Congratulations on your test drive and comments!!
It has the BEST Navigation System of any vehicle out there, period
It is one of the most powerful SUVs out there
It offers a good balance between off-road ability (moderate) and on-road performance - one of the most perfect compromises I've seen - not like some of them (either they go to the "car-based extreme" OR "truck extreme")
Fuel economy is very good for such a large vehicle
It is reasonably (above average) quiet and refined for such a large SUV
Tons of value, even at MSRP (although MOST dealers are very sleazy, slimy and some of them are downright rude and arrogant -and Acura customer service is practically non-existent)
Reliability has been shown to be above average
That said, the only real major gripe I have about this vehicle (which is my personal view, of course) is the the vehicle's width. I really don't think Honda should have gone OVERBOARD and made it so wide - 77 inches????
They should've stopped at around 74 inches or so (BMW X5 is 74 inches and itself feels pretty wide to drive around the congested, narrow city streets around the L.A. area). Of course, this wouldn't apply to someone living in a smaller midwestern town since that's a whole different ballgame. But here in L.A., it's reality check time - this is a land of compact parking spaces (that is if one is available at all ), heavily crowded and congested streets, etc. which makes it a real chore to drive a really large vehicle!!
Having said what I've already said, for a lack of alternative choices, I still think the MDX is pretty much the best choice for what it offers!! - In fact the NAVIGATION SYSTEM alone might be the reason I might just end up buying this vehicle ANYWAYS because there is nothing like it available out there!!!!!
............I tend to agree with you as, by now, I've test driven the MDX countless times. IMHO I think compared to everything out there it is possibly one of the BEST SUVs available on the market today. Let me summarize:fvince said:Have been lurking about this fine site for few weeks trying to decide my next car buy. This is my first post. Based largely on information from this site, I broke down and test drove the MDX this afternoon. This is my general reaction given the pre-conditioning from reading many posts here.
Generally, the car is FAR better than I thought it would be. Granted, I did not drive it for more than about 45 minutes, but I was more than impressed.
In addition to all of the consensus positive aspects of this SUV (engine, trans, handling, performance, space, seating arrangement, etc) which I agree wholeheartedly with, I found that there are a lot of very picky folks in this forum. I guess for $40K, one has the right to be picky. However, I didn't think the Bose sound system was all that bad. In fact, to me it sounded just fine. No quite up to a Nakamichi in the Lexus, but certainly not tinny. The wind noise was there, but not excessive. I had a hard time hearing the cross wind when the CD was playing at normal volume. And I was going 75. Also, the interior is very attractive IMHO. The leather looks as expensive as in other cars I've owned including German, Japanese and American. I was able to read the Nav screen perfectly and in the sun to boot. OK, OK I must now agree with all of you picky folks out there. I did not have a comfortable place to put my left foot. This will force me to take more breaks on a long trip. Enough said. I now can't wait to drive the car full time.
It has the BEST Navigation System of any vehicle out there, period
It is one of the most powerful SUVs out there
It offers a good balance between off-road ability (moderate) and on-road performance - one of the most perfect compromises I've seen - not like some of them (either they go to the "car-based extreme" OR "truck extreme")
Fuel economy is very good for such a large vehicle
It is reasonably (above average) quiet and refined for such a large SUV
Tons of value, even at MSRP (although MOST dealers are very sleazy, slimy and some of them are downright rude and arrogant -and Acura customer service is practically non-existent)
Reliability has been shown to be above average
That said, the only real major gripe I have about this vehicle (which is my personal view, of course) is the the vehicle's width. I really don't think Honda should have gone OVERBOARD and made it so wide - 77 inches????
They should've stopped at around 74 inches or so (BMW X5 is 74 inches and itself feels pretty wide to drive around the congested, narrow city streets around the L.A. area). Of course, this wouldn't apply to someone living in a smaller midwestern town since that's a whole different ballgame. But here in L.A., it's reality check time - this is a land of compact parking spaces (that is if one is available at all ), heavily crowded and congested streets, etc. which makes it a real chore to drive a really large vehicle!!Having said what I've already said, for a lack of alternative choices, I still think the MDX is pretty much the best choice for what it offers!! - In fact the NAVIGATION SYSTEM alone might be the reason I might just end up buying this vehicle ANYWAYS because there is nothing like it available out there!!!!!
