The Acura ZDX: A Luxurious, Reliable, Safe Oddball

Many unusual cars are hard to live with. They have styling that cuts into occupant space, uncomfortable seats, overpowered or underpowered engines... stepping out of the norm in all the wrong ways. They may be unreliable, seeming one step removed from their first prototype, or just simply worn out from age. And most of them, being very old, are unsafe. Forget airbags; many old unusual cars lack even a seat belt.

The Acura ZDX is a unique case - the unusual case of an unusual car that is easy to live with. It launched in December 2009, around my 17th birthday, so I remember when it launched and can give you a unique perspective on it. I haven't ridden in one yet, but my days are likely numbered until I do.

Acura is a luxury vehicle brand, but being owned by Honda, they are liable to release one of a kind cars. The Acura ZDX was somewhat similar to the BMW X6, but was built off of an MDX SUV platform as opposed to a car platform. It had an odd look, sort of like a coupe-station wagon-SUV hybrid, yet it had four doors.

Behind its odd, one of a kind looks, it was a traditional early 2010s luxury SUV. It had all of the features you would expect in a luxury SUV. It got good reviews, but was marked down for its utility - the low roof limited space to load cargo. Being a Honda, it was very reliable and very safe.