2018 Acura MDX acceleration problems

Filed Dec 7, 2025 · Acceleration · NY

When trying to accelerate from a stop the car has a noticeable lag in throttle response. 2+ seconds. This does not always happen but is intermittent. Much more often when the engine is colder. This makes a left turn in front of traffic or any move where you need to merge with traffic go from safe to dangerous, this also confuses other drivers as they wonder why you are not moving. Someone who was unfamiliar with my car ended up in the middle of an intersection blocking because they didn’t accelerate. Looking into the problem it seems to be reported quite often and is “normal”. Honda does not see this as a problem and anyone who has “fixed” the problem has used aftermarket parts. The car does not have auto engine stop/start so the car is always running.

Filed Nov 12, 2025 · Acceleration, Engine · HI

When at a complete stop at a stop light or stop sign and ready to press the gas to accelerate, there’s a delay for the car to even start moving. It doesn’t want to go when pressed on. Which can cause the person behind me to hit the back of the car. It nearly came to that. There’s sudden fast movement when accelerating to get the car to move forward. It’s been happening numerous times where the gas pedal isn’t recognizing the acceleration part. I’ve read plenty forums about this issue with this vehicle and still not enough complaints for a recall? Can we look into this as this is a safety issue. The car won’t accelerate when you want it to.

Filed Nov 11, 2025 · Acceleration · MA

When you press the accelerator pedal there is a significant delay in the pedal response particularly at low speed. As you press accelerator pedal nothing happens for a second or two. Then the vehicles accelerates not a gradual rate but at the rate of where the accelerator pedal is at when the vehicle begins to speed up. This causes sudden and hard acceleration. This delay and or sudden acceleration is dangerous when trying to pull into traffic. The Vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Was brought to dealer and after a very short inspection, was told nothing was wrong. They did do a transmission software update. This did not change anything. This is an issue reported in on-long blogs frequently. No warning lamps to error codes related to this issue according to the dealer. This has been an ongoing issue for as long I have owned the vehicle but gets worse as the vehicle gets older.

Filed Aug 1, 2025 · Acceleration · CA

My 2018 Acura MDX experiences a persistent and unsafe delay in acceleration from a complete stop. When pressing the gas pedal, there is often a hesitation of approximately one second before the vehicle responds. This throttle lag creates a serious safety concern, especially when attempting to merge into traffic, turn across intersections, or respond quickly in emergency situations. The dealership has been unable to resolve the issue despite applying all available software updates. Based on online reports, this appears to be a widespread issue affecting multiple model years and drivetrains.

Filed May 25, 2025 · Acceleration, Engine · CA

While driving at freeway speeds (70–85 mph), I experience a sudden and complete loss of acceleration when pressing the gas pedal fully. The vehicle stops responding to throttle input entirely for 1–2 seconds. To regain power, I must take my foot off the pedal for a moment and then press it again. This has happened multiple times and presents a severe safety hazard when merging, passing, or trying to avoid collisions. •Frequency & Reproducibility: This has occurred at least 3 times over the past year, under similar conditions. It is intermittent, but consistently happens during high-speed acceleration. •Dealership Response: I’ve reported the issue to the dealership, but they claim they cannot replicate the problem and do not consider it a concern. No resolution or inspection has been offered beyond a basic check. •Why It’s Dangerous: This issue could lead to a deadly accident if I’m unable to accelerate in time to avoid a crash. It creates a sudden and unexpected loss of control at highway speeds.

Filed Mar 7, 2025 · Acceleration · 50,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2018 Acura MDX. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed, and the vehicle failed to respond. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was attempting to pull over to the side of the road and depressed the accelerator pedal, but the pedal went to the floorboard, and the vehicle jerked and suddenly stopped. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for an unknown recall for the fuel pump to be repaired and the contact informed the dealer of the failure the vehicle was experiencing. The vehicle was repaired under recall; however, the failure persisted. The local dealer was contacted two more times for the same failure; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided the contact with a case number. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

Filed Jan 31, 2025 · Acceleration, Engine · NY

Bought vehicle new in 2018. Starting in 2020, brought car to dealership complaining that car, at times, did not accelerate when prompted. Vehicle pauses, then lurches forward. Very dangerous when making left turns and when merging with traffic. My wife (who used to be primary driver of this vehicle), refused to continue to drive it ...and neither I nor my wife would allow our now age 21 daughter to drive it. So this vehicle (as unsafe as it was) became my back and forth to work vehicle. Vehicle was brought to the dealership on at least 4 or 5 times with this complaint - from 2020 through 2024...One time it was at dealership for almost 2 weeks Dealership would never fully admit to the issue - often times one service person, through test driving would notice the issue, only to then be told it was "normal driving" of this vehicle. On a regular basis, car would stop (pause) "in the face of oncoming traffic - my heart would skip a beat, only for the car to then resume accelerating On many occasions, I discussed with service team - always to be told that there were no known issues Fast forward to 2024 - when Acura notified me of a Recall regarding the Fuel Pump....I quickly scheduled an appointment, brought the car in this past week and had the Recall done. Speaking with the Serviceperson when checking the car in, I brought up the past issues that I have had and asked if this Recall was the likely reason.....the service person - without hesitation said "absolutely"......I then asked him, so was "Acura lying to me ll these past visits".....his response was "sounds like it to me" Since getting the car back - the hesitation has stopped. I have paperwork from all my previous visits - with responses from their technicians I am certain there was consumer fraud conducted by the dealership I bought and serviced this vehicle from (Open Road Acura - Wayne NJ). Add to it , the inconveniences I experienced and the fear that my wife and daughter had of the vehicle.

Filed Dec 28, 2023 · Acceleration, Engine · RI

The engien keep stalling, prolem accelerating jurky transmisión and this is the only car I have to go work I take the highway everyday I am cosern that something can happend to me.

Filed Apr 5, 2023 · Acceleration, Transmission · MD

It seems that, from the day we purchased the vehicle, there have been issues with the transmission regarding how it is programmed and how it responds to drive or input through the throttle. This causes the vehicle the occasionally lurch forward under acceleration, especially at low speeds in the parking lot. And times the throttle gets really confused and the transmission fails to deliver power to the vehicle for a second. This has happened to me two or three times. I was turning left when the vehicle lost power momentarily and oncoming traffic was headed straight for me and my vehicle. If the delay had lasted just a while longer, things would have looked very bad. Based on my research online, I am not the only driver experiencing this kind of problem with the transmission.

Filed Jun 17, 2022 · Acceleration, Transmission · WA

Gas petal is very touchy. It accelerates to fast even when you try to barely push the petal. And causes to shift hard.