What's Wrong with the 2nd Generation MDX?

The Worst 2007-2013 MDX Problems

Excessive Oil Consumption

Changed your oil recently? I'm guessing you think you’re good to go for another 3,000 to 5,000 miles depending on the oil you’re using. Acura owners with V6 J-Series engines better think again.

Acura's Very Uncomfortable Seats

The seat design in certain Acura vehicles has been described as crippling. Owners complain that their legs fall asleep after 30 minutes of driving, and any long trips result in stiff backs, sore thighs, or messed up necks. Acura has been si…

What Owners Complain About

Sometimes it helps just to tally up the complaints and see where the biggest stacks are. Use this information to learn about troublespots or to run for the hills.

Worst Issues

2010 MDX excessive oil consumption 12 (100%)
2011 MDX excessive oil consumption 12 (100%)
2007 MDX "parasitic draw" after multiple dead battery events 7 (58%)
2012 MDX engine light on 3 (25%)
2013 MDX transmission hesitates 3 (25%)

Worst Topics

Engine 30 (100%)
Electrical 23 (77%)
Interior 10 (33%)
Transmission 8 (27%)
Suspension 7 (23%)

Worst Years

2007 21 (100%)
2011 20 (95%)
2009 18 (86%)
2010 16 (76%)
2012 10 (48%)
2013 9 (43%)
2008 7 (33%)

Timeline of 2nd Generation MDX News

Any hope of a proposed class-action lawsuit for faulty window regulators in certain Acure vehicles has fizzled after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals shot down the proposal in a 2-to-1 ruling. The plaintiff argued that Honda, parent company of Acura, installed window regulators that are insufficiently strong and insufficiently durable to withstand the forces required to perform [their] intended function. Functions like making sure the dang window doesn't fall into the door, for example.
Posted on
May 25, 2020
Tagged
#lawsuit
Source
carcomplaints.com
The 2014–15 Acura MDX and RLX have a 'collision mitigation braking system' that watches the road and hits the brakes if you’re about to crash. And that’s great when you’re about to slam into somebody’s bumper, less so when the system gets confused by a shiny guardrail that’s 100 feet away
Posted on
May 15, 2015
Tagged
#recall
Source
carcomplaints.com

What MDX Owners Say About This Generation

Excessive Oil Consumption
One day when I checked it with about 40% oil life remaining, the oil level on the dip stick barely registered. I topped it off, and just made a mental note to keep an eye on it. From that day forward, I was having to add oil every 2 - 3 weeks, just to keep it in the proper range. This was ridiculous in my opinion because the vehicle only had 30,XXX miles on it at the time, and the car was not hammered on every take-off.
2011 MDX Owner in IN

By the Numbers

7 model years
Grouping all models by their year can reveal some baddies.
101 complaints
Running tally of owner grievances filed to CarComplaints.com.
25th in reliability
Overall reliability rank out of 30 eligible generations.