2023 Acura MDX TYPE S problems and owner complaints
Explore the records behind recurring owner reports.
Key facts
5 owner complaints analyzed
1 distinct recall campaigns
50,000 mi median reported failure mileage
Scope: 2023 model year. Data updated: . 1 complaints include usable failure mileage. View data status.
This selection has limited data. It remains available for lookup but is excluded from search indexing.
Owner-reported patterns
Most common problems
Power Train is the most frequently named component, appearing in 5 of 5 complaints (100.0%). A complaint can name multiple components.
Recurring terms in complaint narratives
Topic
Matching reports
Share of complaints
Transmission and shifting
4
80.0%
Engine operation
1
20.0%
Steering behavior
1
20.0%
Topic matches use published keyword rules. They describe mentions, including negations or comparisons, and do not confirm a diagnosis. Read the matching rules.
Component breakdown
Number of unique complaints naming each component. Top eight shown.
Power Train
5
Component breakdown data
Category
Count
Power Train
5
Power Train: 5
Reported problems by failure mileage
Complaint counts in mileage bands. These are not failure rates per vehicle or mile.
Under 25,000
0
25,000 to 49,999
0
50,000 to 74,999
1
75,000 to 99,999
0
100,000 to 149,999
0
150,000 and above
0
Reported problems by failure mileage data
Category
Count
Under 25,000
0
25,000 to 49,999
0
50,000 to 74,999
1
75,000 to 99,999
0
100,000 to 149,999
0
150,000 and above
0
Under 25,000: 0; 25,000 to 49,999: 0; 50,000 to 74,999: 1; 75,000 to 99,999: 0; 100,000 to 149,999: 0; 150,000 and above: 0
50,000 to 74,999 miles has the most reports with usable mileage (1). 4 complaints have missing, zero or invalid mileage.
Complaints over time
Year the complaint was filed, not the vehicle model year or incident year. The snapshot year is partial.
2025
2
2026
3
Complaints over time data
Category
Count
2025
2
2026
3
2025: 2; 2026: 3
Pattern summary
Power Train leads the component reports. Transmission and shifting appears in 4 complaint narratives. Engine operation appears in 1 complaint narratives. Steering behavior appears in 1 complaint narratives. Use these patterns to inspect individual reports and prepare questions for a mechanic.
Calculated from recorded counts. An AI narrative has not been published for this selection.
Complaint evidence
Examples provide context, not a representative sample or a verified diagnosis.
While making a left turn into a parking lot my car exhibited a loud bang noise. It felt as if the car had been hit from the rear. While applying the gas the car jerked and popped in the rear. I had the car towed to a dealership where I was informed the transfer case had " Destroyed itself". The gears broke apart internally. I was also informed that the transmission power take off was destroyed.The car only has 87000 miles on it and has been serviced at recommended intervals. The dealership quoted 19000.00 dollars to repair. The car was out of A…
While making a left turn from an on-ramp, I heard a loud crunch from the drivetrain and experienced a momentary loss of power. Immediately afterward, the front tires began spinning under acceleration. I realized the vehicle was no longer sending power to the rear wheels and had effectively lost its all-wheel-drive capability. The instrument display continued to indicate that power was being sent to the rear wheels even though the rear wheels were not receiving power. This gave an inaccurate indication of the vehicle’s operating condition. The…
The contact owns a 2023 ACURA MDX. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at 45 MPH an abnormal sound was emitted from underneath the vehicle, and the vehicles steering was being pulled to the right, no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed and the contact was advised that that the PTU/PTO was faulty as metal shavings were found in the transfer case and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mi…
Inspect model-year patterns, reported mileage, monthly activity and the evidence behind each signal.
Data completeness
5 unique complaints in this selection. Analysis snapshot: 2026-10-01.
20.0%Usable mileage1 / 5 records
100.0%Valid incident date5 / 5 records
100.0%Valid filing date5 / 5 records
100.0%Ordered incident and filing dates5 / 5 records
Missing, zero and invalid mileage is excluded. Dates after the snapshot are excluded. Examples are limited selections, not a representative sample.
Problems by model year
Model-wide comparison of the eight most reported components across the model. Cells show counts and shares within each model year. Open a cell for source examples.
Component complaint heatmap
Component
2022
2023
2024
2025
Power Train
2087.0%ODI 11523907
Vehicle experienced reduced power and many alarm messages came up. I pulled to the side of the road to get out of traffic. I turned off the engine and attempted to restart, the engine would run for 5 seconds and then shutdown. I learned later that the turbo outlet hose had become detached from the hose fitting. It was under the motor and only accessible when the vehicle was on a hoist. The real reason for my complaint is that with the engine unable to stay running, the transmission could not be shifted to neutral and there is no shift lock fea…
The transfer case on my 2024 Acura MDX Type S failed with under 30,000 miles. I believe there's a public investigation from the NHTSA, I wanted to ensure my case was reported.
Twice earlier in the year as I was pulling into a parking spot the brakes seemed to have failed, car auto accelerated, but was stopped by a parking block. Air suspension warning light was on, car was evaluated three times 6/2023-8/2023, air suspension sensor replaced, Acura reported car was otherwise fine. One week following last evaluation car again auto accelerated, was stopped by parking block. The car again auto accelerated one month later, this time into cement wall, air bags deployed. Issue only happens when coming to a stop, very spo…
Monday, June 30th, 2025, while driving on highway trip out of state, the vehicle made severe explosion noise, and sounded like I was dragging something metal under the vehicle for approx 30 seconds. After slowing the vehicle, I confirmed there was nothing under the car and the car seemed to be driving fine. There was zero warning light displaying any type of part failure or warning light addressing anything needed attention. In hindsight, I realize that this is when the transmission transfer case malfunctioned. Entire time since I've had the …
Rear brake gets rocks stuck, a lot of people are complaining for this, Acura is not taking actions to correct this, This can be dangerous if the brakes fails for having a rock stuck in the calipers
While driving and happened multiple times, vehicle senses phantom objects or nothing at all but hard brakes on its own which also causes the seat belt to tug on abdomen (wife was pregnant at the time, unfortunately had a miscarriage at 14 weeks which could have been a cause). After the second time, the forward facing camera was replaced per Honda/Acura technical support. Once camera was replace vehicle would hard brake on it's own again which lead me to installing a dash cam to have proof which I provided to service to share with their technica…
While driving and happened multiple times, vehicle senses phantom objects or nothing at all but hard brakes on its own which also causes the seat belt to tug on abdomen (wife was pregnant at the time, unfortunately had a miscarriage at 14 weeks which could have been a cause). After the second time, the forward facing camera was replaced per Honda/Acura technical support. Once camera was replace vehicle would hard brake on it's own again which lead me to installing a dash cam to have proof which I provided to service to share with their technica…
The All Wheel Drive of my 2022 MDX has been going out in the rear, and only the front wheels are powered. This happens nearly every time I drive the vehicle for the last 2 months, at least. My safety is at risk because I live in Montana and the roads have been getting icy with current weather conditions. When the AWD drive gives out, I lose all power briefly as the front tried to regain power. Going up mountains with this issue is very dangerous. It also goes out in "snow" mode. I have sent the Acura warranty department numerous photos, via …
Darker cells indicate a larger share of submitted complaints. Components overlap. This measures complaint composition, not failure probability.
Failure mileage by component
Median and middle 50% of usable owner-reported mileages. Ranges require at least five records.
Component failure mileage distribution
Component
Mileage range (25th–75th percentile)
Median
Usable records
Examples
Power Train
Too few reports for a range
50,000 mi
1 (sparse)
ODI 11750629 · 50,000 mi
The contact owns a 2023 ACURA MDX. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at 45 MPH an abnormal sound was emitted from underneath the vehicle, and the vehicles steering was being pulled to the right, no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed and the contact was advised that that the PTU/PTO was faulty as metal shavings were found in the transfer case and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mi…
Explore monthly filing activity alongside recall announcements. Up to ten years of monthly history is available.
Solid line: filed complaints. Dashed amber lines: recall announcement dates for this vehicle selection; markers include all recall components. The latest month is partial. Temporal proximity does not establish causation.
Monthly counts, recall campaigns and complaint examples
While making a left turn into a parking lot my car exhibited a loud bang noise. It felt as if the car had been hit from the rear. While applying the gas the car jerked and popped in the rear. I had the car towed to a dealership where I was informed the transfer case had " Destroyed itself". The gears broke apart internally. I was also informed that the transmission power take off was destroyed.The car only has 87000 miles on it and has been serviced at recommended intervals. The dealership quoted 19000.00 dollars to repair. The car was out of A…
There was a loud noise from under the car, and the car suddenly started to experience wheel spin. It's AWD and should not be spinning the tires. Suddenly losing AWD is dangerous when you expect the car to perform like an AWD car. Dealership said the transmission spline is stripped and needs replaced under warranty. Car has currently been at the dealership for 50 days. There is no known ETA on replacement parts. No warnings on anything, the car's power distribution meter still shows power going to the rear wheels even though it is not. I …
The contact owns a 2023 ACURA MDX. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at 45 MPH an abnormal sound was emitted from underneath the vehicle, and the vehicles steering was being pulled to the right, no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed and the contact was advised that that the PTU/PTO was faulty as metal shavings were found in the transfer case and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mi…
While making a left turn from an on-ramp, I heard a loud crunch from the drivetrain and experienced a momentary loss of power. Immediately afterward, the front tires began spinning under acceleration. I realized the vehicle was no longer sending power to the rear wheels and had effectively lost its all-wheel-drive capability. The instrument display continued to indicate that power was being sent to the rear wheels even though the rear wheels were not receiving power. This gave an inaccurate indication of the vehicle’s operating condition. The…
Complete months in the latest six months with at least 10 complaints, at least twice the preceding 12-month average, and at least three square-root deviations above that average.
This is a descriptive screening rule, not a statistical defect finding. Publicity and reporting changes can increase submissions.
No complete months meet the spike thresholds for this selection.
Equal-age model-year comparison
Model-wide cumulative reports during the first three or five calendar years, starting with the model year (age 0). Only fully elapsed windows are compared.
2022: 8 complaints · 2023: 3 complaints
Equal observation windows
Model year
Through age 0
Through age 1
Through age 2
2022
1
7
8
2023
0
0
3
Date coverage across each selected cohort
Date basis for all complaints in selected model years
Year
Incident dates used
Filing date fallbacks
Excluded dates
2022
23
0
0
2023
5
0
0
Incident date is preferred when valid and no later than filing; otherwise filing date is used. Model year approximates age. Equal observation time does not adjust for sales, distance driven or reporting delays. One complaint linked to multiple model years can appear in each cohort.
Components reported together
Each cell counts unique complaints naming both components. Open a nonzero cell for examples.
Component co-occurrence matrix
Component
Power Train
Power Train
—
Co-reporting does not establish that one component caused another concern.
Recurring narrative patterns
Specific keyword mentions beyond broad component labels. Matching includes negations and comparisons and does not confirm a diagnosis.
3 patterns with matching reports.
Warning lights and dashboard alerts
3 mentions · 60.0% of complaints
Median mileage: 50,000 mi (1 usable records).
ODI 11700964
While making a left turn into a parking lot my car exhibited a loud bang noise. It felt as if the car had been hit from the rear. While applying the gas the car jerked and popped in the rear. I had the car towed to a dealership where I was informed the transfer case had " Destroyed itself". The gears broke apart internally. I was also informed that the transmission power take off was destroyed.The car only has 87000 miles on it and has been serviced at recommended intervals. The dealership quoted 19000.00 dollars to repair. The car was out of A…
The contact owns a 2023 ACURA MDX. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at 45 MPH an abnormal sound was emitted from underneath the vehicle, and the vehicles steering was being pulled to the right, no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed and the contact was advised that that the PTU/PTO was faulty as metal shavings were found in the transfer case and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mi…
While making a left turn from an on-ramp, I heard a loud crunch from the drivetrain and experienced a momentary loss of power. Immediately afterward, the front tires began spinning under acceleration. I realized the vehicle was no longer sending power to the rear wheels and had effectively lost its all-wheel-drive capability. The instrument display continued to indicate that power was being sent to the rear wheels even though the rear wheels were not receiving power. This gave an inaccurate indication of the vehicle’s operating condition. The…
While making a left turn into a parking lot my car exhibited a loud bang noise. It felt as if the car had been hit from the rear. While applying the gas the car jerked and popped in the rear. I had the car towed to a dealership where I was informed the transfer case had " Destroyed itself". The gears broke apart internally. I was also informed that the transmission power take off was destroyed.The car only has 87000 miles on it and has been serviced at recommended intervals. The dealership quoted 19000.00 dollars to repair. The car was out of A…
While making a left turn from an on-ramp, I heard a loud crunch from the drivetrain and experienced a momentary loss of power. Immediately afterward, the front tires began spinning under acceleration. I realized the vehicle was no longer sending power to the rear wheels and had effectively lost its all-wheel-drive capability. The instrument display continued to indicate that power was being sent to the rear wheels even though the rear wheels were not receiving power. This gave an inaccurate indication of the vehicle’s operating condition. The…