I was very happy with my 2019 Technology but, felt that I was missing the extra features of the Advance package.

Biggest surprise: My dealer told me that Advance only accounts for 5% of production. They had dozens and dozens of Tech and A-Specs in all colors.

They had one White and one Gunmetal Advance. Both were sold.

it seems like the members of this forum are like 50% A-Spec, 45% Advance/Platinum Elite, and 5% Base and Tech.

In this area, I rarely see Advance models. I guess I live in a low-rent area. When I lived in Northern NJ, I saw a lot of Advance models.

My first choice was Fathom Blue and second choice Lunar Silver. They located a blue one in Cleveland and will get it tomorrow.

Can’t wait to pick it up. I had zero problems with the 2019. I hope to be as lucky with the new one.

 

Im fairly confident the A-spec is 70% of the rdx sales in my city. White being the most popular color.

 

I see a lot of white A-Specs in this area, too. The dealer has a bunch with both black and red interiors.
I like them but, I’m old and like the extra comforts in the Advance and like my chrome to be chrome.
Did I mention that I’m old?

 

I'm shocked that Advance is only 5% of production. That doesn't seem to make sense. Oh, well, people don't know what they're missing out on.

 

I’m taking the word of a car dealer so it’s not guaranteed to be true.

 

I struggled initially between ASPEC and advanced, went with ASPEC and have no regrets. It was not even about the extra money for advance for me.

 

I am surprised that the advance only accounts for 5% of production as others have stated. Seems very low for their top trim level.

 

Maybe if they had nicer looking wheels it would sell better than 5%.... Acura does strange things with their top of line trims.

 

I must have no taste in rims because the Advance ones don't bother me. I would agree they're not the best-looking rims I've ever seen, but again, it's like the reaction to them on this forum is completely disproportionate to their actual appearance. And then people put on new rims that I'm also not that impressed with and everyone is oohing and aahing over them.

 

When we bought our Advance the dealer had several of them but they were all black or silver, neither of which we wanted. Same for the other dealers in our area. They had one red one which we bought. Sales guy told us it was the only red one in the region, all the rest were white, black, or silver. Not even a blue one (which we also liked) anywhere. They had a few A-spec but we really didn't care for them. Then again, we're older folks so the Advance appealed more to us. Lots of Techs, tho, again black or white or silver.

 

In central Florida only saw a few Advance models at which I have one. Like others have said they have everything but the Advance in abundance.

 

The model that seems to be the most rare is the Base. I’ve never seen one in the wild in NJ or PA. Only a couple at the dealer.
Ironically, I think it has the most attractive wheels.

 

Base certainly has nicer wheels than advance.

I get it, its just wheels, but when you have top trim model, you need people to look at the whole thing and say “wow”

 

I looked at Acura's website just to refresh my memory. I think the ones I like most are the diamond-cut ones that cost an extra $3000 that I'd never pay for. I also sort of like the Tech ones because the spokes are so thin and I think they'd be less of a pain to wash. Other than that, I have to say that I don't know why everyone raves about the A-Spec ones, other than the fact that they're black. The actual shape of them isn't that much better than the Advance. I don't like how the base ones have so many spokes and the spokes are so fat.

 

The base, Tech, and Glint Black are really all the same wheel.
The spokes just look thinner on the Tech because they’re painted matte grey with a polished face and the base wheels are painted bright silver.
It’s an optical illusion.

 

I am pretty sure he meant 5% of the RDX they sold at his dealership. No way a dealer has that data.

Acura sells about 65k-70k RDX per year, I would hope Acura makes more than just 3500 advance.

maybe he is just trying to sell you one from his inventory.

 

He said production but, I had the same reaction as you; more likely to be his sales volume.

 

BTW, catbert, I just wanted to say that I can clearly tell you're excited for your Advance. Congrats on it!

 

You should immediately check out the sound system and tell us how much more awesome it is than the Tech's. Heh heh heh.

 

The dealer let us drive a blue/gray advance for an hour or so. I really liked the Advance blue, very classy (NOT the A-Spec blue!). But my wife was turned off by the gray interior, depressing she said. So they rolled that one out of the way and rolled up a red/parchment one instead, which we bought. Having a red car is so out of character for my introverted wife. Surprise to me after a lot of years being married. The best feature for us is the HUD on the Advance model.

On the salesman's perspective on product mix, the salesman at the dealer where we bought pour '17 RDX was a bit taken aback when I mentioned that the RLX was just occupying space and didn't need to be consuming Acura marketing and production time and effort. He proceeded to tell me they have sold more than a few RLXs and couldn't really comprehend my comments. OK then.

 

The reason so many people buy the Aspec is that it is a very good looking vehicle all blacked out, with great wheels. The advanced is surely nice as well but not good looking as the Aspec, which is likely why the take on the Advance is less, aside from the extra cost.

 

Agree. I wanted to buy Advance, extra money as no issue, but it looked better. Yes, I know I do not have some features that advance has, but each picks whats more important within the budget.

 

I was torn between the great looks of the white A-Spec with the red interior until I drove a nephew's 2020 Advance and just couldn't resist the HUD, heated back seats & steering wheel, and adaptive dampers. The wheels could be better but I've had nothing but nice comments about my 21 in white with the black interior. Super comfy seating and the sound system is just remarkable, best I've had in a car.

 

Makes people wonder why Acura decided that Advance gets wheels less nice looking than TECH and ASPEC, and ASPEC got less features than Advance. Makes a lot of people split between the two.

 

Been saying this since day one of the 3rd gen RDX release. Acura doesn't listen to its customers.... they are apparently happy being a niche brand.

 

I really love the torque vectoring with the active damper system. The handling is amazing. I just wish one o' these days they would loan me something other than an Advance so I can feel the difference.

 

Got my Blue Advance today and loving it.
I miss the red one somewhat because it was my favorite color but, I never buy a car the same color as an older one.

Sound system is better than Tech and am enjoying the HUD and more comfortable seats.
Seems a bit quieter overall. Surround view camera is cool, too.

Everything but, power-folding mirrors. 😕

Debating changing to my 20” BBS wheels because the Advance rims aren’t exactly hideous but, they are rather dull looking. Can’t figure out why they have a machined face with dark accents on the Tech wheels but, plain silver/grey paint on the Advance.

They look cheaper. In China, they use the same ones on All RDX models except Base; even A-Spec. Weird.

 

The design decisions at Acura is really questionable. Then again I said that about Lexus hideous grill too.

Acura design team is never one to change by public opinion. Just look at how many years they carried that beak grill. So stubborn Acura design teams are. Changing the wheel doesn’t break the overall design language so someone at Acura must love them

 

The wheels would look better if they were painted bright silver or dark grey.
This not quite silver/not quite grey color sucks.

I will most likely mount my BBS SX 20s and leave the OEM wheels and tires in the garage.

They’re way heavy but, at least they’re pretty. It’s better to look good than to feel good. 😄

 

We just purchased a 2021 white/tan Advance AWD yesterday. So far so good. Funny you mentioned the folding mirrors. Is there a model that does have that? The manual mentions it but when I checked ours I noticed it doesn't have it which is a surprise being the top trim.

Another thing I just figured out was the camera button on the end of the wiper stalk. Seemed like a random spot to put it but actually found it to actually well placed.

 

Power folding mirrors are not available in the US models, only in Canada. Don't ask why. No one has even a remotely plausible explanation. Previous generations of the RDX had them. Canadian models have them. Three years into the 3rd Gen and we still don't have them, so we probably never will.

When I was shopping for my 2019, I asked a salesman at one of the local dealer how it cannot be available, at least as an option. He became visibly annoyed and dismissive at the question. Apparently, he was fed up just hearing it.

I went elsewhere.

 

If the advance had the folding power mirrors, I would have gone with it. The sound system, while better than my tech, was not better enough, since I thought the tech was great. I could not feel much of a difference in the adaptive dampers on the test drive. I always wear polarized sun glasses during the day while driving, and I thought I would not get the full benefit of the HUD. I have driven cars with a HUD, and it is cool; but I am not used to it now, and did not want to create a “must have” for future cars.

But power folding mirrors would have moved me to the advance.

 

I don't really have an opinion on HUDs. They're convenient, but it's not like I was incapable of looking down at my dashboard prior to 2018. However, I think that regardless HUDs will become standard, at least in this price range. That's generally true of all technology. Even fairly inexpensive cars sometimes get these features, just implemented very cheaply or poorly. I was the same way with backup cameras, btw. I hated that everyone was dependent on them. The reason they're basically standard now is because rear windows are pretty deficient due to design reasons. I still often backup by just looking through my mirrors, but I'm getting more used to using the rearview camera. The 360 camera makes parallel parking easy, too. I've never had folding mirrors (even manually folding), so I never fold my mirrors and it never bothers me.

 

Congratulations again on your new Advance, Catbert. I'm pretty much in the herd concerning the surprising 5% production rate, but that would make our Advance even cooler, being a more rare vehicle. Anyway, great choice! Enjoy the 16 speakers too...

 

In a ine-car garage, folding mirrors are a huge help

 

Everyone has their favorites. Each buyer decides what feature or appearance item is most important to them. For me the Advance in Red was the only option worth looking at. My priority was how it drove and the features that were important to me. HUD was high on my list, once you have it you don't care for anything less. The seats were a major factor also....heated and cooled and all those adjustments. The sound system is just the best I have ever had in any car. I love the adaptive suspension and it does make a difference...I know! I recall when those first came out and I use to demo them in a training class. I would have the guys bounce the car and I would use my scan tool to adjust the suspension so they could see how much it changed. They were amazed.
The weak point on the Advanced is the wheels. For me it wasn't a deal breaker but honestly, even our Fit EX-L has pretty machined wheels that look better! But I personally believe Acura does this intentionally so the dealer can up his profit by selling you the optional (vastly over priced) upgrade wheels.
But as an old friend of mine once reminded me: "When you are driving down the road you can't see those wheels, you just need them to keep turning". Sure...but I would like some nicer looking wheels...just not the $3,000 ones!

 

^ Couldn't agree more, well said. HUD is a must have once you have it. Advance has the best options (less missing folding mirrors, lol) but it's a shame on the wheels. We would have purchased one months again if not for the wheels. We ended with an advance but in white which I feel like complements the wheels a little better. We asked the sales person able swapping them out and their response was about Acura making those wheels specifically for this car and suspension and didn't recommend changing them. We aren't going to anyway (not worth the $$) but guess that's the response they hand out because some many people say the same thing.

We almost bought an Audi Q5 Prestige for $15k more just because of it having HUD, well plus it's faster, tech is years ahead of Acura and the cameras are High Def (the 360 camera literally looks like a drone is above you it looks so good). I love Audi (still have my A5 Sportback Prestige) but we decided that the Acura is a better fit. More storage, slightly bigger, still get AWD (SH-AWD is really good), still get HUD, 360 (although not nearly as clear), pararamic roof, lower maintenance costs, etc... for thousands less was too hard to pass up.

 

Its a good point, Acura gave Advance ugly wheels because they think people buying advance have deep pockets, and if wheels bother them — they will buy optional Acura wheels for $3k.

 

So interesting to see the difference in opinion on car features. It must drive car makers crazy. I had a good HUD on my BMW and hated it. I find HUDs very distracting and always turn them off. I also find hands-free lift gates to be more frustrating than helpful. Doing the hokey pokey with your arms full isn’t fun, haha.

 

I don't mind the speedometer readout on the HUD, but everything else is annoying and distracting. I know people think it's cool and amazing to have directions shown on your windshield or a song title on your windshield (for absolutely no reason at all), but if you're reading words then it's exactly the same as if you're looking down. I'll admit that there have been times when I've been fiddling around with the nav system while driving and you realize that it's been a good ten seconds since you last looked at the road. I get upset with myself because the person in front of me could brake or something and I'd just plow into them and that's my fault for being distracted. I think it's unfortunate that we will definitely see more and more information being put on a HUD as time goes by. Like I think people want HUDs to look like an Iron Man readout, where there are thousands of lines of information scrolling down your windshield while you're pressing selections on the windshield.