What 357 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Acura MDX

I started the vehicle and steering wheel was frozen and EPS, Brake, and lane departure lights on the dash. I shut the car off and let it sit for five minutes. Restarted and the steering wheel came back to normal. but all light remained on. I drove the car about half a mile and the lights went off. When I got home, I shut the car off and started it again. The wheel was frozen again, and all the lights came back on. I shut the car off and re-started and steering came back on. I'm afraid this will happen again but while I'm driving. I looked up the issue but no recall but a lot of complaints with same problem. I cannot drive like this for it can be dangerous if I'm driving and lose control of the vehicle and hurt someone or myself. I took the car to a mechanic, but he said there is no current issues just stored codes. Today I had the same problem.

NHTSA ODI 11746141

Front camera not working triggered multiple warning lights on

NHTSA ODI 11710005

Cruise control stopped working 5 years ago after ACC LKAS stopped working. I have had the car into multiple Acura certified dealerships attempting to repair and no one has been able to determine the issue.

NHTSA ODI 11700950

This has happened twice while on a drive, cruising along on a highway and go to pass a car in another lane, transmission down shifts and then lose all power, transmission repair light comes on as well as emission controls, vehicle is still running but no power to the wheels, trying to get back across three sometimes four lanes to get to the shoulder due to the loss of power, this happened once back in the summer and again today about 96k and now 110k, there are a lot of forums talking about it as well

NHTSA ODI 11701011

warning lights for LKAS, ACC, lane mitigation, etc come on intermittently and then just disappear next time you start car. Tech advises numerous problems with camera

NHTSA ODI 11697648

While driving on the freeway with my children, the vehicle started to shake and the emission system problem, transmission system problem and blind spot problem lights came on. The safety of myself and children were at risk due to being on the freeway and having to pull over on the side of the road. There were zero signs leading to this.

NHTSA ODI 11684298

On Saturday [XXX] I was travelling on [XXX] from Orangeburg to Atlanta. I did was not using cruise control but the system was enabled. Enabling the cruise control system on my automatically enabled the LKAS(Lane Keep Assist) feature on my car. On at least two other occasions, specifically going around corners at low speed, I've had the LKAS system grab the wheel and steer the car aggressively to the left. On these prior occasions we were travelling at low speed and the road conditions were questionable as in striping of the roads were not clear. On [XXX], the road conditions were optimal minus being a little wet due to rain. The LKAS unexpectedly turned the wheel hard to the left going around a corner at 55mph and into oncoming traffic. Before I could regain control of the vehicle it veered into a ditch, across a culvert and landed in the ditch on the other side of a driveway. If not for sheer luck both I and the oncoming driver would be dead and the car destroyed. I am taking the car to a dealer tomorrow to have them inspect the LKAS. There were no warning lamps, message or any other alerts prior to the LKAS taking over the steering. Upon coming to a rest and recovering, I inspected the vehicle and found no damage save a deflating front tire and was able to drive the car back to Atlanta. I do not have Dashcam footage of the other occurrence of the LKAS malfunctioning but I did have a DashCam in the car and running when this latest incident occurred and if possible I will attach it to this complaint. Prior to submitting this complaint and contacting a dealership to have the car inspected I did put in my VIN and research if there had been any recalls on the LKAS system in my model year vehicle. I can confirm that there were not but there had been recalls for earlier versions of the same vehicle. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11679163

while driving on a local road (not highway), engine began to make a very loud sound. sounds like metal on metal inside engine. called local ACURA dealer and they said that the connecting rod recall/problem that was announced in November 2023 "does not apply to my VIN".

NHTSA ODI 11564665

I have a 2016 MDX v6 88k miles and I purchased the car as a Certified Pre Owned (CPO). I recently had two lights come on 1) Blind Spot Info System Problem and 2) Transmission System Problem. The car has been driving fine and has been well maintained. Since the lights came on, I've put about 8000 miles on it over the last 6 months and no change to the way it drives (transmission seems to work fine). It seems odd that both lights come on at the same time? Recently my family took a 150 mile trip and both went off during the trip but then did both come back on later that day. Looked on line and it seems many are having this exact issue. One of the websites I visited was - https://www.mdxers.org/threads/2016-mdx-transmission-system-problem-valve-issue-blind-spot-info-system-problem-light.178519/ . I can provide more links to websites if needed. The dealership wants us and others to pay for a new transmission and installation charges. It seems odd that most if not all are having these issues just after the warranty expires. Reminds me of that issue with Volkswagen a few years ago when they would pass emission test when they went to get tester because the computer was programmed to recognize the driving habits of being tested but the other 995 of the time it failed. Also seems odd that cars made in 2016 have a shorter life span than cars built in 1980's. My vehicle is currently in for service at the local dealership (Acura of Seattle) and they want me to pay $8000+ for a new transmission.

NHTSA ODI 11527927

Forward Looking Camera failed at 62k miles, it won't communicate with the computer according to dealership diagnosis on 11-18-2022. Replacement cameras are on backorder, with no availability date. Vehicle is available for inspection. The issue directly affects Forward Collision, Lane Departure and Cruise Control. It no longer warns me if approaching something too quickly. It no longer tells me if I drift into another lane or corrects it. Cruise Control stopped working as well. Distracting lights and beeping when driving, says windshield needs to be cleaned on instrument cluster. Issue began in mid 2022. According to my research, failing cameras seem to be an issue. Replacement camera is approx $1500, plus the labor to install and align.

NHTSA ODI 11495300

Transmission issues with my 2016 Acura MDX slipping into neutral and staying there while driving at high speeds on interstates. This could've caused injury to myself, my passengers, and other drivers on the road due to the high speeds. Without being to able to accelerate when needed, it could've resulted in harm. Transmission Service Problem and Blind Spot Malfunction lights appeared. I took the vehicle to Acura for service 3 weeks before the last incident and Acura said there was no problem and to bring it back if it happened again. 3 weeks later, it happened again. I had reported slippages in the transmission for several service checks with no issues found by Acura. After the most recent incident, Acura recommended to either keep driving and bring it back or replace the transmission. Diagnostics were run and error codes cleared. The CSR at Acura mentioned he saw this on at least 5 Acura 2016 MDXs this year already. The warning lights did not appear until the last issue. Several other incidents occurred with no warnings. All transmission maintenance activities have been performed.

NHTSA ODI 11475517

My SUV would accelerate when going down hill and the message: “transmission system problem”along with “blind spot warning malfunction” would come on. Took to dealer the message went out. Will come on intermittently. This has gone on For past month. They sai it had to stay on for them to diagnose. Now car will not go in reverse at all. This transmission was replaced November 2019 because of a defect. They told me there is no recall but the other was a service bulletin that required my engine to be replaced as well. If there is a class action I want to be added as this is a big inconvenience and the company is denying there is an issue with the transmission computer system so they can get us to pay high repair fees. Please help!

NHTSA ODI 11451740

ENGINE LIGHT ON STATING: LEAN CODE, ALL WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEMS PROBLEM, EMMISION SYSTEM PROBLEM. THE VEHICLE WAS MOVING WHEN IT CAME ON.

NHTSA ODI 11405061

WHILE DRIVING ON LOCAL ROAD ALL OF A SUDDEN THE 3 ERRORS CAME ON THE DASH BOARD TRANSMISSION SYSTEM PROBLEM, EMISSION SYSTEM PROBLEM, AND BLIND SPOT SYSTEM PROBLEM, ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE TRANSMISSION DOESN'T SHIFT RIGHT AND GRINDING OF THE GEAR IS HEARD, CAR QUICKLY SLOW DOWN. AFTER STOPPING AND START UP AGAIN, ERRORS STILL THERE BUT TRANSMISSION COULD NOT SHIFT INTO HIGHER GEARS AND CAR TOPS OUT AT 30MPH. THIS HAS HAPPENED 4 TIMES IN THE LAST FEW DAYS AND WE ARE NOW SCARED TO DRIVE THE CAR LOCAL ROADS, HIGHWAY WOULD BE BAD UNTIL WE GET IT FIXED AT THE DEALERSHIP. THIS IS POTENTIALLY A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION IF THE CAR LOSES POWER AT AN INTERSECTION.

NHTSA ODI 11384979