2013 ACURA RDX Complaints

Vehicle headlights on my 2013 Acura RDX Base Model have become progressively dimmer over time to the point that the vehicle is becoming unsafe/undriveable at night and in poor weather. Contacted my local dealer. They acknowledged that this was a known issue. Said the only remedy was to replace the entire headlight unit on both driver and passenger sides. Quoted me $913.99 per unit with labor cost of $305 and tax it would come over $2344 for this "fix".

Headlights failed. Replaced light bulbs several times. The ballasts are not fogged but light is all diffracted. Very unsafe to drive. I have been dealing with the issues for years. I took the car to the dealer and their solution was aftermarket lights!

I purchased the car new and have maintained the vehicle in very condition. What happened is the headlights have gradually become dim as time passed, now they are not effective, creating an unsafe driving condition at night. I spoke with the dealer about this problem and I was informed that this is a common problem for the 2013 Acura RDX. There were no warning lights or maintenance tasks that would prevent this problem. The vehicle is available for inspection.

My 2013 Acura RDX headlights are so dim and it is very dangerous for me to drive at night. This is worse when raining or street lights aren't available. It seems to be a known issue that these cars are equipped with unsafe low-beam headlights that gradually dim over time. This is a huge safety risk, even more so for families with young kids. Why were these not raised earlier and why are these cars not recalled for the fix? Please take necessary and immediate action so lives are not lost over this. Thank you very much for your time and consideration of this matter.

After 10 years, the low beam headlights have become very dim to the point that it’s difficult and unsafe for myself and other drivers for me to drive this car at night, especially in the fog or rain. Apparently this won’t be fixed by simply replacing the bulbs and will be a costly repair at no fault of the owners. I agree with many others that this needs to be a recall fix.

My headlights are dim and this started happening about 3 years ago when my car 7-years-old. I have to use my brights to drive at night. The Ron Tonkin Acura of Portland, OR told me the projectors are bad and that both headlights need to be placed for $2000. This is luxury vehicle and this situation is ridiculous. This needs to be a recall. Others have complained online about the same issue.

Over the last few years or so, the low beam headlights have provided less and less illumination of the road when driving at night. I have purchased and installed a variety of different new bulbs in attempts to rectify the problem and have tried adjusting the set of the beam, all to no avail. At this point the low beams provide dangerously little illumination on the road in front of the vehicle and the only reasonable way to drive is with the high beams on. I have searched online forums and it seems that the reflector dish in the headlight assembly delaminates over time to the point that it no longer directs the light of the bulb forward in front of the car. I called the Acura dealership in Annapolis, MD and was told that the forums are correct and the headlight housing is failed. The only thing they could do for it was to replace the entire housing at a cost of $2,300 ($1,000 for each headlight and $300 for the labor) with another OEM housing, which has not been modified or upgraded from the original and would therefore have the same problem. Acura would not bear any of the cost of this replacement. The original headlight housings are still in hand and available for inspection upon request. The dealer did not need to inspect the parts, they were already aware of the problem, so yes, it has been reproduced and confirmed by the dealer. There is no warning light or message associated with the problem, just a progressing failure to illuminate the road. The safety of the driver, occupants, and others on the road, is put at risk by the inability to see ahead of the vehicle and the consequent need to drive with the high beams on. The date provided below is the date of the filing of this report, but the failure has been progressive and did not occur on a specific date.

Low beam headlights gradually became dim to the point of not illuminating the road. Replacement halogen bulbs made no difference. The reflective coating inside the low beam projector housing delaminates to the point that no light illuminates the road. You literally have to drive with high beams on as those are in another housing. Acura dealer said only solution was to replace the entire headlight unit. I spent about $500 on replacement headlight housing from eBay and paid a body shop to install them. Acura refuses to recall the 2013-2014-2015 RDX that all have this same issue.

My car headlights are very dim and can't see road well at night-other cars have trouble seeing me. This has slowly happened over time. My mechanic replaced headlight bulbs still a problem and he says the reflectors are bad so I have ordered new headlights. I went online and found this has been a problem for many Acura RDX owners, Acura is aware but hasn't sought a recall to fix situation. However, Acura had same problem on another model (TLX I believe) and did recall and fix problem. This is a safety hazard and almost had head on collision multiple times in the last few years so try not to drive at night which is unrealistic. Other issues are had to replace side passenger mirror which spontaneously melted and cracked, car is garage kept. Similar melting of plastic back side area of car on drivers side, others online report similar problems for my year and color car, Acura won't do anything about it

There hasn't been a specific incident at this point. I am reporting what appears to be a manufacturing defect with the headlamps on my 2013 Acura RDX. I have owned this car for approximately 9 years and recently (past 6-12 months) noticed having difficulty seeing the road at night. Even worse seeing the road at night when raining. I took this vehicle to my personal mechanic and he suggested that the reflective coating inside the light seems to have dulled or has become corroded. He suggested this should not happen and wondered if Acura was aware of it. I did a brief google search and quickly found I was not the only one who had experienced this issue. I called Acura and opened a case file to see if they were aware or if there was something they could do. Then took to a Acura dealer to have them investigate. The dealer has agreed the reflective coating inside the light was no longer working as intended and may be the cause of the dim lights. They contacted Acura about this and Acura said they would only pay for half because the car was 11 yrs old. I suggested this didn't seem equitable since this definitely a safety issue that is not related to normal maintenance and there was literally nothing I could have done to prevent this. So in my opinion they acknowledged there is a manufacturing defect and refuse to own the problem. I don't believe it's reasonable to expect to have to replace the entire light assembly of a vehicle during the life of that vehicle to keep the lights working properly. Certainly not on a car that is just over 10 years old.