As the U.S. luxury brand for Honda, Acura has shared that same renowned reputation for reliability since its debut in 1986. And while the brand has produced a minimal amount of SUVs since its inception — unless you include the SLX, which was just an Isuzu – it’s had its fair share of success and popularity with them over the years. But with every success comes the typical complaints as well. Here are the most complained about Acura SUVs according to Carcomplaints.com

Acura MDX

The Acura MDX is the brand’s seven-seat, three-row SUV that has been on the market since 2001. While it does have a lot in common with its Honda Pilot cousin, the MDX provides buyers with a more luxurious appeal including a softer, quieter ride as well as more upscale features and amenities. And while Acura only has two different SUVs in its lineup, the MDX is by far the more popular of the two.

Acura MDX complaints

When taking a look at the number of complaints that the Acura MDX has on Carcomplaints.com, we can definitely see that it is the more popular model as there are currently 313 complaints logged for it, which is much more than other models in the lineup. The site lists the 2010 model year as the worst model year to buy and cites transmission issues as the worst problem. That doesn’t come as too much of a surprise as many Honda and Acura models of the same vintage, which were outfitted with the same transmission, experienced the same failures and issues, typically leading repairs costs in the $5,000 range.

Acura RDX

The Acura RDX is the brand’s five-seat compact crossover that’s akin to the Honda CR-V. In fact, it shared a lot of the same underpinnings as the Civic and CR-V up until its latest generation, which started in 2018. But now it’s been updated and redesigned with a host of luxurious features that rival those in competitors like Lexus and Infiniti. And although it’s garnered a lot of sales in the past couple of years, the RDX is not without its own share of issues.

Acura RDX complaints

The Acura RDX is now in its third generation and the brand has managed to sell over 120,000 of them in the U.S. over the past couple of years. That’s not to mention the hundreds of thousands sold over the past decade, so we’re not too surprised that it has some complaints filed about it. According to Carcomplaints.com, the 2016 model year is the one to avoid as there have been 10 different complaints filed about the brakes for that model years. Owners cited high-pitched squealing and premature brake fade as the main issues.

What’s more concerning to us is that the 2019 model year received the most complaints by far, with the majority of them listing “engine stall” as the main issue. Owners have reported the engine stalling on the freeway, causing a sudden loss of speed, like going from 65 mph down to 40, however, there are no clear remedies for the issue.

Acura SUV complaints

Considering there are only two Acura SUVs to choose from, there shouldn’t be any surprise that the MDX and RDX have the most complaints. Just note that the complaints are not based on percentages as they are tallied by the number of complaints for each specified model year.