Acura MDX: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Acura MDX: 14 model years scored from 1,916 NHTSA owner complaints and 70 recall campaigns. Worst year 2025, best year 2011.
Acura MDX: which years to avoid
Across 14 scored model years the Acura MDX ranges from 39/100 in 2025 to 95/100 in 2011 — a 56-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy a MDX at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Engine (60 of them).
Avoid: 2016, 2020, 2025 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2023, 2024 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
Avoid the 2016 to 2020 MDX, where the 2016 scores 49 on 367 complaints and the 2020 scores 47 on 215, with the 2017 to 2019 CAUTION at 58, 66 and 59, and avoid the 2025 at 39 on 94 complaints in its first year. Buy a 2011 to 2013, which score 95, 92 and 94 on 70, 76 and 29 complaints, or a 2015 at 80. Engine is the top component on every MDX from 2016 to 2020, at 157, 78, 35, 46 and 79, and a late campaign explains it: 23V751000, issued in November 2023, covers 2016 to 2020 cars for a connecting rod bearing that may wear because of a manufacturing error. Power Train is 111 on the 2016, the year the nine-speed automatic arrived, and 64 on the 2017. Fuel pump campaigns 19V060000, 23V858000 and 21V215000 also cover these years, and the 2020 carries five safety-critical recalls, the most of any year. The 2023 and 2024 score 85 and 79 on 38 complaints each, evidence low.
Read the guide
Used Acura MDX, RDX and TLX: the years to avoid — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
How the MDX changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 3 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2011–2015
Mean score 88/100, about 7 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Engine more than anything else (93 complaints). 8 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2016–2020
Mean score 56/100, about 30 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Engine more than anything else (395 complaints). The record falls 32 points against the years before it. 20 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2023–2024
Mean score 82/100, about 16 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Service Brakes more than anything else (18 complaints). The record improves by 26 points against the years before it. 4 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2011 (score 95). Worst: 2025 (score 39, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 39 | AVOID | $5,916 | 94 | 3 |
| 2024 | 79 | BUY | $4,631 | 38 | 2 |
| 2023 | 85 | BUY | $4,650 | 38 | 2 |
| 2022 | 59 | CAUTION | $5,248 | 147 | 2 |
| 2020 | 47 | AVOID | $5,360 | 215 | 8 |
| 2019 | 59 | CAUTION | $5,322 | 185 | 9 |
| 2018 | 66 | CAUTION | $5,350 | 164 | 10 |
| 2017 | 58 | CAUTION | $5,634 | 253 | 8 |
| 2016 | 49 | AVOID | $5,787 | 367 | 7 |
| 2015 | 80 | BUY | $5,350 | 70 | 8 |
| 2014 | 77 | BUY | $5,639 | 170 | 9 |
| 2013 | 94 | BUY | $6,452 | 29 | 1 |
| 2012 | 92 | BUY | $6,653 | 76 | 1 |
| 2011 | 95 | BUY | $6,778 | 70 | 0 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the MDX, through the years →
MDX sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the MDX on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Acura MDX
Across every MDX model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Engine553 complaints across all MDX years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Power Train388 complaints across all MDX years · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair$1,290–$4,040
- Electrical System334 complaints across all MDX years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Unknown Or Other228 complaints across all MDX years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Forward Collision Avoidance102 complaints across all MDX years · typical job: Radar or camera module replacement and calibration$780–$2,160
- Steering69 complaints across all MDX years · typical job: Electric power-steering rack or column motor replacement$1,020–$2,500
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Acura MDX years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2016, 2020, 2025 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2025 is the weakest at 39/100, with its complaints concentrated in Engine.
What are the best Acura MDX years to buy?
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2023, 2024 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2011 at 95/100, on 70 complaints and 0 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Acura MDX problem?
553 of the complaints filed against the MDX across all its model years sit in the Engine group — more than any other component.
Compare with
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04