We just purchased a ZDX 4 days ago. I now keep reading that the ZDX is a "junk" car. The reason seems to be because it's based on a GM platform and not living up to Acura standards. But people like the Caddy which is based on the same platform. So what exactly is bad about the ZDX and makes the Caddy better?

So far we like our ZDX. I wanted to go for the hybrid BMW X5 50e and the wife didn't approve of the Hummer EV. So when we learned about $19k + $6k off on the ZDX, I kind of jumped on it. Maybe I made a $51k + tax + destination charge mistake and just got blinded by all the cool ZDX features after replacing our 20 year old Hondo Pilot. Should I try to return the car taking a bit of a loss?

 

I'm guessing you probably didn't test drive the Lyriq, did you? The reason I ask is because the biggest gripe people have about the ZDX is the interior when compared to the Lyriq. Wheras the Lyriq has a genuinely luxurious interior that's befitting the car's price point and hides its GM roots well, the ZDX feels like it raided the GM parts bin, and the Chevy side of it to boot. The interior feels more like it's from the Blazer EV; in fact, much of the switch gear, buttons, controls, etc. are the same as in the Blazer EV and various GMC products. That's why the Prologue interior looks an awful lot like the ZDX interior, but at least in the Prologue's case a Chevy-like interior is expected since it has a Chevy-like price.

Mechanically the cars are pretty much the same, so at least from that perspective it's a wash, but I suspect long term servicing for the ZDX may become a bit of a challenge. Consider that this is a one-off car that will be put out to pasture as soon as Honda's homegrown EVs come to market, and by the time all is said and done I'm not sure if Acura will even sell 10K of them. It's hard to see Acura investing in the techs and equipment to property service/warranty these Ultium cars, whereas GM sells its own Ultium cars in the order of hundreds of thousands. Parts availability is another big question mark; if there's ever a supply shortage for a part that is in demand (i.e. if there's a recall), I imagine GM is going to prioritize its own customers first.

I suspect there are three camps of ZDX owners. The first camp are the hardcore Honda/Acura fans who won't consider anything else, let alone test drive other cars. The second camp are those who jumped on the really great lease deals for these cars (let Honda Financial deal with the massive depreciation). And the third camp are people who haven't really been in other modern cars in this segment, and got wowwed by all the new tech and features since their reference point is cars from a decade ago or at a much lower price point.

 

It's not a junk car. I really like mine, overall. The ride quality, the seats, I actually like the interior. My gripes are I did not realize a Cadillac build quality would not live up to my expectations of Acura build quality. And I really hope the doomsayers are wrong about future resale on this car. We tend to keep cars for 8-10 years and only took the lease in order to get the tax credit plus the other incentives. As we did not want a monthly payment and was not happy with the interest rate on the lease we bought out the lease after a month. We now have the title in our possession. I'm just hoping that years down the road we're still happy with the car. If we keep this car as long as we normally do we won't get hurt. If I want out in 3 years however I've taken a big gamble on resale value. All said and done, however, we got ownership of the car for $15k under sticker so I can't complain too much.

 

We really liked our Honda Pilot but we are by no means stuck with Honda/Acura. We also own an Infiniti, test drove an Audi Q5, a Tesla and we have been passengers and sometime drove in plenty other nice cars. We never test drove a Caddy/GMC so I can't compare. Do the button in the middle console look a bit cheap? Yes, they do. But the ambient light, the sound system, the rims, the roof, etc. all are pretty nice.

What I guess is a bit concerning is if Acura doesn't continue this car. I guess parts could get pretty expensive. But then, if it's based on a GMC, then maybe you can get parts from there. So maybe it's not such a bad thing. I don't know.

We ended up leasing the car to qualify for all the rebates. First time ever to lease a car. I was thinking of paying it off after one month. But now I wonder if I should keep the lease which is like 0.01% or some crazy low rate. We also got $25k off from MSRP which was a significant decision point (the BMW would have been close to $100k vs $51K for a ZDX Type S).

 

The ZDX is by no means a "bad' car. I test drove an ASpec and two Type S. The ASpec was vault like quiet while both Type S had very audible wind noise (100% agreed by the salesman who was with me on the same highway/local street 15 mile test drive of each car). It had many attributes however I passed for several reasons. Since Acura did not manufacture the car I felt the switch gear and overall fit and finish were not up to Acura standards. Being a first year model I did not want to be a beta tester. Also I decided not to chase a "deal" as these huge discounts really mean that the demand for it is well below what they anticipated. No manufacturer puts over $12,000 incentives to a customer (the Federal $7,500 is on top of that of course) and additional discounts to the dealers who then can decide whether to pass those hefty amounts to a customer. If anything is discounted as much as the ZDX (and Prologue are) then my gut says stay away. Acura and Honda are losing their shirts on these vehicles.

 

I can understand. It made me pause before I bought as well. But the Prologue seems to have taken off, selling nearly as well last quarter as the Mach-E, to be the 5th best selling EV states-side. And I think, from what I can tell, the ZDX is selling in better numbers than we'd think. By that I mean, look at the ratio of CR-V to RDX, and the Prologue to ZDX ratio is better.

As per being a first year model, I gambled on the Ultium/Lyric platform being worked out over the prior 3 years. Time will tell if I'm right on that.

 

@Pens Fan so you own Acuras but you didn't buy the ZDX?

I did notice some noise at 50+mph.It felt more like vibration. I figured it's because otherwise the car is so quite so you notice it more. I probably need to look at this more. Did the sales person say why the Type S is nosier than the A Spec? Is it just some setting (there are many)?

We looked at the Prologue before at a car show, i.e. before it got on the market. I kept asking about it but it got delayed again and again. It's nice but the 290HP or something like that seemed weak. Our next-door neighbor has the Mache-E which looks reasonable nice but too small for our needs. I didn't want a Tesla. No buttons for anything and based on reviews, not the best quality control. Hence, I jumped on this ZDX despite not wanting a fully electric car. I still like it, though.