As the title states, my wife is looking to move to a RX350 - anyone made the switch from an MDX? Other than the 3-row seating, what were the pros and cons?

Thanks

 

I made the move from a 2014 Acura MDX Advance to a 2020 450 Rxh.
Pros of Lexus 350 Rx (my wife has used 2 350 Rx since 2013, current one is 2017 350 Rx)
Much smoother ride, feels luxurious (compared to a Honda or Hyundai feel in the Acura Mdx).
High reliability and quality of design and conformance.
Ability to custom build the Lexus with a huge number of options. (We bought the last 2 Lexus custom built)
Larger sized storage due to non tapering of the roof. (We often had use the Lexus over the Acura when buying larger sized paintings etc. It would not fit in the Acura).
Cons:
Lexus dealers tend to put accessories on new vehicles and you may pay for options you don't need. (Acura does not do that).
Vehicle build time from Canada to US is 5 months.
Service interval is 5000 miles as opposed to 10k in Acura
Lexus dealers on average charge more for service than for Acura.

Pros of Acura MDX
Far superior lane keeping assist.
Vehicle has the extra reserve if you need it.
The cornering and ride of Acura Mdx is unbeatable. I miss this feature.
Cons of Acura MDX
Unexplained battery drain. I had this even in the first week of buying the vehicle after a 450 mile ride. More than 10 days of not using battery goes flat.
Smaller sized monitor for the surround cameras.
The bluetooth interferes with other core functions of the Acura such as lane keeping and adaptive cruise control. I had to often use minimum features to avoid this issue.

 

Thank you

My wife also has 14 MDX Elite - can you please describe the difference between the regular RX350 and the hybrid - pros and cons for you

Also I am surprised that the MDX which is older has better handling - does the F sport in the lexus narrow that gap?

 

The new MDX has a seriously neat interior with all digital cluster. Hope Lexus steps up to the plate when the new RX is ready for prime time.

https://www.caranddriver.com/photos/...lery/?slide=14

 

I'm all about those massaging seats!

Although, I've heard rumours Lexus is planning to split the RXL into its own vehicle to compete with the MDX... not sure if it's true, but the RXL always felt half-assed to me.

 

No interest really in the third row. My wife's 2017 RX has been a great car but it's starting to get long in the tooth by today's standards.

 

My 2018 still seems new to me, even though it just got its 30K service the other day. I know the tech is changing fast, but ....

 

Same car that was introduced in 2015 as a 2016 model. Ancient.

 

Depends on what you are looking for. The RDX is not a direct RX competition, the MDX is. Lexus cannot be beaten on Luxury feel nor reliability. However, Acura usually produces a far superior AWD system compared to Lexus.

 

My bad - that was the MDX I meant to reference. Yes RDX smaller.

 

Slightly OT ...

My next-door neighbor had the worst new car experience, four of five years ago, that I personally know of, with a new Acura TLX. Of all things on a Honda product, the transmission was buggy. As his wife slowed down to stop at a sign or traffic light, it would randomly "pop the clutch" to some way lower gear and try to accelerate. When it finally happened while he was driving, he said he thought the car behind had hit them. And stranger yet, Acura would not admit there was any problem, declared the car was working as designed, and would not attempt to change anything on it. My neighbor is a skilled GM product mechanic so there was nothing bogus about his description of the problem. They ended up having to file a lawsuit to get the dealer to take back the car. Convinced me to steer clear of Acura forever.

 

Issues with any car or mfr these days. They're too complex. I've only owned one Ford product in my life and it was the worst ownership experience ever. Yet millions love and swear by their products.

 

Yeah, I think there's a lot of truth in that. In some ways, like most of the mechanicals, they are much better than what we drove 20 and 30 years ago. But the rush to inject digital controls of all kinds seems a little excessive, to me.

After I wrote that bit about my neighbor's TLX, I wondered whether I was remembering it correctly. I found this article describing the problem and lots of owners had the problem:

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/why-acu...odel-the-most/

As with your Ford, that's the type of experience that will knock a brand off your list forever.

 

I know Honda/Acura have had quite a few tranny issues over the years. They're not bullet proof like their devoted owners think they are

 

Acura transmissions are a mixed bag. The TLX for its first few years had that horrid ZF9 transmission but has recently been upgraded to the in-house 10 speed which most people find to be very good. Likewise the RDX and now the MDX are all 10 speed Honda transmissions.
My 07 TL had over 300,000 miles with the old 5 speed auto and that thing was bulletproof. The previous '99 TL went through 2 transmissions (although Acura paid for the replacement).

Acura more recent problems are with technology, implementation, and customer service. They still can't get CarPlay to work well with the RDX, and they have no idea how to address the Limp-Mode problem. Dealers are trained to say "first time we have seen that problem". Customer Service has declined rapidly with Acura which is too bad. I owned Acura exclusively for the past 32 years but found nothing reliable or tempting when I went looking last fall. RDX is great if you want to worry about the 30 various problems that they have not fixed in 2 1/2 years. I really wanted to buy an RDX but just could not do it. Came over to Lexus and very happy with my choice. I hope that Acura can get their act together. They always offered great value but with reliability down and cost up, they have lost what made them great. (I loved my old Integras and TLs, and paid very little out the door and for maintenance).