2012 Acura MDX problems & reliability
76 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2012 Acura MDX, alongside 1 safety recall campaign. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
2 complaints report injuries (2 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2012 Acura MDX vehicles were involved in 19 fatal crashes with 7 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Engine → | 23 | 30% |
| Electrical System → | 13 | 17% |
| Power Train → | 13 | 17% |
| Unknown OR Other | 10 | 13% |
| Air Bags | 9 | 12% |
| Structure | 5 | 7% |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 4 | 5% |
| Back Over Prevention | 2 | 3% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 2 | 3% |
| Equipment Adaptive/mobility | 2 | 3% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 73,500 miles (middle 50% between 19,575 and 89,500 miles), based on 42 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“I have a 2012 MDX and it burns an extreme amount of oil. We took our MDX back to the dealership where we purchased it and had the oil issue fixed. Or so we thought. The problem was supposed to be fixed 3 months ago but the car is still burning a lot of oil. We have to add oil every 2 weeks. We did not drive the car…”
Structure · filed Jul 16, 2026
“I bought a 2012 silver Acura MDX on March 3rd in 2022 from our local Acura dealership. Exterior paint was great, hardly any dings, scratches anywhere. I spent over $20,000 for this USED CAR and as of the past two years, the clear coat has worn out in various places on front hood, near the moon roof, near the rear side…”
Unknown OR Other · filed Jul 8, 2026
“2012 ACURA MDX burns extreme amounts of oil between oil changes. Typically a warning indicator comes on about 1,000 miles before oil change is due. I continue to refill oil between oil changes.”
Engine · filed Jul 8, 2026
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
87 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2012 Acura MDX. The 10 most recent:
These SKUs are Exhaust Manifolds with Catalytic Converters. The customer communication requested return of unsold inventory due to a loss of CARB certification. These SKUs can no longer be sold as they do not meet CARB…
DOR-M9J4S-07 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 3, 2020
Service Bulletin - Due to high demand for repairs under this warranty extension, pistons and rings required to complete this repair are currently backordered. Acura has provided this service bulletin (19-052) as a…
B19-052 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 2, 2019
Dealer Message - On January 16, 2019, Acura announced a warranty extension for certain 2009-14 Acura vehicles equipped with a 3.7L V6 engine to address client concerns related to excessive oil consumption. Acura…
BBOM08312019 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 31, 2019
Service Bulletin - The oil control rings may become clogged with carbon deposits. These deposits restrict the ring's ability to scrape and return oil from the cylinder wall to the crankcase, which can result in…
B19-006 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 10, 2019
Service Bulletin - The oil control rings may become clogged with carbon deposits. These deposits restrict the ring's ability to scrape and return oil from the cylinder wall to the crankcase, which can result in…
B19-006 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 18, 2019
Service Bulletin - The oil control rings may become clogged with carbon deposits. These deposits restrict the ring's ability to scrape and return oil from the cylinder wall to the crankcase, which can result in…
B18-009 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 30, 2019
Service Bulletin - The oil control rings may become clogged with carbon deposits. These deposits restrict the ring's ability to scrape and return oil from the cylinder wall to the crankcase, which can result in…
B19-006 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 21, 2019
Owner Notification Letter - On certain 2009-14 Acura vehicles equipped with the 3.7L V6 engine, the oil control rings may become clogged with carbon deposits during normal engine operation. These deposits restrict the…
ONL6C502142019 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 14, 2019
Dealer message - Today, January 16, 2019, Acura is announcing a warranty extension for certain 2009-14 Acura vehicles equipped with the 3.7L V6 engine to address client concerns related to excessive oil consumption…
BBOM01162019901 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 16, 2019
Service bulletin - The oil control rings may become clogged with carbon deposits. These deposits restrict the ring's ability to scrape and return oil from the cylinder wall to the crankcase, which can result in…
B19-006 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 16, 2019
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2012 Acura MDX has 1 NHTSA recall campaign — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2012 Acura MDX?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 73,500 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.