The Acura MDX is a 5-door SUV from Acura, built from 2000, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Under the bonnet: 3.5 . Frank Paluch (engineering: 1998) / Catalin Matei (styling: 1998) drew it.
How it came about
The Acura MDX is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV with three-row seating produced by the Japanese automaker Honda under its luxury Acura division since 2000. The alphanumeric moniker stands for "Multi-Dimensional" luxury. It has ranked as the second-best selling mid-size luxury SUV after the Lexus RX in the U.S.
The MDX was introduced on October 5, 2000 as a 2001 model, replacing the slow-selling U.S.-only body-on-frame SLX, based on the Isuzu Trooper. In Japan, it was made to replace the Honda Horizon (also based on the Trooper) which was discontinued in 1999. In 2003, the vehicle went on sale in Japan and Australia as the Honda MDX; sales with Honda badges ended with the introduction of the second generation three years later.
The hardware
Power comes from 3.5 . It weighs 4451 lb. It shifts through a 5-speed automatic. The layout matters: drive goes to all four wheels, which is what lets the power be used on a wet road. The wheelbase is 2700 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Acura SLX; assembly was at Alliston, Ontario (HCM), Canada. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Hyundai Santa Fe, the BMW X5, the Škoda Auto Škoda Fabia — show what else the money bought that year. Its Acura stablemates include the Acura ADX and the Acura ARX-06.
What it costs now
The money question first: $13,300–$65,000 is the typical asking range today, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $4,278–$7,616 a year. Insurance sits around $1,490–$3,420 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.