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.
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.
- Irvine, CA, USA
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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
The contact owns a 2016 Acura MDX. When the vehicle accelerated after slowing down, the transmission slipped and the vehicle stalled several times when making turns. In addition, the vehicle made an abnormal chirping sound from the engine compartment, which distracted the driver. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The dealer had not been notified; however, the contact planned to take the vehicle to finlady Acura (315 auto mall dr, henderson, nv 89014) for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures and did not assist. The failure mileage was 34,000.
The vehicle shifted to neutral while driving at 70 mph and the dash started showing transmission and fuel system errors. The vehicle would not shift back to drive mode. After pulling over to the shoulder and turning the vehicle off and on the vehicle could not be put in drive. After about 30 minutes of repeatedly turning off and on the vehicle shifted to drive and was drive able. This could have lead to an accident if there were vehicles behind me.
I recently bough the car and I am now regretting it because the 9 speed transmission is very sluggish and doesn't provide power when needed. In the morning when I start the car the car just lags the power until I press hard on the gas pedal. We took this on a road trip to California from Utah and at times I feel like I don't have ample power to pass other drivers and it takes a few seconds to think before it does anything. I have an appt scheduled with Acura tomorrow to see what can be done to fix this otherwise I am taking this SUV back to the dealer for another car. I am very disappointed with Acura for making this kind of a transmission and I wish I have kept my BMW.
Acura is refusing to address a serious problem with the engine and power train with the vehicle, this may have already caused accidents on other cars in other states. Please see the historical data which gives a complete audit of the issues I have had. 9/22/18 11 days- vehicle taken to the dealer and dropped for service, punch list of issues since purchase that needed addressed. Alignment report is signed off on 9/24/18, battery check 10/1/18, service was started on 9/29/18, car sat for a week with no service attempt made. Oil stains on roof liner were left there and was told they would not clean them off (later proven to be mechanics grease by merrillville) and spider was my problem not theres per 'rob' in service. Issues the car was taken in for. All of the below service was comleted in 5 miles according to odometer readings. On 10/12/18 I took the vehicle to Acura of merrillville per 'anthony' from Acura client care to have it checked. I drove it with the tech and the tech was able to validate a lot of the issues right away. It was returned to me on 11/2/18 22 days on 11/24/18 I returned the vehicle to Acura of merrillville due to the transmission issue returning, also addressed a couple of issues. Car returned on 11/28/18 4 days vehicle loses power when shifting to accelerate, often have to downshift using paddle shifters to make power or car acts like its going to stall. Brakes do not function unilaterally, hit the brakes heavy while in traffic and the back will begin to come around as though one of them does not grab. Engine loses power when in traffic it struggles to accelerate which could cause a crash if needing power to accelerate onto a expressway from an entrance ramp, or anywhere that requires power to move the car.
The 9 speed transmission on this car is terrible. Hard shifting, lunging forward, the car accelerates on it's own like it doesn't know which gear it should be in. When accelerating, the car hesitates and feels like it loses power. This is a very dangerous vehicle. Took it to the dealer several times and they say this is the way the car was designed. It was done to meet fuel efficiency standards. Acura is sacrificing safety and comfort in order to meet the fuel standards.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Baton Rouge, LA, USA