6 complaints reported

2020 Acura MDX UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
6
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Jun 2025

My Acura MDX 2020 had an issue in which the automatic start-stop system sometimes not manage to start the engine after stopping.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 ACURA MDX, Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Incident: Mar 2025
Jul 2024

WHEN I WAS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT IN TRAFFIC (MY VEHICLE WAS IN IDLE STOP MODE), MY CAR SIMPLY DIED AND WOULD NOT RESTART WHEN THE TRAFFIC LIGHT TURNED GREEN AND I STEPPED ON THE GAS PEDAL TO MOVE FORWARD WITH TRAFFIC. IT TOOK NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO RE START THE VEHICLE WHILE STUCK IN VERY HEAVY TRAFFIC BEFORE IT GAINED POWER AND WAS ABLE TO DRIVE FORWARD. MY SAFETY WAS COMPROMISED I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF MULTIPLE LANES OF MOVING TRAFFIC, IT WAS SCARY. NO WARNING LAMPS OR MESSAGES OCCURED PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 ACURA MDX, Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Incident: Nov 2024
Jul 2024

No warning lights or other indications occurred. This is the 2nd time while sitting at a stop light that the car has gone into neutral gear and it was unknown until the traffic signal turned green and I could not go. I could not shift into drive. The remedy required that I shut the car off and restarted (very little time between) before putting it in gear. Both occurrences were with idle stop function on. There is an entire discussion forum on this exact issue on [XXX] . Being first in line at a stop with 4 other passengers and a line of drivers expecting me to go on green is a sure way to result in an accident. The car goes in for regular service next week and I will bring it to the dealer’s attention. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 ACURA MDX, Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Incident: Jul 2024
Jul 2024

The car's Auto Start/Stop (AST) function is malfunctioning. It frequently fails to restart the engine after stopping, causing the engine to completely shut down at traffic signals. When this occurs, the car must be shifted to park and the engine manually restarted.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 ACURA MDX, Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Incident: Mar 2022
Aug 2023

Its a known issue with my 2020 Acura MDX it has an issue with the autoidle completely turning off the engine, so you pull up to a red light and the engine goes into Autoidle mode and then completely turns OFF the engine so you are stuck in the middle of the road for a few minutes and then you have to wait for the car to allow you to turn it back on. Acura is aware of the issue and sent a letter to consumers for a mandatory software update to fix the issues. After experiencing this, I took it to the dealership and they completed the software update to fix this issue earlier this year. But my issue is still happening and we got stuck in the middle of a road for 5 mins with a toddler and a teenager. Incoming traffic almost caused a collison because of this.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 ACURA MDX, Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Incident: Jul 2023
Jun 2023

Idle stop feature causes vehicle to auto shift to neutral at stop. There are many forums noting this issue. It happened a year ago several times, they replaced the battery and it is happening again. You are sitting at a light or stop sign, go to hit the gas, and the car is in neutral. You need to turn the car off and start again. This is a serious risk of getting rear ended with this issue. One time when it happened last year a cop pulled me over to see if everything was all right. The car should not be shifting to neutral at a stop.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 ACURA MDX, Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Incident: Jun 2023

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2020 Acura MDX has 6 UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.