It's odd that I am here. I have said over and over that I would not 1) buy a Japanese vehicle; 2) would never buy a SUV type vehicle and 3) would never buy a car with all the electronic gizzies that infect almost everything being built.
So far I have been able to adhere to my stated positions. That was until I "discovered" something called the Acura ZDX this week.
Now, why I had NO idea why I didn't know what a ZDX was, since I am a reasonably inquisitive car guy, and have been for, oh, longer than most people on this list have been alive by a factor of two, beats me. But there I was staring at the screen at something called a ZDX and I'll admit I was curious. So I read and read, and for the past week have read everything I could find and so I am now here. Because I am contemplating actually trying to see one of these things in person.
The first and most important question I have is whether anyone on this list who has owned his/her ZDX for longer than a few months, have actually driven the car in bad weather. I would prefereably like to hear from someone who owns and drives their car somewhere that bad weather is a fact of life for more than ten minutes and I do NOT mean a sudden thunderstorm. You see, we live in Maine and that poses two major issues. First of all we have snow and ice and extreme cold for four months out of the year and secondly, the nearest Acura dealer is 250 miles from here, so even getting to look at one is problematic. Top Gear profiled the BMW X6 in ice and snow and it failed miserably. That's a deal killer if the Acura doesn't perform well on snow, ice and in really serious winter. Anyone know anything from real experience. Not all AWD systems are equal, and we are starting out here with a lot of experience with Audi Quattro, and most systems are a step down from that.
The other question I have is with regard to the wide sills. They won't bother me, but my wife might object and she has a back disc issue so climbing in and out is a consideration and one reason the lower slung cars and true sports cars are ruled out. I am thinking those cute little running boards that I have seen on a couple of cars listed for sale on line might fiill the bill for egress and entry for my wife.
I also wonder about how good the headlights are. We have severe, real dark here and there are miles and miles where there are few streetlights and no other lighting along the road, so headlights are extremely important. I have been looking closely at the nose of the ZDX trying to figure out how I might mount large driving lights on the front, and it isn't promising. I suspect the headlights are a compromise at best but anyone who has had experience driving in rural areas in the dark or REALLY dark nights might offer some comments here. It appears from what I have read so far that most owners of these cars are in warm climates and in primarily urban or suburban areas.
Any comments will be appreciated.
