Model year report

2009 Acura MDX: what breaks, and at what mileage

What breaks on the 2009 Acura MDX

On the 2009 Acura MDX, the failure owners report most often is other electrical problem, with 10 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 45,000 miles. Overall it scores 69 out of 100, high risk for a 2009.

High risk for a 2009 — 147th riskiest of the 295 2009 vehicles we can rate. 76 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model.

What breaks on the 2009 Acura MDX

Owners have reported 26 named failure modes on the 2009 Acura MDX, and the three most-reported carry 30% of everything filed, which is an unusually even spread for one model year.

Other electrical problem leads with 10 reports and about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles.

Other engine problem follows with 7 reports, median 80,000 miles. 1 of those report mention a fire.

Other lighting problem follows with 6 reports, median 10,000 miles.

By system, the reports fall mostly into engine (14), electrical (11) and transmission (8).

The mileage the reports cluster at

54 of the reports on the 2009 Acura MDX came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 45,000 miles.

Cumulatively, 52% by 50,000 miles, 85% by 100,000 miles and 93% by 150,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.

The busiest stretch is between 0 and 10,000 miles, which alone holds 17% of the dated reports.

44% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, which is early enough that a fair number of these cars were still under a factory warranty when the owner complained.

Median

Other electrical problem

90k
Other engine problem

82k
Other lighting problem

10k
CV axle or driveshaft failure

4k
Other body or interior problem

26k
Audio or connectivity failure

70k
Other powertrain problem

150k
Other speed control problem

78k
No-start or intermittent start failure

45k
Torque converter failure

34k
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure

3k
Stalling while driving

3k

Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens

Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 26. The full list is in the table below.

How reports accumulate

Share of reports filed by each mileage

half by 45k

Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.

Line share of reports filed by that mileage
Dashed the median reported mileage

Severity, and what it costs

Across the named modes, 6 mention a crash, 1 a fire and 6 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.

The average severity weight across every report on this year is 4.53, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.

What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: other electrical problem at $250–$2,000, other engine problem at $300–$4,000, other lighting problem at $120–$1,200 and CV axle or driveshaft failure at $450–$2,200. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.

36% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.

Every reported failure mode

Mileage figures are percentiles of owner-reported readings. Click a column to sort.
Failure mode	System	Reports	With reading	25th	Median	75th	Per 1,000	Typical repair	Severity
Other electrical problem	electrical	10	7	—	90k	—	0.3	$250–$2,000	Moderate
Other engine problem	engine	7	4	—	82k	—	0.2	$300–$4,000	High
Other lighting problem	lighting	6	3	—	10k	—	0.2	$120–$1,200	Moderate
CV axle or driveshaft failure	drivetrain	5	5	—	4k	—	0.1	$450–$2,200	High
Other body or interior problem	body	5	5	—	26k	—	0.1	$200–$2,000	Moderate
Audio or connectivity failure	infotainment	4	3	—	70k	—	0.1	$150–$900	Low
Other powertrain problem	transmission	4	1	—	150k	—	0.1	$400–$4,500	High
Other speed control problem	adas	4	4	—	78k	—	0.1	$250–$2,000	Critical
No-start or intermittent start failure	engine	3	3	—	45k	—	0.1	$200–$1,800	Moderate
Torque converter failure	transmission	3	3	—	34k	—	0.1	$1,100–$3,200	High
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure	engine	2	2	—	3k	—	0.1	$1,200–$4,500	Critical
Stalling while driving	engine	2	2	—	3k	—	0.1	$300–$2,500	Critical
Sunroof failure or glass breakage	body	2	0	—	—	—	0.1	$700–$4,500	High
Other seat belt problem	airbag	2	1	—	25k	—	0.1	$200–$900	High
Other wheel or tire problem	wheels	2	2	—	92k	—	0.1	$200–$1,500	High
Complete transmission failure	transmission	1	0	—	—	—	0.0	$2,800–$8,000	Critical
Wiring harness or short circuit	electrical	1	1	—	75k	—	0.0	$400–$3,500	High
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault	airbag	1	1	—	21k	—	0.0	$300–$1,600	High
Airbag inflator rupture	airbag	1	1	—	54k	—	0.0	$0–$0	Critical
Seat belt or retractor failure	airbag	1	1	—	10k	—	0.0	$200–$900	High
Headlight failure or clouding	lighting	1	1	—	50k	—	0.0	$150–$1,800	Moderate
Wiper or washer failure	glass	1	1	—	15k	—	0.0	$120–$800	Moderate
Other steering problem	steering	1	0	—	—	—	0.0	$350–$2,400	High
Other suspension problem	suspension	1	0	—	—	—	0.0	$350–$2,000	Moderate
Other driver assistance problem	adas	1	1	—	92k	—	0.0	$250–$1,800	High
Other visibility problem	glass	1	1	—	90k	—	0.0	$150–$1,400	Moderate
Unclassified problem	other	4	1	—	10k	—	0.1	—	Moderate

This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.

How often, against how many were built

Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2009 Acura MDX draws about 2.1 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 82nd percentile of complaint rates among 2009 vehicles we can rate.

That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model.

The working figure is 35,877 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2009 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.

What owners wrote

Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.

How it ranks in the 2009 field

The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.

Risk score against the rest of the 2009 field

Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.

Left fewer and less serious reports
Right more, or worse
Marker this vehicle

How 2009 compares with the other years

High risk for a 2009 — 147th riskiest of the 295 2009 vehicles we can rate. Because the ranking is against the same model year only, age cancels out of it.

Across the 24 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2023 comes out best at 63 and 2019 worst at 79, with 2009 itself at 69.

If the model year is negotiable, 2023, 2004 and 2001 score lower than 2009 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.

Within the 2007–2009 generation specifically, 2007 is the strongest year at 68 and 2008 the weakest at 72.

Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.

Risk score by model year, out of 100

Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.

Within the 2007-2009 generation, 2007 Acura MDX scores best at 68 and 2008 Acura MDX worst at 72.

Where these figures stop being useful

76 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.

Of those 76 reports, 54 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 71% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".

The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.

And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.

Questions this page answers

What are the most common problems with the 2009 Acura MDX?

The most-reported failures are other electrical problem (10 reports, median 90,000 miles), other engine problem (7 reports, median 80,000 miles) and other lighting problem (6 reports, median 10,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.

Is the 2009 Acura MDX reliable?

It scores 69 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 147th riskiest of the 295 2009 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2009 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.

Which year of the Acura MDX is best?

Within the 2007–2009 generation, 2007 scores best at 68 out of 100 and 2008 worst at 72. Same body, same engines, different luck.

Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.

What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car

Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt 30 August 2026 Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed