?

anoop

$9995 but he said since the color wasn’t that great, he’d do $4995. I think he would go even lower.

fiatlux

Just curious, what color was it? And was it Lexus of Roseville?

anoop

Bright red. Yes.

ross7777

Markups are ridiculous. Unless you have money to burn I have no idea why anyone would pay over retail for a depreciating asset. With that said, I haven't tried the newest NX but I did trade a 2019 for my 2022 RDX. It was a reliable if boring vehicle. A lot has changed since that gen though.

anoop

Money to burn is one way to look at it. Another way is you have to do what the market demands if you want something. The supply issue doesn’t look like it will resolve itself anytime soon. Nor will inflation. Which means by the time supply resolves itself inflation might cause the MSRP to be higher by 10-20%—look at Tesla/Rivian pricing where there is no dealer. Dealer has to pay rent and staff selling a small fraction of cars they previously sold.

EFR

You have to do what you have to do, but my intention is never pay a dealer markup, not even a dollar. Just paying MSRP is painful enough. If that means I never buy a new car again, then so be it. Aside from our 2019 RDX, we have a 20 year old Accord that is in such good shape, it will probably last another 20. Hell, I'm 65, so I won't likely make that next 20 anyway! But yea.....dealers can keep their marked up cars.....anyway, the reviews for the new NX seem really good, and I am anxious to see the the new RX.

R3amir

i agree with you 100% that markups are ridiculous and no one should pay it. Find another dealership.

TheDatanator

After 2.5 years of nonstop frustration constant repairs - and re-repairs - and poor service experience at the Acura dealership, I got rid of my RDX out of frustration. Replaced it with a fully loaded NX350 F Sport Handling. No ADM. Lexus dealer here in Atlanta isn’t adding ADM.

Observations so far:
- The Lexus is screwed together much better than my RDX was - quality control is obviously present with the NX, not so much on the RDX.
- The RDX is a bit more stiffly sprung and handles nicely. With the adaptive handling suspension, the NX handles damn well, but is a tad bit ‘squishy’ compared to the RDX. I like a firm ride in a car.
- ELS > Mark Levinson
- RDX cargo space > NX
- Dealer experience: no comparison. Night and day. Lexus > Acura
​​​​​​- NX transmission never - ever - presents any jerkiness - I still find myself finessing the gas pedal out of habit to manage the Acura jerkiness and am trying to break the habit
- NX cabin comfort and materials are a tick above the RDX Tech I had
- NX infotainment just works. No drama. No reboots. No failures. It. Just. Works.
- No unwanted pops, rattles, squeaks, leaks, buzzes, limp mode, or other BS I enjoyed in my RDX from day one
- NX ships with runflats - I’ve never been a fan of them - all my past and current BMW vehicles had runflats and I’ve always replaced with standard tires. Will do the same on the NX eventually.
- Just like the RDX, fuel economy is frustratingly lower than EPA numbers. My numbers are consistent the RDX given my driving style. I’m averaging about 20.5. Same as RDX. Fuel tank is frustratingly small - 14.5 gallons, essentially the as RDX
- Telematics features (AcuraLink vs Lexus) are plentiful with Lexus - including setting cabin temps, seat heat/cool, etc. remotely. The kicker with the Lexus app is executing commands happens in under 5 seconds consistently. AcuraLink used to take my car 15+ seconds to respond, assuming I didn’t get a ‘command failed’ message on the app.
- Standard remote start on NX from key fob - nice touch

There are many other comparisons to be made, but these are the first that come to mind.

So the ultimate question… Would I do this again? The answer is an absolute yes. I may be colored by my Vehicle and dealership experience prior to having the RDX, but the overall experience with Acura was lackluster. Keeping in mind I came from decades of BMW Audi and Porsche, again my expectations may have been misaligned with Acura. The product and dealership experience with Lexus brings me back to my expectation and I really believe if a little effort is put in on the part of Acura, they could at least bring the dealership experience in line with expectations. Quality control with the product itself is a different animal.

Reading all of the posts on this board and in other areas, quality control is clearly inconsistent. Some have great panel fit, others not so much. Some have many problems mechanically and with the electronics, others not so much. Some have fairly decent dealer experience, others not so much. Too many inconsistencies in the world of Acura and I guess in my case I reached my saturation point with it. In addition to my home office, the business center at the Acura dealership became my second Office. While a truly nice environment to work in, I really didn’t need to start growing roots in that dealership where my staff at my business would begin to see the background of the dealership service area as my normal office when on video calls.

Dereileak

He Lexus is nice looking overall, but I can’t stand the front of the car, it’s hideous.

anoop

Actually, it's even worse than markup. The cars come loaded to the hilt AND the dealer adds things on like security system, paint protection, towing pack, etc. that I would never need and would otherwise never pay for. I should have taken a pic of the all the things the dealer added on top of every option being checked. The MSRP without the markup (but all the dealer installed bits) was around $63k-$65k. Very hard to stomach.

anoop

Not many dealers where I live so unless one is willing to drive, some ADM is a given. But with less "hot" models (i.e. not hybrid, maybe not a popular color such as white or silver), the ADM will probably be low and maybe one can get rid of it negotiating hard depending on dealer desperation with that car.

EFR

That opinion is what makes the Lexus, and others, so divisive. Some hate the Lexus look, some like it...same with the the Genesis look. I happen to like them both and the reviews that Genesis is getting lately (like the GV70) are enough to make a brand that would never be considered into one that definitely is on a lot of peoples lists. Weirdly, of the 2 Genesis dealers in the Vegas area (one in Vegas, one in Henderson), the Henderson one seems to have disappeared in the last couple months.

anoop

I don't like the look of the NX, but if the car is comfortable and reliable it's easy for me to overlook that. I think it's very well put together and designed well in terms of function, and that matters more to me than looks. For the record, I think the RDX is also about average in terms of looks, but maybe a little better than the NX. A great looking SUV in this class, inside and out, from my perspective would be the XC60 and Range Rover Evoque.

Texasrdx21

Tesla has sales and service centers in a lot of major cities. Rivian is bucking the dealership trend, just as Ford announce it would sell all its EV vehicles direct and cut out the dealer.

HotRodW

That's not exactly what Ford said. In some states Ford is not legally allowed to sell directly to consumers. They did say they need to go to a non-negotiable fixed pricing model with transactions taking place largely online. They also intend to eliminate dealer inventory along with marketing allowances and factory-to-dealer incentives. The goal is dramatically lower their marketing and distribution costs to make EV's profitable. Ford claims they spend $2,000 more per car getting the product to the customer than Tesla does. That's huge.

EFR

The XC60 (or Volvo in general) is a manufacture I know very little about...reliability, etc. but should probably pay more attention to as one of the days or years we finally buy a new car. The RX is all new for 2023, and it seems that the people who hate the Lexus look are warming up to the changed design, although of course still has the large (although now shrunk down some) and redesigned grill....bottom line, there are a lot of really nice vehicles out and coming out and making a new car decision will be tougher than ever....but of course the whole EV thing has added a new hiccup to that decision process.

HotRodW

Volvo reliability remains quite poor unfortunately. They continue to hang out at the bottom of most reliability and customer satisfaction surveys along with Land Rover, Jaguar and Tesla. In their recent push to catch up on the tech front, Toyota and Lexus have been having problems as well. In the most recent JD Power IQS, Toyota was merely average, which is a very big deal for them.

What I find interesting about Lexus is that despite recently acknowledging that even some of their most loyal customers do not like the spindle grille, they remain committed to it going forward. Thankfully on a smaller scale, but still it's an odd strategy to knowingly test the loyalty of your best customers with polarizing styling. With their exceptional dealership experience, [historically] outstanding reliability, and comfortable interiors, I worry for the rest of the premium and luxury brands if Lexus ever puts a serious effort into exterior styling. Can you imagine Lexus reliability combined with the styling of something like Jaguar, Land Rover or even Volvo? I promise you I'd visit a Lexus showroom for the first time in 20 years.

We will be considering an EV for our next commuter vehicle as well, but we will immediately disqualify any that has touchscreen-everything. I was this close to putting a deposit on a Rivian R1S, but the lack of buttons is so off-putting I just couldn't do it. I'm no GM fan, but I appreciate that the Lyriq has a generous assortment of physical controls. If the other Ultium-based vehicles follow suit, GM will do well in the EV space.

jmhumr

I cross-shopped Volvo hard before getting the RDX. You can get a helluva deal on an extended warranty if you buy a CPO XC60. Pretty much takes reliability out of the equation, imo.

And yeah, much of Toyota/Lexus’ reliability scores were because they mostly dressed up old/proven hardware and didn’t take risks on all-new cars. So now that they’re forced to create EV models that can’t pull from their 20-year old part bins, it does’t surprise me that they’re slipping.

JB in AZ

Based on a few video reviews of the Lyriq, I am impressed. BUT it is a GM product. Time will tell how the reliability stacks up. GM SEEMS to be doing better of late, especially Buick.

DJ Iceman

I just have to chime in that this is NOT the case. My one BMW ownership experience was completely miserable even though the car was in warranty the whole time. No, it didn't cost me a dime to get it fixed constantly. But there was indeed a cost in terms of my time, the constant trips to the dealership, and the stress of never knowing if the car was going to break down yet again. So I try to caution people that just because a vehicle is in warranty (or covered by an extended warranty), that does NOT mean it will be a worry-free, trouble-free experience.

flames9

I love my XC 60 T8 and I have had a couple minor issues but they were handled very well by the dealer....And that is probably where major of the issues are....not enough knowledgeable techs, so issues are not getting fixed correctly the 1st..2nd times.......I dont put a lot of value on any of those reliability reports.....people complain about the silliest of things (and yes that is their right) yes I did buy a 10 yr full coverage warranty,lol ($2300) Lot of great choices in vehicles now a days

HotRodW

This describes my BMW ownership experience as well. Warranty issue after warranty issue until I couldn't tolerate it any longer. Haven't returned to the brand since.

R3amir

My BMW experience has been great. I have owned 5 BMWs and 7 Acuras and I love both brands.

EFR

One thing (of the thousands) we have tried to hammer into our daughters head is, while a car warranty is very important, of more importance is reliability. I would rather have a car with known and great reliability that never see's the dealers shop, than one I know has a strong warranty that I am using all the time. I would point to a POS Dodge we had back in the day that I could not begin to count the number of times it was in the shop for warranty work. If, as stated, Volvos may not be that reliable the thought of taking it in for repair a lot is something I think most people would rather pass on.
As for the comments on BMW's, ours have been rock solid cars, great engines, quiet and very dependable. The downside of BMW's, and European cars in general, are the post warranty expense of repairs and maintenance. We chose Acuras extra 4 year warranty, even though Honda has pretty good reliability records, on our 2019 RDX mostly because of the array of electronics in todays cars and as we plan on giving that car to our daughter within the next few months, that transferable warranty will give her some expense assurance if needed over the next 4 years. We just had some warranty work done on the rear hatch motor that cost almost what the warranty did, so hopefully this will 'pay off'. Lexus, either the NX or new RX are definitely on our upcoming search for a new car.

Unobtanium

if you want a fwd vehicle its g2g.

Baldeagle

When my wife and cross shopped the last generation NX, I drove the F-sport. Those seats were fantastic! In terms of support and comfort, I place the RDX’s seat right in between the NX’s F-sport seat and the NX’s regular seat. You also mentioned the NX's suspension is smoother than the RDX's suspension. Between a softer suspension and comfy, high quality seats, I can easily understand how your back liked the NX.

anoop

My back has not been happy with the RDX Tech seats, and I don’t think it would change with the Advance. I think it has to do with the padding/contours in the seat pan. The RDX has a relatively flat seat pan. The NX I test drove was a non F sport with the Luxury pack.

Jordster

I guess we are all shaped differently, but I love the seats in my loaded RDX. In fact, they were one of the biggest selling points for me. I can get just the back support I need and then dial in the lateral support a bit so I feel held in when cornering. Love it. So does my wife with her bad back.

But anyway, the biggest strike against the NX, in my opinion, is the lack of cargo space. The original NX had less cargo space than my old Mazda3 hatch did. The new one is a bit better, but it's still far short of what the RDX offers. The NX is a half-size smaller overall, but it's a full size smaller inside. I've filled the RDX to the top and squeezed stuff into every storage bin for road trips and I can't imagine going with a car that has 25-30% less cargo capacity.

ross7777

Yeah we all have different needs. I liked the seats in my 2019 NX F-Sport but IMO the 2022 Aspec/Advance blow them away. A lot more adjustments available. The NX seats were far too short for my legs.

anoop

100% agree on size observations and cargo capacity. It feels much smaller and yet because of the battery the 450h+ is much heavier. Cargo space is not an issue for me.

And yes, butts and backs are very individual and so is one’s experience of seat comfort.

eneka

fwiw the tax rebate/credit is about to be halved for Toyota/Lexus products.

Purchases from 10/1/2022-3/31/23 will only get $3750,

4/1/23-9/30/23 = $1875

EFR

These rebate/credits seem to be going away quickly for all the manufacturers, if not already gone in some cases. I can't imagine in this governmental push towards EV's that some 'fix' won't soon be implemented.

anoop

No more free money until sticks crash. Then they’ll open up the spigot spray money in all directions to stimulate the economy. So yes they will be back but only after a crash.

MetalMan55

Sorta like this??? LOL

HotRodW

Not if any lessons were learned they won't. You can't pump billions and billions into the market without economic consequences. Besides, EV's and PHEV's need to sell on their own merit at some point. Offering financial incentives for a product that's already in short supply and that can't be supported with the current infrastructure simply doesn't make sense.

EFR

Uhhh...yes. Fully agree that EV's, or anything, should stand on its own merit and shouldn't need Uncle Sam sticking its nose in. Didn't mean to infer I agree with it, just that it's already happened, EV's have a big stigma, at least in the US with range anxiety and general 'where the hell do I charge it' issues, and that hurdle they face will continue to be significant. Biden and team seems quite thrilled with the increase in gas prices based on comments he has made. My own decision on an EV is not based on rebates/credits...it's based on all that other stuff. And "if any lessons were learned".....as if.

wmkim

I think this will be my next car (when the idiotic mark-ups and supply issues level off). Hopefully by then, the Mark Levinson audio will be an option in the car.

Unobtanium

Free money? I paid tens of thousands of those dollars in to a corrupt system, and that corrupt system is now allowing me to have some of it back. I assure you it isn't "free" to me. It's ALREADY MINE.