The 2013 ZDX is pretty nice but I think the 2012 Acura ZDX Advance model was probably the best year. I believe the suspension is not adjustable on the 2013 ZDX. If you look at the center console right above shift lever, there is no suspension control knob like the previous advance model ZDX’s. I do like the front grill on the 2013 more than the 2012 though. Not too sure which year I would choose if we end up replacing our ZDX. Leaning more towards 2012 Advance model.
I have 2010 acura zdx had it for 6yrs.. no tears in my leather seats, no repairs normal maintenance dealer only repairs!! 158,000 and still going. I love it. Will keep it. People thinks it is 2023 car.. lol
Yeah, these Acura ZDX’s are great cars. Very reliable and still looks great after all these years. We don’t plan on getting rid of ours anytime soon. I feel like the shape of the 1st gen ZDX looks better than the new electric ZDX. We were hoping the new ZDX would have a similar roof line to the old ZDX.
You are right, a lot of people thought it looked weird back in 2011. People used to ask us if it was a car or an suv everywhere we went. 10 years later, almost all car manufacturers have a similar shaped vehicle. The weird looking vehicle gets compliments now.
The official first Crossover SUV!..the design still looks good to this day. Acura is known to put their Prototype Body design into production. This is clean!!
Extremely nice ZDX! I was very close to getting an used ZDX Adv back in 2014; but, got an 11 MDX Adv+Ent instead (+154,000 miles now after +8 years). The ZDX is still a beautiful vehicle. Also switched to full syn Mobil 1 oil and it kept my oil consumption steady at 1.5 qts per 9000 miles oil change interval.
Glad you were able to manage the Acura oil consumption issue. We also use Mobile 1 full synthetic 5w20 oil since we purchased the vehicle. We are at 200,000 miles now and the motor is still running strong. Let’s see if we can get to 300,000 miles.
The product you clean it with matters for sure, being garaged overnight makes as much of a difference in order to look the way it does these many years later. I love this car.
Yeah, I’m always afraid of going through car washes. I feel like the brushes in those car washes are too rough with the paint. I have also tried the touchless car washes, and the high pressure water seems like it’s also too harsh. I just end up using a spray detailer and wipe the car down whenever it gets dirty. Spray on and wipe off. It’s easier than washing the car the traditional way.
I have a 2013 with < 75K kms on it. Nothing else on the road like it. Only a total of < 50 were sold on the Canadian market for the 2013 model year, so was lucky to find mine with very low mileage back in 2019. Once the new EV version of the 2024 ZDX comes out ours will go up in price similar to the way the old NSX went up in price when the new generation NSX came out. I liked the way your beak turned out. Will look to get mine professionally painted this summer and get some some new rubbers - still have the original rubbers.
2013 year was the last and probably best to collect. They added all the bells and whistles to that model before ending the ZDX production. You are right, the price will probably go up when the new ZDX comes out. One of the first things we did when we purchased our ZDX was to get the silver grill painted to match the car. Keeping everything factory oem would probably be best and help hold its value. Maybe you can source a used grill off eBay and get it painted to match. When you are ready to sell later, reinstall the factory oem silver grill back onto the car. Thanks for checking out the video.
nice vehicle…i have a 2012 ZDX silver with 73k…rarely drive it cause i’m an OTR truck driver…all i can say is it’s different but fun to drive…it only receives around 2500 miles per year since purchasing in March 2015…i haven’t had any issues with it besides recently getting the AC charged…still up in the air about selling it, lol…
That’s really low mileage for a 10 year old vehicle. We had A/C issues about 2 years ago too. We checked the A/C pressure switch, Freon level and relays but it wasn’t the issue. Our A/C compressor went bad. The A/C clutch wouldn’t turn on. Luckily, Honda Odyssey and Acura MDX A/C compressors also fit the ZDX, so it was easy to purchase a replacement. It has worked great since the replacement. Silver ZDX’s look great because the silver grill matches the exterior well. We don’t plan on getting rid of ours any time soon.
Thanks, the 2010-2013 Acura ZDX still looks great after all these years. We are planning to keep ours for a long time. They are very reliable and easy to fix when things go wrong. We were also thinking about getting the new ZDX too. We will have to see what the range looks like when it comes out. We go on a lot of road trips with our 2010 ZDX and it might be difficult to do it with an all electric ZDX.
Thanks for watching. Yeah, you should get one. I feel like the price for the ZDX has bottomed out and should increase in value slightly once the new ZDX comes out. For the taillights, I used a vinyl cutter to make the 3m vinyl taillight covers. It was a lot of measuring and tracing of the factory taillight and using adobe to create an eps file to print with my Rolland vinyl cutter. I will make a RU-vid video of the measurements I used to cut the vinyl.
Update: Here is the link to the vinyl taillight cutout I designed for the 2010-2013 Acura ZDX. It is a .EPS file and worked on my Roland brand vinyl cutter. Let me know if you have any issues using the file. diywithduy.godaddysites.com/zdx-vinyl
Yes, I used a computer design program to create a .EPS file. After I created the cut line file, I sent the .EPS file to my Vinyl Cutter/Plotter to let the machine do perfect cutlines. I still have the saved file for the taillight cutlines. I will add it to my website so RU-vid “subscribers” can download the file for free. Here’s the link to where the file will be located. diywithduy.godaddysites.com/zdx-vinyl
The grill is the factory silver grill. We took the car to a professional body shop that our local Acura dealership recommended. We had the body shop color match the grill for us. We have no regrets with the black grill. The car instantly received compliments after the big silver grill was gone.
Another question. Did you change the timing belt and the water pump? If so how many time? I read somewhere that the timing belt maintenance need to be done every 105 000 miles. Thanks
Yes, I had the timing belt and water pump changed at 120k miles. I took the car to the local Acura dealership. It was about $2k to get it done back in 2016.
Thanks for sharing the informations. It's pretty rare to find some good update content about this car ! What are the specs of the 22 rims and tires? How is the ride with the 22 rims? Is the fitting is good or do you need any modifications to fit the 22 on it? Thanks
Hi, We purchased the wheels over 10 years ago, but If my memory is correct, they are Vossen CV1 22” x 9.5” rims with 5x120mm bolt pattern, 38 offset. Center bore is 73.1mm and I added 64.1mm/73.1mm hub centric rings. Tires are Falken Ziex 265/40R22. Black tuner spline lug nuts were also installed. The factory lug nuts did not fit the wheels. All 4 wheels and tires are the same size for all wheel drive. The fitment is pretty good. The front tires rub slightly if you turn your wheel all the way to the right or left. It does not rub during normal driving. We only notice the rub when we are parallel parking in tight spots. Acceleration is slower compared to the lighter factory wheels. We love the look of these wheels so much that we don’t mind the slower acceleration.
Yes, transmission shifts great. I drain 3 quarts of transmission fluid and refill every 12,000 miles. I also change out the transfer case fluid and rear differential fluid every time the service light tells me to. So far, so good. Almost 200k miles on the ZDX.
Ours has been very reliable. It’s basically the same vehicle as an Acura MDX. We have only had a few issues over 10 years of ownership. Couple of the big repairs were alternator and Ac compressor. Almost 200k miles and we don’t hesitate to drive the car long distances.
Isn’t this the same 3.7 engine as the TLs from that timeframe? I know the TLs had a bad oil consumption issue with it I’m wondering if this suffers from that as well
Yes, you are correct. This is basically the same motor in the fourth generation 3.7 liter Acura TL SH-AWD. Our car burns about half a quart of oil every 3000 miles. Our local Acura dealership told us it was normal and an acceptable rate. Here’s a quick video of the oil burning issue. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-J3fxM3rmysE.htmlsi=1Zd3l6SFlGklI6jh
what is the difference between the tech and advance? which versions are the best? is the ZDX better than the 1st gen Lexus RX 300? Can it handle any type of off road?
Here’s what I remember about the 3 trims. The advance package is the highest model. 2010-2012 Acura ZDX had 3 trims. Base, Technology, and Advance. 2013 only had 1 trim that was similar to the advance model, except it did not have the adjustable suspension. The 2010-2012 ZDX Advance package has everything the tech package has plus blind spot monitoring, front collision mitigation, and adjustable suspension. If I were to choose the best trim and year, I would choose a 2012 Acura ZDX Advance. The main difference between the 1st gen Lexus RC300 and ZDX is that the Lexus has more cargo space in the rear trunk and more space for rear seat passengers. The all wheel drive system on the ZDX does great driving on sandy beaches and thick snow. Our ZDX has never had trouble going through different terrain. Hope this information helps.
@@DIYwithDUY thank you so much for the detailed answer. yes, it helps a lot. also mild off road (sand, snow, mud, hills) capability matters. unfortunately the roads are not getting better either. but the ZDX looks sharper from day to day. at least in my eyes. have been dreaming about it for quite a long time...the RX300 is cheaper though, but my heart beats ZDX all over.
Hi, We do a lot of mixed city and highway driving in Florida. Our gas mileage is approximately 17 mpg. When we go on road-trips , we usually get 20 mpg. Our aftermarket 22” wheels reduced our gas mileage slightly compared to the factory 19” wheels. When we had the factory 19” wheels, we used to get 18 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on road trips.
Hi, The Acura ZDX has a 3.7L V6 engine. It produces 300hp and 270lb-ft of torque. The ZDX feels quick and fast with the all wheel drive system. It’s not the fastest thing on the road, but you can easily take off at a stop light to pass other vehicles. It has the right amount of power. The ZDX does not feel slow by any means. It can keep up with many newer vehicles. Towing capacity is only 1500 pounds, so it’s not very strong if you are towing. Our tow hitch has the smaller 1.25” tow hitch receiver.
Hi, Looks are subjective. Some love the looks and some don’t. I don’t believe there has ever been a vehicle designed that everyone around the world likes. Different people like different designs and it’s okay.
That would be a lot of fun to supercharge this ZDX. We currently use it as our family car, so I can’t sacrifice the reliability of the ZDX yet. Maybe when we get another family car, I can turn this into a project.
Still not a fan of the front design, its very pointy. I own a 2012 crosstour and thst car still looks weird to me and sucks thats theres no aftermarket support for it unless its for the interior since its an accord. I still like my Crosstour but its a weird looking car.
Yeah, the front of the ZDX has always been the downside to the Acura ZDX. I blacked out the front grill to tone down how pointy the front is. After blacking out the front grill, random people started complimenting how good the car looks everywhere we go.
It’s pretty similar to the KB2 engine. The engine code is slightly different but they both have a 3.7L V6 with 300 HP. ZDX engine code is J37A5. I believe the Acura RL KB2 engine code is J37A2 9. I’m pretty sure most of the parts are interchangeable for the 2 motors.
Its probably a good time to purchase the ZDX while the price is low. They will eventually increase in value due to how rare they are. This car does not get good gas mileage. It requires premium fuel and is rated for 16 MPG in the city and 23 MPG on the highway. We get about 19 miles per gallon where we live. There is a little stop and go traffic with a lot of highways here in North Florida.
The grill is the factory silver grill. We took the car to a professional body shop that our local Acura dealership recommended. We had the body shop color match the grill for us. We have no regrets with the black grill. The car instantly received compliments after the big silver grill was gone.
