U.S. public vehicle records

2017 Acura MDX problems and owner complaints

Explore the records behind recurring owner reports.

Key facts

253 owner complaints analyzed

8 distinct recall campaigns

36,000 mi median reported failure mileage

Scope: 2017 model year. Data snapshot: 2026-09-12 (September 12, 2026). 95 complaints include usable failure mileage.

Owner-reported patterns

Most common problems

Engine is the most frequently named component, appearing in 78 of 253 complaints (30.8%). A complaint can name multiple components.

Recurring terms in complaint narratives
Topic	Matching reports	Share of complaints
Transmission and shifting	63	24.9%
Braking behavior	58	22.9%
Engine operation	29	11.5%
Electrical and battery issues	17	6.7%
Steering behavior	6	2.4%
Fuel system concerns	6	2.4%

Topic matches use published keyword rules. They describe mentions, including negations or comparisons, and do not confirm a diagnosis. Read the matching rules.

Component breakdown

Number of unique complaints naming each component. Top eight shown.

Engine

Power Train

Electrical System

Unknown Or Other

Service Brakes

Vehicle Speed Control

Engine And Engine Cooling

Fuel/Propulsion System

Engine: 78; Power Train: 64; Electrical System: 42; Unknown Or Other: 30; Service Brakes: 20; Vehicle Speed Control: 20; Engine And Engine Cooling: 18; Fuel/Propulsion System: 17

Reported problems by failure mileage

Complaint counts in mileage bands. These are not failure rates per vehicle or mile.

Under 25,000

25,000 to 49,999

50,000 to 74,999

75,000 to 99,999

100,000 to 149,999

150,000 and above

Under 25,000: 42; 25,000 to 49,999: 16; 50,000 to 74,999: 8; 75,000 to 99,999: 10; 100,000 to 149,999: 14; 150,000 and above: 5

Under 25,000 miles has the most reports with usable mileage (42). 158 complaints have missing, zero or invalid mileage.

Complaints over time

Year the complaint was filed, not the vehicle model year or incident year. The snapshot year is partial.

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

2016: 1; 2017: 9; 2018: 18; 2019: 20; 2020: 11; 2021: 16; 2022: 19; 2023: 21; 2024: 36; 2025: 59; 2026: 43

Pattern summary

Engine leads the component reports. Transmission and shifting appears in 63 complaint narratives. Braking behavior appears in 58 complaint narratives. Engine operation appears in 29 complaint narratives. Use these patterns to inspect individual reports and prepare questions for a mechanic.

Calculated from recorded counts. An AI narrative has not been published for this selection.

Complaint evidence

Examples provide context, not a representative sample or a verified diagnosis.

Owner report 11003847 · 2017-07-09 (July 9, 2017)

THE VAN STARTED RUNNING ROUGH AND STARTED JERKING. THE GEARS WERE NOT SHIFTING WELL AND GOT AN ERROR MESSAGE P0730. IT WAS VERY UNSAFE AND WE WERE LUCKY NOT TO HAVE BEEN DRIVING ON FREEWAY. HUGE SAFETY ISSUE .

Owner-reported narrative. 3,500 miles reported. Look up ODI 11003847 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 11023885 · 2017-09-17 (September 17, 2017)

I WAS PARALLEL PARKING MY CAR AND AFTER I GOT THE CAR IN THE SPACE WARNING LIGHTS STARTING COMING ON THE DASHBOARD. THE WARNING LIGHTS WERE; ELECTRIC PARKING BRAKE PROBLEM, EMISSIONS SYSTEM PROBLEM, BLIND SPOT INFO SYSTEM PROBLEM, TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING PROBLEM, TRANSMISSION SYSTEM PROBLEM. I TRIED TO PUT IT INTO PARK AND IT WOULD NOT ENGAGE. THEN I THOUGHT MAYBE IF I DRIVE IT FORWARD SOME AND THEN PARK AGAIN IT WILL RESET. I DRIVE OUT OF THE SPACE AND NOTICED THERE WAS A RED FLASHING LIGHT THAT READ PARK AND THE D WAS FLASHING. I THINK THE …

Owner-reported narrative. 1,200 miles reported. Look up ODI 11023885 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10945613 · 2017-01-17 (January 17, 2017)

SINCE CHRISTMAS, THE VEHICLE HAS HAD 8-10 OCCURRENCES IN WHICH THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM IS GOING HAYWIRE. THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LISTS ERRORS AND CODE FAILURES. AND THE VEHICLE CANNOT EVEN BE SHUT OFF. THERE IS NO CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THIS OCCURS, AND MANY OF THE 'ADD' ON SAFETY COMPONENTS (LANE ASSIST/ETC) DO NOT WORK. WE STOPPED BY THE DEALER LAST MONTH, AND THEY COULDN'T FIND ANY STORED CODES. YESTERDAY AFTER MY WIFE DROVE 6 HOURS HOME FROM DETROIT, WITH NO CRUISE CONTROL AND THE ISSUES OCCURRING, SHE STOPPED BACK AT THE DEALER. THEY TOOK IT IN, …

Owner-reported narrative. 4,500 miles reported. Look up ODI 10945613 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10955198 · 2017-02-17 (February 17, 2017)

GOING ABOUT 20 MILES AN HOUR IN TRAFFIC A VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME AT A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 2 CAR LENGTHS STARTED TO TURN RIGHT INTO A GAS STATION LOT UNEXPECTEDLY. THE AUTOMATIC BRAKING SYSTEM DETECTED A POTENTIAL FOR COLLISION AND WARNED ME. I PRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL AND SLOWLY ATTEMPTED TO APPLY THE BRAKES AS THE SITUATION WAS NOT CRITICAL. THE CRITICAL BRAKE INDICATOR DID NOT GO AWAY, AND THE CAR IMMEDIATELY FELT AS THOUGH IT DEPRESSED THE BREAK FULLY AS IF A COLLISION WAS IMMINENT. THE DRIVER BEHIND ME WAS FOLLOWING VERY CLOSE AND COLLIDED WIT…

Owner-reported narrative. 1,300 miles reported. Look up ODI 10955198 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 11128100 · 2018-09-07 (September 7, 2018)

ON AUGUST 21, 2018 I PULLED INTO A PARKING STALL, AND REALIZED I WAS NOT ALIGNED PROPERLY. I CLICKED ON REVERSE SO THAT I COULD REALIGN WITHIN MY DESIGNATED SPACE, AND THE CAR LUNGED FORWARD JUMPING THE CURB AND HITTING THE BUILDING APPROXIMATELY 4-5 FEET IN FRONT OF ME. BOTH DRIVER SIDE AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. $13,000 WORTH OF DAMAGE TO MY CAR. WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK OF GETTING THIS CAR IS 2017, I'VE HAD MANY ISSUES SUCH AS FAILURE TO START AND BRAKE WARNING LIGHT COMING ON RANDOMLY WHILE DRIVING. HAD TO HAVE THE VEHICLE TOWED AT LEAST 3X TO THE DEAL…

Owner-reported narrative. 12,431 miles reported. Look up ODI 11128100 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 11195860 · 2019-04-12 (April 12, 2019)

DANGEROUS LOSS OF POWER WHILE ACCELERATING ON THE HIGHWAY! THERE HAVE BEEN THREE SEPARATE INCIDENCES OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS. WHILE I WAS TRYING TO ACCELERATE ON THE HIGHWAY, THE CAR SEVERELY LOST POWER AND THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT STARTED FLASHING. THE CAR SEEMED TO OPERATE NORMALLY AFTER TURNING OFF AND ON THE ENGINE. THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMED THAT THERE WAS NO COMPUTER RECORDS OF PROBLEMS AFTER EACH INCIDENCE. ACURA JUST ISSUED A RECALL OF THE FUEL PUMP ON THIS MODEL YEAR MDX. HOWEVER, ACURA AND THE LOCAL ACURA DEALERSHIP REFUSED THE REPAIR DUE T…

Owner-reported narrative. 12,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 11195860 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 11100193 · 2018-06-06 (June 6, 2018)

WE HAVE EXPERIENCED MANY ISSUES WITH OUR 2017 MDX SH-AWD. ON A COLD START WHEN SHIFTING FROM FIRST TO SECOND GEAR THERE IS A SUDDEN LURCH HARD SHIFT. ONCE WARM THIS IS STILL PRESENT BUT NOT AS PRONOUNCED. THE TRANSMISSION SEEMS TO SLIP THROUGH GEARS AND HAVE SUDDEN DOWNSHIFTS THAT DECELERATE THE CAR OR THE VEHICLE WILL LURCH FORWARD WITHOUT HAVING YOUR FOOT ON THE GAS AS IT SHIFTS ITSELF INTO A DIFFERENT GEAR. WHEN TRYING TO 'PUNCH IT' AND ACCELERATE QUICKLY IT WILL OFTEN HESITATE TO GO INTO THE CORRECT GEAR THEN SUDDENLY REV HIGH AS IT SPE…

Owner-reported narrative. 5,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 11100193 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 11355126 · 2020-09-15 (September 15, 2020)

STARTING, SEAT PUSHED FORWARD AGAINST STEERING COLUMN MOVING DOWN RADIO BLARING DRIVER CLIMATE CONTROL WENT TO LOW PASSENGERS TO 80 DEGREES BLOWER TO HIGH AND CAR LUNGED FORWARD. DEALER SAID PREVIOUS COMPLAINTS WERE DISCOVERED AND ADDRESSED TO BE TWO FOBS ENTERING VEHICLE AT SAME TIME AND AND VEHICLE CONFUSED THEY ADVISED ONLY ONE FOB IN CAR AT ANY ONE TIME. QUESTIONABLE ANSWER NOT SUBSTANTIALLY PROVEN? AND WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE TWO FOBS. VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY IN GEAR.

Owner-reported narrative. 12,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 11355126 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 11516694 · 2023-04-12 (April 12, 2023)

On a 2,000 mile family road trip the car shifted to neutral two times at highway speeds. Fortunately, I didn't lose my power steering or power brakes. The car remained on but I had no power. Then the car jerked, the rpm's dropped to 1,000 and then jumped around a little and the car took off again.

Owner-reported narrative. Look up ODI 11516694 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 11485766 · 2022-09-21 (September 21, 2022)

Fuel pump (High - pressure & low- pressure) failed which has caused significantly reduced acceleration and caused the engine to stall in mid operation of the vehicle. I (Driver) was the only person in the vehicle and there was no crash. I would say there is high risk of a crash and it is a serious safety hazard. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.This vehicle component was checked by an independent service center and got it repaired. Fuel pump & high pressure pump was ordered and replaced…

Owner-reported narrative. Look up ODI 11485766 at NHTSA ↗