Complaint volume
205 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2020 Acura MDX Complaints
205 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2020 Acura MDX, grouped by component category.
205 Total complaints
3 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
1 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are engine, unknown or other, electrical system. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 3 crash reports, 0 fire reports, 1 injury report, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 31 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 35,892 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to engine, unknown or other, electrical system?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2020 Acura MDX?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2020 Acura MDX
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2020 Acura MDX complaints?
3 Crash
0 Fire
1 Injury
0 Fatality
5 Towed
0 Medical attention
What are the most common 2020 Acura MDX complaint categories?
ENGINE 41
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 17
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 10
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 9
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 9
POWER TRAIN 7
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 6
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 5
205 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2023 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | While driving, in the middle of the high way, the car shuts off and stops and when restarted it wouldn’t go. Stopped, twice this month and three time total this year, on the Highway thank god no accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On two separate occasions (December 2022 and April 2023), the Collision Mitigation System (CMS) of our 2020 Acura MDX improperly engaged. On the first occasion, the CMS abruptly engaged the braking system without warning. There was no car in front of the car, but there was a car in a turn lane to the right of the car. There was no reason for the system to engage. Both the driver (my wife) and the passenger (daughter) reported back pain from the incident. The driver received physical therapy for the event. The dealer (Gary Force Acura) and Honda America were notified. The dealer examined the car and found no issues or failures. On the second occasion, the car was changing lanes at a slow rate of speed while approaching an intersection and a stopped car well in front of the Acura. The CMS again abruptly slammed on the brakes in a manner not corresponding with the risk or danger of the situation. A collision with the car behind our car was fortunately avoided by the driver of the other car. The violence of the braking system caused damage to the braking system. No injuries were incurred. Again, the dealer and Honda America were notified, and the car was again examined. No issues or failures were identified outside of the brake repair. On both occasions, individuals were put at risk. The dealer was not able to reproduce the problem. The dealer said a CMS warning to brake should have come on before the CMS engaged. On both occasions, no warnings were observed until the actual braking event started. We are not comfortable driving the car, particularly with a student driver in the family. In most cases, we turn the CMS off before driving the car. The intent is to dispose of the car due to concern associated with the CMS. | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 2 | Unknown |
| May 2023 | ENGINE | Our Acura MDX has continued to have Auto Idle Stop issues since we purchased the vehicle. Sometimes the vehicle would not restart after being stopped at a traffic light. Most recently, an accident almost occurred when the vehicle stuck behind us at the traffic light tried to go around us while we were trying to get the engine started and almost collided head-on with an oncoming car. The dealership performed a software update but it did not fix the problem. Acura claims that the engine can be restarted immediately after putting the car into Park, but in our experience, it takes much more time than that. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | TIRES | unknown, been reading that this brand/model/tires are having issues. Was wondering if I need to get them replaced before an accident. CrossContact LX Sport (continental) size: 245/50R20 102H | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | While braking into a parking spot, vehicle experienced sudden unintended acceleration. Brake did not engage, car rapidly surged forward over parking block, sidewalk and hitting building. Previously in day, car would not recognized key fob, would not unlock and would not start even though stepping on brake that would not depress. I had no control over vehicle,and this could have hit pedestrians on sidewalk or storefront. Thankfully no one hurt, and did not occur in traffic or on the road. The dealership was contacted immediately, and they declined to inspect vehicle, codes or EDR statign that's not what they do. I have asked dealership 3 times. Insurance contacted immediately, and they to will not investigate, saying up to Honda and dealership. Honda stating they don't do investigations, and Insurance should do that. Round and round we go. No one assisting. Auto Body referred by dealership unable to investigate and do not have equipment to do so and stating dealership and Honda tech needs to do this investigation. Several messages displayed the day of incident prior to incident and electrical issues seem to have started immediately after recall or warranty work to reprogram auto stop function. First instance of electrical issue was on 4/1, when car would not open, or unlock even with new battery in key fob. This continued over next 3 weeks sporadically. 4/24 car would not start, displaying "must press down brake" to start, but brake would not depress. Finally worked. Same thing 4/25 in morning. In evening car would not unlock for some time, finally opened, then would not start displaying "Key fob not detected". Finally started. Message remained displayed. 15 min ,after, when parking, car accelerated forward without warning. This is a short summary, and a detailed summary is available. Vehicle remains untouched at autonomy hoping to get investigation completed. Too scared to drive this vehicle now.. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | TIRES | Safety issue for Continental Cross Contact LX Sport tires that were OEM tires on 2020 Acura MDX. I've had to have 3 nails removed from tires in just over 2 years of owning this car. So I've had tires inspected quite a bit. Also, every time I had oil changed (at Acura), they would rotate the tires and also inspected them. Every trip to Discount Tire, I was asked if I was rotating the tires because they noticed uneven wear. Now at 29K miles, the current rear tires are at 4/32 and front at 6/32. Latest nail removal visit, the discount tire rep mentioned he was going to research these tires and why they would be wearing this prematurely. He noted the rear tires had exceptional wear on the outer tread and noted this could cause the tread to separate. This concerned me so I researched myself and found many instances of complaints where this line of tire has failed due to that exact issue, the tread separated and their tire immediately went flat. The driver had to get off the road quickly and safely to avoid a wreck. Further research revealed that this tire HAS been recalled, but only for 3 specific sizes, which does not include the size of tire on my Acura. The complaints covered a multitude of vehicle brands that most likely use these as OEM and a wide range of sizes of this tire line. Including Acura, Audi, Tesla, Chevy blazer, VW, and Jaguar. I believe the whole tire line needs to be recalled, not just 3 sizes, for everyone's safety. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Periodically when accelerating the car (2020 Acura MDX) looses power. The car does not stall it just looses power. There have been times when we have had to pull over to avoid causing an accident. When it does occur there are no warning or signal displayed on the dash boards pre or post the incident. We have reported the issue to Acura but there has be no resolution to the issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | My 2020 Acura MDX shuts down and shifts to Neutral while stopped with the auto shut off feature engaged. This happens intermittently and the only remedy is to shut the car off and restart. It only seems to occur when the auto shutoff feature is engaged. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,POWER TRAIN | Twice at a stop light the car went into neutral by itself which then required me to go put in park then drive. One time a police officer was nearby and pulled me over after, asking if everything was ok since I was stopped at the light for a prolonged period of time. I took it to the dealership and they said it was the battery and replaced under warranty. Battery should not go when car has less than 30k miles. I checked forums and many people have experienced this issue. There are too many other complaints on line not to bring this to your attention. It has happened already. It is very nerve racking to be at a stop, hit the gas and go nowhere when traffic is quickly approaching from behind. This will eventually lead to someone getting rear ended. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | When the brake is suppressed at a Stop sign or stop light, the vehicle has an Auto Idle stop feature which shuts off the engine completely to preserve fuel. The vehicle is supposed to restart once the brake is released. In my case, there have been multiple times when the brake is released but fails to restart and go. I have encountered the issue in the following scenarios: 1. Getting off the freeway, if there is a line getting off the freeway, then the vehicle will potentially shut off and fail to restart. This is a safety hazard as the driver behind me or others behind at a distance can potentially hit the vehicle. 2. At a Stoplight, especially when making a left turn, the vehicle will shut off and fail to restart. It takes more than 8 secs to restart/reengage by restarting manually. If there are any vehicles attempting to go behind me or at a distance, then they can potentially hit my vehicle. This is a huge risk to my family and I, to assist in our safety, we end up having to turn on our hazard lights. This is unacceptable especially since this is a 2020 vehicle with under 45k miles. I have attempted to reach out to the Acura service team, Customer relations team and even called the Warranty department. However, they were not taking ownership on the issue and responded as it has not been reported before. Based on forums, the issue is being encountered by other owners as well. Hopefully, this can be sorted in the near future for safety of my family. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | The engine idle stop function is unreliable and often fails to restart the engine when the brake pedal is released. The vehicle will, suddenly and without notice, become inoperable and undrivable wherever it rests, whether at a red light or stop sign, in the middle of an intersection while making a left-hand turn, or on an entrance ramp to a highway, causing a dangerous situation for myself and other drivers. It takes several minutes to restart the engine and sometimes must be jump-started. The issue has been reported to my local dealership, and they said it is not covered. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | Problem started 1 month ago. As I approached the round about I am at very slow speed,and for no action on my part, my MDX accelerates! Fortunately it has only happened as my vehicle is coasting or I am applying the break slowly. This is happening more and more. It has over 20K miles on it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Car will not restart from the Auto Idle Stop when at a stop light. The dash goes blank then flashes everything and it takes a minute or so to restart. It has happened 3-4 times in the last 6 months. Once on a 55 mph highway. Very dangerous safety issue. I have take it to the Acura dealership service department and they say diagnostics does not show why. However, They said it has happened to their TXL model and a software update was the solution and they are hopeful they will get on update soon. Service associate did say others have been calling in about the same issue. But do not know if Acura is working on a fix. I did report the incidents to the national Acura customer service department and have a case number. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | ENGINE | (4/2021). While cruising on a 2 lane hwy the power went to zero. All I could do was coast to the shoulder. Restarted and was on the go. If I was passing another car and this happened when there was oncoming traffic I could had a head on collision. This occurred twice on the same 3 day vacation Another time (8/2022) While cruising at normal speed and acceleration in the passing lane on the interstate all of a sudden the power went zero. All I could do was coast into the median to get out of traffic. I didn’t have time to check for warning lights. Just restored the engine and all was fine. Totally scary and unsafe. Dealer says they’ve had no similar complaints. Only thing to do is have it checked but if can’t duplicate the problem or find a code nothing they can do Thinking of selling it due to not knowing what deadly situation I may be in when it reoccurs. Internet chats are saying it happens to others as well. Where is the recall that should exist? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE | The contact owns a 2020 Acura MDX. The contact stated that while the vehicle was idling, the engine suddenly shut off when the driver attempted to accelerate forward. During the failure, the message “shift into park to restart” had displayed. After shifting to the park position the engine was restarted and the vehicle operated as normal. The failure had occurred on at least four separate occasions and one time while attempting to park the vehicle. The contact indicated that the failure had occurred with and without the fuel-saving feature activated. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer was notified. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 12,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 12,000 |
| Jul 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2020 Acura MDX. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the collision mitigation braking system inadvertently activated. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact had since deactivated the collision mitigation braking system. The contact stated that the failure recurred several times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 19,725 | Crash: No Fire: No | 19,725 |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | My car was stopped at a light with idle auto on. The car shut off and switched into neutral with check engines lights on the dash. I was not able to switch the car to drive. I had to restart the car. This has happened twice in 2 weeks at busy intersections. I have brought the car to the dealership but they are unable to replicate. There was no prior warning lamps or signs prior to this happening. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | Dealer says two warped rotors Brakes pads are good there has been no abnormal breaking while driving the car. I feel this is a faulty rotor | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | Starting around 20,000 miles, my car started to majorly hesitate when I would step on the pedal trying to accelerate. Over time the problem became increasingly worse to the point where the car would slip into neutral causing a major hazard driving on the tollway when my car would decelerate when stepping on the gas pedal. This has caused me to have several very close near accidents. The dealership would keep saying that they could not replicate the problem. I have taken my car in on 8 separate occasions for this safety concern (4 different Honda/Acura dealerships trying to get help since the place I bought the car wouldn’t not help with a solution.) My car has also begun back rolling (15+ feet) when in drive. And yesterday, suddenly accelerated from 0 to 35 when waiting for our driveway gate to open. There are major issues with sudden acceleration when driving a speeds under 20mph and deceleration issue when stepping on the gas pedal trying to accelerate. I have opened a report with Honda over a year ago and keep getting the run around. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | On my 2020 MDX the rear tail light is filling with moisture and water causing the tail light to fail. There is already a recall from Acura for 2014-2019 MDX for the same issue. Apparently Acura did not correct the issue for the 2020 models which uses the same part and did not address the issue. Acura needs to include the 2020 MDX as part of this recall as well. This is a safety as if the light fail can cause a serious accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | Car broke down 3 times on the road while driving, it show 12Vbattery failure, ABS failure nd started flashing lights on the dashboard nd broke down while driving. When first time it happened dealer said they have fixed the issue. It happened again md yesterday is 3rd time. Vehicle is 19k miles only it. Pls help us getting this resolved. Dealers make false promises and it’s breaking down again and again on the road while driving which is very scary. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | STRUCTURE,WHEELS | UNKNOWN | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | The contact owns a 2020 Acura MDX. The contact stated while driving 30-35 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to respond and would not move. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that after depressing the drive button several times, she was able to drive the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who determined that the contact had inadvertently depressed an unknown button on the steering wheel causing the vehicle to shift to neutral. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and drove to her destination. The contact stated the failure persisted. The contact stated that the vehicle inadvertently stalled while driving. Several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle or veer to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V215000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) as a possible solution to the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 3,000. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 3,000 |
| Jun 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Just recently purchased an 2020 Acura MDX AWD with Tech package. Noticed that the windshields have distortions near the A pillars, which happens from both driver side and passenger side. I feel nausea when looking through the window corner as objects are curved. I did a lot of research and found this issue has been there for a while. Distortion in windshield has safety issues that should be address by Acura. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | My fiancé is 8 months pregnant and her sunroof literally exploded on her while she was on the freeway yesterday. She was almost in an accident and could have been killed. She has a 2020 MDX and I’m reading online that she isn’t the only person this has happened to. The dealership told her that she’s on her own and this defect isn’t covered under warranty when she called. It has not been inspected, but I have taken many pictures. There were no warnings or indications anything was wrong. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |