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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  So far so good - 2014 Acura MDX
  By tlsb2001 - August 18 - 8:29 pm

  1900 miles so far. Comfortable on the road. Have had two problems: (1) a rattle coming from the right front (another reviewer mentioned an "annoying sound coming from the glove box...") and (2) stereo control issues. They fixed the rattle -- something related to packing and the front right strut. Stereo issue remains. Sometimes when the iPod is plugged in and I try to change from one playlist to another, it puts up a message: "Generating voice recognition commands..." I have to turn the car off to get rid of the message. Acura has a bulletin about problems occurring when the iPod is not plugged in all the way. Ive confirmed my iPod is securely connected.

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  UPDATED REVIEW w/MILEAGE DATA - 2014 Acura MDX
  By joeag8 - August 2 - 6:38 am

  Now that I have 1700 miles on the car, I thought I would provide an updated review to include mileage data. My overall driving habits fall around 65% highway, 35% city, and I currently average a total of 23.9 MPG. After 22,000 miles on my 2012 MDX, the best I was able to achieve was 18.6 MPG, so this is a huge improvement. Many of us have seen reviews with significant MPG stated -heres why. The 2014 has a robust online computer that not only provides total MPG, but per trip MPG as well. I drove from Central NJ to Newark, Delaware twice last week (78 miles each way, 80% highway, 20% city) and averaged 30.9 and 30.7 MPG on each trip, which is impressive for this type of vehicle.

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  Best Luxury in his class. - 2014 Acura MDX
  By tonirive04 - July 10 - 6:46 pm

  I have had the 2014 MDX since the first day it went on sale. I was following this car since it started the road test on Germany. No disapointment yet. I got the top trim with SH-AWD. My first trip on the hightway the MDX averaged 31.4 MPG, no cruise control, I was speeding around 67 to 70 MPH, a long road trip this weekend average city and highway 28 MPG, so Im happy so far with this. One of the tech parts I most love is the ACC and LKAS, this is basically a self driving car, a small touch to the weel from time to time is the only thing you have to do. The Aha service provided with Acura-Link is not as responsive as I expected. The interior is comfortable, quiet, and well-crafted.

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  Front Seat - 2014 Acura MDX
  By heather52 - June 29 - 12:47 pm

  If you are vertically challenged this is not the car for you. I test drove the 2013, seat adjusted fine. The 2014 is a whole different story. The front seat does not adjust to where a more petite person like myself can see adequately to drive it. Something to be aware of. My new suv is now my husbands. When ordering in the 2014 I never thought that this would be a factor.

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  Switched from a Volvo xc60 for the sake of comfort - 2012 Acura MDX
  By nelsoncm - April 23 - 5:46 pm

  I had an awesome 2012 XC60 T6 R type that was a thing of precision and style. Sadly it was also wretchedly uncomfortable.....rock hard seats, rock hard suspsension. Im a mom with a bad hip and back who loves to drive fast but I just couldnt take it. So I went for my gently used MDX. My husband has a TL that is still running great at 70K, so now were a two Acura family. I agree that build quality is certainly not up to some of the European standards. But this should be fine for a suburban mommy mobile that might see light off road duty on easy dirt roads on scout campout weekends.

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  Good - with minor complaints - 2011 Acura MDX
  By bgf18 - December 10 - 7:48 pm

  2011 MDX - Tech Package. Decided to buy out our 2011 MDX lease...my wife loves it that much. This car is very comfortable on the road as it is reasonably quiet and seats have excellent support. Visisibility is good for an SUV. Room for luggage is minimal with all three rows being used, very good when only two rows. The SH-AWD works really well, but I would GLADLY give it up for a front-wheel drive version if GAS MILAGE would improve. Fit and finish is good, although I could live without the three square feet of PLASTIC wood on the dash. For a family of three, this is the perfect SUV. Fam of four would be ok, five would be tight. More than five is pointless unless going on short drives.

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  Best all around SUV - 2012 Acura MDX
  By thomatl - July 28 - 11:03 pm

  We shopped Audi Q5, BMW X3, Volvo XC60, and Infiniti FX35. MDX was an afterthought after a disappointing drive in an RDX (not a bad vehicle but lacks features and feels like a CR-V with lipstick). We preferred the European vehicles driving feel, but the MDX Advance offered more of the features we wanted, especially the safety features such as collision mitigation. Our prior experience with Acura (CL, TL, TSX) sealed the deal.

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  First Acura...Impressed! - 2012 Acura MDX
  By erperp - June 3 - 8:42 pm

  Only few negatives to get out of the way... Coming from the German SUVs including the last one being a Cayenne, I would say the handling is on the "comfort" side. And the center cluster is just way too cluttered for any standard. Nevertheless, MDX makes up with enough grunt for such a heavy car and an exceptional value, especially w tech/ent that was by far the best deal compared with any comps, including JX. Very comfortable cruiser with ample room and storage and awesome audio too. We will continue to monitor if the Acura reliability is what people say it is....

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  TRANSMISSION - 2005 Acura MDX
  By brannguyen - May 21 - 9:28 am

  I bought this from a used Honda dealership-in Marietta, GA, Aug. 2011. Was really excited to own my Acura SUV w/ 3rd row! Honda had a good reputation w/ reliability except for their transmission issue! I didnt realized it until it was too late! I had it checked out by Ed Voyles Acura-Chamblee. They said it was fine & they even did the transmission chip software recall. They found nothing wrong w/ it! They even took it upon themselves to do the FULL 105k service w/ timing belt w/ out getting my approval or trying to figure out what was wrong w/ the transmission. I was really upset! I even rode w/ them to see why it would vibrate at 50-60mph. Of course it wouldnt make that noise.

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  2 yr 3 month ownership (happy) - 2003 Acura MDX
  By logun - May 17 - 3:21 pm

  Bought this SUV for my wife in late 2009 early 2010, with 74,500 miles on it. Weve put 23,000 miles on it (+ or -). Weve had it dealer maintained as it was from the previous owner (we r 2nd owner). Weve made sure to maintain the transmission (both frnt & rear diffs as well) as AWD or 4 x 4 vehicles require this otherwise it breaks. We have replaced shocks, struts, motor mounts, window regulator & a tensioner set. The pwr steering does quit when we hit a large puddle till the belt dries (within a few sec.) Otherwise its been a great vehicle. She even runs low to mid grade octane gas without issue.