Acura MDX Complaints

3,381 consumer complaints on file.

#11691842October 7, 2025
POWER TRAIN
Upon normal highway driving a couple of months ago, began to notice shifting that was not smooth and rpm "surges" on hills despite constant throttle. Upon taking car to dealer, inspection revealed an internal spline failure between transmission and transfer case. Lead mechanic explained it was not the first he had seen of this model and that it was clearly internal and caused by a manufacturing and/or assembly defect. I caught the problem early enough to not have a complete car failure; however, left untreated, it would lead to a transmission failure. The remedy was a full transmission and transfer case replacement, with repair costs exceeding $13,000. Given car had 84,000 miles, it was not covered by 70,000 Power Train Warranty from Acura. Pictures of parts below.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11691940October 7, 2025
ENGINE
Hello. I went to the Acura dealership because I got a recall letter. I lost the letter itself a few days ago. I also had the check engine light come on once while driving. But then it went out on its own during the same trip. At the moment of checking my car by my foreman, he heard a knocking noise in the engine. He said that they will check my car on the recall and see what's wrong with the engine. After some time, he called me and said: I am very sorry, but you need to replace the complete motor as this knock is caused by a problem in the bearing. And alas your car does not fall under the recall to replace this bearing. I asked him which bearing he was talking about. And they answered that it was the one that goes into the recall under which my car did not fall. I clarified that its name sounds like: connecting rod bearing? He said: Yes. I've had all my maintenance done on time. Engine oil changes every 5,000 miles. Even before the 8,000 to 10,000 miles. I have all the paperwork with receipts and dates in my car paperwork bag. At every oil change no one has ever told me there was an engine problem. The car was purchased from a dealership in Libertyville, Illinois. The car is currently at a dealership in Naperville, Illinois. I wrote a complaint to Acura of California on 9/26/2025. To date, all I have gotten is a response: we have a lot of work to do, we will respond when we can. Very rude and disrespectful. Considering I could have been in an accident if the engine had seized up. That's what my foreman at the dealership said. Or even worse, my daughter could have had an accident. I was planning to give this car to my daughter since she got her driver's license. She really liked this car. Now I don't know what to tell her. I am asking for your help to resolve this problem. They still haven't contacted me or told me what to do. Appreciate it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11691608October 6, 2025
LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
the camera keep going online/offline in a middle of a highway while I'm on cruise control LKAS, ACC, Camera, and ect warning lights keep coming on.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11691498October 5, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Front sunroof panel spontaneously exploded while driving on the interstate highway. No impacts or other things touched the sunroof. Vehicles behind had to avoid large portions of the sunroof panel. Flying glass made it dangerous to quickly leave the highway. This is a 2024 mdx with less than 30,000 miles. Never been in an accident before.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11691360October 4, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On multiple occasions, after coming to a complete stop, the engine shut off as designed but then failed to automatically restart when I released the brake pedal or pressed the accelerator. This left the vehicle completely disabled in traffic until I manually restarted it by shifting into Park and pressing the ignition button. This failure is unpredictable, occurs without warning, and poses a significant risk of collision, particularly when stopped at busy intersections or in heavy traffic. I contacted my Acura dealer, who confirmed that this issue is a known concern on 2016–2020 MDX models and that Acura has issued Technical Service Bulletins (such as 23-001 and 23-002) and a warranty extension. However, even after updates, the problem continues to occur, and there is no permanent remedy at this time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11691038October 2, 2025
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Auto idle cuts off idling at stop light but when reengaged stalls the car completely. Must totally restart car before continuing causing back up in intersection and almost being hit. Happened several times, when I forget to turn auto idle off. New battery did not help
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11690522September 30, 2025
ENGINE
No prior issues with vehicle when all of a sudden/out of the blue the check engine light started flashing and felt decreased power. Pulled over, had it towed to dealership. After it was diagnosed they advised of a rod bearing failure, crankshaft failure and metal shavings in the oil which went through the engine. There is a recall for 2016 Acura MDX for this EXACT issue, however for some reason my VIN is not included?? The recall was effective Nov of 2023. I purchased vehicle Feb of 2023. Vehicle is still at shop as a complaint has been filed with Acura.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11690511September 30, 2025
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM:THROTTLEBODY/MANIFOLD
The contact owns a 2025 Acura MDX. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as intended, causing the vehicle to decelerate unintendedly. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. An independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed, and determined that the throttle body was damaged and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified on the failure and suggested that the vehicle be taken to the dealer for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 6,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11690434September 29, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ENGINE
During three separate incidents, my vehicle’s engine unexpectedly shut off without warning, twice in the middle of moving traffic and once while idling in a drive-thru when the engine idle stop/start feature was engaged. In each case the vehicle did not immediately restart, leaving me and my family exposed to oncoming traffic and high-speed vehicles, especially once while exiting a highway. The malfunction appears related to the engine’s idle stop/start or fuel/ignition system, but no specific component has been identified; the vehicle remains available for inspection upon request. Although I reported the incidents to the dealership, they stated they could not reproduce the problem and therefore could not repair it. . No warning lamps, error messages, or other visible symptoms appeared before or during any of the shutdowns, the engine simply stopped running, so there was no advance notice before the failures occurred.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11689725September 25, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Heard a loud “pop” while sitting in parked car. Radio volume spiked up and the passenger side of windshield was shattered. Clear defect in installation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11689382September 24, 2025
ENGINE
At a red light or stop sign, my MDX switches into Neutral without me knowing it. When I press the gas to go, my car won't move. Other vehicles behind me almost hit me as they expect me to go. I can't switch into drive. I must turn off car and then turn it back on. I feel this is very dangerous. This happens about once a week now. The MDX was just in for service and recalls a few months ago. Nothing was noted about the engine on the reports.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11689519September 24, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, STRUCTURE:BODY
White Diamond Pearl Paint started peeling prematurely approx 130,000 miles in 2023 in large sections causing unsightly paint. This is a very well known problem for this car in both Acuras and Hondas and a recall was done but with very very limited vehicles. Dealer refused to help us
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11689501September 24, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, POWER TRAIN, ENGINE
When cruising or coming off a stop, my car is incapable of accelerating promptly if I am trying to get out of the way or even merge into oncoming traffic on a highway. There is a severe acceleration delay perhaps with the throttle body. I have seen online complaints but the dealership said there has to be an actual recall number to correct this. My car has been in several times to fix this. A computer reset did not work. My car is one year old.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11689105September 23, 2025
POWER TRAIN
The car has been experiencing roughness and shaking in reverse 50% of the time. Some times it shakes and jerks much more than other times, but either way it seems to be a common problem when searching forums and there doesn't seem to be any solution besides replacing the transmission. The dealership has recommended a full transmission replacement which costs more than the value of the car. There are no lights that come up, but the jerkiness in reverse seems dangerous and there's a chance that if it jerks at the wrong time it can cause an accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11689185September 23, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
When driving and the stopping the auto start/stop feature does not rengage and the car places itself in park and becomes disabled and difficult to restart. When driving on a major highway when I was in traffic the car shut down, put itself into park and would not restart upon removing my foot from the brake. It then gave numerous error messages and would not respond to any commands. Traffic started moving and cars were then needing to go around my disabled vehicle. It finally responded to me trying to restart it. We had the car checked the week before it happened due to it being slow to re-engage when the auto start stop would be used. The dealership reported that there was nothing wrong. Brought it back after is was disabled on the highway for 5 minutes and they are still saying there is nothing wrong if they do not see it happen themselves. It is a danger to drive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11688563September 20, 2025
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The front camera responsible for forward collision warning and lanekeep has failed. The camera has part number 36160-TYR-A02. It failed on it's own but it could have been alot worse if it failed before a collision occurred. The dealer and independent repair shop said it was the camera code U3000-49 and this was an out of pocket repair. The symptoms include having these error messages on the gauge cluster. Adaptive Cruise, Lane Keep Assist, Road Departure, Collision Mitigation, and Auto High Beam Problem. At first it would intermittently show up but then after a while those errors would not go away.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11688550September 19, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Monocular windshield camera failed for no apparent reason on five-year-old car with less than 50k miles. Dealer cost to fix $2k. My concern is there are an many individuals on the Acura MDX forums complaining of the same problem. It appears to be a relatively common but very costly failure on many Honda vehicles that use similar cameras. I believe this is worthy of an investigation, especially since the camera is necessary for many safety related features to function properly.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11688065September 18, 2025
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
When the vehicle stops and the idle auto-start/ stop engages, the vehicle will automatically go into neutral and cannot be restarted until the vehicle is turned off then back on. This has happened at both stop lights and on the highway and almost caused a very serious rear end accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11688166September 18, 2025
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2020 Acura MDX. The contact stated that occasionally, while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, while the vehicle was stopped at a traffic light, the Auto Idle START/STOP failed to operate as designed, and the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer; however, the cause of the failure was unknown. Upon further investigation, the contact related the failure to an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11687765September 17, 2025
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN, EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Check engine light continues to come on after repair, lack of power and transmission skip at times. Reverse light dark, unable to see at all.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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