2019 Acura RDX consumer reviews

Got the 2019 RDX brand new. Transmission failed completely very soon after I got it home and requires replacement. Beware of transmission in the 2019 RDX!!

Went from Lexus to Acura after 20+ years because we couldn't get the exterior color and interior color combo we wanted in the Lexus. Every bit as nice (maybe better) a car overall and a bit more horse power to boot.

So far very impressive. Tons of great new bells and whistles to satisfy my tech side. The turbo 2 liter is more than adequate to power this little rocket.( aspec trim package)

After 500 miles under typical road conditions, the brakes on my 2019 Acura RDX started squealing, especially on hard braking. I have learned it is an issue that is known to the manufacturer. Hopefully, it will be fixed sooner than later. The automatic engine idle is maddening, including the color of the indicator. Help!!!

The new RDX was worth waiting for! I am still getting used to it and am excited to get in and set up all my new technology!

even after mid Dec 18 software update system freezes, function don't work as they should & Navigation features are that of a 20 yr old system. cant even name a friends location

It’s what I get for buying a first run of any car. The engineers apparently didn’t do a lot of real world testing before rolling it out. In the first 1500 miles I’ve found a lot of gripes with this vehicle with only very few accolades. Beginning with the driving dynamics, the 10 speed transmission along with the vetch turbo engine shifts at awkward points during average driving which leads to a busy and jerky ride. Not bad when you deliberately mash the throttle on a straight line run, but during start stop traffic it kind of sucks. With 280 ft/lbs of torque, I don’t know why it would want to ever downshift to its lower gears once the car is moving but it often does. Feels like driving your car into a pond of water. Add that to the fact that this is the slowest dual clutch trans I’ve ever felt, it’s just not a pleasant experience. Speaking of slow, just shifting from park to drive or from reverse to drive is a couple of second peicesss. I don’t know if it needs to think about it first or what... And what’s up with the lane keep assist? Only works at 45mph and above, so listen for the beep when you hit any sort of traffic as it will just turn off. Not that it works that great anyways. The system seems to only make corrections every few seconds so it’s kind of all over the road. Maybe they should have put more sensors in that giant Flava Flav emblem in the grill? Collision mitigation also doesn’t work well. I’ve never seen it do anything other than beep. Doesn’t stop or slow down the car at all. Not sure if this is intentional or if it just doesn’t work correctly. The sound system is just okay. I expected better from the Premiim ELS 16 speakers but the lack of sound dampening in the car almost negates all benefits of having the 16 speakers. Kind of like trying to listen to your favorite music on your $10,000 home stereo while your dish washer is running in the background. The lack of detailed control over the sound just adds insult to injury. Bass, Trevble, Mid, and fader - that’s all you get from the “premium” sound system? Throw in an EQ or something plz... Beyond the sound quality, the overall basic functionality leaves a lot to be desired. It takes a loooooong time to boot up, and when it does, it starts up at the volume where you left off. So if you had the music turned up loud when you exited the vehicle, it will be turned up just as loud when you get back in and it eventually boots up. So jump in your car, start the engine, and 20 seconds later you get a nasty surprise left by whoever was driving it before you. Most other late model cars allow you to set a fixed start volume but this “premium”one doesn’t have this feature. Finally, the system is not very passenger friendly unless they are good at working a mouse pad with their left hand. Even the volume knob is on the drivers side. The power windows CAN be rolled l down from the keyfob remote but they CAN”t be rolled back up without getting in the car. Why not? Most other cars can do both.. Alot if cons with this vehicle but there are some pros as well. Yes the 10 speed transmission totally sucks but the engine makes up for it. It really is powerful when in its torque band and it is pretty smooth for a 4 banger. The car appears pretty solid so far as well. No creaks or weird noises so far (other than a lot of road noise) so the quality control isn’t bad. Love the SHAWD system as it seems to really give the car tons of grip. The torque vectoring happens in the background invisibly but effectively. I am truly hoping that Acura offers some updates to this vehicle. Nearly all of the issues above should be fixable via a software update. Acura, if you are listening - reprogram the shift points, program the lane keep assist to update its location more frequently. add some features to the ELS software, program the ELS to allow a fixed start volume, reprogram the car to be able to roll the windows back up via the remote, add some sound deadening to subsequent models. Do this and you’ll have yourself a winner!

After months of researching and shopping, pulled the trigger on new RDX w/Tech... After driving it for 3k mi in 2 mo, here are my impressions. THE GOOD 1. The leather seats are very soft and comfortable. Beats any latest model Nissan, Volvo or BMW. The real leather is exquisite. Acura makes the best leather seats, period. Better than the latest Volvo XC90 or XC60, BMW X3 or 3 series, Nissans and even Hondas and Audi Q5... The only seat that is better is the one in Volkswagen Passat, but these are synthetic leatherette... The seat is 16-way power adjustable, and on Advance trim it has power thigh extension as well... Love the seats. 2. The ELS 3D Studio premium audio system is sublime. The surround sound is fantastic, and is second only to Volvo's latest Bowers & Wilkins audio system. 3. The style. I really, really love the body styling if the new RDX. It is elegant, agresive, sporty, modern. I really love the 19" shark gray wheels. The cabin is modern, luxurious and I would say, elegant. Love panorama sunroof. 4. Comfort and ride. Very quiet cabin, supple ride. Good rear legroom and headroom 5. Cargo capacity. Is on par with any compact SUV, and is better than almost all luxury compact SUVs. 6. Price point. Very competitive guven the amount of features. 7. Engine power and torque. With 272 hp on tap and low-RPM 280 lb-ft of torque, this SUV has a pick-up of a sporty sedan or a hatchback. 8. Handling. With its wide stance and low profile, coupled with torque-vectoring all-wheel drive, this SUV corners flat, and can handle any curve confidently, feeling sure-footed on any type of pavement. THE BAD 1. Transmission. Acura keeps telling us (since the crappy 6-speed in 2013 RDX and 8, and then 9-speed ZF transmission in Acura MDX 2013-2015, 2016-2019) that they are going to finally fix the rough and jerky gear shifts, especially at low speeds and going uphill, and finally they claimed that they did it with the Honda-engineered 10-speed transmission, debuted in the 2018 Honda Odyssey, and now in 2019 RDX... But let me tell you, this tranny, although much better than 9-speed German-made ZF and the 6-speed in old RDX, still has some serious issues: at low speeds it tends to keep in the middle gears (3-6), instead of downshifting to 2, perhaps--I don't know, but the effect is as if it is in higher gear at lower speeds than it should be, preventing acceleration at speeds at around 25-30 mph, or when coasting to a stop light or parking... This is very annoying, since the vehicle feels underpowered for simple maneuvers, like coasting to a stop light or driving in a parking lot. Pushing the throttle, simply jerks the vehicle forward, as if accelerating from dead stop, which is not what one wants, and is dangerous in traffic or parking garages... Disappointing. 2. Fuel economy on premium 92 grade gas. In the mixed mostly city driving I average only 21 mpg on premium gas. Very disappointing. On regular 87 octane gas, the fuel economy drops to 20 mpg. Disappointing... 3. Small fuel tank, short driving range on a full tank. With only 17 gallon tank, maximum I can drive on premium gas on a full tank is 300 miles, before the fuel gauge light up. Very, very disappointing... My Nissan Rogue would go 359 miles before I had to stop for refueling... 4. Infotainment system. Very, very glitchy and underbaked. Using the precision touch mouse pad is awkward; using navigation is clunky. Voice recognition barely works. The loading of contacts takes a very, very long time... Calls are driooed every now and then; the system hangs intermittently... Nissan's simple Bosch-designed infotainment puts Acura to shame... Android auto is not supported as of yet... No way to look up point of interest phones; no Pandora or Google integration. My Nissan had all that. I miss Nissan's infotainment system. THE UGLY 1. The brake pads already squeal on all 4 as if completely worn out on a brand-new vehicle with less than 3k miles! 2. Passenger wiper is not retracting completely. This is a calibration issue, which Acura is looking into. 3. The hatch back-door creaks and moans on opening and closing, just like a whale. 4. Driver vanity mirror cover squeaks when opening. 5. The cargo area liftable cover does not stay open, and needs to be held while accessing the underfloor storage compartment. 6. To put in roof-rails and crossbars, Acura is asking for $1,200. Very expensive for almost a necessity on a SUV. CONCLUSION Do not recommend buying.

I traded my 5 series for this SUV. I wanted something different. I looked at X3, Q50, Lexus, Mercedes, XC-60 etc. for an equally equipped and performing car, there is no comparison.

Shopped/Compared Acura RDX 2019 to all luxury SUV's - for me, none even came close and many priced thousands more. In my opinion Acura hit this one out of the park!