7.8

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
No data
Average Mileage:
24,350 miles
Total Complaints:
9 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. not sure (9 reports)
2017 Acura MDX transmission problems

transmission problem

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2017 Acura MDX Owner Comments

problem #9

Oct 152017

MDX Tech Pkg

  • Automatic transmission
  • 500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have had nothing but problems with my 2017 MDX that I purchased new. It has been in the shop more times than I can count and I’m tired of being told “we can’t duplicate the problem”. I know the transmission isn’t working properly, this isn’t my first vehicle. It doesn’t respond when you push the gas, tacts up to 5+ RPM and then finally moves. It hard shifts from 1st to 2nd and just doesn’t function properly. I get told they did a software update and drove it for 500 miles - what crap that is! This vehicle is a joke and I have made it very clear that It is a lemon. Acura Corporate is just as bad, they don’t care and half the time they don’t even call you back. NEVER BY AN ACURA - learn from my mistake, they are junk and they don’t care about client service.

I have lots of other problems with this vehicle, I will list them all separately so you can look them up by issue.

- dbtexas, Cedar Hill, US

problem #8

Aug 052021

MDX V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 104,583 miles

Transmission upshifts and downshifts hard and jerky. Acceleration is slow. Hesitation when accelerating.

- Jaime S., Branford, CT, US

problem #7

Sep 122018

MDX SH-AWD V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 15,000 miles

I bought a 2017 Acura MDX SH-AWD in 2018 as a certified used car at an Acura dealer. This is by far the most dangerous car I ever drove at the age of 40. On multiple occasions I have had it not accelerate. One time, I was completely stopped and tried to accelerate to turn left (crossing traffic) only to have it delay 2-seconds, then finally and dangerously it darted out in front of the traffic. I barely missed the oncoming cars. Another occasion, I was driving about 35 mph, and I had to pump the acceleration 3x in a row for it to engage. There were many other occasions where the acceleration was severely delayed.

When you are in tight bumper to bumper traffic and you need to accelerate to avoid a semi, don't rely on this car. I've tried pulling out slowly, I've tried pulling out quickly. It's all the same, the car doesn't care. Another note, and I'm not sure if I can say in the same thread but the automatic braking in cruise control would just slam on the brakes out of the blue. I was driving just yesterday on single lane road during broad day-light when all of a sudden it just hit the brakes hard. Talk about dangerous!!!

I can't imagine that there hasn't been severe injuries and accidents due to this failure. I just dropped it off at the dealer today and told them about the problems so I can have it notated on record. I have a feeling that this is going to cause an accident one day and I want it documented and Acura to be held responsible for such a reckless vehicle.

- bjared, Jacksonville, US

problem #6

Dec 112019

MDX Tech 3.5L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 30,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I'm so frustrated with the performance. When trying to accelerate after braking the vehicle has a MASSIVE hesitation where it just sits there doing nothing literally for a solid second or 2. Not only being very frustrating it's IMO very dangerous. If I'm at a yield and then need to merge quickly, if I'm getting on a highway from a parking lot, if I'm trying to switch lanes in traffic, etc etc the vehicle just bogs down and does nothing for that 1-2 seconds. I've never in my entire life had a vehicle which did this. I live in NYC so pretty much every driving move I make involves some form of braking and then accelerating due to the traffic here. I think yesterday was my breaking point as I was in traffic and braking and saw an opportunity to change lanes, I had open road and the vehicle in that lane was at least 10 car lengths away but was accelerating fairly fast. Normally it would be an easy, safe and legal maneuver, but having the vehicle bog down for 1-2 seconds while switching lanes made it quite dangerous and probably made me look like an Ahole.

My first thought was something was faulty. I took it to the dealer and had them test drive it and they said it was normal.

- Tony L., Brooklyn, NY, US

problem #5

May 312017

MDX SH-AWD 3.5L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 23,500 miles

From the day 1 I took the car from dealer lot, I observed the transmission jump from 1st to 2nd gear. Upto 3rd gear it would feel like the auto transmission is behaving like manual transmission. Unfortunately I did not drive the exact car while purchasing since I wanted a different color than what I test drove. Transmission jump happens when engine is cold. It almost feels like a gear slip and I could feel the jerk. If I drive say 20-25 miles, then it would be not be very noticeable, however down shift jerk was always noticeable. I took back the car after a month to the dealership and they kept the car for 3 days and returned back saying no issues found. Looks like they drove or freeway even though I asked that the issue is more noticeable in stop and go traffic. After 3 years the issue still exists and dealer says its normal. I drove few more MDX mainly in the car shows but I never encountered the same problem. So I guess the issue happens some of the vehicles.

- Sambit D., Irving, US

problem #4

Jun 192019

MDX SH-AWD With Tech

  • Automatic transmission
  • 25,000 miles

My 2017 MDX is always hesitating when shifting from drive to reverse, or 1st to 2nd, 3rd to 4th... It never ends. I've had it at the dealer twice. The first time they confirmed the hesitation and reset the computer that controls this. It was better for about a week. I took it in again last week and had the tech test driver with me, he said that they get lots of complaints on this year and it's nothing out of the ordinary. They reset everything again but at the end of the day, just told me to live with it.

I've had two 2019 loaner MDX's while mine was being looked at and none of them have this problem. It's unsafe and a hazard when you are attempting to accurate on the freeway and it can't decide what gear it will change into.

- Melissa G., El Dorado Hills, CA, US

problem #3

Oct 022017

MDX

  • Automatic transmission
  • 6,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I leased a New 2017 MDX from an Acura dealership in Los Angeles (This is my number 6 Acura vehicle), I noticed the vehicle in high engine temperature hesitate to accelerate when I pressed the gas pedal, I took the car to the dealer and complained about it and they told me it need software update and drive 500 Mills to take affect. when I picked the car up was doing same thing even drove over 500 Mills. After that I took the car to the dealer three more times, of course they tell me same thing and still not fixed. then I receive a recall on March 2019 for the same issue.

Here is the recall sentence:

Safety Consequence.

"Reduced fuel flow to the engine combined with vehicle operation in high temperature condition can restrict vehicle acceleration and/or cause an engine stall, which increase the risk of a crash."

I said my self (alright they found the problem), I took the car to the dealer again for the fifth time. of course they told me what I need to hear "we did the recall". guess what? It is same condition again. I contact the Acura Headquarter and they contact the dealer, then they told me to take to the dealer again. yesterday 7/29/2019 took the car back the dealer and asked for the loaner they stated they don't have one. This is second day my car is still by the dealer. So far no calls to inform me the status of my car and I am without car for second day I hope this will not take some more days.

I AM DONE BUYING ACURA.

- Artin B., Sun Valley, CA, US

problem #2

Dec 122018

MDX V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 12,000 miles

Transmission chokes/stalls, jerks while starting from STOP to GO. Cars fly by and at times I have been honked from behind. My transmission got a code of p287a. David McDavid Acura Plano just reset the code and told me everything is fine. But I am still experiencing the same hell with this transmission and they say they cannot do anything as their diagnostic run didn't show the code again. So, I guess I am just in a state of hallucination. Acura says that I have to work with the Plano McDavid Acura dealer. They are also of no help.

I will never recommend this dealer or Acura to any of my friends. Stay away from them.

- David K., Plano, TX, US

problem #1

Feb 232018

MDX Technology 3.2L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 2,500 miles

On February 23, 2018, I purchased a new 2017 MDX, SH AWD with technology package. The vehicle had 378 miles at the time of purchase. I purchased the vehicle from an Acura dealership in Maryland. Immediately upon leaving the dealership on that fateful day in February, I noticed the vehicle hesitated when I pressed the gas pedal. I thought perhaps the vehicle was cold and simply needed to warm up a bit. However, after weeks of driving, the problem persisted. The problem is a safety hazard as you never know if the car will have enough power for you to accelerate when turning again oncoming traffic or trying to merge to get on the highway.

The first trip to the dealership resulted in the technician agreeing with me that the transmission shifted poorly and hesitated. I was thankful as I thought there must be an easy fix since the technician identified the problem so quickly. No such luck. The technician told me that they were waiting for Acura to provide a software update for the transmission, similar to what Acura provided for the 2016 MDX that had even worse transmission problems than the 2017 models--his words, not mine.

The second trip to the dealership for the same problem resulted in the service manager informing me that the technician shouldn't have said they are waiting for Acura to issue a software update for the transmissions for the 2017 MDX. The service manager said there is no software update coming because there is no problem with the transmissions for the 2017 MDX. He also said, although he had never taken my vehicle on a test drive during the first or second service visits, that my car was performing as designed. I disagreed and scheduled a third visit, this time asking the service manager to take the vehicle on a test drive. Well, you know the rest, that got me no where. The service manager said (while my vehicle was hestating as he was driving) that he did not experience any hesitation with my vehicle, wow!

I contacted Acura Client Relations (I've been talking with them throughout the process) and found they had spoken with the service manager at the dealership where I purchased my vehicle and he was now saying that when he drove my vehicle, he noticed the hesitation and the hesitation is characteristic of the 9-speed transmission. Again, leaving me without options for resolving this dangerous problem. I've asked to schedule a meeting with the Acura District Representative. I am not hopeful. In addition to the transmission problem,

The representative at Acura Client Relations agreed that the Acura MDX with 9-speed transmission was designed to hesitate and hesitation in the transmission shifting is characteristic of this vehicle with the 9-speed transmission.

The rest of this review is my personal opinion. I will never purchase another Acura product, ever! I've never been so disappointed in the initial quality of a vehicle in the history of my car buying years. I test drove at least 7 Acura MDX vehicles prior to (and after) purchasing my vehicle. I can say that I did not experience a problem with hesitation like the vehicle I purchased. I also noticed that during all the test drives, the vehicles were already in "Sport" mode (the service managers says this helps to minimize some of the hesitation.) So, if you do not think to test drive the vehicle in all modes, you may not experience the poor shift quality and hesitation problem prior to purchasing the vehicle.

- md motorist, Ellicott City, US

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