This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
November 10, 2019 traveling on highway at ~65 mph, pressed accelerator to pass car and vehicle would not speed up...felt like the car was in neutral. After about 7 to 10 seconds the transmission finally kicked in and the car accelerated. If this happened on a 2 lane road the lack of transmission delivering power to wheels could have resulted in a head on collision. Service apt scheduled with Acura dealership where purchased and was told they could find no 'codes' or alerts in cars computer and that they found nothing wrong. The did say they reprogrammed the transmission software...but they have done that 2 other times. Car has only 35K miles on it and we have brought car into Acura dealership 4 times to address the harsh shifting of transmission and told them each time we felt it was a serious safety concern. The above incident of no power when attempting to pass on highway is the first time that has happened..but is a very serious concern. We were told for the 3rd time that the harsh shifting and gear-wandering was a 'characteristic' of this make / model car and that Acura has been trying to address the issue with transmission software updates. I have seen many online complaints of the "gear-wandering' transmission issue online and have also read similar safety complaints of car losing transmission power at highway speeds. Please thoughtfully review this complaint and contact me if you need additional information. We firmly believe that the known reported issues of the 2016 Acura MDX shawd transmission problems are a huge safety issue. This 7 seater SUV is driven by many families!
Experience three different scenarios where the transmission either appears to shift into neutral or gears grinding. 1) shifting from park to drive, the vehicle all of a sudden stalls and engine revs up without any motion. Resolved by shifting vehicle back to park, and then to drive. 2) when vehicle is in-motion at highway speeds between 40-70 mph, all of a sudden vehicle loses acceleration power and speed decreases for 3-4 seconds forcing other vehicles from behind to either brake or slow down. Often occurs while merging onto the highway or lane changes where acceleration is required. 3) while driving on normal streets at 30-40 mph, gears grind for approximately 1-2 seconds without losing acceleration.
Before sharing the details, you should know that this could be a deadly safety matter. If a transmission fails at highway speeds (or any speed), the vehicle loses power and could very easily get crushed by an 18-wheeler. A driver and/or a whole family could die. You should go after Acura before someone has to die as a result of Acura's negligence. My 2016 Acura MDX had its first transmission replacement in October 2016 at around 14,000 miles and about 18 months into ownership. I had purchased the vehicle as a brand new car from an Acura dealer. I am the only owner, and it has been "babied" and received proper maintenance from Acura dealer service shops only. Leading up to the 1st transmission replacement, the vehicle was making awful "chirping" noises upon slight acceleration at slow speeds. After the 1st transmission replacement, all seemed fine until recently. At around 38,000 miles (spring 2019, still barely within the 4 year warranty), the vehicle began to exhibit identical symptoms. At 39,000 miles, the MDX received its 2nd transmission replacement. On the very day that I picked it up from the 2nd transmission replacement repair work, the MDX started making far worse noises than before the repair work. It is back in the shop again and Acura seems to be at a complete loss for how to fix it properly for a 3rd time! there are many Acura/Honda technical service bulletins about transmission issues on these and Acura/Honda-related vehicles which use the same transmission. It is clearly a well-known problem putting countless drivers/passengers at physical risk or financial risk.
At 80,000 miles car started making a noise sounding like metal spinning on metal. Transmission system problem light came on. Rpms went really high when I took my foot off the gas the rpms went really low. This all happened while I was on the highway. Pulled over, shut car off, restarted car, warning light went away rpms were fine but the noise was still there. Took car in for service they couldn't find any problem had transmission fluid replaced and the noise went away however occasionally the transmission system problem would occur. So I shut off the car restart and the problem goes away. Seems the transmission problem happens when I'm on the highway and going up hill between 60 and 70 miles an hour when the rpms go slightly above two. It does not seem to happen on level ground. I do mostly city driving and put another 50,000 miles on since the first time the problem happened. Took car in for service while the light was on, diagnostic shows torque converter problem. They tell me I need a new transmission. Apparently 2016 models you cannot rebuild because there are no parts available. Still driving car today with no problem doing city driving but I always panic when I have to get on the highway. Apparently I've gone 60,000 miles more with a transmission that cannot go on a highway uphill. Just recently my car is been going into neutral by itself and it stalls occasionally. This happens while I'm driving. I feel very unsafe but I don't have the money to replace my transmission. I wish the torque converter could be replaced but there are no parts available. I believe Acura is not admitting to a problem
- Garden City, NY, USA
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Purchased the car 7/6/2019 used with 26,943 miles. At 27,961 miles I was driving on the freeway in stop and go traffic. Pressed on the accelerator after a stop and the car jerked and I heard a loud "clunk". warning lights appeared for "transmission system problem" and "blind spot warning malfunction". the car seemed to stay in first or second gear as I slowly exited the freeway at high RPM. Had it towed to the Acura dealer. Transmission replaced as a result.
I have experienced stalling at low speeds and higher speeds. When slowing down by taking the foot off the gas (coasting sometime) and when gas pedal is pressed, the car seems to have a transmission stall. You can press the gas pedal to the floor and after a momentary stall, the transmission catches back up and regains power. Very dangereous for intersections and interstate driving. 7-18-19 was the last date to experience this occurance. I have taken the car for service at Acura and they assurued me the computer update was done and no other issues should occur. Many have occurred since that update.
Three times while travelling on the interstate my vehicle suddenly shifted into second gear while I was trying to accelerate, and got stuck there. It suddenly dropped my speed from 70 mph to 30. I was presented with several alerts on my dash (emissions failure, sh-AWD failure, transmission failure). I was able to continue driving at 30 mph until I could get to a safe area. After I turned off the vehicle and waited for a period of time the warnings would clear. I was finally able to get the vehicle to a dealership while the warnings were present. I was told after diagnosis that the transmission software needed to be updated. After the update the problem has not presented itself again. I was told software updates are not covered under warranty unless they are a recall issue.
Purchased a certified pre-owned Acura MDX Dec. 30, 2018. Since owning the vehicle we have experienced 3 episodes of vehicle losing forward throttle while driving at highway speeds. 2 episodes occurred while attempting to pass another vehicle. It is as if the car goes into neutral. There are no error messages or engine shut off. Within 10-15 seconds the transmission engages. After each incident we have brought the vehicle to our local Acura dealership. P2638 code is generated with each incident. They cannot replicate the problem. They have updated the software and completed all the latest recalls. Corporate has been notified and we have a case number. Each time the vehicle has been returned to us telling us it is safe to drive. Corporate refuses to help and assures us it is safe. The most recent episode May 19,2019 happened after the dealership had our vehicle for 2 weeks.
All dash display warning lights will come on sporadically while standing or in motion, last from a few hours to a few days or so, which causes vehicle speed to decrease and certain features to not work. Dealer service unable to resolve problem, but will clear error codes in computer to shut off warning lights.
When slowing down at a yield or a right turn on a green light to about 5-10 mph and then when pushing on the gas pedal there is no acceleration. The car feels like it loses power and then after a second or two, the car will jerk and accelerate very quickly while reving the RPM very high. This has happened on numerous occasions and is extremely dangerous when making a right turn. There have been times where I make the turn and the car does not accelerate and then there are cars behind me that must swerve to avoid me.
June 10, 2018 - 4 hours into 5.5 hour trip, traveling on hwy 98, South of tallahassee, fl, vehicle lost acceleration, series of warning lights started flashing. Limped over onto shoulder, turned vehicle off, called roadside assistance. When tow truck arrived an hour later, started vehicle and it ran normally....drove vehicle to proctor Acura, following tow truck. Dealership and factory personnel unable to determine problem. December 4, 2018 - 1 hour into 3 hour trip, wife traveling alone on interstate 10E, mobile, al. While on bridge across mobile bay, vehicle lost acceleration. As she was coasting onto narrow shoulder, frantically pumping accelerator, vehicle re-engaged and trip was completed with no further issue. Unsure if warning lights came on. March 8, 2019 - 3.5 hours into 5 hour trip, traveling on hwy 49N, between hattiesburg and collins, Ms. Various warning lights came on, emergency flashers came on by itself, vehicle never lost acceleration. Pulled over onto shoulder, left engine running, and then drove appx 5 miles to a sonic drive-in. Turned vehicle off, let it sit for a few minutes, called Acura customer service and was assigned a case #. restarted engine, emergency flashers no longer on, other warning lights still flashing and drove to destination. Started trip back home the next day, warning lights remained on until a third of the way, then those lights went off. Took vehicle to tim smith Acura, ft. Walton beach, fl. Met with dealership service manager, who explained diagnosis and repairs made, but would provide no assurance whatsoever problems would not reoccur. Also mentioned he just received an email from factory that a possible fix was at hand but would be a few weeks away. Notes: * problems occur only during a road trip * vehicle fixes itself every time * vehicle is unsafe & unreliable * emailed am Honda, no reply
Transmission has jerks and slips. These problems were addressed to dealership 4 times after purchase. First two visits they changed transmission software. Each time transmission worked worse then before update. On 3 and 4th visit answer was - "this is Acura's design". on Jan 21 current year while trying to start from intersection turning to the right transmission lost any traction/torgue for 1-2 seconds after start moving. Engine RPM went up to 6-7 RPM without any traction to the wheels. This almost led to the accident but truck driver moving straight was able to break in and change his trajectory. On Jan 23D it happened again on stop sign when car refused to start for few seconds while engine RPM was in almost red zone. Both happened on country road. These were the coldest winter days (less than -20 F) and transmission acted worse. All other time it "jerks" and "slips" intermittently during driving without crucial consequences so far. Attached is service report from 2D visit to the service within first month of ownership.
When driving the SUV after the second gear kicks in the transmission has a jolt and it feels like a lag in the shift but then pulls very hard. This shift pull happens when you are going 15-20 mph. Engine timing belt has a loud chirping noise.
We purchased our 2016 Acura MDX new, back in 2016. Starting in 2018, we began experiencing issues with the way the vehicle changed gears. When we attempted to accelerate, it would not. The tachometer would rev up, and then the gear would violently engage. We took it in multiple times to the dealership and were advised that they couldn't find anything wrong. On 1/8/19, while my wife was out of town, we experienced a "catastrophic failure" of the transmission, literally pour out transmission fluid and other mechanical parts of the transmission and leaving my wife stranded out of town. We were towed to the Acura dealership in the area, and the transmission had to be completely replaced. We got the vehicle back about a week later only to discover that the same symptoms that eventually that led to the catastrophic failure are still on going. I took the vehicle in to the local Acura dealership and met with the service manager who advised me that this is a known issue with the 9 speed transmission, and precisely why Acura replaced this transmission with a new 10 speed transmission in the later models. The service manager added that since there was no fix, there wasn't anything they could do for me and referred me to the "customer service" corporate line. For weeks I worked with a case manager to reach a reasonable resolution. My ask was to either 1) fix the known defect in my transmission, 2) extend the warranty to cover the eventual failure of the transmission, again, or 3) buy back the vehicle. They closed my case yesterday and advised me that there's nothing they can do for me despite this again, being a known issue. Meanwhile, I'm stuck with a lemon. I don't have faith in this vehicle and certainly don't feel safe with my wife and children traveling in it. Its a matter of time before it breaks down again, leaving us stranded.
Car electrical activated when start button was pushed but it wasn't clear if engine was running. Car would not "turn off" or lock. Many error messages came across dash and car was not properly recognizing fobs. An Acura service center was called and we were told our only option was to disconnect battery leads or let the car run until the battery died. Many hours later the battery died. When the Acura service truck came to get us they couldn't even get the car into neutral after charging the battery and wheel truck had to be called. The dealership had the car for weeks and was not able to determine the pause. We have multiple videos of the incident. Note that the car was not in accessory mode and the behavior is inconsistent with accessory mode.
While in motion, first brakelight had warning then warning about trailer stability assist. When I went in reverse, the whole dashboard including the navigation screen went black and the car felt like the engine stopped. This happened a few times. I don't think the engine actually stopped though because I did not have to restart the car. The brake light error message has occurred driving forward as well, but not accompanied by the blackout of the dash and nav panel. All of this happened while in motion. The worst of this happened on 07/30/2018 but variations of this occurred prior to that.
There were a number of incidents prior to 16 February 2018 where the care jerked while coming to a stop and hesitated on acceleration possibly related to transmission misshifting. We took our car into an Acura dealer on 16 February 2018 but the issue was not resolved.
Vehicle jerked while stopping (in motion), vehicle would hesitate on acceleration (in motion or from a stop), this was followed by flashing error lights. The vehicle was inoperable and had to be towed in by Acura service.
While cruising at about 70mph on the interstate, I attempted to accelerate and the vehicle RPM would drop to about 1000 RPM and not allow me to control the acceleration. Regardless of various attempts to accelerate the vehicle continue to lose mph. After 5-10 seconds, I was finally able to regain control of the vehicle. This has happen on about 6 occasions since I purchased the vehicle in 2015. I've attempted to have this issue resolved at the dealership service. On each occasion they stated a software fix would correct the problem but this continues. I've also had the issue occur while driving about 40mph on the city street. I was told by one dealership (the above incident occur while more than 500 miles from home)that this appears to be a transmission issue and that it would need to be replaced to resolve and would be covered by warranty, this dealership provided me a computer code from my vehicle. My current home dealership continues to state it is only a software issue, despite the fact that I had brought my vehicle in for maintenance 2-days prior to my trip and a software update was performed. The first time the occurred my vehicle had less than 20,000 miles, the vehicle currently as about 77,000 miles
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Cary, NC, USA