2004 Acura MDX Base 3.5 V6

Summary:

Timeless Perfection!

Faults:

Updated Aug 2013:

2006:

Electrical - The volume and channel changer needed work, but was under warranty.

2011:

When jump starting the battery, the audio didn't work at all. Just called a parts guy to punch in a code. Fixed in ten minutes.

The window washer line to the rear window froze up twice now. They ran hot water to thaw it out.

2012:

Left headlight has condensation due to bad seal. Left it.

DRL light came on. Broken relay - $200 job.

One tire pressure sensor starting to leak due to corrosion. $100 job.

One plastic vent tilt thing snapped. I'll just leave it.

2013:

Front right tie rod - $100.

Front right wheel bearing - $250.

ABS sensor adjustment - $40.

Ignition recall.

General Comments:

Not really any rust yet.

All wheel drive is all right, but not a true 4 wheeler (Nokian WR G2 tires helped a lot).

Still holds up in style, still gets noticed.

At 6'1", the driver's leg and head room is limited.

On long trips, the 2 kids folded down the middle seats, and only had the 3rd row up so that they could stretch their legs out.

Fit and finish is superb.

Dealer costs are a little on the high side, but it is a luxury brand after all.

Paid $51,000 in Aug. 2004. So far I've got 203,000km, and only about $800 in faults. I think I'll keep it forever.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th May, 2011

2004 Acura MDX 3.5L

Summary:

MDX quality is poor

Faults:

The latest thing is the chrome is coming off the door handles, leaving a razor sharp foil that we have all sliced our hands on.

2nd, I can remove the car keys in any gear, and I often get out of the car with my keys, and the car rolling back. Really really dangerous.

3rd, the vents are all broken, they are really fragile, designed wrong and poorly put to together. Hard to sell a car with all the vents broken.

4th, the seat heaters never worked well. Our Jeep and Lexus on the other hand heat up great.

5th, the wind shield wipers freeze up easy because the defrost hits the wrong spot. My cheap van had a heating element, which is a great idea in Canada.

The MDX also has many other cheap cardboard and plastic stuff that is worn out and looks bad. We had some leather replaced, and now it needs more, but is out of warranty now.

My wife is looking for a sedan, the Acura TL looks good but is off our list.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 31st December, 2009

15th Dec 2012, 01:02

Your 2nd fault is now a factory recall. I just heard on the news this week. Along with Honda Pilots and Odyssey's.

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1081099_2003-2006-acura-mdx-included-in-wide-ranging-honda-recall

2004 Acura MDX Tour

Faults:

Vent louver control broke on both sides, just over the 3 years warranty period. It showed a serious design flaw, and poor quality. Such quality does not match a $38K category car.

Extremely unthoughtful dealer. Wanted charge me $200.00 because it is one month over the warranty

General Comments:

Not impressive at all. Will never buy Acura again.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 30th August, 2007

12th Mar 2008, 13:54

Let me get this straight. After 3 years and 37K miles of usage, the reason you will never buy another Acura is that the vent louver broke and the dealer refused a free repair because it was out of warranty? How dare he. You are absolutely right, Acura's are overrated junk.

P.S. I'm willing to take that piece of garbage off your hands. As you are well aware, these are not worth much due to horrid vent louver problems, but I'm willing to give you a good deal and let you trade up to my Ford Explorer. I guarantee that you'll never complain about the vent problem again.

19th Apr 2008, 22:53

Nice! Could not have said better myself.

4th May 2008, 09:43

Yeah.

Those louver problems are really a big deal. I mean, you certainly can't drive the car without them. Who want to drive down the road with perfectly comfortable leather, awesome sound system, perfectly smooth engine, awesome navigation, and have the louver vents mess up. Boy what a terrible problem to have.

LOL.

30th Sep 2008, 10:48

Wow, reviews like these are a great example of why customer reviews are so useless.

26th Jun 2009, 21:14

OK - I have to admit it... Was test driving a very nice 05 MDX. All was well EXCEPT that two of the vent louvers were broken. You got it - - - no purchase by me. :)

It is true that it's a stupid little thing, but to me, just seemed to say something about the overall quality. Still may buy an MDX, but will look for one that was a little more loved.

17th Dec 2009, 12:02

My driver side louver broke, the dealer said it is not covered by the extended warranty, and would cost $97.00 to fix. They say the box holding the louver needs replacing. I think I will go to a body shop to see what they will charge.

Other than that, with 104,000 miles on my 2004 MDX, no other problems. Looking to get timing belt and spark plugs changed, and expect to go another 100,000 miles.