[fvince]

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. I was looking for excessive wind noise (at 70 or above), no place to put my left foot, a very weak, tinny sound system, a Nav screen that might be hard to see in the sun, leather that looked cheap, and an unattractive interior generally.

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.

 

[vicpai]

Congratulations on your test drive and comments!!

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. I was looking for excessive wind noise (at 70 or above), no place to put my left foot, a very weak, tinny sound system, a Nav screen that might be hard to see in the sun, leather that looked cheap, and an unattractive interior generally.

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.

............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:

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!!!!!

 

[toby267]

Welcome

Hi Fvince,

Welcome to the forum. I too am a relative "newby" to this site, and I can't tell you the number of hours I have spent looking at all the posts and learning from the experiences of others! It is great to see how helpful the other members can be.

My wife and I are anxiously awaiting the delivery of our own MDX, and we can't wait to accessorize it for our lifestyle.

Take care,

 

[bef]

Vic,

One of the reasons why I bought the MDX was because you could slide a 4' wide piece of building material inside and lay it flat. Yes it would be nice if it wasn't so wide and still allow 4' wide cargo and it would have been even nicer if I can get a 4' wide piece of cargo that was 8' long and be able to close the hatch.

 

[RedMdxMemphis]

.. slide a 4' wide piece of building material inside and lay it flat...

You said it before I did. I think the car was designed with the required width in mind. If you want to have the reasonable 3rd row seat, lay-flat space and still some nice look, any narrower side width will probably result in the old Volvo box look. When I needed to carry a large living room table in a box, I was amazed the box side is *exactly* the MDX inside width. It fits like a glove. Perhaps the beauty, not over-size, is also on the powerful and useful utility space you will find when one finally has the MDX in his or her own garage. Unlike many other Sport Vehicle, this one is really a nice UTILITY Vehicle afterall.

 

[BostonX]

I'd like to believe that the excessive width was necessary for safety reasons, i.e.; less chance of a rollover. I will admit that driving through the narrow streets of my neighborhood has been a little nerve wracking. I even whacked my passenger side mirror on the mirror of a delivery van parked on the sidewalk the other day (no damage, hooray). Once on the (relatively) open road, all these concerns fade away and the car really shines...

 

[Bill Diggs]

To fvince,

In my opinion, your summary is perfect. I am glad someone
stepped forward to dispel some of these so called "drawbacks"
to the MDX. I agree with every point you made except perhaps
the left foot placement question. I have yet to detect any
discomfort with the floor board after driving the vehicle on
monthly 600 mile trips in 10 hour stretches.