First, humans are necessarily rational; at least that's been my experience to this point in my life. Second, ANYONE buying a RDX (especially an Advanced trim) doesn't have a "fear of change" IMO due to the fair amount of newer / different technologies it includes (HUD for one). I know my parents would NEVER want one due to all of the newer tech.

I personal agree that the Auto Stop is a PITA, but what is a ROYAL PITA is that the indicator is always on ... and its on the dash (so its in my face) versus most vehicles just have the disable button lit (red). Now will that keep me from buying it? No. But a vehicle that did NOT have it (disable) definitely would keep me from buying it. At least until that was the 100% norm.

Just one person opinions, same as yours.

 

I've read somewhere that there are some ways to defeat the auto start/stop using software. For some of the new German cars I recall that the same software that the dealer uses to reset the regular maintenance lights after such service as an oil change for example, can also be used to turn on or off some of the cars "features". A friend used to get his German car's oil changed at his dealership because his "indie" mechanic could change the oil but didn't have the ability to reset his dash light. His dealer would reset the light but wanted to charge him $60 just to reset the light. Finally his "indie" bought the software (from Europe) and can now reset the light and turn on a couple of little features my friend never ordered but were built into his car. Bottom line....my guess....sooner or later there will be a way to once and for all turn it off......in all cars.

 

I wonder how the cost of the fuel saved over the period of ownership compares to the additional costs associated with making the feature work. Things like bigger batteries, heavy duty starters, additional sensors for the air conditioner, and so on aren't free.

 

It's not about the cost of fuel alone. It's also about hefty fines that are imposed if a manufacturers fleet does not meet the MPG requirements. And the cost of gas is lower today than it would be without all the emphasis on fuel savings because of lower aggregate demand.

 

I decided not to go forward with the 2019 RDX and instead got a Volvo XC60. I find it interesting that Volvo (for 2019) allows the auto stop/start to be configured. You can choose to have it always disabled.

This wasn't a big deal for me -- I'm leaving it enabled -- but some of you may find it interesting and/or useful.

 

I considered XC60 but backed of after learning its not made in Sweden anymore. 2018 is redesigned model made in Asia and I am not ready to invest my 50K at this time. XC60 looks and feels more luxurious than RDX with some unique features but I went ahead with "Made in USA" tag

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the car as a 2 day loaner. I noticed the same thing. The answer is just push the off button and it goes into park just as stated above. After knowing why and how things are done it's actually pretty nice.

 

 

My hybrid generally shuts off the engine at stops but there are certain circumstances that will cause it to restart, engine temp not high enough, cat converter not at temp, the big battery charge is too low.... It may be the similar with the RDX. Releasing the brake in that situation is surprising and scary..

 

 

 

Yeah this is by design, says so in the manual

 

This just happened to me today, and it's a very dangerous design flaw, in my opinion. I was stopped at an intersection, using Brake Hold, with feet off the pedals after the engine shut down. The engine then restarted spontaneously and released the brake hold, causing the car to move into the intersection.

That's just wrong. It's fine for the engine to restart when it feels the need, but the brake hold should only be released in response to the accelerator pedal. No good purpose is served by linking the two.

 

I agree it's a design flaw, and IMO they should fix this for all vehicles sooner rather than later. It's an accident waiting to happen.

It has not happened to me so far and I'm not a big user of brake hold. But knowing this, I will refrain from using brake hold altogether.

 

Just to be clear, with BRAKE HOLD and the ENGINE START/STOP activated, the brake hold will not normally release when the engine restarts. Out of the countless times I've had both systems activated, it has only happened on one occasion where the engine restart also released the brake hold. It was surprising, but it's a good thing that I cover or keep my foot on the brake pedal even with the brake hold activated.

 

I don't know if the above observation of an occasional failure makes me feel better or worse.

It seems like the safe thing to do is to use one or other (AIS or BH) but not both.

That said, since the driver is ultimately responsible for the function of the car, BH is a feature that is too risky for my wandering mind. I might use it on demand when going up a steep hill in a place like SF, but that's about it.

 

I like to live on the edge.