ELIN

I've always laughed when folks keep falling back on "Japanese reliability" for why they stick with Acura. Not sure if anyone's shared this list but I certainly moved up a couple slots according to the JD Power list.

https://www.jdpower.com/business/pre...ility-studyvds

Ken1997TL

A rattle and an engine catastrophically failing are both problems. They were not equal.

ELIN

Your previous car ownership history doesn't show much diversity. I'd say your baseline is completely biased by the Honda/Acura family of cars.

By many accounts, the current lineup that started w/the '19 RDX, '21 TLX, and '22 MDX are different beasts from the Acuras of yore.

pttl

I'm impressed by chevy and Buick on that list.

ELIN

Most surprising to me are the amount of "low volume" car makes like Buick and Mitsubishi near the top of the list. MINI is also a surprise as it traditionally had a bad rep for reliability.

Honda/Acura ranking (below industry average) is surprising given how much market share they stand to lose. According to TrueCar, the redesigned Accord can be had in my area for nearly $900 off MSRP. Apparently models w/o the BSI save you nearly $600 more.

With infotainment being such an important core category of the study, it partially explains why GM is doing away with CP/AA in the future.

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

Dang look at Hyundai near the top of the list. And the Elantra is the 3rd highest ranked compact car. Mine has been very reliable so far... hope that trend continues.

ELIN

Very impressive showing from the Koreans! Now if they could just get their act together to establish standalone Genesis dealerships, then they can be the luxury make that people want!

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, unfortunately their dealerships are the absolute worst it the business. Hope they fix that at some point.

Tech

Well I'll let you know in about 10 years when my Acura is 17 years old. I know my Honda CR-V is now 23 years old in the hands of a friend with over 200,000 miles on it with no oil consumption. Of course I maintained it myself from day-one.

There are at least 10 manufacturers above the Acura on that list I would not buy.

ELIN

This is the other narrative: owners who haven't owned a recent Acura (i.e. '19+ RDX, '21+ TLX, or '22+ MDX) commenting on the reliability of recent models. Older models had much more in common w/their Honda counterparts than they do now. This does open up a can of worms to the "great unknown".

I've had a '18 MDX and a '21 TLX. I'd say the '18 MDX was way more solid and the infotainment much more reliable than the '21 TLX. Based on my experience with my '21 TLX and the issues that continue to plague newer RDX/MDX owners, I'd say the ranking for Acura is just about where I expect it to be for the current gen.

1killercls

I am on my 3rd Audi, All have been great cars with no "leave me stranded" events, they show near the bottom for reliability. Who knew?

ELIN

I believe Audi's ranking is a reflection of how much they were impacted by the Pandemic and supply chain issues. It's not odd to believe QC might have slipped during this time.
I'm purely guessing but your '20 MY Audi was picked up pre-Pandemic? I had a 2015 3.0 A6 that was pretty rock solid but that was a different era for Audi.

For better or for worse, Acura stood their ground to sell fewer cars with all the features rather than removing features to get more out the door.

Legend2TL

A far better reliability report is Consumer Reports which are far better at producing comprehensive non-biased car reliability report than JD Powers.
Acura look at reliability for initial as well as longer term ownership.

Honda is #5 and Acura #8

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...g/10703135002/

What are the most reliable automotive brands?

1. Toyota

2. Lexus

3. BMW

4. Mazda

5. Honda

6. Audi

7. Subaru

8. Acura

9. Kia

10. Lincoln

11. Buick

12. Genesis

13. Hyundai

14. Volvo

15. Nissan

16. Ram

17. Cadillac

18. Ford

19. Tesla

20. Chevrolet

21. GMC

22. Volkswagen

23. Jeep

24. Mercedes-Benz

Tech

Lets talk about "that list" or any others from other companies that do surveys. Lets talk about reliability in the terms of owner money spent after 10 or 15 years of ownership from new. In other words, a one-owner vehicle. I have owned cars that long, because they are damn reliable!

Also how are issues logged on those lists; are they simply an occurance? I'd sooner have a body-side molding come loose than have an engine or transmission issue.

Both the following vehicles have low mileage for the years owned because I have other vehicles (cars & motorcycles). Both vehicles were parked outside as well, for an apples to apples comparison.

2013 VW Jetta TDI: owned from new for 46 months till VW bought it back due to Dieselgate. Total: 25,807 miles.
Right outer tail-light assemby replaced: 8,299 miles.
Driver's door lock replaced: 11,638 miles.
Rear disc brakes replaced: 13,573 miles.
Front stabilizer links replaced: 23,187 miles.
Rear trailing link reinforcements installed as per a Service Bulletin: ? miles.

Here are the rear discs after a piddly 13,573 miles...

Left Rear Inside & Left Rear Outside:



Right Rear Inside & Right Rear Outside:




2017 Acura RDX: owned from new for 72 months. Total: 22,252 miles.
Not one single warranty issue or any other part replaced. So here I have a vehicle longer than my VW with less miles in the same environment, and the brakes are like new.

I do not have a great shot of the brakes simply because I only take pics of failures. But these have been sitting in the rain for over 3 days, therefore the flash rust, but they are like new and smooth. If I put 5 miles on them, they would shine.



And on my other car, I'll never see rust on my discs or brake dust.

Tech

And as can be shown, these so-called reliability lists can be all over the place. I once saw that Porsche was #1. Yeah right as most of them have hardly any mileage on them, mind you, far more than any Italian sports car.

When I bought my first new car and as a flight instructor that made no money, one of my students who was a practical mechanical engineer tried to talk me out of my first new car which was a 1981 Ford Mustang that happened to have a crap engine (how would I know, no internet back then). Well 17 months later it was sold and I bought my first Toyota in 1983. As my student told me "I'd be more than happy to buy an American car, but I am not going to spend $10,000 of my hard earned money on junk" That was in 1981. Funny thing is that is when Ford had the "Quality Is Job 1" slogan. Reminds me of DeLorean's book "On A Clear Day You Can See GM". I haven't bought or considering a car from the big-three since then.

ELIN

Again, my battle is not with the older Acuras, as your '17 RDX still shared a platform with the CRV while the current gen does not. When you design a car nearly from scratch and no longer share a platform with the parent brand, there is inherent risk involved that may impact reliability.

If you have been on the RDX/MDX/TLX threads for the current gen Acuras, it reminds me somewhat of an urgent care room with folks just coming in with ailments. I am all too familiar with the ailments as I have just given up my '21 TLX after 2 years.

Legend2TL

But that is not the case with Acura and Honda, there are plenty of reuse today between current Honda and Acura vehicles everything from the engines K20 (TLX, RDX, CTR), J30AC (Pilot, TLX Type-S, MDX Type-S), J35 (Honda Ridgeline, Passport, MDX) ,transmissions 10AT (Pilot, Ody, RDX, TLX, MDX) to even the air filter on a Civic is shared with the 2G NSX. Educate yourself before making innuendo's and posting false information about subject matters you do not know. Extremely few vehicles are designed from scratch.

YMMV, but Honda/Acura continue today to make reliable/dependable/durable vehicles shown with CR survey data. Not perfect but not the image you portray them to be either.

Tech

I don't know but did my 2017 Acura RDX share the same platform as my 1999 Honda CR-V from 18 years earlier? They might have within the same generation.

Maybe the newer Acuras like Zenith TVs (remember their old slogan "the quality goes in before the name goes on") have not been reliable. I cannot comment and maybe you got a lemon, kind of rare in Asian vehicles.

But look at the pics of my VW brakes with no mileage on them. Talk about poor quality control and it is for that reason when VW bought my diesel back that I passed on a Porsche Macan or a BMW X3, plus I hate the status of those as a daily driver and long term reliablility without issues is another concern. I almost went for the X3 but when they told me it had a I-4 turbo, I said "no thanks"! The I-6 from the E36 which I once had and E46 are beautiful engines and that is what I expected in the X3.

ELIN

I don't profess to be mechanical in any way shape or form. However, tell me it's easy to integrate the transmission and engine from an equivalent Honda product into an Acura product that also happens to have SHAWD. On top of that, make it work with rear-wheel drive body proportions while maintaining front-wheel drive bias. If you're saying this is a piece of cake, I'll just shut up.

You can say maybe I had a bad apple but that would be insulting to the other RDX/MDX/TLX owners who are sharing the same legitimate issues!

ELIN

I suppose you and I have different tastes. For my money, my current '23 X3 xDrive30i has the best I-4 that I've ever had in my 25+ years of driving (I don't miss the embarrassing gurgling noises from the '21 2.0 TLX).

Tech

But have you driven an I-6 from BMW in something as old as a E36 328 and those after it. Or even an M3. Absolutely beautiful engines.

ELIN

I have not. I still have a mid-life crisis to enter before I go there!

Legend2TL

You'd have to talk to Honda/Acura engineers but they do it and it works very well according to the auto media. Again you need to educate yourself by reading up on how the iVTM works on the Pilot vs SH-AWD on the MDX instead of making your ridiculous statements like

As for the reliability, YMMV but Consumer Reports shows Honda/Acura are still in the upper tier category.

ELIN

The auto media doesn't own the car. They get a test car, drive it for analysis, and give it right back to the manufacturer/dealer.

Why do I need to educate myself if I lived through it for 2 years? Will the paper specs suddenly jump out and fix all the puddle lights or infotainment issues? Is the legacy of the Legend, Integra and TL supposed to make me feel better somehow?

Besides, this was supposed to be a safe space for me to rant. Would you rather I go back to the TLX threads?

Legend2TL

Many auto media get a long term vehicles, Motorweek, Car & Driver, ....

As for educating yourself, it's so you'll understand what parts and components are shared between Acura and Honda. That way you don't run off making these silly statements like this or you telling everyone in the forum how modern Acura's are very different from past Acura's or how biased members are
It's a safe space but also truthful space as well

Igotissues666

Kia? A Goddamn fuckin' Kia is number 3???

Buick, Chevy, Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi are all above Toyota?

This is crazy bullshit.

Somebody's getting a greasy handful of cash under the table to print that list.

Igotissues666

And I'm not trying to shit on anyone's car. I used to drive a 2002 Elantra. It cost $11K brand new. Power everything. Crazy 10 year warranty.

It was a surprisingly awesome car. I never had a single problem with it. I never had to replace any parts except maintenance. It ran great until some prick hit it in the middle of the night and took off. It was obliterated.

The moron actually lived a few blocks from me, and the police followed the trail of fluid spilling from his own car. He parked in front of his own moms house. They confront him. He gives them a fake insurance account number. I was shit out of luck. He was also fucked. It is what it is. But the point is that the car was very reliable despite its low cost and the Hyundai brand. Which at the time was still pretty new and unproven and most had very little confidence in it.

00TL-P3.2

Kia today is much different to Kia of 20, even 10 years ago.
Buick & Chevrolet above Toyota, maybe a bit suspect. Mitsubishi I'm surprised even still has a US presence.
But H/K, I can believe.

ELIN

I'm just going by what Jon Ikeda said in MotorTrend:

MT: Why give TLX its own dedicated platform?

JI: Going forward, we will have to look at how we share things and whatnot, but for this vehicle, it's [new from the] ground up. It's its own thing.

MT: Can future products use the platform?

JI: Currently, that's not in discussion. As future products get vetted out, who knows? But right now, this chassis is specifically designed for this vehicle. If we were to expand and do derivatives, there's possibilities.

https://www.motortrend.com/features/...eda-interview/

If I'm a liar and then go ahead and call Jon Ikeda a liar as well!

Legend2TL

Context, you're a liar or have no idea what you're writing about. Jon Ikeda is not a liar and was clearly talking about the chassis. Educate yourself and understand the difference.

ELIN

Are we in 3rd grade? I mentioned this already.

Again, if you're saying there should be zero issues with sharing parts b/w Honda/Acura while changing the chassis, let's put that on the record!

Legend2TL

No, you're implying that not me. I only pointed out the obvious that Honda/Acura share many parts and components including suspension components, engines and transmissions.

1killercls

ttribe

MODERATOR NOTE: Ease up there Legend. There's no reason to start calling someone a liar, here.

ttribe

MODERATOR NOTE: To everyone participating in this thread - there will always be differing opinions here, but there is no reason to resort to name calling and provocative language. Have an opinion and express it, but do so without resorting to personal attacks.

Legend2TL

My bad, but in fairness he implied the liar in his prior statement.

agree, and as with any other post there's always the option of just ignoring the post all together.

ttribe

Don't take the bait.

Legend2TL

+1 Yep, I shoulda known better

Igotissues666

The Kia one really blows my mind. Because, like I said in a previous post above, I owned an Elantra and what I got for the price in regard to quality, reliability, and warranty was remarkable. And that was back in 2002. They have continued to grow leaps and bounds since then.

But the Kia, I guess I never gave much of a chance. I wrote them off a LONG time ago.

But even so, I find it hard to believe that any manufacturer is more reliable than Toyota. Even Honda.(Although I think Honda makes the best engines) But who knows? Maybe they're both experiencing their Rome-style descent from absolute dominance for what seems like an eternity.

ELIN

The king is dead. Long live the king!