| norcalchuck |
I've had my 03 MDX for about three months now, and having had the opportunity to poke around, inspect, clean, detail, I am increasingly disappointed in the cheap quality of the interior components and poor design of those components, such as the carpeting, trim and plastic trim pieces.
There have been threads re the nicks on the driver's "B" piller--little white nicks, as the material shows white when nicked by the seat belt buckle. My car interior is grey. Anywhere there has been even a little scuff with the plastic trim such as the tailgate or the door side panel, you see a small white scratch. No big deal, but they will accumulate. On other cars I've had, you could always buff that stuff out as the color was the same. Some crazed Honda engineer must have gotten a deal on plastic that is only colored on the surface and knicks or scratches "white".
The overall quality of the carpeting, pad and other interior components, while certainly not junk, is not in my opinion up to par for what is supposed to be a higher end vehicle.
What do others think? |
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| renov8r |
You know what has AWESOME interior quality. You won't believe it. A Lincoln Navigator. I mean it. I was in an 02 at the LM dealer's used car lot, and I swear it looked unbelieavably nice, especially for the awesome price they were selling it at. But it GULPS gas like the little Japanese kid sucks down the hotdogs at Nathans. It is like parking a motorhome. It has as much roadfeel as 747 and the styling, well let's just say that BBBBBLINGGG is raised to new heights...
I suppose that Honda/Acura could use better plastic & leather, but hey that WOULD raise the price/lower the profit. Don't kid yourself, you get what you pay for. The carpet in the BMW X5 is plusher than the MDX, but they can afford plush at what they set the price.
And you know what else, EVERYBODY cuts corners in some places. There is no such thing as perfection. It takes years to get little things right, remember the OLD Lexus' midrange sedan???
Finally, I do thing that there is something that WE can do -- if you get a really nasty looking piece of trim, maybe from the B pillar, you REALLY SHOULD complain to the dealer & to Corporate. If enough owners complain LOUD enough, the sqeaky wheel will get some grease. Maybe just replacements of the same crummy plastic quality, but if it KEEPS happening I would bet that Acura/Honda switches to a higher grade & maybe even does a roling upgrade. |
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| A6MDX |
quote:
It is a trade-off, like everything else in this world...
It's even tougher when you when you have seen something that is really high quality with a great design. But it's also useful to have had something on the other extreme as well. The MDX has a pretty decent interior appearance when compared with other domestic and Japanese cars. Unfortunately I've been spoiled by my A6 and it's tough for me to accept something less. My wife had an Expedition before the X and I really hated the ride and even sitting in the thing because the interior was just really... well... Ford. The X is really a big leap above the Ford as I find it easy to pick up the keys a run an errand whereas I would only consider the Expedition if I had to haul something.
I'm in the market for a new car and it's really hard for me to consider something other than an Audi. I like BMW's and I'm seriously considering going to the dark side but believe it or not, the Audi interior may make the difference and I will probably stay in the family. If you haven't been in one, do yourself a favor and go test drive one. Some of the finer details are really what make an interior. Real wood, the tactile feel of the knobs and buttons and the way the dash blends into the doors is beautiful. Anything that moves is dampened to give a real quality feel to it. The seats are 100% leather, not just the seating surfaces like in all other brands except Mercedes. The interior lighting is another thing that few people notice. The door handles, A/C vent controls, sound system, ashtrays and all other compartments are back-lit by a soft red light. the shift console is even lit from above by a dim red light. The rear seating lights are designed so that when they are on they are not noticeable in the rear view mirror. Rear passengers can have them on and the driver is not distracted in the least.
Heck, Audi even employs 'smellers'. These ladies test smell all new designs to make sure that there are no objectionable smells before a design is released for production. There is also a Noise Team that tracks down objectionable noises and a Control Haptics Team to design the Audi feel.
The A4 line is a small step below the A6 and the A6 is a small step below the A8 but all are better than the BMW 7 series IMHO. Audi does this at a significant price point below BMW and Mercedes. So it can be done. Of course BMW and Mercedes enjoy higher margins than Audi but I think Audi is counting on more people noticing over time and realizing that Audi is more than a 2nd tier German marque.
If I didn't own an Audi I would probably be raving about the X interior. I also travel a lot so I get to experience a lot of American interiors. The last time I came home from an extended term in a rental car the SO picked me up in the X and I found myself thinking it was good to be home:) |
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| norcalchuck |
quote:
Originally posted by A6MDX
It's even tougher when you when you have seen something that is really high quality with a great design. But it's also useful to have had something on the other extreme as well. The MDX has a pretty decent interior appearance when compared with other domestic and Japanese cars. ............
On balance, the MDX is as good as many. I guess my gripe is that they could have chosen other materials and likely no more cost, that at least would not show every abrasion or scratch as a white one. As for the price of the MDX, my conclusion is that the price is not so much because of the super high quality of the materials, but the items that would be options on other SUVs.
If you do a cost accounting and compare apples with apples, the base MDX, if you factored out the third row of seats, the rear seat A/C, the alloy wheels, moonroof and the leather, you would have an MSRP probably around $31,000 with "street" prices around $28000-30,000 based on recent anecodotal info on selling price. So, I don't see the MDX price as necessarily reflecting a high bar for quality, as much as simply reflective of being packed with all sorts of "options" which are not, "optional"
Honda has of course cleverly marketed the MDX by packing it with options that probably many buyers would not pay extra for given the choice, (the Pilot is a move in that direction) such as the third row of seats and moonroof. On balance it's an interesting vehicle and the "jury" is still out for me, as I took delivery at the tail end of the ski season and want to go through a whole season to see how the car meets my needs. Based on how fragile the interior components seems to be so far, I don't see this vehicle holding up as well as others I've owned. I will be keeping an eye open for the new generation of crossover vehicles that I believe will proliferate in the next 2-5 years. So, that's ok, as I'll be ready to make a change by then.
By contrast, I just sold a 1985 Porsche 911 coupe that I had for 12 years, and a 1985 Mercedes 380SE I bought new. The Mercedes quality really began to be apparent after 10 years. |
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| jurincie |
| After owning an RX300 for 5 years, my biggest disappointment on the MDX has been the poor quality interior. The interior of the MDX shows as much wear at 6 months as my RX did after 5 years. I know the MDX costs less than the RX, but it is still a disappointment. |
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| hammermdx |
quote:
Originally posted by jurincie
After owning an RX300 for 5 years, my biggest disappointment on the MDX has been the poor quality interior. The interior of the MDX shows as much wear at 6 months as my RX did after 5 years. I know the MDX costs less than the RX, but it is still a disappointment.
I agree, the quality of the interior components leaves much to be desired. Especially the leather! |
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| darkhelmet |
| As a previous owner of a Chevy Blazer (97) and current owner of a Jeep Grand Cherokee, I can state the MDX interior is much better than those. No noise creeps or annoying plastic leather. This just reinforces the "You get what you pay for" theory. |
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| timbrwolf9 |
| Well, as a current owner of a Vette, I can tell you Acura does a much better job of the interior than Chevy does. The "leather" in a Vette feels rather cheap and there is lots of plastic in there. |
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| DEZRVIT |
| I agree with renov8r "It is a trade-off, like everything else in this world". I think when you consider the X as a total package, all that you get for what you pay, the interior is par. There might be better, however it could be worse. |
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| MarylandMDX |
I have owned 2 Audi A6's. Whereas their interior is definitely nicer than my MDX, I am less than impressed by their reliability record. The Audies spent more time in shop than I cared for, repeatedly for the same problem.
I also currently have an Mercedes E320 4 Matic ('99, 73,000 miles). Even after nearly 5 years, the interior is better than my new '03 MDX.
I guess you get what you pay for. I would gladly pay another grand or two to get a decent "premium" interior.
Just my $ 0.02. |
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| norcalchuck |
quote:
Originally posted by MarylandMDX
I also currently have an MD E320 4 Matic ('99, 73,000 miles). Even after nearly 5 years, the interior is better than my new '03 MDX.
I guess you get what you pay for. I would gladly pay another grand or two to get a decent "premium" interior.
Just my $ 0.02.
That was the point I raised in my earlier post. The price of the MDX reflects Honda packing the vehicle with a laundry list of equipment as "standard", hence raising the price significantly (with high profit items), perhaps giving the illusion that it is a high end vehicle. I don't think the price is reflective of overall hige-end quality on the materials. You do of course get what you pay for, but what you pay for is a lot of "options" that are not optional.
Frankly, I bought the car for its basic design, such as cargo capacity and engine/drivetrain and its styling (over the Pilot). If I could have purchased the MDX without all the non-optional added equipment, I would have done so. As I indicated in that post, I would guess that the MSRP would then be around $30,000 for a base model, with street prices in the high 20s. |
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| MarylandMDX |
I agonized over Pilot vs. MDX decision as well. In the end, I chose MDX because of:
- better styling
- ability to have both RES and Nav
- VSA
If the Pilot had both RES/Nav and VSA, I would have lived with its boxy '80s SUV looks.
Oh well, now armed with a 100K acura warranty, I am going to enjoy my X for the next 100K miles. Hopefully by then, we will have a lot more choices from Lexus and Mercedes. |
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| feliz |
I agree with the earlier posts, it's all about getting what you pay for. The MDX (and all Acuras) offer very good value for your dollar but they have to skimp/save somewhere or they just wouldn't be in business. The interior is an obvious area they save a few Pesos. Sharing the corporate parts bin with other Honda/Acura models is another area they save and this bothers a lot of people.
You get your money back in spades (usually)with engineering when buying a Honda/Acura product, even a lawn mower. When you balance emmisions, power, handling, comfort, MPG, value, etc honda/Acura usually win hands down.
I'm not trying to start a flame war here but to illustrate my point, when I compare my TL-S to my wife's G35 the Acura wins hands down in my opinion. The TL-S is cheaper, just as fast, gets a lot better mileage, has a nicer/better quality interior (some would argue) and so on. It just doesn't handle like a rear wheel drive which is a big issue to some. JMHO |
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