2011 Acura MDX: True Cost to Own, Problems & Verdict

Owner complaints: 70 filed with NHTSA

Complaints per year on the road: 4.67

What owners say

Verbatim reports filed with the United States safety regulator (NHTSA) by owners of this exact model year. Public record.

Check engine light continues to come on after repair, lack of power and transmission skip at times. Reverse light dark, unable to see at all.

The 2011 Acura MDX has a problem with the pistons in the engine which causes excessive oil consumption. This was subject of the matter of a class action suit described on the website entitled Acura Oil Consumption Settlement. This defect should be subject to recall and American Honda should be required to repair or replace this pistons.

2011 Acura MDX Engine Oil Leak from Pan. Oil change and dip stick completely dry after 2 days. Many complaints of this common issue on 2011-2013 Acura MDX and no Recall. Reverse Lights not set properly When going in reverse it's remains dark and hard to see.

The conversation

What the community is saying right now.

Reddit owner threadsr/cars, r/whatcarshouldibuy and more Video reviewsYouTube, long-term and road tests Owner forumsmodel-specific communities

Recalls: 0 campaigns

Campaign	Component	Summary

True cost of ownership

Fuel (your region) $0

Maintenance band (your region) $1,741–$3,416

Estimated running cost this year (age 15) $3,416

Re-priced automatically from your country's retail fuel, electricity and parts indices — change country in the bar at the top. Estimates; see methodology.

fuel/energy + maintenance band (annual, USD, estimate)

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Other Acura MDX years

2011 2012 20132014 2015 2016 AVOID 2017 AVOID 2018 AVOID 2019 AVOID 2020 AVOID 2022 AVOID 2023 2024 2025 AVOID

Best & worst MDX years — full table →

FAQ

What is the most common problem with the 2011 Acura MDX?

The most-reported issue in NHTSA complaint data is Engine (28 complaints in our indexed sample).

Is the 2011 Acura MDX a good used car to buy?

Our data verdict is BUY with a reliability score of 93/100, computed from 70 NHTSA complaints and 0 recall campaigns. See the verdict card for the top reasons.

Compare with

2013 Acura ILXscore 70/100 · BUY 2013 Acura RDXscore 66/100 · CAUTION 2014 Acura ILXscore 75/100 · BUY 2014 Acura RDXscore 49/100 · CAUTION

What will a 2011 Acura MDX really cost YOU per year?

Fuel, maintenance band and depreciation — computed from public data in 10 seconds.

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Data sources

Complaints & recalls: NHTSA · Fuel economy: EPA fueleconomy.gov · Scoring: our published methodology.
Maintenance bands are industry-average estimates (AAA Your Driving Costs, CarMD index) — labeled estimates, not measurements. Last updated: 2026-08-20.

BUY

70 NHTSA complaints on record (4.7/yr of exposure)
0 recall campaigns, 0 touching safety-critical systems

How this score is computed →

2011 Acura MDX: True Cost, Problems & Verdict