2014 Acura MDX
This year drew an ordinary 169 complaints for a Acura MDX — the model's median is 80. What they were about is the unusual part: 7.7% of them mention hill, against 3% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The Acura MDX was redesigned for 2014. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 169 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 80 |
| Involving a crash | 10 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 9 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 22 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- hill — 7.7% of this year's complaints, against 3% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: hill, stability, brake system, down hill.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
Upon startup the following warning lights come on and remain active: Brake System Problem, Power Steering Problem, Hill Start Assist Problem, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) Problem, Anti-Lock Break System Problem. Additionally, intermittingly a loud grinding n…
WHEN DRIVING DOWN A LONG, DOWNHILL SLOPE THE STEERING WHEEL AND THE REST OF THE CAR STARTED SHAKING WHEN THE BRAKE IS APPLIED. FROM A SCALE OF 0 TO 10 I WOULD GIVE IT A 6 OR MORE FOR THE SHAKING. IT IS PRETTY BAD. THE EXACT SAME SYMPTOMS OCCURRED TO MY 2009 HO…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V256000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 15V301000 FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE Fixed free of charge.
- 15V417000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 14V639000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 13E040000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 13V571000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 23V858000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 25V259000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 9. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Acura MDX was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2014 Acura MDX? What happened to yours?
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