Had to chime in here. Sorry it’s for my first post.
I’m coming from the other way. I bought what I thought was going to be a great car in a 2020 RDX A-spec. Like many, I have a personal rule to never buy a first year model of a generation, so this car was supposed to be OK. I can’t find many “common problems” that didn’t affect me (some are just criticisms of things I deem unacceptable in a $45k car).
- Sunroof pop/knock at least daily
- Loss of network comms blue screen of death
- Squeaky brakes after only 5k miles
- AM/FM unavailable at random
- Bluetooth unavailable at random
- Ventilated seats that did nothing
- Radio black/won’t turn on (happened in a loaner, too)
- Rubbing sound when hatch closes
- Jerky trans/acceleration
- Weird lull in power when coming to an almost stop
- Exceptionally bad turbo lag
- Crackly passenger speaker (loaner had the same issue)
- Faulty parking sensors
- Wicked dash rattle (loaner, too)
- Never exceeded 21 mpg, even feathering the accelerator
None of that means jack compared to an issue called “limp mode during acceleration”. This was truly terrifying, second to actually getting in an accident. Happened to me twice, apparently it also affects the 2.0T Accords. Rare problem, but with rain on a long-ish trip the car will simply go into limp mode when you’re accelerating. No codes will be stored (such was the case for me), or just a code for cylinder misfire.
Mine happened at night, in the rain, in construction, moderate traffic, tractor trailer treading the line, shoulders closed. The other time normal highway with rain, still not safe. Dealer found nothing, Acura customer service would not get back to me after seeing dealer, asked for buyback, considered pursuing lemon law, but in the end I traded the stupid car in after just a few months (7500 miles) and took a massive loss in order to get peace of mind. Some might not agree with this decision, but the loss of power issue was on my mind EVERY single time I was driving. Plus you read about a couple people who had it happen in completely dry conditions— nope. There was no way I wanted to get stuck with that car for 5-10 years. Five minutes of cursory research shows this goes back years when including the Accord, and there’s no indication the 2021 RDX is unaffected (or the ‘21 TLX . Those look awesome, btw).
Anyways, I jumped to a ‘21 CX-5 signature. Not as quick, but feels like a nicer vehicle. The build quality is excellent. 2nd Mazda—had an ‘05 RX-8 about a decade ago. Loved that car.
Don’t get me wrong— there were some good things about the RDX. The acceleration was explosively quick after the first few thousand RPMs, the LKAS lane centering was excellent, looks nice inside and out, very roomy compared to CX-5... but that’s it. 10th car I’ve owned, easily the poorest value, and mile for mile, the least reliable by far.
Great to move to a car company that has cars that can accelerate in the rain. Acura doesn’t think that’s an important feature to include— even as an optional extra.