NHTSA Complaint #10562240 — 2004 ACURA MDX

ON THE HIGHWAY GOING 65 MPH WHEN THE ACCELERATION SUDDENLY FROZE UP, RPMS SHOT UP TO 4000 -5000, THE CAR STARTED SHAKING AND I HAD TO QUICKLY PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY TO AVOID BEING CRASHED INTO BY OTHER CARS. AFTER I PULLED OVER, I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE, THEN RE-STARTED, SO I RESUMED DRIVING BUT AFTER DRIVING TWO MILES MY CAR DID THE SAME THING ONCE IT HIT 2500 RPMS. AGAIN I PULLED OVER. I RESTARTED MY CAR AGAIN AND SLOWLY DROVE MY CAR HOME. THE NEXT DAY, I CALLED AN ACURA DEALERSHIP, EXPLAINED THE SITUATION TO A SERVICE PROVIDER. THEY SAID THEY COULDN'T DIAGNOSIS OVER THE PHONE AND SAID THEY DID NOT KNOW ABOUT A RELEVANT RECALL. I THEN HAD MY CAR TOWED TO A NEARBY REPAIR SHOP WHERE THEY TOLD ME THAT THE CAR WOULD NOT REVERSE OR ACCELERATE. THE SERVICE MAN SAID HE THINKS THE TRANSMISSION IS BROKEN. I'M NOW READING HOW THIS IS VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE '04 MDX. MY MOTHER CALLED ACURA TO SAY THAT I HAVE READ THAT THIS ISSUE SEEMS TO BE A VERY COMMON OCCURRENCE WITH '04 MDXS BUT WAS TOLD THAT THEY WOULD NOT HELP AND WERE NOT AWARE OF THIS MAKE/MODEL HAVING ISSUES WITH ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL TORQUE CONVERTER. THE WOMAN SHE SPOKE WITH WAS VERY RUDE AND VERY DISMISSIVE. SAID MY CAR WAS TOO OLD FOR ACURA TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY MECHANICAL ISSUES AND THAT I HAD NEVER HAD THE CAR SERVICED (WHICH I HAVE.) SHE WAS VERY CONDESCENDING IN HER SPEECH TO MY MOTHER DESPITE THE FACT THAT THIS IS A KNOWN COMMON PROBLEM AND WHICH ALMOST KILLED ME. THEY SHOULD MAKE PEOPLE AWARE THAT THE TORQUE CONVERTER PROBLEM IS ONLY THE "TIP OF THE ICEBERG" WITHIN A POTENTIALLY MUCH BROADER SCOPE PROBLEM. HAD I KNOWN, I SURE WOULD HAVE ADDRESSED THIS BEFORE ALMOST GETTING KILLED!! HOW MANY PEOPLE DIDN'T GET THEIR TORQUE CONVERTER REPLACED BECAUSE THEY DID NOT KNOW THE BIG PICTURE?? *TR