My 2020 Acura RDX is currently non-operational due to a failure of the fuel pump, which is the subject of the federal safety agency Recall 23V‑858. The vehicle suffered a complete loss of power and will not start, posing a significant safety risk should this have occurred while in motion. Despite contacting Acura Client Relations over 30 days ago, no remedy has been provided. My Case Manager states they are unable to offer a solution other than waiting for a "Territory Manager" to make contact—an event that has yet to occur. My vehicle has now been completely disabled for over two weeks. Because I reside in the [XXX] , the manufacturer claims they cannot service the vehicle due to a lack of a local franchise dealership. However, as a [XXX] territory, federal safety mandates apply. Acura has refused to authorize a local certified mechanic to perform the repair or ship the necessary parts to rectify this safety defect in a reasonable timeframe. The manufacturer is effectively denying a federally mandated safety remedy based on geographic location, leaving me with a non-operational, hazardous vehicle and no timeline for repair. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
2020 Acura RDX: sudden loss of power
31 of the 351 complaints about the 2020 Acura RDX describe sudden loss of power.
- owner complaints
- 31
- of this car's complaints
- 9%
- typical mileage
- 4,900
- recalls
- 0
Sudden loss of power by model year
What owners say
My 2020 vehicle lost all power when I was attempting to pass an 18-wheel trailer on the expressway. I took it to the dealership which was less than a mile away. They told me I needed a head gasket replacement @$6500. They replaced the HG and it ran great for 5-6 months. Then exact same thing happened again on expressway. It was another head gasket. After searching online I found a lot of history on my vehicle where the 2.0L turbo engine was failing prematurely.
I was driving at 60 MPH on the Highway and the Service AWD light came on. The vehicle immediately lost all power and jerked and came to a sudden stop. And then when i tried to re apply power it was sluggish for about 30 seconds before i was able to get full power. I then pulled over to the side of the road and turned the vehicle on and off the error code disappeared. This happens at random times while driving the car and is extremely dangerous.
Car lost power while driving causing me to crash into the side of the road way causing damage to my front passenger side. Car stutters and shuts off while driving very dangerous.
I was passing another vehicle around 45mph when I had a loss of power in acceleration. Acceleration was limp went down to 10mph engine light came on. I had to pull off road. Shut car off then restarted. Engine light went off. But acceleration is weak. Unable to maneuver away from an emergency situation if need to. Dangerous to drive it like this. I will take it to dealership but know they' never find any issues!
We experienced loss of power in heavy interstate traffic. We had been driving in the rain for some time on I-10 in Florida. We were in the right lane behind a vehicle that was traveling much slower than other vehicles. There was a gap in vehicles in the left lane so I signaled and pressed the gas pedal significantly so I could quickly get up to a matching speed for the left-lane vehicles. At this point the engine stumbled a couple of times and the Check Engine light began flashing. No matter how hard I pressed the gas pedal, my vehicle would not accelerate. Cars behind us had to brake quickly to avoid hitting us from behind. I turned on my emergency flashers and made my way to the right-side breakdown lane. After stopping, I turned our vehicle off and restarted the engine. No warning lights were lit and I was able to resume our drive. This is a known issue with our vehicle and other Acura/Honda vehicles. There is an existing Acura Technical Service Bulletin (TSB), 20-053, that addresses this issue. This TSB was applied to my vehicle in March of 2021. Apparently, the TSB has not resolved the issue. This is a serious safety issue. At the very least, the car behind us could have hit us and this could have caused a multi-vehicle accident. If a semi had been behind us and couldn't stop quickly, we could have been killed. In online discussions there are a number of people that have experienced this issue. This is not an isolated incident and should be investigated.
Driving about 75 (local speed limit) from College Station Texas to Plano, Texas over the Easter weekend and vehicle suddenly lost all power, check engine light illuminates, and I have to pull over. After several minutes, light is extinguished. Restarted vehicle and service engine light illuminates (B17). Had not been on before. I drove about 65 the remainder of the trip and took it to the Dealership in town. The incident can not be replicated per the shop. 22K miles.
While accelerating on the highway the vehicle lost power. Pressing the gas did nothing. Engine light blinked
On September 6, 2022, at 7:45 AM I was traveling from my home to work in my 2020 Acura RDX. As I was merging on to an interstate in heavy, high-speed traffic, my RDX suddenly lost power and started to decelerate with absolutely no warning at all as high-speed traffic was approaching from behind. My vehicle decelerated to a speed of about 20mph on an interstate in the midst of heavy, high-speed traffic. The malfunction indication light began flashing in the instrument panel. I was able to drive at slow speed of about 15-20 mph, with 4-way lights flashing, until I could exit the interstate. I turned the car off for a few minutes and then was able to proceed. This created an extremely dangerous situation.
Upon rapid acceleration, pushing the gas pedal down, the engine light started blinking and the car went into limp mode losing all power. This was a serious concern because we had just got off the interstate and if we had been full speed attempting to pass a vehicle, we could have been in a serious accident due to failure of power.
Under heavy acceleration, the vehicle began "bucking" and then lost all power. The check-engine light began flashing. The engine was still running but did not provide power. I Had to pull off the road, shut the engine off and then restart to clear the problem. This has happened twice in two days. The Acura dealer says it is an issue with moisture entering the turbo-charger but did not have any suggestions to correct or prevent this from happening again.
It was raining and I was accelerating hard to pass a slow vehicle when the engine malfunction light started blinking and I lost power and could no longer accelerate. I had to pull over into an empty driveway. Had I not been able to pull over into a driveway, I would have been stuck on a 2 lane road with a 55 mph speed limit and no way to get the car completely off the road, endangering myself, any passengers, and others traveling the road. The car has only 28,000 miles on it and is at the dealership right now being inspected. The only warning light turned on when the problem started, blinked a few times, and then turned itself off, but I still had no acceleration and could not get the car above 10 mph.
Service bulletins that may apply
- Oil leak at the cam chain tensioner inspection cover due to and insufficient sealant adhesion on the...
- Dealer Message
- Under certain circumstances, the vehicle may experience driveability concerns
- Dealer Message- American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is investigating certain 2020-2022 MDXs & RDXs with a...
- Dealer Message
- Dealer message
- The MIL comes on with DTC P061B (PCM Internal Malfunction) is stored.
- The MIL is flashing with loss of power.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2020 Acura RDX loss of power
Is sudden loss of power a common problem on the 2020 Acura RDX?
31 of 351 owner complaints about the 2020 Acura RDX (9%) mention sudden loss of power. The model year with the most reports is 2019.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2020 Acura RDX?
There are 0 recalls and 15 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2020 Acura RDX
Check engine light 44Won't shift 21Grinding brakes 11Fuel pump 8Stalling 8Sunroof shattered 6Windshield crack 5
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