"How reliable is the 2003 Acura Mdx?"

"Based on 259 NHTSA complaints, the 2003 Acura Mdx has a median complaint mileage of 110000 miles. The most common issue is POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION."

"What are common problems with the 2003 Acura Mdx?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2003 Acura Mdx is POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, accounting for a significant portion of the 259 total complaints filed."

2003 Acura Mdx: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 259 complaints

259

Total Complaints

110,000mi

Median Mileage

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

80,000 25th Percentile

110,000 Median Mileage

150,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

POWER TRAIN

AIR BAGS

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

ENGINE

SEAT BELTS

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE WILL SEVERELY PULL TO THE RIGHT. THIS WAS CAUSED BY THE LEFT FRONT SPRING BREAKING AND THE STRUT CLASPING. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. PH"

"THE MDX NAVIGATION SYSTEM GIVES VERBAL AND VISUAL DIRECTIONS. I TEND TO RELY ON THE VERBAL DIRECTIONS IN THE CITY. SOMETIMES THE SYSTEM CANNOT DETERMINE ITS POSITION BECAUSE IT CANNOT GET SUFFICIENT SATELLITE SIGNALS. IT GIVES NO VERBAL CLUE THIS IS HAPPENING, IT JUSTS GIVES DIRECTIONS AS IF IT KNEW..."

"ON TWO DIFFERENT OCCASION THE ABS MADE A CLUNKING NOISE. THE DEALER INSPECTED THE VEHICLE BUT COULD NOT DUPLICATE OR CORRECT THE PROBLEM. *NLM THE BRAKE PROBLEMS HAD COME BACK AGAIN. THE DEALER FOUND A BRAKE SWITCH FAILURE CODE. THE DEALER ATTEMPTED TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM BUT IT REMAINED THE ..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION 56 complaints

25th: 80,000 mi Median: 95,600 mi 75th: 117,000 mi

POWER TRAIN 49 complaints

25th: 99,800 mi Median: 124,000 mi 75th: 150,000 mi

AIR BAGS 42 complaints

25th: 48,300 mi Median: 108,500 mi 75th: 161,250 mi

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 14 complaints

25th: 110,500 mi Median: 127,597 mi 75th: 157,500 mi

UNKNOWN OR OTHER 10 complaints

25th: 98,146 mi Median: 141,500 mi 75th: 179,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 35 FL: 20 MD: 20 GA: 14 VA: 14 TX: 13 MA: 12 NY: 12 NJ: 11 IL: 11

Who Files Complaints?

7.3%

Original Owners

92.7%

Second+ Owners

Acura Mdx — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
2001	266	100,000	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION	10
2002	242	98,232	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION	16
2004	242	96,000	POWER TRAIN	22
2005	244	82,197	POWER TRAIN	25
2006	121	84,982	POWER TRAIN	16
2007	124	93,000	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	3
2008	62	46,500	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	2
2009	74	45,000	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	6
2010	63	56,000	ENGINE	8
2011	87	56,000	ENGINE	5
2012	94	46,800	ENGINE	5
2013	43	49,520	ENGINE	0
2014	241	15,000	STEERING	18
2015	96	23,500	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	6
2016	490	34,000	ENGINE	17
2017	339	27,000	ENGINE	12
2018	247	25,345	ENGINE	6
2019	282	20,000	ENGINE	8
2020	319	32,181	ENGINE	5
2022	159	41,000	POWER TRAIN	7
2023	50	4,000	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	3
2024	54	9,747	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	1
2025	66	18,000	ENGINE	2

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28