8.6

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$6,400
Average Mileage:
109,550 miles
Total Complaints:
16 complaints

Most common solutions:

  1. not sure (14 reports)
  2. replace engine (1 reports)
  3. replace valve seal (1 reports)
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problem #16

Apr 012018

MDX 3.7L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 146,022 miles

I purchase my Acura MDX 2010 in 2018 with 235,000 km in Alberta, Canada. The vehicle runs great although after a few months I realized the oil consumption is quite high compare to my other models of Acura even with higher mileage. After doing some research, I found that Acura Canada had a 6 months extension warranty from November 2018, on that particular problem. On the letter that Acura provided to their owners, which I eventually got on internet by another owner as I was not registered in Acura system, it stipulated they would fix any engine that would be proven to have an issue of oil consumption regardless of the previous owners, or mechanic done, etc.

I then contacted Acura Canada to register as owner and asked if my vehicle was eligible to go on the oil consumption test as I had this issue with my car. The customer service person at the time told me I was eligible and should definitely contact a dealer to start the process. I finally contacted them by April at the time limit of the extended warranty. I was offered a spot to have an oil change (to my own fee surprisingly) and started the process.

After multiple top ups over the following 3-4 months, the dealer confirmed me there is an excessive oil consumption, and they would send the confirmation and document to Acura Canada and wait on their response.

A week of so later, the dealer manager contacted me to informed me Acura Canada Refuse to go on the repairs for multiple reason that goes against their warranty extension letter. They stipulate having no record of maintenance at all (although it was easy for me to find that the car was owned by the dealership as courtesy vehicle up to 93,000km) and that there was other maintenance done on the vehicle. They mention there was multiple owner before me, although in their letter of warranty they were mentioning they would pay back to any previous owner that would have fix the vehicle due to the oil consumption.

I called Acura Canada multiple time, and after months, I finally spoke with the person who took the final decision. She would find new reasons to try to avoid doing the repairs, even if I could defend and prove her wrong. At last, she use the fact she had no proof of maintenance. When I send the car fax proof of the maintenance and copies of documents, she said she would be back to me within a week. This was in December 2019, and since then, I have left messages to her voice box and I believe my number got blocked eventually. Every time I call at Acura Canada to have an update, they take my number and won’t transfer me to anyone, I never heard back from them.

Very disappointed from a company like Acura/Honda, I will definitely never buy or encourage anyone to use their product.

- peter86, Lake Louise, AB, Canada

problem #15

Oct 012019

MDX Technically 3.5L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 135,085 miles

Honda put out an engine that burns 1 quart of oil every thousand miles. It is OK to them then they give a recall and tell me that I am past the date of recall on something that they made a mistake on - and now I have to drive with a quart of oil in my car at all times, just in case it gets slow and I have to constantly watch out. It's my first Honda and probably my last Honda.

- Barry M., Philadelphia, PA, US

problem #14

Mar 052020

MDX

  • Automatic transmission
  • 215,083 miles

I have been having issues with my 2010 Acura MDX, the check oil engine light would come on soon after an oil change. I took it into my local Acura dealer and they told me there was a recall with the 2010 MDX and the Pistons and Rings needed to be replaced, but since my car has too many miles on it they will not cover it. However, it's a mechanical issue on their end, it shouldn't matter the number of miles. I have had my car into this dealer several times and just a few months ago I was there and had spark plugs replaced. At this time it should have been brought to my attention about the recall because I never received anything in the mail about a recall for my vehicle. I don't have an extra $4-5K to fix the motor myself. This needs to be honored by Acura!!!

- Amie T., Winchester, VA, US

problem #13

Jan 012021

MDX Tech Package 3.7L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 143,943 miles

The only thing I can say now is that I gave the service dealer the go-ahead to look deeper into the situation after they did the diagnostic test. Their test shows a compression problem and very low oil. I did have the oil changed about 2 months ago.

They have my MDX right now. I'm just waiting to hear from them on what the results are. As of now this will cost me over $1100 just for them to go further into their engine investigation.

- Marcel D., Ste-Adèle, QC, Canada

problem #12

Dec 012018

MDX Tech 3.5L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 138,000 miles

Very disappointing for a luxury car that cost this much, especially from Honda. I have now lowered my expectations from Honda.

- Traci T., Taylor, TX, US

problem #11

Jun 012017

MDX Tech 3.7L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 115,000 miles

I would typically have my oil changed every 4-5 thousand miles and would always need to return to the dealer to have topped off due to excessive oil consumption.I finally read something about the problem from other frustrated owners and ordered a consumption test. In 5 thousand miles my mdx lost 3.5 quarts of oil and the service tech tried to tell me that this was normal and not a manufacturers defect. After much back and forth they finally said that they would cover 2k of the total 6k cost to repair. What a joke! Why did I purchase and pay a premium "luxury" vehicle for so much more than a "regular" vehicle. I'll tell you why ? So they can make excuses and tell me that I have to pay extra for their manufacturing defect. NO THANKS!!! I will never, ever purchase a honda or acura again...

- 2010acua M., Grand Rapids, US

problem #10

Jul 062020

MDX 3.7L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 160,890 miles

My problem started sometime ago. I noticed my engine light came on telling me I needed to check my oil. I took it to the dealership shortly after but they didn't find a problem said I may of had a small leak. Overtime I kept experiencing the problem and kept buy oil to add just like the dealership told me them the oil consumption case came about When I was stationed overseas. I asked about the oil consumption case and they did a test and told me I need to wait on the results which would take some time. Well recently While traveling for the holidays my car stalled and I had to tow it from Fayetteville NC to Arlington VA for repairs only to find out I need a new engine. I was upset because my MDX stalled and I had to us and extra day of vacation to tow it using a u-haul truck and tow which costed me extra money I didn't need to spend. Now my SUV is in the shop for and engine replacement which is expensive.

- Tyrone S., Clinton, MD, US

problem #9

Jul 012019

MDX V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 180,000 miles

I have had so many issues with the oil in this vehicle. It seems like every month I am getting an oil change because the check engine oil lights up. I am also upset that I also paid $400 to have it fixed and it still says check engine oil in less than 30 days. This has been so frustrating

- kvazquez, Grand Prairie, US

problem #8

May 042016

MDX

  • Automatic transmission
  • 59,742 miles

It's been an ongoing problem for a while. I first noticed that the engine oil consumption was high in late 2014/early 2015. I complained to local Acura dealership, Hoehn Acura, service department multiple times but in vain. Finally, one of the caring reps, ran an oil consumption test in May 2016. Though the consumption came out high 1335 miles/quart, Acura did not accept fault. I was told that the factory says that anything over a 1000miles/quart is within specification. It was until early this year, Feb 2019, that I received a letter from Acura indicating that there is a problem.

I took my car in for a check and much to my surprise, I had to pay for an oil change to conduct the test. But low and behold, the test confirmed what I had been telling the service department since 2015. Now it has been 3 months and nothing has been done to repair. The service rep has even quit. The other reps don't want to deal with the problem. Every time I call, I get transferred to Jeff Adams, service manager's voicemail. He never calls back.

I have tried calling Acura Client Services but also in vain. For last few months, a client services manager is just giving me run around. Even though I have a case number and his extension, I am not getting anywhere with him either. I have been logging everything including the tests and the conversation attempts to resolve this problem. I am reaching a point where may be in need to join in a class action rather than spinning my wheels with Acura.

Update from Jan 7, 2020: So after waiting for three and half months, i got a call to bring the MDX in for repair. It took two weeks but it was fine since they gave me a loaner vehicle. There were multiple attempts to fix other things while this repair was being done. Those other things' repair would've cost me the same $6000 if I had to pay for the oil repair myself...hmmm! but the good news is that the problem seemed to have fixed itself.

- Shariq H., Vista, CA, US

problem #7

Feb 012018

MDX

  • Automatic transmission
  • 65,244 miles

Went to the dealership, they topped up 1 liter of oil after 1900km. Said this is normal. I guess I have to go racing to get to Acura's abnormal oil consumption levels for this to be covered under the warranty... What's the point of extending the warranty to fix the issue if they don't fix it and consider this as a normal behavior??

- jinny987, Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada

problem #6

Jan 012017

MDX Tech And RES 3.7L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 70,000 miles

I've bought 2010 Acura MDX with around 64K miles. After a couple of months later, there was low oil warning light came on, so I checked oil and found missing 2 qt of oil. Then I took it to the dealer and did the oil consumption test and it failed. It was burning around 1 qt per 500 miles. But Acura headquarter is saying that they'll cover $2000 of the piston and piston ring replacement cost, which the dealer told me around $6000, so I walked out. I did not want to pay $4000 for the replacement.

I had a 2001 Acura Cl type-s before until 190000 miles and never needed oil. I trusted ACURA too much I guess. They should be willing to cover the cost of this replacement which was their stupid design or manufacture mistake.

- Kevin W., Los Gatos, US

problem #5

Apr 302016

MDX

  • Automatic transmission
  • 55,000 miles

Oi consumption is unacceptable as the car has only 55000 miles. I use synthetic oil and change every 5000 miles, still it is eating up oil every 2000 miles about 1 quart. I realize Acura try to sell car at low and acceptable price by using cheap quality part, poor QC, and expensive replacement parts. I recently got new Lexus GS 350 and its replacement is much cheaper; moreover most Lexus parts are made in Japan. Once we sell our MDX, we will definitely move to Lexus SUV.

- John T., Garden Grove, CA, US

problem #4

Feb 182016

MDX SH-AWD 3.5L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 96,000 miles

This is my third Acura, but first MDX and for a luxury vehicle it is absolutely unacceptable that the dealership answer is that this is normal. They need to replace my valve seals and not try to steal my money for a problem that is well know an documented. Why this is not a recall yet is beyond me. My friend that has the same vehicle was told her car just needed a system treatment (B&N0 to clean out the system (Sorry, but what a scam, took her for $144 and that engine purge does not fix oil consumption. Valve JOB!

- Gianni B., Bristow, VA, US

problem #3

Apr 072014

MDX V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 48,000 miles

This is the same complaint as so many others. Having driven Honda forever my thoughts were that their upper tier vehicles would be a bit nicer to compete in the BMW and Mercedes market. Just like Lexus and Infiniti. My Hondas never burned, leaked, evaporated or magically made oil disappear, I should accept even more from a vehicle that xosts twice as much.

I actually carry a 5 quart jug of oil in the back of my $50,000 + "luxury" vehicle because I have to check the oil at every fill up. I will put in every bit of 5 quarts between my regularly scheduled oil changes. So it costs me $30 for the oil changew and $30 for the oil to make it to the oil change.

I wonder if I look as silly as I feel fiddling in the engine compartment refilling the oil in my "luxury crossover" vehicle in a suit and tie!

- Brad P., Whiteford, US

problem #2

Oct 032015

MDX

  • Automatic transmission
  • 54,000 miles

Car consuming oil between oil changes. Just want car fixed. Still under powertrain warranty.

Dealer/Acura says 1 quart per 1000 miles within factory specifications. This was not an issue when car was less than 50k.

Update from Jul 6, 2017: I took the car to another dealership in New Jersey and they replaced Engine shortblock. It seems fixed oil burn issue. I need to wait and see.

Update from May 16, 2018: Update: car started burning oil, 20k miles after short block replacement.

Shortblock replaced around 66k, no issue approximately 20k miles.

Waiting for feedback from Acura Client services.

- JJ J., highland mills, NY, US

problem #1

Jul 032015

MDX Technology 3.7V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 70,000 miles

Purchased new, this 2010 MDX has been maintained per the instruction book by the dealership and responsibly driven. Recently noticed oil level going down upon an oil change. Thought dealership under-filled it and checked again carefully, and it went down further in another thousand miles or so. Started the oil consumption test last week with the dealership and it recorded more than 1/4 quart consumption in 1000 miles. Ideally, new VTEC engine should have negligible consumption between oil changes, but Acura is claiming that 1 quart/1000 miles is normal! I am disappointed with the quality of the engine, whether it is piston rings, tolerances, warped sleeve or something else. The tailpipes show oil burn marks and worried about the exhaust system. Let's see what happens when I take it in again for oil consumption test at next 1000 miles.

- rsrai100, Lynnwood, WA, US