2005 Acura MDX
This year drew an ordinary 180 complaints for a Acura MDX — the model's median is 80. What they were about is the unusual part: 31.7% of them mention transmission, against 8.9% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 180 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 80 |
| Involving a crash | 15 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 13 |
| EPA combined | 17 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- transmission — 31.7% of this year's complaints, against 8.9% across the model's other years (3.6×).
- mdx driving — 8.3% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the model's other years (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: mdx driving, mph contact, medical attention, mileages.
- too — 7.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.5% across the model's other years (3.1×). Owners wrote it as: too, passenger seat, school, name.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
TOTAL TRANSMISSION FAILURE WHILE UNDER INCLINE LOAD DRIVING, LEAVING VEHICLE UNABLE TO MANEUVER IN TRAFFIC TO REASONABLY GET TO SAFETY.
MY CAR'S TRANSMISSION SYSTEM WAS DAMAGED. SEEMS LIKE IT IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH ACURA MDX. I WONDER WHY THERE IS NO RECALL. THE DEALER COVERED THE [VIN] PART BUT I STILL HAD TO PAY FOR LABOR THAT RAN TO ~$3000.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V182000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19E068000 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL Fixed free of charge.
- 19V499000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V501000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V029000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V700000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V344000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V320000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 13. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Acura MDX was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2005 Acura MDX? What happened to yours?
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