Question

When purchasing a car, one must take into account the attributes that impact each vehicle. These attributes consist of car finance and insurance payments, seating, all-wheel drive, doors, motor size, mileage, gas economy, cost for keeping the vehicles for six years and cost of maintenance for an Acura RDX 2018. Please cite all sources.

Answer 1

1. Think about financing= Prior to visiting any dealership, have a sense of what kind of deposit you can put down and what monthly payment you can afford. It also helps to do some research on available auto loans to get a sense of what you qualify for.

2. Compare prices = Price the car at different dealerships and use online services to get invoice and deal pricing. Use the website’s car value tool to find out the MSRP and the dealer invoice of a car as well as a range of prices you can expect to see at dealerships. You can search for and request pricing on any make, model, or year of car. You may get a slew of phone calls, emails, and texts from dealers immediately after, but having information from different dealerships can help you negotiate prices. You should also visit dealer sites to look for rebate offers.

3. Test drive potential purchases = You may want to pass on the test drive if you’re familiar with a particular make and model, It is a good idea to inspect the car and give it a good test drive just to make sure all is working and there are no noticeable squeaks, rattles, or shimmies that could cause you headaches after your purchase.

Acura put a lot of weight on the third-generation RDX’s shoulders. It’s the first car with the Japanese brand’s new design language, which they call "precision crafted performance." It’s now powered exclusively by a 2.0-liter turbo motor with a 10-speed automatic transmission. The RDX even takes the burden of being the first to try a new infotainment system interface.

Fortunately, it works. Partially because the old design was a bit in your face, this new car is a big step forward. It looks classy. Adult. Like the RDX stopped borrowing suits from its dad and went to a tailor. The wheels stretch closer to the corners, which adds a touch of athleticism to its appearance. The interior is also handsome. It also has a nice collection of soft materials and a practical layout of switchgear.  

Beneath the vertical stack of buttons that make up the PRNDL, lays Acura’s new touchpad for controlling the central infotainment screen above. The Touchpad is split into two sections one large, one small. And the large pad uses absolute positioning for control, meaning the upper left corner of the touchpad is the upper left corner of the screen above, every time. It is also a button that you actually press, not haptic fakery, which is a welcome relief. Acura made the touchpad with the intension to give the operator several non-visual cues of where your finger was on the pad with the hopes of distracting the driver less.

I played with it a fair amount and found it a touch more distracting at first because of years of muscle memory built into operating other systems. But over time, as you unlearn the other ways, it works well and becomes intuitive. The biggest takeaway is that I very seldomly attempted to select one thing and something else happened. That probably deserves the biggest attaboy. You can get used to any system, as long as it bloody works!

As for power and chassis, it’s all there. Honda’s latest two-liter turbo motor is a gem. It serves well in the Civic Type R, the Accord and now here. The RDX is not a rocket ship but scoots along nicely in most any situation; getting around slower traffic on the interstate was a breeze. And when traffic calms down, the motor follows suit, keeping the cabin nice and quiet. All told, this SUV ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of shoppers.