8.7

pretty bad
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
2,929 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2018 Acura MDX engine problems

engine problem

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2018 Acura MDX Owner Comments

problem #7

Dec 012023

MDX

  • miles

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

The engien keep stalling, prolem accelerating jurky transmisiĆ³n and this is the only car I have to go work I take the highway everyday I am cosern that something can happend to me.

- Johnston , RI, USA

problem #6

Mar 302023

MDX

  • miles
It seems that, from the day we purchased the vehicle, there have been issues with the transmission regarding how it is programmed and how it responds to drive or input through the throttle. This causes the vehicle the occasionally lurch forward under acceleration, especially at low speeds in the parking lot. And times the throttle gets really confused and the transmission fails to deliver power to the vehicle for a second. This has happened to me two or three times. I was turning left when the vehicle lost power momentarily and oncoming traffic was headed straight for me and my vehicle. If the delay had lasted just a while longer, things would have looked very bad. Based on my research online, I am not the only driver experiencing this kind of problem with the transmission.

- Bethesda, MD, USA

problem #5

Jun 012021

MDX

  • miles
Gas petal is very touchy. It accelerates to fast even when you try to barely push the petal. And causes to shift hard.

- Marysville, WA, USA

problem #4

Mar 132022

MDX

  • miles

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

When trying to accelerate after braking the vehicle has a MASSIVE hesitation where it just sits there doing nothing literally for a solid second. 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. Drive the vehicle normally, apply the brakes and then right away take your foot off the brake and accelerate. You don't have to mash the accelerator, even with light to moderate pressure you will notice that lag where the vehicle is just sitting there with zero power. If you do accelerate moderately or hard after a second or 2 of doing nothing it will just completely jerk into motion. Does the same thing in all modes, it's actually worse in Sport and Sport+ mode because you get more power after the hesitation After braking moderately hard from 40mph to 15mph because someone cut in front. Then I changed lanes and had to accelerate because that other lane was going quite a bit faster. Hit the gas and nothing for what seemed like the longest 1.5 seconds until the thrust came back online Pattern: From Stop --> Accelerate for about approx 20 MPH -->Release the gas pedal and immediately apply the gas pedal. Another pattern: Travel in about 40 MPH, apply the brakes to a speed below 20 MPH and apply gas pedal. Consulted with the dealer multiple times and they think this is normal for 2018 MDXes. But it is indeed a safety concern. The dealer said they applied TSB 20-015 TCM update and it still has not resolved the problem. THIS IS A HUGE SECURTY ISSUE and DANGER HAZZARD. The issue happens every day. Below reported date is the latest occurrence.

- Cumming, GA, USA

problem #3

Sep 152018

MDX

  • miles
When the car accelerator pedal is pressed, from either a stop or slowly rolling from a stop, there is no response from the vehicle, no transmission downshift, no sounds - it just sits as if the car is off for 1-3 seconds and THEN accelerates/lunges. This happens everyday, intermittently throughout depending on where we are driving and the number of stops/turns but it is repeatable. This is a safety concern when attempting to turn left when there is oncoming traffic. I have reported this to the dealership of purchase 3-4 times and have been told there is nothing wrong with the vehicle.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #2

Jan 092019

MDX

  • 18,000 miles
The cruise control engages and the car takes off from a dead stand still when resume button is bumped. It is my understanding cruise control should not engage from a standstill or slow speed. I discovered this after the dealer serviced the car and the tech had turned on the cruise the resume button pertrudes out from the stearing wheel and as I was coasting through a turn on the dealers lot the car launched forward I took my foot off the gas peddle but it continued to excel. I took the car right back to the service department and was told I must have bumped the 'resume' button while turning and thats what caused it to unexpectedly excel. I asked, it engages at a virtual 4-5 mph crawl" even when no previous speed has been entered since the car was started" the service writer stopped the car, took his foot off the brake and he demonstrated how I must have bumped the resume as I was turning. He bumped the resume and the car launched off on its own from a complete standstill. He said it was a normal Acura trait but shouldnt exceed 25-30 mph. He said he had a subara that does the same thing. He said customers frequently complain about it being a safety hazard and he suggested we just be sure the cruise master control is turned off every time we start the car. I tried this with all my other vehicles and none of them even engaged cruise under 25 mph. This is in my opinion a very serious unexpected excelling problem that should be addressed

- Andover, KS, USA

problem #1

Sep 132018

MDX

  • 2,500 miles
While driving downhill a car approx 1000 feet ahead of me was slowing down to turn right while the car was still turning but completely out of the intersection the automatic brakes came on and came to a complete stop. The car that turned right was down the street it had turned on completely out of sensor range and the automatic brakes would not let off, when trying to accelerate it got stuck in gear but would not budge. Like when you dont shift a gear for too long in a stick shift car. Finally the brakes let off and I was able to drive but further down the same hill the automatic brakes did the same thing again while trying to accelerate to change lanes, there was not a single car infront of me at this point and no reason for the automatic brakes to do this. Both incidents almost caused me to be rear ended.

- Foster City, CA, USA

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