Acura Mdx
Problems & Worst Years

Engine trouble runs through most of the Acura MDX's complaint file. The worst year by volume is 2016, with 279 complaint occurrences spread across 34 distinct problems, and its top reports are dominated by connecting rod bearing failure, engine knocking with loss of power, and engine stall at idle attributed to that same bearing failure. The 2017 model year continues the pattern at lower volume — 114 occurrences — with rod bearing failure and outright engine seizure leading its list.

For 2018 (92 occurrences), the mix shifts toward engine stalling during acceleration, electrical failures that trigger dashboard warnings, and acceleration delays blamed on the transmission. In 2019, totals climb back to 165 and the tone changes: engine stalling and power loss lead with 44 reports, followed by a sizable cluster of complaints that recall repairs were unavailable or delayed, plus safety-severity reports of stalls at idle tied to the stop-start system and a malfunctioning forward collision avoidance system. The 2020 model year carries the highest count of safety-severity problems in the file — seven — led by auto start/stop system failure (38 reports), electrical failures that shut the vehicle down, and a transmission that could shift to neutral unexpectedly.

The 2022 MDX reads differently: 73 occurrences and no safety-severity problems, centered on transfer case and transmission spline failure, AWD system failure, drivetrain clunking with power loss, steering column vibration, and a handful of sunroof-explosion reports.

Recall coverage is extensive. Campaigns 16V417, 19V060, 23V751, and 23V858 apply to 2016; 19V060 and 23V751 to 2017; 18V777, 19V060, 19V298, 23V751, and 23V858 to 2018; 19V298, 21V215, 23V751, and 23V858 to 2019; and 23V751 to 2020. No recalls are listed for 2022 in this dataset. Given the 2019 complaints about delayed recall repairs, verify completed recall work by VIN before purchase, not after.

Keep the numbers in perspective: these counts reflect what owners filed with NHTSA rather than measured failure rates, newer years have had less time to accumulate reports, and any individual MDX is better judged by a pre-purchase inspection and its service records than by the year on the title.