NHTSA Complaint #11286445 — 2016 ACURA MDX

NOVEMBER 10, 2019 TRAVELING ON HIGHWAY AT ~65 MPH, PRESSED ACCELERATOR TO PASS CAR AND VEHICLE WOULD NOT SPEED UP...FELT LIKE THE CAR WAS IN NEUTRAL. AFTER ABOUT 7 TO 10 SECONDS THE TRANSMISSION FINALLY KICKED IN AND THE CAR ACCELERATED. IF THIS HAPPENED ON A 2 LANE ROAD THE LACK OF TRANSMISSION DELIVERING POWER TO WHEELS COULD HAVE RESULTED IN A HEAD ON COLLISION. SERVICE APT SCHEDULED WITH ACURA DEALERSHIP WHERE PURCHASED AND WAS TOLD THEY COULD FIND NO 'CODES' OR ALERTS IN CARS COMPUTER AND THAT THEY FOUND NOTHING WRONG. THE DID SAY THEY REPROGRAMMED THE TRANSMISSION SOFTWARE...BUT THEY HAVE DONE THAT 2 OTHER TIMES. CAR HAS ONLY 35K MILES ON IT AND WE HAVE BROUGHT CAR INTO ACURA DEALERSHIP 4 TIMES TO ADDRESS THE HARSH SHIFTING OF TRANSMISSION AND TOLD THEM EACH TIME WE FELT IT WAS A SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN. THE ABOVE INCIDENT OF NO POWER WHEN ATTEMPTING TO PASS ON HIGHWAY IS THE FIRST TIME THAT HAS HAPPENED..BUT IS A VERY SERIOUS CONCERN. WE WERE TOLD FOR THE 3RD TIME THAT THE HARSH SHIFTING AND GEAR-WANDERING WAS A 'CHARACTERISTIC' OF THIS MAKE / MODEL CAR AND THAT ACURA HAS BEEN TRYING TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE WITH TRANSMISSION SOFTWARE UPDATES. I HAVE SEEN MANY ONLINE COMPLAINTS OF THE "GEAR-WANDERING' TRANSMISSION ISSUE ONLINE AND HAVE ALSO READ SIMILAR SAFETY COMPLAINTS OF CAR LOSING TRANSMISSION POWER AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. PLEASE THOUGHTFULLY REVIEW THIS COMPLAINT AND CONTACT ME IF YOU NEED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. WE FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THE KNOWN REPORTED ISSUES OF THE 2016 ACURA MDX SHAWD TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS ARE A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE. THIS 7 SEATER SUV IS DRIVEN BY MANY FAMILIES!