22nd Aug 2006, 18:48

First of all the MDX is not a high end vehicle. Acura may be Hondas luxury brand, but there are not many people who consider Acura a "Luxury" car. Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW are luxury cars.

Acura is doing the same thing Lexus has done with their first SUV. The RX300 has a faulty transmission, but unlike Acura Lexus has not recalled it. Lexus will not pay anything if the car is out of warranty. My mothers RX cost her close to five thousand dollars.

I drive a Mercedes, and yes they have little problems, but the motors are reliable. The problems are more electrical related like windows, seats, mirrors etc.

I just took delivery on my 07 S550. The car is not what I expected and I will be buying the new Lexus LS460 when its becomes available in October. I still think Lexus is the most reliable car on the road, but Mercedes has better styling. I'm going back to my roots of Lexus. My first car was a 1992 Lexus ES300. Runs like new to this day.

5th Jul 2007, 13:07

I had my transmission replaced at 45,000. The dealership gave me a hard time, but eventually did it at no cost as it was a "certified pre-owned" vehicle that I had put less than 10,000 miles on. One of the technicians (not the dealership) told me that they have had serious problems with all Acura's manufactured in 1999-2002 because they used a different bearing manufacturer and they were found to be defective. I was also told that this problem is rare (but not unheard of) in the MDX, it mostly affected CL, RSX, and TSX.

A friend of mine has a CL and he's replaced the transmission twice (at his own expense). I've had 3 Hondas and I thought upgrading to an Acura was a good idea... should have stuck with the Hondas. Now I'm looking at fighting with the dealership again over some damage to the radiator that caused my fan to seize up and melted the compressor on the AC unit. (They don't want to cover it, because they say the vehicle must have been in a collision). Well, I haven't been in any type of collision (and wouldn't it be just plain stupid to fix the exterior damage and leave the mechanical damage if I had??).

I wanted this car since they first started making it in 2001 and now I wish I still had my 1997 Accord with 200,000 miles instead of this junk heap at 65,000.

7th Sep 2007, 16:43

I purchase a 2001 Acura MDX August 9th 2007 from a Bank Branch Manager and his brother-in-law. I've been having trouble with this Acura MDX from the date I purchased it. I was told the vehicle is in top condition.

The third day after owning the vehicle, I noticed the vehicle did not drive it's best. I took it to a mechanic who said it needed struts. The guy offered to fix the struts. "That never happened" I found out the Acura CD was broke, I phoned the bother-in-law and he asked my husband and I to meet him at Best Buy in Cola., SC to get it fixed. "He never showed up"! As the days progressed, I only drove the vehicle 5 times since August 9th.

The fifth day, my husband and I went to Myrtle Beach SC on our way back something pop on the Acura. We both jumped out of the vehicle to see if he had hit anything, as we proceeded to get back into the Acura the doors locked while the key was in the ignition and the Acura was still running. Luckily I had my cell phone in my hand, we called 911 and paid $75 for a locksmith @ 1:00am in the morning. As we proceeded to drive off, it sounded like the front axle fell off. We had to call 911 again for a tow truck. We paid $250.00 to be towed from Myrtle Beach to Orangeburg, SC.

After another mechanic checked the vehicle out, they stated it was the transmission. My husband phoned an Acura dealership, and he gave the Service Dept. the Vin#. The service department clearly stated that the vehicle was covered under the recall and to get the vehicle towed to them. We paid $150 for the tow. After a day or two, I received a phone call that the transmission "went to the bad" and it was "NOT" covered under the recall. I was told the previous owner came in and had a "PART" put on the transmission in August 2005 and it would cost approx. $3,456+ to fix the transmission.

Also, I noticed another recall listed on the internet, which was the Coil/Springs and the Acura dealership stated they would not do anything regarding the recall.

My Acura that I have not had the pleasure of enjoying is parked with Ins. on it, tax and tags, and I have to come out of my pocket to pay for the transmission. I phoned the home office in California and they are saying the same thing regarding the previous owner and the transmission.

A co-worker of mine had the same trouble with a recent model Acura and they fixed hers "FREE" of charge. I'm just at the end of my rope with the Acura dealership. My hats off to the person that went to the Acura dealership and they fixed your Acura off of "GOOD FAITH". I will never own another Acura! Maybe I'm not the right person to receive a "Good Faith" fixer-upper. Your comments are very helpful.

13th May 2009, 12:59

I drove my Acura to 160K miles until the transmission went. I went to a transmission place, and they told me they will take it apart and see if it needs to be rebuilt. Little did I know at that time is that everyone else recommends at that kind of mileage to get a replacement. Shame on me for believing them. To say the least; they took it apart (700 dollars) wanted to charge me 4K for a replacement after they called me and said it could not be rebuilt. I told them NO and I will pick the car up and have the work done somewhere else. They charged me another 235 dollars in order to get the car in a towable condition. This is ridiculous as that should be part of the original charge. I have been had.

But just got a replacement transmission for 1600 and the car is running fine. I only need it for another 12 months or so, so hoping it will last that long. Not sure why everyone else is having them go at 70K. I think Acura is a good car and this year MDX had some problems, but I think that is not the norm.

BTW, if you are having issues with the transmission, go to the dealership, they will do it for 3500.00 and you will have piece of mind. They have much more at stake and value their reputation. If you have problems, call corporate, they will get on them. Just my two cents.