There are 7 owner-reported driver assist & adas complaints for the 2022 Acura MDXin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
I have experienced several incidents where I am driving on open road with no obstructions in front of my vehicle and the collision braking feature suddenly engages. This has led to vehicles behind me almost rear ending my car due to the unexpected, strong, and abrupt nature of the braking on open road.
the last 3 times we had very insignificant snow accumulation, my vehicle dashboard lit up with 6 different warnings, some audible. when you look up the info on them it says the car cannot steer, break, will roll on a hill etc. One warning advises to remove all flammables from the car. I was very nervous and almost towed the car but since I was a mile from home I drove it and brought it to the dealer at 0730 next day. they said nothing was wrong. snow or dirt probably got behind sensor. It has happened two more times in the next 10 days. I keep taking off work and nothing is wrong. The issue is when this happens you cannot change the vehicle to snow mode to drive. this is a safety feature as well as the flashing "brake" warning and audible alarm. I have a [XXX] and [XXX] driver and they do not want to operate this vehicle. Both times it happened again, I took it to the car wash and cleaned every visible camera and sensor to no avail. I am taking it back to the dealer again this Friday but if nothing is wrong with any of these systems then there is something wrong with the cameras because how can someone operate AWD and snow mode when there are these false warnings and how do you know if they aren't false. I don't want to assume each time it's not but 3 times in 10 days and missing work, etc. Plus I am very nervous driving it like this. I reported it to Acura- they said there were no recalls. would not provide info if they have prior complaints. On google, I have found numerous complaints about this. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
On at least 5 occasions my automatic braking system has engaged when there were no obstacles in front of the vehicle. This has happened when driving at higher speeds (approx. 50 mph) on Lake Shore Drive in the city of Chicago as well at speeds below 30 mph along residential streets in my neighborhood. When I mentioned this to the dealership, I was told that perhaps there was interference from metal guardrails during the higher speed triggering of the brakes. The residential area incidents have occurred when there was no cars or pedestrians anywhere on the street. I am worried that I will be rear ended because the braking is occurring unexpectedly with clear roads ahead.
As I was approaching an intersection the car engaged the brakes without reason and I was unable to drive the car. It forced the car to stop in the middle of a busy intersection. Thankfully no one else was around or behind my car, but this could have resulted in a very bad accident resulting in my being rear ended at high speeds. The car had 4 passengers, including 2 children in car seats. I am open to the car being inspected. I plan to take it to the dealership for this reason.
The collision mitigation braking engages independently with no objects in front of vehicle. I was going through a green light with no car in front of me. The car momentarily started to brake on its own.
Observation 1: Lane-keeping assistance is unreliable and the results of its operation are highly variable. In optimum conditions (daylight, wide lanes which are clearly marked; good contract between lane markings & pavement; no more than very gentle, wide-radius curves), this feature will do one of three things when the vehicle starts to drift from the middle of the lane: (1) the feature will gently steer the vehicle back to the desired position, (2) the feature will exhibit a warning by vibrating the steering wheel and allow the vehicle to change lanes or (3) fail and do nothing -- without any warning whatsoever. One never knows how the car will react but it certainly cannot be trusted. Observation 2: When driving in light traffic or no traffic conditions the vehicle will occasionally brake aggressively. This was observed to occur on multiple occasions. Two situational examples which have been observed several times: (1) four lane roadway inside city limits; speed: 40mph; I was gently braking to stop behind a vehicle stopped at a traffic light; car applied brakes rapidly nearly causing a rear-end crash as the vehicle behind me did not anticipate the Acura's action. (Judging from the hand signal I received I believe the driver of the vehicle behind me though I was administering a "brake test" -- a common precursor to "road rage.") (2) driving on a two lane country road at 50-55MPH; no other traffic within hundreds of feet in any direction; vehicle brakes rapidly for no apparent reason; my attempt to accelerate and over-ride the "safety feature" was unsuccessful -- eventually the Acura stopped this action and I was able to resume desired speed. Important to note: At no time during these incidents did braking occur to avoid a crash or minimize damage. These were uncommanded operations that actually increased the probability of a crash. These events occurred between 11/21 and 03/22.
I was driving on a 80-mph 3-lane one direction (6 both) toll road, following a Tx State Trooper. About a 1/4 mile ahead of me were two waste disposal trucks. One in the right land and one passing the other in the center lane. The trooper and I pulled into the left lane. As we approached the waste disposal trucks (about 1/8 mile away) my brakes automatically engaged and braked hard for no reason. I tried to override it by depressing the accelerator but the accelerator did not respond (as though it had been disengaged). Behind me was a Mercedes SUV, which had to brake hard to avoid rear ending me. My brakes kept automatically braking (off and on). I finally pulled off the road on the left shoulder and brought the car to a complete stop. It then allowed me to proceed on my way. I bought the car in part for this safety feature, but it clearly is faulty. In reading about braking system, i found that older models had a button that you could use to turn the system off. In my 2022 model, you can turn it off only with multiple steps. You can also adjust the responsiveness of the auto-brake system through a multiple step process. Clearly, this is a major problem that needs to be addressed. I was very lucky that the car behind me braked immediately or it would have rear-ended me at high speed. It was about 5:30 p.m. It was getting dark but not completely dark. I think the problem is with the automatic braking system for forward crash avoidance, but my adaptive cruise control was engaged.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026