Acura MDX reliability by year
37 recall campaigns and 2,505 owner complaints across 21 model years. Best year to buy: 2013. Year to avoid: 2005.
Worst model years to avoid → — the single year to avoid for every model line we track, ranked side by side.
Years to avoid — and why 2 flagged on the NHTSA record
Cleaner on the data: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2023, 2024, 2025 and others. Still verify the specific vehicle.
At-a-glance: every year color-coded
Each cell shows the last two digits of the model year and its 0–10 reliability score from NHTSA data. Click any year to see the full record. ★ best year · ✕ year to avoid.
Year-by-year reliability 21 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 98, more than the 37 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the MDX aggregated across 21 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a Acura MDX?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2013 Acura MDX scores 8.2/10 — the strongest in the 2005–2026 range. 30 complaints on file, 1 active recall. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which Acura MDX year should I avoid?
The 2005 Acura MDX scores 2.0/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 180 owner complaints with NHTSA, 13 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2005 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the Acura MDX should I avoid?
On the NHTSA complaint and recall record, the model years to be most careful with are 2006 (avoid — the powertrain — powertrain: 37 complaints, classified severe, failures cluster 58,000–86,172 mi); 2005 (avoid — the powertrain — powertrain: 82 complaints, classified severe, failures cluster 60,000–105,000 mi). The cleaner years on the data are 2024, 2023, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010. This is our read of the federal data, not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection of the specific vehicle.
How many years of the Acura MDX are tracked?
21 model years (2005 through 2026) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 37 distinct recall campaigns and 2,505 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 98 model-year entries in total, because one campaign often covers several years at once — which is why per-year recall counts add up to more than the campaign count.
What's the most-reported problem on the Acura MDX?
powertrain is the most-reported category — 524 complaints across 18 model years. Average shop repair runs about $2,500.