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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  Disappointed MDX Owner - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Frustrated MDX - December 29 - 2:00 am

  This car continues to spend more time at the dealership.Have had both headlights replaced due to design flaw & moisture getting inside. Lever on middle row seat broke.Finish on steering wheel cover started to come off.Recall for timing belt.Design flaw with the brake calipers & the constant clicking noise. Design flaw with the gas tank & constance sloshing sound of gas. The latest was the breaking of the power steering pulley belt that left my wife stranded on a LA freeway in the rain at night.It took Acuras roadside service 3 hours to finally get her towed.Acuras thanks to us was giving us a crappy Ford Focus for a loaner. All this for a $44k SUV.

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  2003 mdz Tranny Problems - 2003 Acura MDX
  By axelman001 - December 27 - 8:03 pm

  We love the vehicle when we can keep it on the road. Bought CPO but we keep having tranny problems. Third Transmission in two years. Had same problem with our Odyssey, told problem was fixed by Honda by 2003. Wrong. Rest of car is great.

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  Acura is Awesome! - 2008 Acura MDX
  By Mr. Wang - December 24 - 6:36 pm

  I just purchased my new 2008 Acura MDX Sport and I love it. My trade was a 2004 Acura TL. The MDX is very quick, has great handling, smooth ride, and the fit and finish is excellent. The interior design is very intuitive and the navigation system is easy to use. There is plenty of passenger and storage room. I love the exterior design. Must have accessories are the sport running boards, side body molding, roof rails/cross bars, and the front and rear silver garnish. This is definitely a high performance SUV with lots of luxury!

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  3 years and still going strong - 2002 Acura MDX
  By drhibert - December 23 - 11:15 am

  I bought my 02 MDX in 06 with 64,000 miles on it. I have not had any problems with it in the last 3 years. I keep up with regular maintenance - thats it. I can regularly get 20-22mpg around town, and up to 26 highway. Pretty good for an SUV. Im up to 120,000 miles and it still drives and looks great. Theres a weird pop noise when going back into drive after being in reverse, but its been there since I bought it and has never caused any problems. To my understanding, it is common to most 02 MDXs.

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  Acura MDX The Best SUV - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Acuraguy - December 22 - 10:00 am

  I like the DVD System. The 260 HP engine is great and more than powerful enough to drive this suv. It is perfect. I really enjoy driving this suv.

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  Acura MDX - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Microsoft398 - December 22 - 10:00 am

  It is a great SUV. It handles well in the rain. I love the navigation system. The sound system is great sounding. Test drive all suvs that you are considering before this one and you will be suprised. Get the Acura MDX. You dont have to take my word for it, go test drive the MDX.

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  Acura 2009 MDX Sport AWD - 2009 Acura MDX
  By usaheadhunter - December 20 - 9:34 am

  Purchased after looking at all the rest BMW, Mercedes, Enclave, Audi, Toyota. Sport package took me over the edge to buy. Handling is fantastic. Seating excellent. Controls easy to use. Cost to own seems relatively strong in Edmunds. We will have to wait and see. After two years, this automobile should have 6 speed transmission. Looks like 2010 will finally have one. When I found out it had build parts in Canada, wanted to turn it back in to the dealer!

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  Second Acura and keep coming back - 2007 Acura MDX
  By MDXOWNER - December 19 - 8:34 pm

  This is our second Acura (first was a 2005 TL) and I purchased the MDX for my wife because we needed more room for a growing family. It’s been two years and it still turns heads on the road (even mine after I park it) because the styling is simple, yet screams “I have 300 hp under this hood”. Overall, you cannot go wrong with the Acura brand from a prestige, reliability and value standpoint. The MDX is upscale and it’s easy to scoff at BMW or Mercedes because of the superb value of the MDX. Acura has simple options and doesn’t hold you hostage with multiple ‘option packages’ in order to get what you want.

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  07 MDX / Tech pkg. - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Don - December 17 - 3:25 pm

  I bought a new MDX in 02 and was very happy with it. The few things I didnt like were resolved in the 07 redesign. For a sport ute Im happy with the ride quality, reduced road noise, seat comfort, power and handling. At 38 K miles the AC quit but was repaired under warranty. The 1st of 4 Acuras to ever go in the shop for a repair. I dont like the vertical spoke at the bottom of the steering wheel where my hands want to rest on long drives. I think its a bargain relative to the price of the BMW or Porsche.

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  Not what I had hoped for $50,000+ - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Daniel - December 17 - 5:16 am

  It came down to the 2016 Volvo XC90, Honda Pilot, BMW X5, and 2015 Toyota Highlander. We were inclined to get the XC90 for all the safety features & the incredibly cool look. The drive is great, however it felt really risky getting a brand new everything car. The dealer had been saying they would get in Jan, the first ones did not appear till May and it seemed like they were trying to get it right. Visibility was ok. However, loaded with all the safety features it was getting to 60 though it starts at $47 all cars had very confusing option packages & what is considered a safety feature. The test car 3rd row seat seem to have a problem. Then they recalled the vehicle to fix the third row airbags. We keep cars for 10 years & did not want to be going back to the dealer over and over again. The final straw is when they were offering factory maintenance for all models except the XC90 which had 1 year less of the maintenance. On a new model they should not insert more doubt. The BMW drove great but the 3rd row was not big enough for anyone over the age of 12 so had to cross it off. The highlander felt less luxurious but most importantly did not have all the safety systems that we were looking for so we decided to pass. At the time the 2016 was not out, it appears from the reviews that they have added some safety features. We were left with the pilot and the MDX. In the end, the Pilots cheap minivan arm rest on the drivers side along with the bad handling and turning radius on turns made us skip it. Any man over 200 pounds will find there is no way to lean on the arm rest comfortably. The turning handling and radius were a big concern also as on a sharp turn near our house the car veered into the oncoming traffic lane. We did it twice. Finally, unless you get the highest trim the handling is so "trucky" the kids got out and were ready to throw up. This left us with the MDX. We were excited to be moving up in the luxury ranks and were hoping the reliability would be there also. After a bad selling experience we picked up the car and immediately noticed things. There is a paint defect under the clear coat on the roof. There was a sticker there so it was clearly a known problem and they sold to us anyway. We have complained with no response. The hood does not latch unless you slam it. If the hood is already down there is no way to close it without opening it and slamming it. Finally if you look around the car you can see multiple places where the rubber is not flush including the doors & hood. I walked around the lot and would say 50% of the cars had the same problem. Not what we had expected at $50+ . Dealer was no help with these issues, I have read on line about cars getting water on the inside I am hoping that the rubber problems will not cause that. When you go to the car wash & open the back doors there is water in the painted part. As for the drive it is pretty good, the 9 speed transmission is a little bouncy especially as low speeds, but no one is getting dizzy at least. The stop start feature takes getting used to, as if you need immediate power like turning onto a highway of making a left turn onto oncoming traffic, the car will hesitate long enough to make it dangerous. You have to turn the wheel of take your foot of the pedal to start the car & be ready to go, or turn the feature off, however if you do that I cant imagine how much worse the gas mileage it would be. We are getting 15.5 in the city, & its Premium so it has been surprising. Power in the SHAWD is very good & its a quiet ride with good handling. Seat comfort for a large driver is not as good as I would have hoped. I would like the seat to go back more when its high up and it just wont, so you end up sitting kind of low which removes one of the benefits of and SUV. As for the safety features the lane assist works well on a Interstate highways at high speed, not so good in other settings. The automatic follow feature is very sensitive and breaks really hard and speeds up hard, so much so that you cant use it. The break alert system works ok, I wish it would also go on if I am breaking but not hard enough. It will not stop the car automaticlally at low speeds like the volvo. The heads up display in bright sun creates a distracting reflection on the winshield & and the pairing with SIRI does not work well. The NAV is a complete waste of money, I wish I could convert the screen to show my iphone instead. Nav traffic & directions sub par in every way. The voice input is the same as our 08 Accord, very clunky. AC is hard to keep constant, need to adjust all the time. In the end we are very disappointed with what we hoped would be an amazing car. We hope it lives up to the reliability.