10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
43,471 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.

2010 Acura MDX electrical problems

electrical problem

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2010 Acura MDX Owner Comments

problem #8

Aug 222020

MDX

  • 103,000 miles

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

Vehicle: 2010 Acura MDX. I was on hwy 395 at night and the check battery light came on. We recently replaced the battery and I felt it safe to drive to the next town to have the battery checked before continuing. Within about 50 miles, all of the other warning lights coming on in succession. There was no shoulder or area to pull on this section of highway near mono lake and within 30 seconds the car lost all power and all the lights went out. I tried to turn on the emergency flashers and they wouldn't work. I couldn't see the road and was going to Ram the side of the car into the railing on the opposite side of the highway to try to get off the highway at night (still no shoulder on my side and I couldn't see anything without headlights) and my daughter thought to turn on her cell flashlight which gave me enough light to coast onto the opposite shoulder facing against traffic. Our car was completely dead and we also had no emergency lights. We quickly got out our camping lantern and wrapped our reflective safety rope around the car and luckily had cellphone reception and called for assistance. It took a chp officer over an hour to shine lights on the car and another 90 minutes for a tow truck to arrive. We were towed to mammoth lakes where we were told that it was the battery which they replaced when they opened in two days. Pulling out of the repair shop, we got a check charging system light and turned around finding out it was actually the alternator which was replaced the next day. My concerns are that we should have gotten a charging system alert and when the battery died we had nothing, no power, headlights, taillights, or emergency flashers. If we were unable to get the car off of the highway, I'm certain there would have been a bad outcome for us and whomever would have slammed into our car in the dark.

- Yorba Linda, CA, USA

problem #7

Aug 012015

MDX

  • 75,000 miles
The power lift gate won't close with push of the button from the driver's side and the button on the power lift gate. It would make several beeping noise and the liftgate would not close. It would have to be done manually by hand to close it. This is obviously done when the vehicle was stationary.

- Whittier, CA, USA

problem #6

Jun 152012

MDX

  • 14,000 miles
After purchasing my 2012 Acura MDX back in April 2012 just a few weeks later of this date my vehicle presented an issue with the driver car seat motor, as in not working properly and safely enough to accommodate the height of the seat to my needs. As soon as this happened I called it in and was requested to bring the vehicle in for repair. Few months went by until the same issue occurred and here I am unable to sit safely and properly due to the seat base not working again. For the second time the vehicle was called in and brought in for a supposed new/original part change. The service dept manager over at Acura of boston had told me the second time that this will fully be repaired and that it shouldn't reoccur. On June 2015 the exact same problem reoccurs and here I am driving around with a pillow because the seat base is not working at all therefore seat cannot be leveled to my height. I am extremely tired and very disappointed with this vehicle due to this ongoing problem which for me seems to be a mechanical defect from the original fabrication.

- Jamaica Plain, MA, USA

problem #5

Jun 072015

MDX

  • 34,500 miles

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

The vehicle was stranded on three separate occasions and would not start. The battery still worked. The dealership, hendrick's Acura in charlotte, nc, replaced a fuse twice and removed the automatic starter and replaced a wire. Today, the car would not start again. It has less than 35000 miles on it. A vehicle that cannot start and gets stranded multiple times create a safety hazard. Moreover the dealership was not sure what was causing the problem, but charged us to try to figure it out.

- Charlotte, NC, USA

problem #4

Aug 232014

MDX 4WD 6-cyl

  • 31,267 miles
I wanted to report a recent incident on Aug 23rd in which the engine of my MDX caught fire and burned while I was driving at 7:30 pm. I had to pull the car over and dialed 911. Subsequently the fire was put out using a fire extinguisher and the fire department. All of this happened within the space of 2 minutes with no apparent reason. The car was towed by the police and placed in an impound lot. My insurance company geico after examining the damage informed me that the vehicle had to be totaled due to safety concerns. The engine was partially chewed off due to the fire. The concerns I have based on this incident are the following: 1. I did not get any kind of warning from the computer or dashboard while this incident was occurring. 2. the air bags did not deploy. 3. my car was serviced just a week prior at pohanka Acura and received a clean safety record. 4. my car was impeccably serviced and maintained with a mileage of only 31,000 miles. 5. I have not understood what caused this incident. I spoke to Acura and the dealer pohanka Acura but received no clear explanation of why the engine caught fire and burned.

- Fairfax, VA, USA

problem #3

Aug 272012

MDX 6-cyl

  • miles
I am writing with respect to a defect in a 2010 Acura MDX (vehicle id #: [xxx]) that I previously leased. On August 27, 2012, my wife was driving said vehicle on the merritt parkway in ct. The electrical system and engine of the vehicle completely shut down while the car was in motion and my wife lost control of the car and could not bring the car to a stop and eventually the car rolled to a stop. My wife was terrified by the incident and called 9-1-1. after waiting a while, the car was able to be restarted and we brought it to the dealer where we had leased the automobile. The dealer ran a series of tests but could not identify a reason for what happened, and drove the car for several minutes, but told us they could not replicate the problem. We were, of course, no longer comfortable driving the vehicle and immediately terminated the lease. I subsequently had a series of communications with Acura client relations at 1919 torrance blvd. M/S 500-2N7E, torrance, ca 90501-2746 (800-382-2238) during which I ultimately learned that there were additional tests that Acura could have performed to determine the cause of the problem. I inquired as to what those tests were, whether those tests were performed on the car and, if so, what the test results showed, and if the car was ultimately repaired. However, I did not receive any response from Acura. Accordingly, I am writing to advise the NHTSA of the above, and to seek the assistance of the NHTSA in obtaining answers to the questions that I have asked Acura. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Greenwich, CT, USA

problem #2

Aug 102010

MDX

  • miles
Receive "battery charge low" warning message on console almost on a daily basis as soon as I open the car door. Took to Acura dealer and had corporate involved and was told that its the design of the car and deemed the issue as a standard logic feature with no action required. This year model has a power management system which I believe is new for 2010. I pointed out that it could be the battery, the charger, or the alternator, but they insist its normal. This has been happening for months and took car back to them about 5 times totaling over 20 days in shop with them telling me nothing wrong with the car. The car was bought new in 2010 and I should not have such issues with a brand new car. Another issue deals with the driver console, gps console, and radio console. They all seem to have a mind of their own and light intensity fluctuated with no logic to when and why. For example, the head lights turn on when senses night and the console adjusts itself accordingly but that is not the case with the rest of the console, the gps will stay in day mode and the radio will be bright as if it is in day mode. I also complained about the rear window defroster not working to expectation and was told by dealer that its working normal. This all surfaced a few months after I purchased the car and don't know what to expect next. There are blogs that can be googled such as mdxers.org with pages of complaints on this issue. Picture of the message is available on request.

- Manalapan, NJ, USA

problem #1

Jul 242010

MDX

  • 90,000 miles
Ignition key can be removed when engine is turned off but car in is in a gear other than park. It has happened several times over the past month and the dealer service tech was able to replicate it today. I was quoted a repair cost of over $550 to replace key cylinder and rekey the door car to match "new" ignition key. As of today, I have not fixed the defect but am going to seek another estimate to repair.

- Richmond, VA, USA

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