2019 Acura RDX
Complaints about this year name window far more often than the other years of this generation — 24% of them, about 3× the usual rate of 9.2%.
First year of a new generation. The Acura RDX was redesigned for 2019. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 433 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 33 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 23.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- shattered — 40% of this year's complaints, against 1.4% across the other years of this generation (29.6×).
- windshield — 24% of this year's complaints, against 1.5% across the other years of this generation (16.4×). Owners wrote it as: windshield, rear windshield, windshield shattered, spontaneously shattered.
- glass — 30.5% of this year's complaints, against 4.1% across the other years of this generation (7.5×). Owners wrote it as: glass, glass shattered, rear glass, closing.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- rear windshield — 16% of complaints, 4× usual
- insurance — 8% of complaints, 20× usual
- rear window — 14% of complaints, 4× usual
What owners wrote
Rear window spontaneously shattered. The weather was very cold and snowing. I used the rear defroster to melt off the snow. I went inside a retail store for about a hour and when I returned to my suv I found my rear window shattered. There was no damage to the…
Rear window spontaneously shattered on 1/25/23 as the car was parked in a parking lot. Had the rear windshield replaced already. Safety was at risk due to it being able to happen at any point. Glass may fly inwards towards driver/passengers. Currently, there i…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V314000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 21V215000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 23V158000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 23V858000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 26V332000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Acura RDX was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2019 Acura RDX? What happened to yours?
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