Honda makes some of the most reliable cars on the market today, and it’s one of the reasons why Honda has so many fans. For Honda fans looking for a luxury car, Honda makes and sells luxury cars under the Acura name. That said, despite Honda’s great reputation, the Acura RLX has some common issues, including a popularity one.

The most common issue with the Acura RLX

Car Complaints said that, by far, the most common issues with the RLX happened in the 2014 model year. The 2014 RLX was the first model year of the car, so naturally, Honda had some kinks to iron out. The most common issue on the 2014 RLX though, was not something that Honda fans may have expected.

With an average mileage of just under 7,000 miles, several 2014 RLX owners reported hearing a strange noise coming from their car’s suspension. This rattling noise was very common and, as Car Complaints said, a “very significant” issue. Some owners disliked the fact that this problem was happening on such a new car, especially since, as one owner said, “Not what you expect from a 50k vehicle.”

Not only that, but another owner commented about how many recalls that the 2014 RLX had. They said, “3 recalls already on car with 4,000 miles.” And, unfortunately for that owner, Car Complaints reported that, by 2015, there were actually four recalls on the 2014 RLX. These recalls affected thousands of cars, most of them being Acuras.

That said, due to how new the cars were, owners didn’t report paying to fix this issue as it was likely covered by their warranty.

Other issues with brand-new Acura RLXs

The two other most common issues with the Acura RLX both happened relatively soon after the owners drove off with their new cars. The second most common issue happened with the 2016 RLX. With an average of fewer than 13,000 miles on the odometer, several 2016 RLX owners said that their tire’s sidewall had separated. 

2016 RLX owners seem to agree that this issue has to do with Michelin tires not working well with the 2016 RLX. One owner even said that they had, “3 tires blown in normal driving in 4 months,” which was not normal for them. While this issue involved tires, solving them involved buying new ones. Owners reported paying, on average, a couple hundred dollars to fix this problem. 

Another common issue, once again, involved the 2014 RLX. With less than 13,000 miles on the odometer, many owners reported having this problem with their 2014 RLX. That said, this wasn’t that big of a problem, as it involved the car’s infotainment system not working properly. It’s not clear how much it cost owners to fix this infotainment issue, but Car Complaints did say that it was a “pretty bad” problem.

The Acura RLX is no more

While the 2014 RLX was supposed to be a brand-new luxury car in Acura’s lineup, these issues, on top of other things, ultimately prevented the RLX from succeeding. In fact, like many other cars, Acura has sold so few RLXs that Acura has decided to kill the car off in North America, according to Motor1.

For example, Motor1 said that Acura sold just over 1,000 RLXs in 2019. In comparison, the RLX’s siblings, the RDX and the MDX, sold over 100,000 cars in 2019 combined. These low sales figures were ultimately why Acura decided to kill the car off in the North American market. That said, the RLX isn’t dead. 

Motor1 reported that Honda has decided that it will keep selling the RLX in other countries under the Honda brand and the new name, the Legend. So, while the Acura RLX is dead, the Honda Legend is still kicking.