How many miles can an Acura RDX last? When you’re in the market for a new or second-hand RDX, that’s, of course, a very reasonable question to ask. After all, you’re probably looking to get the most bang for your buck. In this blog, we’ll look at this question in great detail but first, let’s start with a quick answer:
On average, an Acura RDX lasts between 200.000 – 220.000 miles. An RDX needs to go to the garage for unscheduled repairs about 0.41 times per year, with a 6% chance of severe problems. Furthermore, RDX owners spend an average of $497 per year on repair costs.
Having said that, we’re certainly not done. Below we’ll first explain in more detail how many miles an RDX can last. After that, we’ll also show you how much an RDX costs per year and which production years are the most and least expensive. Furthermore, we also discuss the common problems that the car can have. Read on!
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How Many Miles Can Acura RDX Last?
To know how many miles an Acura RDX lasts, we have conducted some serious research, gone through the database of Autotrader.com to retrieve factual data, and compiled all of the research.
We analyzed 4.089 used Acura RDXs listed for sale in the US market. During this process, we found that 2.62% of RDXs that were listed for sale had a recorded mileage of 150.000 or higher. Typically, we expect to see a percentage of between 5-7% for SUVs. To us, this indicates that we need to look a little deeper into whether or not the RDX is a reliable vehicle.
| Number Of Miles | Percentage Of Cars |
| Cars With 150.000+ | 2.62% |
| Cars With 100.000 – 149.000 | 7.12% |
| Cars With 45.000 – 99.999 | 24.3% |
| Cars With 0 – 44.999 | 65.96% |
Typically, when a vehicle doesn´t seem to be able to reach the 5-7% mark, there are two possible causes. Either, there´s something wrong with the car or the majority of the cars that we analyzed were quite new which skewed the numbers making it look like something is wrong.
Now, the Acura RDX has been on the market for quite a while already (from 2006 onwards to be exact). However, the majority of RDXs that are on the road (and the majority of the ones that are for sale) have been sold in the past seven years.
For example, before 2011 Acura only sold between 10.000 – 20.000 units of the RDX each year, whereas they started selling 50.000 or more units of the RDX each year from 2015 onwards. This indicates that it´s very likely that the RDX is a reliable vehicle, but that most units are still quite new and that they haven´t had time to reach higher mileage.
However, there´s more to look at than just this single data point. Let´s continue!
How Reliable Is An Acura RDX Compared To Its Competitors?
One of the most important things that can tell us whether or not it’s actually reliable is to look at the competitors. The data from the competitors will provide us with more data, and we will be able to see benchmarks set by the most reliable vehicles in this category.
After going through the data, we have compiled a list of competitors and their expected mileage and highest recorded mileage. Keep in mind that we´ve written individual articles for each model in this table. Therefore, we´re confident about the results that are displayed here.
| Model | Sample Size | Expected Mileage | Highest Mileage |
| Acura RDX | 4.089 | 210.000 | 280.000 |
| Honda CR-V | 20.029 | 250.000 | 415.000 |
| BMW X3 | 6.192 | 210.000 | 200.000 |
| Mazda CX-5 | 11.336 | 250.000 | 300.000 |
| Audi Q5 | 4.620 | 210.000 | 200.000 |
| Lexus RX350 | 7.292 | 215.000 | 250.000 |
When we then compare the RDX to its competitors it becomes clear the RDX is able to hold its own. We would say it´s fair to say it ends up in the middle of the pack. First, we see that the Honda CR-V and the CX-5 clearly perform better in both expected mileage and in terms of the highest recorded mileage.
However, the CR-V and CX-5 aren´t premium SUVs whereas the other vehicles are. When we compare the RDX to the X3, Q5, and RX350 we see that they all put up similar numbers and that the RDX even has them beat in the highest recorded mileage category. Overall, this indicates to us that the RDX is capable of going the mileage that´s expected from a premium SUV.
Also read: The Exact Towing Capacity Of An Acura RDX (And More..)
How Reliable Is An Acura RDX Compared To Other Acuras?
This is where we can get a lot of information regarding how reliable the Acura RDX is compared to other Acuras and how reliable all the Acuras are in general. We have done extensive research and below is our analysis based on the retrieved data.
What becomes clear from the table below is that Acura does seem to be a reliable brand overall. As we already established, the numbers of the RDX are a bit skewed due to the fact that the majority of these units have been sold in the past seven years.
However, we can also see that the MDX performs very strongly, and the TL (which has been out of production since 2014) has managed to get a very large chunk of its units into the 150.000 miles or higher category. Only the TLX lacks, but that´s because this vehicle has only been in production since 2015 (replacing the TL).
In conclusion, we don´t see anything wrong with Acura as a brand from this data and, especially for a premium brand, Acura seems to do really well.
| Model | Sample Size | Cars With 150.000+ Miles | % Percentage Of Cars With 150.000+ | Highest Mileage |
| Acura RDX | 4089 | 107 | 2.62% | 280.000 |
| Acura TL | 877 | 263 | 29.99% | 310.000 |
| Acura TLX | 3782 | 40 | 1.06% | 140.000 |
| Acura MDX | 5067 | 368 | 7.26% | 280.000 |
How Much Does Maintenance Cost Per Year?
Another important aspect we need to look at when it comes to whether or not the RDX can drive many miles is how much you´ll pay annually to get those miles. Acuras are most often known for the fact that they´re luxury cars that don´t break the bank. The data in the table below was retrieved from Repairpal and Caredge.com.
What we found is that the maintenance costs of the RDX are surprisingly low for a premium SUV. This is also what Acura is known for so it´s good to see the RDX is living up to the hype. Furthermore, it´s also clear that there are no model years that seem to be negative outliers, which indicates almost all model years are similarly reliable (more on that in a moment).
| Model Year | Annual Maintenance Cost |
| 2010 | $466 |
| 2011 | $473 |
| 2012 | $528 |
| 2013 | $559 |
| 2014 | $508 |
| 2015 | $482 |
| 2016 | $429 |
| 2017 | $466 |
| 2018 | $478 |
| 2019 | $389 |
| 2020 | $333 |
On average you can expect to pay $497 annually to keep an RDX on the road. This is substantially lower than what you would need to pay for a similarly sized BMW X3, which will cost an average of around $1,000 per year. Overall, the RDX does seem to offer a whole lot of bang for your buck.
Also read: The Complete Cost Of Maintaining An Acura
Owners’ Reviews Of The RDXs Reliability
Besides knowing all the data, it’s, of course, also essential to see how owners experience the RDX. For this, we went to Truecar, Edmunds, and Cars.com. All three platforms have gathered hundreds of reviews from actual car owners. We summarized our findings in the image below.
Overall, we have to say that owners of the third-generation RDX seem to be quite pleased with their purchase. However, as you can see in the graphic below, especially owners´ that reviewed their cars on Edmunds seem much less pleased.
Diving into the comments we found that 2019 owners, and some 2020 owners, had absolute lemons of cars in some cases. Since the 2019 model was the first car in a new generation, and these are always the most prone to mistakes, the 2019 received quite some complaints.
The most noteworthy one is the fact that the transmission failed after only a couple of hundred miles and that the infotainment system fails to load at all (this goes for both Android Auto and Apple Carplay). Especially the transmission problems extended well into the 2021 model years.
I have owed this car for 3 months. It’s been in the shop 4 times. Twice for the brakes, which still is not fixed. Once for the sensor just randomly going off. And twice for the struts, suspension, and shocks that had to be completely replaced!! I regret this purchase!
Source, 2019 owner
However, if you´re not in the possession of a faulty unit, then everything seems to be alright. There´s a reason why many owners still give the car five stars and why it has a 4.5-star rating on both Truecar and Cars.com.
I’m 6’2″ and this car is extremely comfortable. I have an ASpec in Modern Steel with SH-AWD. It’s a real head-turner. The car is quick, holds the road and is very responsive. It’s a fun car to drive, I want to drive all the time. “Love it!”
Source, 2021 owner
Acura RDX Common Problems
This is another important section. If a vehicle has high maintenance costs and poor reliability then this is often caused by these common issues in our precious vehicles. Most often, the main culprit is manufacturing negligence or negligence in maintenance.
NOTE: Before buying a used car, I always like to make sure the vehicle isn´t having any problems that you should be aware of. The easiest way to do this is by buying an OBD2 scanner. These scanners can easily be plugged into any car you’re interested in, and they’ll give you a rundown of potential problems.
Third Generation (2019 – Present)
The third generation of the Acura RDX certainly hasn´t been without problems. We already wrote a very extensive article about the problems of an Acura RDX for all three of its generations. For the third generation the problems look like this:
- Engine stalling due to a failing fuel pump which was recalled twice.
- Failing constant velocity joints (part of the driveshaft) in the 2021 model year and a subsequent recall.
- Loss of power when accelerating in 2019 – 2020 models, is most likely caused by condensation in the turbocharger intercooler.
- The 2019 model year had problems with suddenly shattering rear windows.
- Braking problems, either loss of braking power (caused by a failing master brake cylinder) or squeaking noises (caused by cheap, warped brake rotors).
- Random airbag warning light in the 2019 model year.
Second Generation (2013 – 2018)
The second generation wasn´t all that problematic. However, there were certainly some common points we need to outline.
- Airbag issues, however, this was a problem of Takata and were practically industry-wide. Therefore, this is not Acuras’ fault at all.
- Braking issues, squeaking noises caused by warped brake rotors, and an overly sensitive collision mitigation system that started emergency braking on its own.
- The 6-speed transmission connected to the V6 engine had very poor shift quality and problems with this system were never fully resolved.
Is an Acura RDX A Smart Buy?
We have considered all of the data and factors that play an important role in the reliability area, and we have made our final decision based on these facts.
First of all, we saw that the RDX is capable of reaching higher mileage without any problems. Compared to vehicles like the Honda CR-V and the Mazda CX-5, the RDX does lack a bit. However, compared to other premium SUVs like the BMW X3 and the Audi Q5, the RDX performs almost exactly the same.
The maintenance costs of the RDX are going to be its strongest point. These are very low, especially for the class it competes in. One thing to keep in mind though is the fact that owners are either thrilled or appalled by their purchase. It seems that the 2019 – 2021 RDX are best to stay away from (because of the numerous issues and problems that have appeared in the past years).
If you´re looking for a second-hand RDX, maybe have a look at the second-generation ones (2013 – 2018). Specifically the 2016 – 2018 ones (which is the facelifted third-generation) are worth it for most owners.
Acura RDX Maintenance Schedule
If you are one of those who already have an Acura RDX and you are willing to keep it healthy for a long time, then this schedule is for you. The dealerships recommend changing the engine oil at 10,000 miles, but it should be changed before 7,000 miles to get the best performance and reliability.
On/Before 10,000 Miles
- Engine oil replacement
- Oil filter replacement
- Gaskets inspection and replacement
- Though lubrication of all the components that require it.
- Electronics system check
- Brake check
- Airbag inspection
On/Before Every 20,000 Miles
- Gaskets inspection and replacement
- Lubrication of the required components
- Brakes check, fluid check, pads check
- Power steering check
- Electronics check
- Tire inspection/rotation.
- Check for any oil leaks
On/Before Every 40,000 miles
- Change the air filter
- Air Conditioning inspection
- Electronics check
- Battery check
- Brakes check
- Sunroof check
- Thoroughly inspect for any oil leaks
- See if there is any unusual rattle
- Engine diagnosis.
On/Before Every 60,000 Mile
- Replace the spark plugs
- Replace the ignition coils and the connecting harness if necessary.
- Timing chain inspection
- Fluid levels check
- Inspection for any rust
- Software update if available.
Also read: Types Of Gas A Acura RDX Takes (All Generations)
Hi! My name is Stefan; I’m the owner and lead writer at TheDriverAdviser.com.
I’m an active writer on this blog myself, as well as a novice car mechanic. For the really technical stuff, I find writers with experience as a mechanic or who have studied mechanical engineering.
Read more about our fantastic team on our about page!