Acura RDX: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Acura RDX: 15 model years scored from 2,016 NHTSA owner complaints and 37 recall campaigns. Worst year 2019, best year 2016.
Acura RDX: which years to avoid
Across 15 scored model years the Acura RDX ranges from 32/100 in 2019 to 92/100 in 2011 — a 60-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy a RDX at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Unknown Or Other (139 of them).
Avoid: 2015, 2019, 2020 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
Avoid the 2019 and 2020 RDX, which score 32 each on 433 and 344 complaints, and the 2015 at 39 on 409, with the 2014 (50) and 2021 (51) as CAUTION years to walk past. Buy a 2016 to 2018, which score 89, 88 and 84 on 40, 75 and 77 complaints, or a 2022 to 2024 at 83 to 84 on 31, 21 and 11. The 2013 to 2015 second-generation cars complain about Exterior Lighting, at 89, 162 and 337, more than four fifths of the 2015's total, with no lighting campaign on file; Air Bags is second at 36, 41 and 33, matching the driver-side inflator module campaigns 16V061000 and 19V182000. The third generation launched for 2019 with Unknown Or Other at 139, Visibility/Wiper at 96 and Engine at 89, and five safety-critical recalls on each of the 2019 and 2020, including fuel pump campaigns 21V215000 and 23V858000. The 2025 is a CAUTION at 58 with Steering at 23, matched by 25V582000 for power steering software.
Read the guide
Used Acura MDX, RDX and TLX: the years to avoid — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
How the RDX changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 5 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2011–2013
Mean score 85/100, about 5 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Exterior Lighting more than anything else (93 complaints). 6 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2014–2015
Mean score 44/100, about 29 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Exterior Lighting more than anything else (499 complaints). The record falls 41 points against the years before it. 6 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2016–2018
Mean score 87/100, about 7 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Power Train more than anything else (43 complaints). The record improves by 43 points against the years before it. 3 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2019–2021
Mean score 38/100, about 47 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Unknown Or Other more than anything else (271 complaints). The record falls 49 points against the years before it. 12 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2022–2024
Mean score 84/100, about 7 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Unknown Or Other more than anything else (19 complaints). The record improves by 46 points against the years before it. 6 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2016 (score 89). Worst: 2019 (score 32, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 58 | CAUTION | $4,381 | 29 | 1 |
| 2024 | 84 | BUY | $4,074 | 11 | 2 |
| 2023 | 84 | BUY | $4,243 | 21 | 2 |
| 2022 | 83 | BUY | $4,397 | 31 | 2 |
| 2021 | 51 | CAUTION | $4,812 | 111 | 3 |
| 2020 | 32 | AVOID | $5,619 | 344 | 5 |
| 2019 | 32 | AVOID | $5,845 | 433 | 5 |
| 2018 | 84 | BUY | $5,142 | 77 | 1 |
| 2017 | 88 | BUY | $5,258 | 75 | 1 |
| 2016 | 89 | BUY | $5,166 | 40 | 2 |
| 2015 | 39 | AVOID | $5,936 | 409 | 3 |
| 2014 | 50 | CAUTION | $5,753 | 242 | 3 |
| 2013 | 72 | BUY | $5,746 | 162 | 3 |
| 2012 | 92 | BUY | $5,970 | 15 | 2 |
| 2011 | 92 | BUY | $6,110 | 16 | 2 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the RDX, through the years →
RDX sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the RDX on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Acura RDX
Across every RDX model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Exterior Lighting592 complaints across all RDX years · typical job: Headlamp assembly or lighting-module replacement$360–$1,380
- Unknown Or Other331 complaints across all RDX years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Visibility/Wiper231 complaints across all RDX years · typical job: Wiper motor, linkage or windscreen replacement$490–$1,200
- Engine195 complaints across all RDX years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Electrical System145 complaints across all RDX years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Air Bags138 complaints across all RDX years · typical job: Airbag module, clockspring or sensor replacement$600–$1,700
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Acura RDX years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2015, 2019, 2020 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2019 is the weakest at 32/100, with its complaints concentrated in Unknown Or Other.
What are the best Acura RDX years to buy?
2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023… all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2011 at 92/100, on 16 complaints and 2 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Acura RDX problem?
592 of the complaints filed against the RDX across all its model years sit in the Exterior Lighting group — more than any other component.
Compare with
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04