Most common 2005 Acura MDX problems
Share of the 180 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Acura MDX complaints by model year
Best MDX years: 2013, 2011, 2012. Years to avoid: 2025, 2022, 2016, 2020, 2017. Compare all years →
2005 Acura MDX recalls (11)
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2012 RL, 2003-2007 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2007-2008 Fit, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, and 2006-2014 Ridgeline vehicles.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal airbag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 12, 2019. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Air bags › Frontal › Driver side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2002-2003 3.2TL, 2003-2006 MDX, 2001-2007 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot and 2006 Ridgeline vehicles.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 12, 2019. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Air bags › Frontal › Driver side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling specific 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2013-2016 ILX, 2013-2014 ILX Hybrid, 2003-2006 MDX, 2007-2016 RDX, 2002-2003 3.2TL, 2004-2006, and 2009-2014 TL, 2010-2013 ZDX and 2001-2007 and 2009 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2007 and 2010-2011…
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began April 10, 2019. Honda owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2005-2006 Acura MDX and Honda CR-V vehicles, 2005-2011 Honda Element vehicles, 2005-2012 Acura RL vehicles, 2006-2012 Honda Ridgeline vehicles, 2007-2008 Honda Fit vehicles and 2005-2008 Honda Pilot vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California,…
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall bagan March 2017. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2003-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2011 Acura RL, 2005-2006 Honda CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2007-2008 Fit, 2003-2008 Pilot, 2002-2004 Odyssey, and 2006-2011 Ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or that have ever been registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia,…
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began June 27, 2016. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Air bags › Frontal › Driver side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2001-2007 Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2001-2004 Honda Civic GX, 2003-2005 Honda Civic Hybrid, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, 2006 Ridgeline, 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2003-2006 Acura MDX, and 2002-2003 Acura 3.2TL vehicles.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on July 1, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Show 5 more recalls
Air bags
American Honda Motor Co. (Honda) is recalling certain model year 2001-2005 Honda Civic, 2003-2004 Civic CNG and Element, 2002-2005 CR-V, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2005 Accord, Pilot, Civic Hybrid, and Acura MDX, 2005 Acura RL and 2006 Honda Ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in geographic locations associated…
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger side air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began January 26, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-800-999-1009.
Air bags
American Honda Motor Company, Inc.'s (Honda) is conducting a limited regional recall for certain model year 2003-2005 Accord, Civic, CR-V, Pilot and Acura MDX, model year 2003-2004 Odyssey and Element, and model year 2005 Acura RL, and 2006 Honda Ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or ever registered in California, and equipped…
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the inflators in all affected vehicles, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during August 2014. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-800-999-1009.
Traction control system
Honda is recalling certain model year 2005 Pilot vehicles manufactured July 29, 2004, through August 29, 2005; model year 2005-2006 Acura MDX vehicles manufactured September 16, 2004, through September 22, 2005; and model year 2005 Acura RL vehicles manufactured March 1, 2004, through June 29, 2005.
Remedy: Owners will be notified and instructed to take their vehicles to a dealer of their respective brand. The dealer will install a partial wiring harness containing a capacitor for the VSA modulator, free of charge.
Electrical system › Ignition › Switch
Honda is recalling certain model year 2003 and 2004 Pilot and Odyssey and 2003 through 2006 Acura MDX passenger vehicles manufactured from November 26, 2001, through August 30, 2006. The interlock lever of the ignition switch may deform, which can allow the interlock function of a vehicle with an automatic transmission to be…
Remedy: Honda will notify owners and instruct them to take their vehicle to a Honda or Acura dealer. The dealer will install an updated shift interlock lever and, if necessary, replace any necessary part of the ignition switch,…
Fuel system, gasoline › Storage › Tank assembly
On certain sport utility vehicles, some fuel tanks were improperly manufactured.
Remedy: Dealers replaced the fuel tank. All owners were notified by telephone on November 10, 2004.
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into 5 possible defects involving the 2005 Acura MDX:
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag…
Ignition Interlock Failure - Rollaway
On December 10, 2012, Honda Motor Company submitted a defect information report to NHTSA regarding ignition interlocks in approximately 576,117 model year MY) 2003 through 2004 Honda Pilot and Odyssey vehicles that are the subject of this investigation and 231,044 MY 2003 through 2006 Acura MDX vehicles (Recall No.
Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited.
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag…
Vehicle Stability Assist Malfunction
On March 14, 2013, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (Honda) submitted a Defect Information Report to NHTSA identifying a defect in the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) system in approximately 183,576 model year (MY) 2005 Honda Pilot, Acura RL and MY 2005-2006 Acura MDX vehicles (NHTSA Recall No 13V-092).The population and failure counts provided pertain only to the MY 2005 Honda Pilots that were the subject of this…
What 2005 Acura MDX owners say
Transmission & drivetrain all 87 →
The contact owns a 2005 Acura MDX. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked and failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The VSA (Vehicle Stability Assist) warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was able to restart after several attempts; however, the failure recurred after driving a short distance. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the OG sensor and the PMP sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure had progressively worsened, and the 4WD warning light was constantly illuminated. …
Vehicle suddenly brakes at freeway speeds and sways to one side. VSA light and warning light comes on. After couple of seconds, vehicle resumes freeway speed. This has happened few times in last 2 weeks. It causes the SUV to sway and can easily lose control or drift into adjacent lane causing accident. After stopping and restarting the warning lights go away.
Air bags all 39 →
The contact owns a 2005 Acura MDX. The contact stated that the passenger's side air bag warning light was flashing with an occupant seated in the seat. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, and she was informed that the front driver's and passenger's side air bags and seat belt pretensioners were defective and needed to be replaced. The dealer nor the manufacturer had been notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 209,638.
We have been the original owners of our 2005 MDX. on December 12/18/21 at 630. We were wearing our seat belts. We were driving in clear weather on a new street at 35 miles an hour. The passenger side seat airbag and the right side curtain deployed. My wife was sitting in the front passenger seat. There was no collision or hazard. The Airbag just exploded. We were not hit by any metal objects. The Mdx is in perfect working order and we are now told no one will cover the damage. Insurance and the Dealership. We are writing to find out how we can get a fair outcome from our car becoming unusable due to manufactures defect. We have not touched the airbag or the car since this happened. Would we be able to have it inspected?
Electrical system
The contact owns a 2005 Acura MDX. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked and failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The VSA (Vehicle Stability Assist) warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was able to restart after several attempts; however, the failure recurred after driving a short distance. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the OG sensor and the PMP sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure had progressively worsened, and the 4WD warning light was constantly illuminated. …
I purchased this vehicle from a private auction in hesperia, ca around August of 2020 and I am currently the registered owner as of today. About a month into the purchase I notice the car jerk and brake unusually while in motion. I didn't know what exactly happened at the time so I ignored it for the moment. Then about another month after that incident my wife, kids and I were traveling about 70 MPH on the 15fwy headed south and this time it happened once again and more aggressively due to is traveling at a much greater speed and did jerk a lot harder almost making my wife lose control. Luckily she was alert and pulled over to the shoulder right away and that's when we noticed a new light on the I dash had illuminated. We see the acronym (vsa) illuminate and I had never seen this particular light before so I then start to research it. …
2005 Acura MDX engines & fuel economy
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | MPG city / hwy / combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5L 6-cyl | 5-speed automatic | 4WD/AWD | 15 / 21 / 17 |
EPA ratings. Class: SUV.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2005 Acura MDX a good car?
Based on 180 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2005 MDX rates use caution: 1.7× as many complaints as a typical year of the MDX at the same age. It is one of the MDX years we suggest avoiding. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 2005 Acura MDX?
The transmission & drivetrain — 87 complaints, 48% of all complaints for this model year, most often about automatic transmission. Next are the air bags (39) and electrical system (18).
How many recalls does the 2005 Acura MDX have?
There are 11 recalls for the 2005 Acura MDX, the most recent from June 27, 2019 (inflator module). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Acura MDX?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2013, 2011 and 2012. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 2025, 2022, 2016, 2020 and 2017. See the full Acura MDX years comparison.
At what mileage do 2005 Acura MDX problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 82,000 miles; 17% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.