Overview & Reviews

The Acura MDX is a midsize luxury SUV with a carlike unibody platform and three rows of seats. The original MDX bowed in 2001, at a time when most competitors still featured body-on-frame construction and the term "crossover" was but a glimmer in some marketer's eye. Since then, Acura has maintained the MDX's family-friendly packaging, including standard seven-passenger seating, while spicing up the recipe with various styling, performance and handling enhancements. In typical Acura fashion, every MDX comes well equipped, with options generally limited to a few choice features bundled into packages.

New or used, the Acura MDX stands out for its comfort, versatility and refinement. It's one of our top recommendations for a family-oriented luxury crossover SUV. In reviews, we've found the MDX to be a polished performer, as it remains one of the more engaging luxury crossovers to drive and also provides a commendably supple ride. Weak points include cramped third-row accommodations for adults and less sumptuous interior appointments than in some rivals, though the MDX's strong resale value offers ample compensation.

User Reviews:

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  TRANSMISSION - 2003 Acura MDX
  By JB - December 24 - 11:29 pm

  I bought this car with 43,000 miles on it in Nov 2006. Car was fantastic. When I bought the car I went for the 12 month extended warranty for an extra $1200. About 11 months into owning the car I got a check engine light and flashing D5 light. Took it to the Acura dealer. Trans DEAD!!! They replaced it for free since it was under warranty and gave me a loaner while they did it. So then about 2 years ago I notice the trans slamming into gear. Changed fluid....same crap. So October 2014 D4 blinking light and check engine light AGAIN!!! Car would not switch out 4th gear. I took it to a trans place and had the trans totally rebuilt new Valve body, PC, gears and synchros. The builder took pics of the trans it was HORRIBLE all burned up and stuff. So what Honda does is place the trans cooler into the Rad so I have no idea how but the cooling fluid got into the trans fluid probably because trans cooler in the rad and ruined the trans. So the builder added an EXTERNAL trans cooler. So now just a few days ago.....D5 blinking light. But no check engine light and car drives fine. I took the car back to the builder and he said there were no trans codes in the history or anything. Im so done with this car. I am VERY VERY disappointed in Honda. All the Honda 5sp Autos are pure garbage and they should be ashamed of themselves. Other than the 2 trans I had to replace the car is awesome. But that trans ruins it! I cant believe Honda acting like they have no idea why this is happening. STAY AWAY FROM THIS CAR!!!! STAY AWAY!!! But an MDX with the new 6spd auto.

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  GPS sucks! - 2015 Acura MDX
  By Michal - December 8 - 9:27 am

  I had great expectations for this car and it has been a great disappointment. Driving experience is excellent, comfy, well responsive, good visibility to the front. Poor visibility to the back when parking. Infotainment is big mess. I find using my i-phone more than cars features, because it takes so much time to enter or find any Point of interest from Acura database which is extremely poor or algorithms for searching are poorly designed. Acura owns apology to all owners for this mess and perhaps free update to fix it. It is also very slow in response and user experience requires numerous endless clicks to get to anything. I prefer hands down my GPS in 10 year old Honda Pilot EX than this new Acura. It seems that a lot of owners are furious over this infotainment fiasco. I really want to love this vehicle but in the future I will definitely look more closely at many other brands before buying another Acura.

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  BEST SUV IN THE CALSS - 2013 Acura MDX
  By AmithW - November 22 - 7:12 pm

  I always buy less than 2 yr old cars. Due to high mileage driving(25K/yr) I cannot lease. I compared the BMW X5, MDX, Lexus RX 350, and Benz GL class. After loads of research and test driving it was easy to zero in on the final 2 of RX 350 and MDX. MDX won due to following. Exceptional road handling over RX 350. Killer looks to match the Road handling. Excellent acceleration combined with the growl from under the hood makes you feel like a F1 race driver. And finally I only saw 5 star user reviews for MDX. I have now clocked 45000 miles in 2 years. (No major repairs only maintenance so far) Still feel like a kid getting into it every morning. Feels good to drive it knowing it will not fail me and give me the best driving experience. I just returned from the 2016 LA Auto show and realized my MDX is still so very good. I do get 17.5mpg combined. Highly, highly recommend this car. I wish Acura continued with the same or higher powered engines for the 2016 and up models. I strongly feel when ones willing to pocket out $60K price tag 2 or 3 mpg shouldnt be an issue. I shall have mine for 2 more years and hopefully by then Acura will come up with a higher hp MDX...

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  Just Dumped it - 2014 Acura MDX
  By Smokejumper - November 22 - 5:22 pm

  This was our third MDX, and the last. Unfortunately, they got progressively worse. We had a 2004 that was great for nearly 10 years. We bought a second in 2007 which was different, but fine. An accident with the 2007 left it with electrical issues that the Acura dealership couldnt fix after a dozen trips in so we got rid of it. I immediately bought a 2014 without really looking around - what a mistake. -The transmission and breaking are horrible. -The navigation system performs less reliably than my iPhone maps app. -The voice command system is completely worthless. -The seats are among the least comfortable Ive been in. Overall, the 2014 MDX would be a disappointment at a price point 10K under what it sells for. I dumped it after 20K miles. Goodbye, Acura.

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  Transmission blew at 170K. - 2002 Acura MDX
  By David Kirchhoff - September 21 - 11:49 am

  At the purchase price (could have bought a houseboat for the price), it should go 300K miles, IMHO! Apparently Honda had trouble with the hydraulics on automatic transmissions at the time they did this one. If they had not, this review would not be clouded by a transmission failure.

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  Most Reliable Luxury with out breaking the bank - 2011 Acura MDX
  By KingofKings - September 20 - 7:31 pm

  Try and get the CPO with an extended warranty just for a clear mind, but you might not need it, vehicle is highly reliable in my opinion. Interior could have been made more attractive looking in comparison to other luxury vehicles but than again the MDX cost a little less. Audi Q7 interior is someone better but the car is less reliable, and cost more to maintain. I will highly recommend this vehicle, there may be others with more luxurious options but they would cost more to maintain. Just Be aware of some dealerships service personal creating a residual customer out of you.

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  The car is not worth leasing or buying - 2014 Acura MDX
  By VP - September 15 - 10:37 am

  I leased new Acura MDX in 2014 after talking to a dealer and reading a brochure. I was assured that Acura MDX was the highest rated luxury SUV built by company that cares about its reputation. After driving an Acura MDX for 18 month, I am extremely unsatisfied with the car’s performance. The engine is lacking in power, the car jumps at 20mph and 40mph points and stoles and shakes, so speed changes are very palpable inside the car. It also lacks in performance as it’s almost impossible to get the speed to 80mph. There are noises from the front and sides of the car every time the speed is over 40mph and they increase with speed. Break safety feature works at its own whim and beeps at any time, no matter if there are cars in front or if road is completely deserted. Lane departure feature is unusable, when its on, it beeps all the time and distracts from driving. Multi-view rear camera does not have all necessary angles to maneuver safely in a tight spot, it is too high and not a wide angle. However, absolutely unacceptable is the way audio system and navigations system work, or more accurately – don’t work. It’s a shame that car that costs more than some homes do has such a poorly designed and obviously malfunctioning navigation and audio systems. Navigation gps, if able to find an address at all, which happens 5 out of 10 times, will show you the longest route, if to the correct place at all. The directions end about 400 ft away from the address and you are left guessing about your final destination all the time. The gps screen is very user unfriendly and when you enter the city it “helps” you by showing you cities that start with the same letters you typed all over the US. Many times it cannot find the street or the house number on the street. Gps cannot be updated without spending additional $200 every year and it is about 10 years behind even on a new car, so any road or development built after 2005 will not be found by this gps. The good navigation system in the car was one of my main requirements when I was signing a new lease, because I use it for work, and I was assured by dealer that this is the car with best gps in the marketplace. I am ashamed every day to use it in front of clients because in most cases it will either take me to a different address, cannot find address at all, or directs me to drive 16 miles in a roundabout way when my destination is located 2-3 miles away. The features to find a place by name or by category usually show places that are on the other side of the country. If I am searching for closest coffee shop or gas station, it will usually direct me to KY or NJ, and I am in FL. You cannot find an airport by name or address or any other popular venue by name at all. Audio system does not work with blackberry phone, it does not transfer contracts, interferes with audio and navigation when linked to a phone, and changes settings automatically without me re-setting the system. There were so many times when after a phone call I was not able to disconnect, or not able to pick up a call at all, or the panel screen would freeze on the phone disconnect screen and would not switch back to navigation. Many other features do no work at all, but I have no use for them anyway. When talking on the phone, navigation sound increase so that you do not hear the person you are talking to. The voice recognition does not work, the voice dial does not work, I stopped using Bluetooth function completely because it interferes more than it was ever useful. So the second main feature why I leased this car is also not working, and creates a danger on the road when I have to hold the phone instead of being able to use a Bluetooth. Overall, I am completely dissatisfied with the car functionality and features. I asked the dealer to help, but if system does not work, it does not work, there is not much the dealer can do. I went to a dealer and asked him to exchange my car before expiration of the lease because it makes no sense to be paying over $550 a month for a car with features that don’t work and create problems for me. I wanted to get out of this lease and switch to Acura RDX without the crazy navigation and audio systems, just a basic car that drives (hopefully). But I was told that there is no way I can change the car until the end of the lease term. So my understanding of the situation is that car does not hold value and it makes no sense for company to buy it back. I send a letter to the Acura headquarters, and after a long conversation was told that they cannot help because every dealership is doing their own thing and the dealership only can make a decision to exchange the car. I advised both the headquarters and the dealership that I will use all available social media to share my experience with Acura.

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  Yes , the transmission is a problem - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Kevin M - September 4 - 1:47 pm

  Very good Suv. Love the AWD. Felt safe going down the road, it feels like driving a tank. But, the transmission failed at 160000 and we were left stranded on the side of the road. Also, some other little issues. Used regular gas. It did a good job towing. We finally did trade it in at 200000 miles and Lindsay Acura Cols. Gave us 5000 for it. It had a lot of bumps and bruises on it from towing and parking lots. Overall a good suv if Honda would solve the transmission problems that the MDX has.

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  Poor Customer Service - I will NEVER buy another! - 2014 Acura MDX
  By David C. Laredo - September 1 - 1:22 pm

  As an owner of an Acura MDX I must express my sincere disappointment with the companys customer service (or lack thereof). The dealer from whom I bought my car lost its contract with Acura. (This can happen.) Acura has never contacted me to advise as to where I should take the vehicle for warranty work. The nearest Acura dealer is a 2 hour (one way) drive for me, but an certified Honda dealer is only 10 minutes away. Acura now sends me a recall notice informing me a bolt needs to be replaced. The Honda dealer tells me they can do the work, but it will be covered by Acura only with prior authorization. Acura denies authorization and will require me to undertake a 4 hour trip to effect this recall. Oh... and it took Acura 4 weeks and multiple calls on my part to decide my request to deal with the Honda dealer would be denied. Never once did Acura return my call. Oh. Acura did send me a letter to wish me a "Happy Anniversary" in recognition of my Acura Ownership. Based upon their lack of caring, and lack of responsiveness, I WOULD NEVER PURCHASE ANOTHER ACURA!

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  7 months into MDX AWD w/ tech - Using everything - 2015 Acura MDX
  By Christopher - August 26 - 4:25 pm

  My first MDX. Owned a TL and a TSX so familiar with the Acura style. Overall - great SUV. The most striking thing you will notice 1st is the ride. Here in N. Texas, very bumpy riding on hard concrete roads that heat crack and leave you wishing for quite & smooth blacktop. The MDX performs extremely well taking a lot of the smashing right out of the ride. The leather on the seats is the softest Ive ever encountered. Handling is great with the AWD. Engine power is throaty and responsive. For improvements, the NAV is crazy. Found the best way is to just type in the address (good display for such). Trying to use the voice recognition for NAV is just stupid. You say, "Dallas, TX" and it says "Ft. Lauderdale, FL." Whatever. Also stupid is that the NAV system locks (most features) while driving. Come on! Hey Acura, there is a passenger who can NAV while driving! Any new car with a lot of features will eventually make you reach to understand the system instead of being intuitive. The NAV takes time. Once you have the address in, the NAV works great. Storage is good so long as the 3rd seats are not used. Using the seats leaves you with a small space left. Also, these 3rd-row seats are kid seats as grown ups will have a difficult time getting to them and being comfortable. Ive had luck with the quality- no issues. Got a recall notice for the bolt on the compressor for AC. Easy fix they say. Dealership experience is great. Give you a free Acura loaner if your request. This is my wifes car and she loves it for herself and our daughter. In fact, my daughter always wants to take the MDX over my car.