2020 Acura Mdx problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Engine (58) · Power Train (15) · Engine And Engine Cooling (15)
🧭 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
40 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (8)
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
Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification:front Passenger 2026-05-21 · campaign 26V332000 · 98,892 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V, 2018-2020 Fit, 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid, 2017-2022 CR-V, 2017-2018, 2021 Civic Type R, 2017-2021 Civic hatchback, 2016-2020 Civic coupe, 2016-2022 Civic, 2017-2022 Accord Hybrid, and 2016-2022 Accord vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor ma
Risk: Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury.
Fix: Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are BOL, WO9, OOA, WOM, XOH, NOC, POD, BOE, UOF, POB, EOG, AOI, QO8, TOJ, DO7, and SOK. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 24V064. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.
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.
Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification:front Passenger 2024-02-01 · campaign 24V064000 · 750,114 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Pilot, Accord, Civic sedan, HR-V, Odyssey, 2020 Civic coupe, Fit, 2021-2022 Civic hatchback, 2021 Civic Type R, Insight, 2020-2021 CR-V, CR-V Hybrid, Passport, Ridgeline, Accord Hybrid, 2020 Acura MDX, 2022 Acura MDX, 2020-2022 Acura RDX, and 2020-2021 Acura TLX vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, failing to suppress the air bag as intended.
Risk: An air bag that deploys unintentionally during a crash can increase the risk of injury.
Fix: Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 28, 2024. This is a phased recall. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for these recalls are XHP and VHQ.
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
Service Brakes, Hydraulic:foundation Components:master Cylinder 2023-06-29 · campaign 23V458000 · 124,077 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Civic, 2020-2023 Ridgeline, 2021-2023 Passport, 2021-2022 Pilot, and 2020 Acura MDX vehicles. The tie rod fastener that connects the brake booster and the brake master cylinder may have been improperly assembled during manufacturing, which can cause the brake master cylinder to separate from the booster assembly.
Risk: Brake master cylinder separation can cause a loss of brake function and increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and repair the brake booster assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 7, 2023. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are VEU, AEV, and ZET.
Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump 2021-03-25 · campaign 21V215000 · 624,552 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Acura MDX, MDX Sport Hybrid, RDX, TLX, Honda Accord, Civic Hatchback, Insight, 2019 Acura ILX, Honda Accord Hybrid, Civic Coupe, Civic Coupe Si, Civic Sedan, Civic Sedan Si, Civic Type R, Fit, HR-V, Odyssey, Passport, Pilot and Ridgeline, and 2018-2019 CR-V vehicles. The low-pressure 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: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed May 18, 2021. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Note: This recall is an expansion of recall 20V-314.
Service bulletins (110)
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.
Engine 2025-12-03 · BEBM12032025901 · Other
dealer message - under certain circumstances, after coming to a stop and the idle stop feature engages, the vehicle may not automatically restart. typically, the client can immediately restart the vehicle by selecting park and pushing the engine start/stop button.
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
Engine 2025-02-19 · B24-022 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - the awd warning light is on with one or more awd dtcs having been set due to water intrusion into the electric oil pump motor connector area corrodes the terminals.
Structure:body 2024-11-22 · B24-022 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - the awd warning light is on potentially due to water intrusion into the rear differential pump motor connector area that corrodes the terminals.
Visibility/Wiper 2024-06-19 · B23-024 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - client complaint of a/c not blowing cold air due to oil/refrigerant leak from the a/c compressor shaft seal.
Showing the 6 most recent of 110 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-25 · Engine“while stopped at a stop light the auto restart feature engaged and shut the engine off. when the light turned green and i released the brake pedal the engine did not restart and the battery warning light illuminated. as cars were honking i activated my hazards, had to place the car in park and shut off/restart the vehicle. luckily it restarted a…”
2026-10-22 · Engine“my 2020 acura mdx fails to restart after the auto idle stop system shuts off the engine at stops. the vehicle stalls and will not restart in active traffic, including busy intersections and high-speed roads. this began about three years ago and now happens every day, leaving my family stranded in live traffic lanes at risk of a collision. on [xxx]…”
2026-10-15 · Engine And Engine Cooling · 70,357 mi“the contact owns a 2020 acura mdx. the contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under technical service bulletins: 22-009, 22-024, and 23-002; however, the failure persisted following the repairs. the contact stated that while stopped at an intersection, the engine failed to restart after the auto start/stop feature engaged, and the …”
2026-10-09 · Engine“car is not staying on during traffic. afraid to go in highway now. …”
2026-10-01 · Engine“on multiple occasions while my car is stopped at a light or stop sign the idle restart stalls and the car shuts off. i need to give it a few minutes and restart the car. it mainly happens when the auto shut off for idling restarts. i have had it happen more than 10x with my kids in the car. i have done all required work - timing belt & water pump r…”
2026-09-14 · Vehicle Speed Control:accelerator Pedal · 45,000 mi · 💥 crash“the contact owns a 2020 acura mdx. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating. the contact stated that later, while parking the vehicle, the vehicle unintended accelerated and drove over a curb and crashed into a tree. the vehicle crashed into the tree, and the front wheels continued spinning w…”
2026-09-13 · Lane Departure: Warning“lkas, forward collision, high beam all alerts are going off and have been told it's a camera system that gets over heated. this is not a easy fix and needs to be recalled to clear up the codes and alerts.…”
2026-09-11 · Engine · 65,128 mi“the contact owns a 2020 acura mdx. the contact stated that while idling and driving on several occasions at various speeds, there was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. the mechanic determined that there was internal engine rod bearing failure, and that th…”
2026-09-09 · Engine And Engine Cooling · 85,000 mi“the contact owns a 2020 acura mdx. the contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the oil light illuminated. the contact stated that after restarting the vehicle, while driving, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate, with a ticking and knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. the vehicle was later towed to the local dealer to be…”
2026-09-05 · Engine“engine seized multiple times. completely broken now. online it says many people have these problems.…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.