NHTSA Complaint #10584572 — 2003 ACURA MDX

WHILE TRAVELING AT AROUND THE SPEED LIMIT ON A BUSY FREEWAY THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY STARTED COASTING WITHOUT ANY WARNING. STEPPING ON THE GAS CAUSED THE ENGINE TO REV BUT NO ACCELERATION, WHICH MADE IT EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO TRY TO PULL THE VEHICLE TO THE SHOULDER WITH THE RIGHT LANE HEAVILY OCCUPIED BY 18 WHEELER TRUCKS THAT ARE LONG AND RESPOND SLOWLY. ANY SPEED YOU LOOSE, PARTICULARLY AFTER APPLYING SOME BRAKE TO MOVE FROM ONE LANE TO ANOTHER, CANNOT BE REGAINED TO SAFELY MANEUVER WITH FLOW OF THE TRAFFIC AND MAKE THE SUBSEQUENT LANE CHANGE EVEN MORE DANGEROUS. AFTER TOWING TO AN ACURA DEALER IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A FAILED TRANSMISSION AND COSTS $6,100 TO REPLACE WITH A REBUILT TRANSMISSION. ALTHOUGH THE VEHICLE IS BEYOND ITS WARRANTY PERIOD, IT IS NONETHELESS DISAPPOINTING TO HAVE AN ACURA FAIL IN THIS FASHION CONSIDERING THAT THERE ARE MANY LOWER COST VEHICLES THAT EASILY LAST BEYOND 100,000 MILES WITHOUT TRANSMISSION ISSUES. THE VEHICLE CERTAINLY MET ITS WARRANTY REQUIREMENTS, BUT IT IS REALLY THE SUDDEN NATURE AND CRASH RISK OF THIS FAILURE THAT IS A BIGGER CONCERN. I LATER LEARNED FROM 3 CO-WORKERS THAT HAD SIMILAR TRANSMISSION EXPERIENCES WITH THEIR MDX. TWO WERE 2001/2002 MDX WITH APPROX 100,000 AND 80,000 MILES. THE 3RD WAS A 2006 MDX WITH ONLY APPROX 55,000 MILES. *TR