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2026 Acura MDX

Gas

Small Sport Utility Vehicle 2WD
3 EPA-rated configurations
Data refreshed 2026-10-26

Safety Signal

92 / 100 from the NHTSA recall record

RecallsNHTSA campaigns 1

Complaintsnone reporting a crash, fire or injury 9

Crash ratingNHTSA overall 5★

Fuel economybest combined, EPA 22 mpg

Starting MSRP8 trims · manufacturer $51,800

2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

The 2026 Acura MDX is sold in the U.S. as a gas compact SUV with 3 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the MDX FWD, is EPA-rated at 22 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 1 recall campaign for this model year, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of A. Owners have filed 9 complaints, most often about the electrical system. NHTSA crash-tested it at 5 stars overall. Manufacturer pricing runs from $51,800 to $75,850 across 8 trims.

Acura MDX — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Acura MDX (2000 generation) · Photo: Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Trims & pricing

Source: manufacturer press kitWhich trim should I buy? → Compare a trim →

Trim	Powertrain	Drive	MSRP	HP	Torque	MPG comb	Cargo (2nd row)	Wheels
MDX	Gas	FWD	$51,800	290 hp	267 lb-ft	22 mpg	39.1 cu-ft	19 in
MDX	Gas	AWD	$54,000	290 hp	267 lb-ft	21 mpg	39.1 cu-ft	19 in
Technology	Gas	FWD	$57,200	290 hp	267 lb-ft	22 mpg	39.1 cu-ft	20 in
Technology	Gas	AWD	$59,400	290 hp	267 lb-ft	21 mpg	39.1 cu-ft	20 in
A-Spec	Gas	AWD	$62,400	290 hp	267 lb-ft	21 mpg	39.1 cu-ft	20 in
Advance	Gas	AWD	$66,900	290 hp	267 lb-ft	21 mpg	39.1 cu-ft	20 in
A-Spec Advance	Gas	AWD	$68,900	290 hp	267 lb-ft	21 mpg	39.1 cu-ft	20 in
Type S Advance	Gas	AWD	$75,850	355 hp	354 lb-ft	19 mpg	39.1 cu-ft	21 in

MSRP excludes destination. Open a trim for the complete spec sheet and standard/optional equipment. Have the car in front of you? Decode its VIN to see which of these trims it is and what it was priced at.

Specs & fuel economy

Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov

Configuration	Powertrain	Drive	Engine / motor	City	Hwy	Comb	Annual fuel*
MDX FWD	Gas	FWD	3.5L 6-cyl	19	26	22	$3,750
MDX AWD	Gas	AWD	3.5L 6-cyl	19	25	21	$3,900
MDX AWD Type-S	Gas	AWD	3.0L 6-cyl turbo	17	21	19	$4,350

*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 49439, 49471, 49560.

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Recalls (1)

Source: NHTSA recall database

▲high

Air Bags

98,892 vehicles 32% reported repaired

Problem Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V, 2018-2020 Fit, 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid, 2017-2022 CR-V, 2017-2018, 2021 Civic Type R, 2017-2021 Civic hatchback, 2016-2020 Civic coupe, 2016-2022 Civic, 2017-2022 Accord Hybrid, and 2016-2022 Accord vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, which can cause the air bags to deploy unintentionally during a crash. Risk Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury. Fix Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are BOL, WO9, OOA, WOM, XOH, NOC, POD, BOE, UOF, POB, EOG, AOI, QO8, TOJ, DO7, and SOK. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 24V064. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.

Filed with NHTSADefect report PDF Owner letter PDF Dealer notice PDF

NHTSA campaign 26V332000 reported May 21, 2026 Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) the full filing, and every vehicle covered →

These are vehicle campaigns — the ones the automaker filed against this model. NHTSA also records equipment recalls, filed by a parts maker against a component (a tyre, a child seat, an aftermarket part), and those are not listed here or counted above. nhtsa.gov/recalls shows both for a VIN.

Whether any of this applies to one specific MDX

A campaign covers a build range, not a model year, so two identical-looking cars from 2026 can differ. Both of these check a VIN against the manufacturer’s own list, free, in about ten seconds. Acura publishes its own lookup because federal rule 49 CFR 573.15 requires it to, and to keep it current to within seven days.

NHTSA VIN check →Acura’s own VIN lookup →

Hear about a recall before the letter does

The manufacturer’s letter is the last step of a recall: it has up to 60 days after filing to mail owners, at the address on the registration. We email you the day NHTSA posts a recall on the 2026 Acura MDX, with what to do next. Nothing else, ever — no newsletter, no marketing, one-click unsubscribe in every message.

Owner complaints

Source: NHTSA complaint database

9complaints filed

0 involved a crash · 0 a fire · 0 injuries · 0 deaths reported

2.2 per 10,000 built · Acura reported 41,852 MDX built (its Early Warning production report to NHTSA)

Filed per year: 2025: 3 · 2026: 6

Most-cited components

Unspecified 3

Electrical System 3

Engine 2

Lane Departure 2

Vehicle Speed Control 1

Forward Collision Avoidance 1

In owners' own words

Filed with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, one per problem area. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed.

On October 1, 2026 at approximately 5:45am, while driving my 2026 Acura MDX, I stopped at a red traffic light on a busy street. The vehicle's Auto Idle Stop system shut the engine off as designed. When the light turned green and I attempted to proceed, the engine failed to restart.

Engine Oct 4, 2026 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11768794

The contact owns a 2026 Acura MDX. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH and adjusting the interior rearview mirror, the mirror detached and was hanging down. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was determined that the windshield and the interior rear-view mirror needed to be replaced.

Visibility/Wiper at 1,800 miles Oct 2, 2026 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11768571

Blind spot warning system stops working when the it is hot outside or inside of the vehicle

Lane Departure Sep 6, 2026 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11762463

The blind spot monitor becomes inoperable when you leave the car in an open area with sun and warm weather on the car. If you take the car and place it in a garage or during nighttime the monitors will come back on. This problem was brought to the dealer, Gettel Acura, in XXX. They replaced a Chip and told me it was fixed.

Electrical System Jul 3, 2026 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11748188

2026 Acura MDX with Acura Factory A Spec issued plastic floor mats. Accelerator pedal gets stuck behind the floor mat resulting in uncontrolled wide open throttle. Had to physically put my foot behind the pedal and pull pedal away from floor. Afterwards tried a few times to repeat the issue, 3/5 times was able to reproduce stuck pedal.

Vehicle Speed Control Nov 19, 2025 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11700349

2026 Acura MDX with 3.5 L V6 (J35Y-series) experienced connecting-rod bearing failure and total engine loss at 1,920 miles. Vehicle currently at dealer. Appears identical to failures under NHTSA PE25-008 (2016-2020 models)

Engine Nov 11, 2025 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11698786

Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.

Reported by Acura itself: 3 death-or-injury claims on this model year in its quarterly Early Warning reports to NHTSA (49 CFR 579.21): 3 injured, as claimed, not verified — about 7.2 per 100,000 built. Every MDX model year, by year and system → Dated and by system, they are exhibit F of the defect dossier.

Crash ratings

Source: NHTSA NCAP

Configuration	Overall	Frontal	Side	Rollover	Rollover risk
SUV FWD	★★★★★	★★★★☆	★★★★★	★★★★☆	15%
SUV AWD	not rated	★★★★☆	★★★★★	not rated	15%

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program. Standard driver-assist: forward collision warning, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking.

Service bulletins & campaigns

Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications

Communicationsfiled with NHTSA 7

Most recentmanufacturer date 2026-05-13

Kindsas classified by NHTSA 5 others, 2 over-the-air updates

Most often about: Electrical System, Engine, Fuel/Propulsion System.

BTI&05122026901 Other
2026-05-13 · Engine
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2024-2026 MDXs with a client complaint of the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) on with the DTC P0441 (EVAP System Purge Flow Malfunction) stored. To better understand the cause of this condition, AHM would like to collect specific parts from the vehicle prior to you attempting a repair of any kind.
BTI&04292026901 Other
2026-04-29 · Engine
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2024-2026 MDXs with a client complaint of the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) on with the DTC P0441 (EVAP System Purge Flow Malfunction) stored. To better understand the cause of this condition, AHM would like to collect specific parts from the vehicle prior to you attempting a repair of any kind.
BTI&04202026901 Other
2026-04-20 · Engine
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2024-2026 MDXs with a client complaint of the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) on with the DTC P0441 (EVAP System Purge Flow Malfunction) stored. To better understand the cause of this condition, AHM would like to collect specific parts from the vehicle prior to you attempting a repair of any kind.
BBTS30565 Other
2026-04-07 · Electrical System
Tech Line Summary - The vehicle's infotainment system displays previously viewed SMS messages upon each ignition cycle, when the customer's Android phone is connected via Bluetooth.
BB28518 Over-the-air update
2026-03-10 · Electrical System
Over The Air System Updates - Vehicles equipped with the System Updates application are capable of downloading and installing Over the Air System updates (OTA). A connection to a Wi-Fi network is needed to perform the update over the air. System updates contain upgrades that fix operational errors and/or provide a variety of enhancements, which adds new functionality. Information about the various
B28518 Over-the-air update
2026-01-17 · Electrical System
Over the Air System Update - System updates contain upgrades that fix operational errors and/or provide a variety of enhancements, which adds new functionality. Information about the various software releases can be found in this document.
BB29050 Other
2025-08-04 · Electrical System
Tech Line - Customers may experience error code S001 with their audio unit. The vehicle may also have DTC B2B05-92 CAN Gateway error stored due to the dealership’s wi-fi settings.

A service bulletin is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a known condition. It is not a recall, not a finding that the vehicle is defective, and the work is not automatically free — though a bulletin is often what a dealer works from when you describe a symptom, so quoting the document number can save a diagnosis. The count is every communication filed; the list shows the most recent, one entry per campaign, because a single campaign is usually filed as several documents on the same day. The summaries are NHTSA's; the full documents come from the manufacturer.

Diagnostic trouble codes on file

Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications and complaints

Codes documented against this model year in the federal record. A code appearing here does not mean this vehicle will set it — it means the code is part of this nameplate-year's documented history.

Code	What it means	Most often filed under	Where it appears
P0441 P0441 on Acura →	The evaporative purge is not flowing the way it should.	Engine · EVAP purge valve →	3 bulletins

Generic codes (the second character is 0 or 2) mean the same thing on every vehicle sold in the United States. Manufacturer-specific codes (1 or 3) mean whatever the automaker assigned, and no honest source can define them for you — which is why the ones here carry the evidence instead of a definition. A code is a link when enough separate federal documents name it across the catalogue to be worth a page of its own; the rest are listed here, where the vehicle is the context that makes them mean something.

MDX by model year

all years, side by side →

Year Safety Recalls Complaints

2026 this page A 1 9 22 mpg 2025 C 4 112 22 mpg 2024 C 3 43 22 mpg 2023 C 3 48 22 mpg 2022 C 3 180 22 mpg 2021 A 0 0 27 mpg 2020 F 8 230 27 mpg 2019 D 9 198 27 mpg 2018 F 10 170 27 mpg 2017 D 9 268 27 mpg 2016 D 7 377 23 mpg

Common questions about the 2026 MDX

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

How much does the 2026 Acura MDX cost?

Manufacturer pricing runs from $51,800 for the MDX FWD to $75,850 for the Type S Advance AWD, across 8 trims. Those are MSRPs from the manufacturer's own press material; they exclude destination, options, taxes and whatever the dealer adds. Every trim and price is listed above.

Does the 2026 Acura MDX have any recalls?

NHTSA has posted 1 recall campaign for the 2026 Acura MDX. The most serious on file is 26V332000, covering Air Bags. Check your own VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls; a recall applies to specific build ranges, not every car.

How safe is the 2026 Acura MDX?

NHTSA gave the 2026 Acura MDX 5 stars overall in its New Car Assessment Program tests — 4-star frontal crash, 5-star side crash, 4-star rollover. WhichTrim also grades it A (92/100) on its recall record, which is a different question from crash protection.

What is the fuel economy of the 2026 Acura MDX?

Across the 3 EPA-rated configurations of the 2026 Acura MDX, the best EPA combined figure is 22 mpg. Figures are the EPA's own, per configuration, and every one is listed above.

What do owners complain about on the 2026 Acura MDX?

Owners have filed 9 complaints with NHTSA about the 2026 Acura MDX, most often about unspecified, electrical system, engine. Complaints are unverified owner reports, so treat the pattern as a signal and the individual report as an anecdote.

Are there service bulletins for the 2026 Acura MDX?

The manufacturer has filed 7 service bulletins and related communications with NHTSA for the 2026 Acura MDX, most often covering electrical system, engine, fuel/propulsion system. The most recent is dated 2026-05-13. A bulletin is not a recall: it is the repair procedure a manufacturer sends its dealers for a condition it knows about, and the work is not automatically paid for. It is still worth knowing — if the symptom matches, quoting the bulletin number at the service desk can save a diagnosis. The document numbers and summaries are listed above.

Which 2026 Acura MDX trim is the best value?

$24,050 separates the cheapest of the 8 trims from the most expensive, so the answer depends on which of the differences you would actually use. Every trim has its own page here with the manufacturer's full specification and equipment list, plus a short summary of exactly what it adds over the base trim — worth reading before a dealer frames the walk-up for you. The trim-by-trim ladder shows what every step up costs and what it makes standard.

What we hold, and what an empty row means

Paid vehicle-history reports will not tell you the difference between “nothing happened to this car” and “we never received that record” — both of the big two say as much in their own help pages. Most of what is on this page comes from complete federal registers, so we can tell you which is which, row by row.

Data	Held	Source	What it covers — or what empty means
Fuel economy & configurations	3 configurations	EPA certification records	Every configuration the EPA certified for sale, with its own test figures.
Emission certificates	none	EPA emission certificates	The EPA published no certificate we could match to a configuration on this page.
Recalls	1	NHTSA recall campaigns	A complete federal register: every campaign covering this model year, with severity and advisory flags.
Owner complaints	9	NHTSA complaint database	Also complete, but unverified: these are reports owners filed, not findings. Counts scale with how many were sold.
Crash ratings	2 tested	NHTSA NCAP	Only the configurations NHTSA chose to crash-test, which is never all of them.
Service bulletins	7	NHTSA manufacturer communications	Everything the manufacturer told its dealers about a defect or malfunction, short of a recall.
Investigations	none	NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation	No defect investigation has been opened.
Driver-assist crash reports	none	NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01	No report has been filed. Only entities named in the order report, and only crashes they hear of — so this is also what an unequipped car, or a manufacturer without telematics, looks like.
Specifications filed with NHTSA	none	NHTSA vPIC, decoded from VIN patterns	We had no VIN pattern to decode for this model year, or the manufacturer filed nothing usable.
Trims, pricing & equipment	8 trims	Manufacturer press kit	Transcribed from the manufacturer's own press material, every value carrying the document it came from.

Rebuilt nightly; this page was generated 2026-10-26. Every figure above is traceable to the source named beside it, and the JSON for this page carries the same values with their identifiers.

Sources & method

Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). The most serious recall counts in full and each further one counts 85% of the one before, because a vehicle sold in millions is recalled more often than a rare one without being more dangerous — and because a flat subtraction bottomed the scale out, scoring a vehicle with 22 recalls within a point of one with six. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Read it as what it counts: recall campaigns on the federal record, weighted by severity. The damping reduces the sales bias by roughly 40% but does not remove it: like our complaint counts, this is not normalized by how many were sold, so a best-seller still scores somewhat worse than an obscure model with the same real risk. NHTSA crash ratings, do-not-drive and park-outside advisories, and the crash, fire, injury and death counts in owner complaints are reported separately on every page and never blended into the letter — a vehicle can hold five stars and a poor letter at once, and where that happens we say so rather than leave you to notice. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.

EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed nightly. Trim-level specifications and pricing are transcribed from the manufacturer's official press kit; every value carries its source in the data file.

JSON for this page · API