2016 Acura Mdx problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Engine (112) · Power Train (96) · Vehicle Speed Control (19)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Acura Mdx model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
174 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (7)
Suspension:rear 2026-06-04 · campaign 26V365000 · 965,561 vehicles
Defect: American Honda Motor Company (Honda) is recalling certain 2016-2022 Honda Pilot, 2017-2023 Ridgeline, 2019-2023 Passport, and 2014-2020 Acura MDX vehicles that were sold in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, or Wisconsin. The rear subframe may corrode at the suspension mounting points,
Risk: Failure of rear suspension components, such as the rear control arm, can cause a loss of vehicle handling and control, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the rear subframe and install a rear subframe reinforcement kit and, as necessary, repair or replace the rear subframe components, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed July 27, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available, anticipated in the fall of 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are AOU and AOT. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) in
Interior Lighting 2025-04-17 · campaign 25V259000 · 152,800 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2014-2020 Acura MDX vehicles. Moisture may enter the tailgate lid light assembly and wiring harness, which can cause the interior and exterior lights to fail, including the lid lights, position lights, license plate lights and taillights.
Risk: Vehicle lights that fail to illuminate can decrease visibility and increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the wiring and install a fuse harness, replace the lid light, and repair the body dust sealer, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 30, 2025. Owners may contact Acura's customer service at 1-800-382-2238. Acura's number for this recall is FLI. Vehicles included in this recall that were previously repaired under NHTSA recall number 19V-256 will need to have the new remedy completed.
Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump 2023-12-18 · campaign 23V858000 · 2,490,460 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013-2023 Honda Accord, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R, CR-V, HR-V, Ridgeline, Odyssey, Acura ILX, MDX, MDX Hybrid, RDX, RLX, TLX, 2019-2022 Honda Insight, Passport, 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Clarity PHEV, Fit, and 2015-2020 Honda Accord Hybrid, Pilot, Acura NSX vehicles. The fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
Risk: Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the fuel pump module, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 6, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are KGC and KGD. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall numbers 21V-215 and 20V-314.
Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:hard Parts Internal/Mechanical 2023-11-13 · campaign 23V751000 · 248,999 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2015-2020 Acura TLX, 2016-2020 Acura MDX, 2016 and 2018-2019 Pilot, 2017 and 2019 Ridgeline, and 2018-2019 Odyssey vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error, the connecting rod bearing in the engine may wear and seize, damaging the engine.
Risk: A damaged engine may run improperly or stall while driving, increasing the risk of a fire, crash, or injury.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and repair, or replace the engine as necessary, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed March 28, 2024. 2016-2017 Acura MDX owner letters were mailed November 1, 2024. 2016-2020 Acura MDX owner letters are expected to be mailed in mid-December 2024. Honda began mailing owner notification letters as of March 18, 2024. 2015-2016 Acura owner letters are expected to be mailed mid-December 2024, 2018 Acura TLX owner letters are expected to be mailed the end of March/early Apr
Exterior Lighting 2019-03-28 · campaign 19V256000 · 322,897 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2014-2019 Acura MDX and 2017-2019 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid vehicles. Moisture may enter the tailgate lid lights, possibly causing a loss of the tailgate lid lights and the taillights.
Risk: Loss of the taillights reduces the vehicle's visibility, increasing the risk of crash.
Fix: Acura will notify owners, and dealers will modify the tailgate lid lights and install updated gaskets and a wiring sub-harness or will replace both tailgate lid lights. The repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began May 7, 2019. Owners may contact Acura customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's number for this recall is M49.
Fuel System, Other:delivery:fuel Pump 2019-01-29 · campaign 19V060000 · 437,032 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Acura MDX, 2015-2019 Acura TLX and 2015-2017 Honda Accord vehicles, equipped with a 3.5L V6 engine. Particulates in fuel may adhere to the internal components of the fuel pump, reducing its performance.
Risk: Reduced fuel pump performance can result in an engine stall, increasing the risk of crash.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will update the fuel injection engine control unit (FI-ECU) software and, if necessary, replace the fuel pump, free of charge. The recall began March 25, 2019. Owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's recall number for this recall is P3W. Honda's recall number for this recall is N3X.
Fuel System, Gasoline:storage:tank Assembly 2016-06-09 · campaign 16V417000 · 39 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2015 Acura MDX 2WD and MDX 4WD vehicles, 2016 Acura MDX 4WD vehicles, 2015-2016 Honda Odyssey vehicles, and 2016 Honda Pilot 2WD and 4WD vehicles. The affected vehicles have fuel tanks that were manufactured with insufficient welds which may separate and allow fuel to leak out.
Risk: A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel tanks, free of charge. Owners may contact Honda/Acura customer service at 1-888-234-2138. The recall began on July 29, 2016. Honda's numbers for this recall are KA9 (Honda vehicles) and KB0 (Acura vehicles).
Service bulletins (334)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Fuel/Propulsion System 2026-01-31 · ONL6AX01302026 · Other
owner notification letter - under certain circumstances, after coming to a stop and the idle stop feature engaging, the vehicle may not automatically restart. acura is providing a product update with a new pgm-fi software update to fix this issue.
Visibility/Wiper 2025-09-04 · B25-003 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - an uneven sealing surface allows moisture to enter the inner taillight(s), causing one or both of the inner taillights not to work.
Engine 2025-08-12 · BPS&08122025901 · Other
dealer message - acura is also implementing an additional (1) twenty-four (24) month period for 2015 model year acura tlx vehicles, commencing at the expiration of the 10-year warranty extension period for each vehicle, and (2) eighteen (18) month period for 2016 model year acura tlx/mdx vehicles, c
Visibility/Wiper 2025-07-09 · B25-026 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - an uneven sealing surface allows moisture to enter the inner taillight(s), causing one or both of the inner taillights not to work.
Visibility/Wiper 2025-07-09 · B25-003 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - an uneven sealing surface allows moisture to enter the inner taillight(s), causing one or both of the inner taillights not to work.
Engine 2025-07-07 · B23-002 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - under certain circumstances, after coming to a stop and engaging idle stop the vehicle may not restart automatically due to excessive cylinder pressure and/or low cranking torque. typically, the client can immediately restart the vehicle by selecting park and pressing the engine s
Showing the 6 most recent of 334 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-20 · Power Train“there is a reaccuring safety defect issue where the engine completely shutts off and stalls without warning when the car comes to a stop. this can be at a stop sign, stop lights, or just stopping the car when in traffic, even on the highway. this is due to the ids (auto idle stop system). a couple exteme safetyhazards that have occured: the car has…”
2026-10-15 · Exterior Lighting“water leakage into the right tailgate lid light assembly caused it to malfunction. in the photo you can see water pooled in the right lower corner. there is a recall for this specific issue for the year/make/model of my vehicle (nhtsa id 25v259000). however my vin is not included. i took my vehicle to the dealership and they confirmed that moisture…”
2026-10-12 · Power Train“driving home from a trip june 2019 on the highway at 60mph with 3 children and my husband, my 2016 acura mdx experienced complete engine failure - alarms started to sound and i experienced a loss of acceleration, lights in the dash included engine problem, transmission problem, emission system problem, critical failure detected stop driving when sa…”
2026-09-21 · Suspension“my 2016 acura mdx (vin [xxx]) is covered by acura safety campaign 4170a8. the campaign covers rear subframe corrosion at the suspension mounting points that can cause the rear wheels to become misaligned or inadequately retained, affecting handling, stability, and braking. on xxx, i brought the vehicle to sunnyside acura, [xxx] (repair order xxx).…”
2026-09-15 · Engine And Engine Cooling · 150,000 mi“the contact owns a 2016 acura mdx. the contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle suddenly lost motive power and failed to accelerate while the accelerator pedal was depressed. the check engine warning light illuminated. the contact stated that the failure posed a potential safety risk in daily traffic. the contact pulled o…”
2026-09-15 · Engine“heard a knocking noise in the engine, had it serviced at an independent mechanic (towed as to not create more damage and the knocking noise was louder). mechanic told me that the rod bearing/engine had failed and would need to be replaced. $7000-$10000 for replacement. he also indicated that this was under recall for 2016-2020 cars. i checked my…”
2026-09-08 · Unknown Or Other“car keyless entry module/ tpms module having problem and alarms keep going off at anytime. it also stops car while driving because of no fob detection. it also automatically tries to turn the car on/off even when it was parked. …”
2026-09-07 · Engine“"my 2016 acura mdx completely seized on the highway after a loud knocking sound, which perfectly matches the connecting rod bearing failure under recall 23v-751. even if my specific vin isn't showing up as open on the website, i know the nhtsa has a major open investigation into 1.4 million of these v6 engines because hundreds of vehicles are faili…”
2026-09-05 · Engine“"vehicle experienced a sudden flashing check engine light pulled over checked oil restarted car flashing check engine light went away then started flashing again a few miles down the road (cylinder 3 misfire) accompanied by severe engine knocking. the engine locked up/seized while hot. car was stuck on the road and was unable to shift to neutral. a…”
2026-09-04 · Suspension“the contact owns a 2016 acura mdx. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 26v365000 (structure, suspension) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. the vehicle was taken to a local authorized dealer, and recall repairs were performed. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the issue…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.