jackson5

I seriously think I am at the end of my rope with my RDX. I have been willing to put up with all the common problems buyers have reported such as the hesitation when putting it in reverse, the infotainment system randomly rebooting itself and the loud cracking noise coming from the sunroof when backing down my driveway. What happened last night was just too much. Driving home from Wisconsin, 45 miles into my trip and the left lane was ending so I accelerated to get around the slower car in front of me. As soon as I got around the car, I lost all power from the engine and could not accelerate. I quickly got on to the shoulder to not get rear ended. Engine light came on and it went down hill from there. Keep in mind I have a 2020 RDX with 4K on it. Called Acura roadside assistance and 5:15pm and by 2AM, my car still hadn't been picked up and was ready to be impounded by the State police. This was my first experience with them and all I can say is, what a joke. Won't go into all the details but I ended up getting a ride, 45 miles back to my car at 1am to limp it off the exit ramp to a McDonalds and was just going to leave it there for the night as I was completely exhausted by then. Sure enough, the car ran just fine, no light, no problem. At the same time, AAA found someone to tow me and was there at the same time. When this first happened, I did turn it off and restart but didn't make a difference. I ended up not taking the tow, drove it back to the house I was staying at and this morning made it back to IL. Zero issues accelerating. Since then I have read all the complaints about this issue and Acura is even aware of this but have done nothing. I had a complete lack of trust in my RDX driving home and that is not a good feeling. I am going to bring it to the dealer on Tuesday but expecting them not to find a single issue. At this point, this kind of problem makes me want to sell it. I know others on this forum experienced or are experiencing the problem. Did you keep your RDX, holding out for Acura to step up or trade it or what, just curious.

Waetherman

That sucks. If the dealer doesn’t give you adequate answers, I’d check your state lemon laws and see what you can do about getting out of that car.

DJA123

Yep, check your legal options first. But, I'm with ya. If my car did that to me, and I did not get a solid resolution, I'd be looking for a change. That's not just massively inconvenient; it's massively dangerous. The potential money loss, to me, would be inconsequential if the alternative is rolling the dice that this won't happen again with a different outcome. Best wishes.

Madd Dog

When you lose faith in a car, it is time to go.

Just make sure that your loss of faith is warranted.

DJA123

Just making sure... Are you aware of the class action against Acura to which this would seem to have a connection?

https://www.classaction.org/acura-rd...oblems-lawsuit

fiatlux

I see you had the same piss poor experience with Acura Roadside Assistance. Fun fact: Acura and Honda both outsource their roadside assistance service to Agero. AAA is infinitely more useful. Over the years, the shortest wait time I was provided for from ARA was 4 hours. Most were in the 6-8 hour range. Longest wait I've had with AAA was 90 minutes, and most were 30-45 min.

jackson5

Yep, I found that as I was waiting for a tow truck. I was rather surprised by that.

jackson5

My first time breaking down and my first Acura. Go figure. I loved when the rep called me after the car sitting for 7 hours telling me that he had some bad news and that they could't find anyone to pick up the car. Bad news? Oh I am sorry for the inconvenience, blah blah blah. In the same breath telling me that Acura was not responsible for any impound fees as it is outside of their control.

Ludepower

Very scary. I would lose any confidence in the car if that happened to me.

Hope theres a fix for this.

DJA123

It is really scary. I've read some of the complaints on carcomplaints.com and in the actual court filing and the OP's experience is not unique... by a lot. As far as I'm concerned, we all have skin in this. I'm going to follow the class action as if it affects me. (And it likely will)

I'm a longtime Honda/Acura owner and advocate. I've had an excellent owner experience with this company. But this kind of thing is shaking my loyalty. The problem itself is one thing; how it's dealt with is another. Hearing how the roadside assistance was handled didn't help. The Honda CEO has publicly said there are quality issues at Honda and significant change is needed to correct that. I sure hope he's not just blowing smoke for the benefit of the shareholders.

Class action filing attached

Acure4RDX

Keep us informed.

Wander

Was it raining or extremely humid when this happened? There is a theory that this may be related to condensation in the intercooler for the turbocharger.

Water pools in the intercooler portion of the air intake, you punch the throttle, water gets sucked in and the engine computer detects multiple cylinder misfires. Computer freaks out and shuts everything down to prevent damage to the engine.

I haven't ( yet ) experienced this, so I haven't been following whether this theory has been dismissed.

So what to do if your car breaks down on a rainy night far from home? Do NOT knock on the door of the nearest castle. You have been warned.

DJA123

It's mentioned as a possible cause by one of the testimonials in the complaint. It was suggested by a dealership service rep.. FWIW. I've seen it suggested in other complaints too. You would think the computer would be willing to share that (multiple misfires) when asked to explain itself. You'd also think it could be recreated if Honda was looking for that.

Ahhh, the speculation game.

jackson5

It had rained the day before and it was left outside. Wasn't overly humid. Funny thing is the next day I drove it home and it rained all the way, no issues.

quantum7

Seems to be an issue when you call for more power such as when you went to pass. Limp mode is one of the issues that moved me away from the RDX. Does not happen often or to many, but if it happens to you then you have to worry about the situation. No solution from Acura didn't provide any comfort. Could be very dangerous, or at the very least, scary and very inconvenient.

Byer2021

Just curious. Are you flooring it when overtaking or a mild increase in revs from say 2k to 4K rpm. One thing I quickly learned with my 1st generation Rdx is never to floor it. When you do that there seems to be a longer hesitation to kick in. 2/3 pedal depressed is most I use and it works for me..
Nevertheless, I am not trying to minimize your problem. It seems to be a serious issue, hence the class action suit. Hopefully you resolve this one way or another.

jackson5

Good point. I did not floor it. Lane was ending so I punched it a little. Didn’t get the response I expected so I punched it again and that’s when it all went to hell. On a side note, I just filed a complaint with Acura Roadside assistance. Also when I dropped it off this morning, the service rep hadn’t seen this. He said he did see where the whole car went dead but not this scenario and what’s interesting, on the way in, I was accelerating from a complete stop and it was hesitating. That is also new.

anoop

@jackson5 Please make sure you report the incident to the NHTSA if you haven't already done so.
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

Wander

So, buy an allegedly sporty car but never floor it? And I suppose you shouldn't corner too hard, or you might hurt the suspension.

I subscribe to the DILYSI ( Drive It Like You Stole It ) protocol, at least some of the time, and somehow my cars seem to survive it for a very long time. But that's one of the reasons I buy Honda/Acura vehicles. Jeeps, not so much.

JB in AZ

Just because some law firm decided to take on the class action, doesn't mean it is a serious issue. I'm NOT saying it isn't this isn't a serious issue, just having a class action doesn't in of itself indicate a serious issue.

Byer2021

True and at this stage we are both right. But here is the real question that is rarely answered. If you ( or anyone else) had to bet your last $1000 on a Y or N where would you put it. Anything else is a discussion until the cows come home.
The reason I initially mentioned that is because there obviously is some smoke. Whether this turns into a fire remains to be seen.

jackson5

Personally, I do not need a class action lawsuit to tell me it is a serious problem. When you are on the highway going 75 with cars barreling down and you lose power, makes you shit yourself a little bit especially when you have nowhere to go. Can easily turn into a multi car accident

DJA123

If you believe the OP (I do) you have to believe at least some of the others. So, what's the alternative to a class action since Honda hasn't taken any action proactively; there's no TSB, and it's still occurring? There are at least 100 plaintiffs in the CA (MDX and RDX) and some may be exploiters, but on the other hand, some who have experienced the problem aren't participating.

An accusation is definitely not proof and Honda has the resources to defend itself. But I see the CA as a reasonable use of legal recourse in this situation. There is something wrong and if this keeps happening someone will eventually get a bad roll of the dice.

Jfkmk

Jackson5, the same exact thing happened to me this weekend. After driving my 2020 RDX on secondary roads for an hour, I was entering a highway. There was a very slow person in front of me, and I put on my blinker, moved to the middle lane and gunned it. I didn’t floor it, but gunned it a bit.

The car immediately went into limp mode with the check engine light blinking, bringing my speed down to about 30 mph, which is about what the woman in the slow lane was going. I couldn’t pass her so I had to actually brake to get behind her and off to the shoulder. All while trucks were barreling up on me. Very terrifying indeed!

I pulled over, turned the car off, waited and restarted it. After that it was fine. No lights, power was fine. The only thing is the stop-start stopped working. Not really a problem, but not normal.

I drove the car About 300 miles after that, and the stop-start resumed working. Called the dealer, and they recommended getting it towed since the engine light had been blinking. I used roadside assistance and it was actually ok.

The dealer found nothing wrong. Even after telling them I found complaints about this on-line, they said they never heard of this happening. This is a typical a Honda ploy that I remember from the last time I owned one of their products. I swore off Honda then, and I should have stuck to my own advice!

i did file a complaint on carcomplaints as well as NHTSA.

JB in AZ

I agree.. And what I was saying is the fact that there is a class action doesn't PROVE that it a serious issue. There have been class action law suites for so many frivolous issues.

Speaking frivolous class action lawsuites:
" In an effort to resolve TCPA claims against them, Checkers Drive In has agreed to a class action settlement to pay consumers who received unwanted text messages from the food company.Class Members include anyone, nationwide, who got an advertising text message from or on behalf of Checkers or Rally’s between Dec. 21, 2013, to March 8, 2019.

The Checkers unwanted text class action lawsuit alleged that the fast food restaurant lured customers by offering free food if they texted a certain number. The lead plaintiff alleged that, after she texted that number to get a free cheeseburger, she was bombarded by 10 advertising messages from Checkers. The plaintiff said that only a single message offered her the opportunity to opt-out of the advertising messages.

According to the complaint, these Checkers and Rally’s text messages violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA. Enacted in 1991, the TCPA limits the ability of advertisers to contact potential customers by phone and fax. The Act was updated to include prohibitions against advertising text messages. Failure to comply with the TCPA can lead to big fines for advertisers and the companies who hire them. Each violation can result in a $500 to $1,500 fine.

The Checkers unwanted text class action lawsuit alleged that consumers received these messages without providing prior permission, as required under the TCPA. The plaintiff accused Checkers of wasting her and other Class Members’ time, cell phone data, and battery.

Checkers has denied any wrongdoing, but agreed to pay Class Members two $5 vouchers, good for purchases at any Checkers or Rally’s restaurants. The vouchers will be valid for one year. Further, Checkers has agreed to stop using its database of cell phone numbers to send further advertising text messages. "

russianDude

How can there be no CEL code stored after car went into limp mode? With all the modern electronics there is no error code thrown, that’s not good.

Jfkmk

In my case, I think I drove enough to reset any cel that may have been thrown. We were away for the weekend and I didn’t have access to my code reader.

Wander

It's a fair question, but OPs experience does not seem to be unique.

Maybe the computer is embarrassed by its mistake, and wants to bury the evidence?

"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that".

allanon83

It's a little worrying to hear about this issue, I'm hoping Honda/Acura is just quiet because they haven't narrowed down the problem yet and not because they aren't at least trying to figure it out. I'll be crossing my fingers this doesn't happen to me, Florida drivers are insane and I don't want to lose power when I'm driving home on the interstate.

Rocket_man

Agree.... and it's not like the RDX is the first Acura car to send itself into limp mode. It happened to me several years ago in my '15 TLX. But a restart cleared it. If Acura doesn't know what is going on it is because they don't want to know. By now they should have included code in their engine controller to look for this shutdown and collect data. This same 'feature'' is going to find its way into the new TLX. Isn't the term 'limp mode' coined to refer to this exact failure mode in Acura vehicles?

russianDude

It was the same deal when my infoteinment rebooted with blue screen error “comm lost”. I took a picture, went to dealer. They looked at picture, said they saw it before, but surprise, no codes found, so nothing can be done. Infotenment is less important obviously than limp mode, but same deal with no codes

Jfkmk

I like my RDX, and I don’t mean to hi jack the thread. But speaking of infotainment.....why does Acura make it so difficult to use the infotainment and other things like GPS? `There is a definite learning curve to do simple tasks like changing radio sources or setting a destination for the GPS. Also, speaking of infotainment....I have a lot of music on a mini-thumb drive. The thumb drive worked perfectly in my lowly Hyundai and also works perfectly in my F-150. Not in the RDX! I have to unplug it and replug it in every time I want to use it.

My mom just bought an Outback. I’m not a Subaru fan, but the infotainment screen is larger than my iPad Pro, is touch screen and completely intuitive. Her Outback also has more technology than my RDX with the Technology package.

jackson5

Just heard back from the dealer and as expected, found nothing. Very disappointing

Jfkmk

Me too, I'm picking my car up this afternoon. I told the dealer about the similar complaints on carcomplaints. I hope it is a one-off for me or i will be trading in a $40k + car in less than a year.

Waetherman

Doesn't the OBD have a "black box" function where it can give a history of an engine throwing up codes? Is there any way to double check a dealer's work by getting an OBD yourself and looking at the history?

Maybe I'm cynical and maybe I don't know how dealerships work, but it seems like they're always trying to avoid work under warranty unless it is recall related. Is there some kind of compensation structure for dealers that disincentivizes work under warranty?

jackson5

I am thinking the same. If it happens again, will trade it in

Madd Dog

In my experience, dealers are very willing to do warranty work.

However, they have to get it approved by the mfgr, and if they can’t prove it, the mfgr won’t pay just because the dealer believes you.

DJA123

The reader I have used on my Mazda does display a history but I think it's dependent of how the ECU is programmed. I've never tried on a Honda... go figure. But I'll bet someone here knows..

In many cases dealers are paid a fixed amount of time for a particular job.. and it's usually under a best case scenario. Run into problems that cause extra work and it's on their time. A salesman I worked with who had moved over from being a technician told me a long tale about this practice.

Byer2021

Warranty rates are lower than retail rates. If approved factory will reimburse the dealer for warranty work done. In practice this means that a retail job which generates more profit will supersede a warranty job. They are allowed to gouge us with their rates but not the mother ship.

Wander

The proprietary HDS ( Honda Diagnostic System ) has many capabilities that generic code readers lack, for Honda/Acura vehicles. Or so I'm told. I just know that my generic code reader is very limited.