TrishaS

Posted in the first generation forum too.

I'm looking for some advice. I am going to post this in the second generation forum too. I will purchase either a 2010/2011 or 2014/2015 RDX . Either would have been well maintained at a dealer and have records to prove it. Clean Carfax. One or two owner. The 2010/11 would likely have between 50,000 - 60,000 miles while the 2014/2015 would likely have 25,000 -40,000.

Driver: likes sporty, responsive, reliable car. Just sold 2009 BMW 335xi (manual) because although it was a fantastic vehicle, it was too damn expensive to repair (it did not have a great reliability rating).
Budget: appropriate for either the 2010/11 or 2014/15.vehicle.
Concerns: 2010/11 would not have dealer warranty but has better JDPowers rating. Uneducated about what, if any, extended warranty to buy with 2010/11. Unsure how to factor age into reliability.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

TrishaS

P.S. Any recommendations on 2010 vs. 2011 and 2014 vs. 2015?

Carbon2008RDX

Simple answer: If you want sporty and responsive then hands down the 2010/2011 RDX, especially if you get the SH-AWD version which is highly recommended. The 2014/2015 is going to have a much more compliant and forgiving ride (hence semi-luxury) feel to it.

If you like ripping into corners at speed then you can't beat a 1st RDX with SH-AWD.

Kaputnik

What Carbon2008RDX said is absolutely correct. The 1G and 2G are such utterly different vehicles that it is imperative you drive them both to see what is right for you.

The 2014 and 2015 are identical down to every nut and bolt. There may have been a few very minor tweaks from 2010 to 2011, since Acura continued to do small updates almost every year on the 1G.

RDX10

This was the interesting thing about the 1G, they just kept on tweaking and tweaking and tweaking. I loved that about them. 2007 stiffest ride, 2008 softer ride and homelink mirror added and some tech package features like bluetooth became standard, 2009 basque red pearl gone for morrocan red pearl and added a power passenger seat, 2010 was the new look and a softer ride and new leather type and new headunit iirc, 2011 I recall they added something with the head unit, 2012 yet again something very minor changed iirc.

Like mentioned above OP, if you want sporty the 1G rdx (2007-2012) can not be beat. For being a front wheel drive based vehicle, it kicks butt and takes names. It can go toe to toe with the Q5/X3 and I am willing to bet it would put a good hurting on a porsche macan (in terms of handling, if not speed with a good tune).

The 2G RDX (2013-2017+) is a COMPLETELY COMPLETELY different animal. It's softer, doesn't handle very well (i.e it is skewed towards the luxury and soft side of the equation is what I mean by that), is WAAAAAY more comfortable and spacious as well. In terms of material quality, it is a bit of a wash, both have soft touch upper half of the doors, both have the front-ish portion of the dash soft touch and the top part as a hard plastic and the top of the rear doors are hard plastic. It's almost identical in terms of quality with a slight nod to the 2G. The one BIGGEST differentiator and why I will never buy a 2G rdx for myself is they took away super handling awd (though if you don't drive sporty/want fwd/live in a hot place and don't care, it doesn't matter).

You are pretty much looking at the 2 opposite sides of the spectrum: Firm, sporty, less refined (on purpose), turbo engine with sport AWD system vs soft, premium, more refined, with V6 engine and normal AWD. They might share a name, but they almost could not be any more contrasted.

Carbon2008RDX

TrishaS,
I just want to respond to your inquiry about reliability. I’m on my 5th Acura starting with a 1994 Integra to my current 2016 RDX Advance. One of the biggest reasons I keep coming back is reliability. As an example, the 2008 RDX I had for almost 8 years I did not spend a dime on fixing anything! Only problem it ever had was the passenger power window switch failed. No big deal and was covered no-charge under the warrantee. I’ve had my current 2016 RDX Advance for a little over a year now and it’s been flawless. Just can’t beat this type of reliability.

kurtatx

I don't know if I could deal with the 2011 technology. I guess I don't know for sure, but if you don't care about that the SH-AWD will be a ride

TrishaS

Thank you all for the help. I ended up likeing the 1G better. To me, its technology is cutting edge -- my other vehicles are a 1981 Alpha Romeo Spyder Veloce and a 2000 F-350!