- Excellent value - Great performance - Honda/Acura reliability - Lots of space - Third row seat design - Excellent navigation system - Safety (excellent crash test results) - Good gas mileage

- Poor roof rack design - Pricy touring package

Acura MDX represents the best combination of utility, performance, style, and value that is available on the market today. It is perfectly sized for active families, with lots of passenger room, cargo space, and utility. The 3rd row seat does not take up any space when not in use. The MDX has fairly quick acceleration and it handles great for a vehicle of this size, much better than most of the competitors. It feels more like a big sports sedan rather than a SUV. The gas mileage is very good for a vehicle this size (and the ULEV classification doesn't hurt either). It looks great, the styling is fresh and contemporary, with Acura family resemblance evident in the front end. Most importantly, it offers the best value on the market today. Bottom line: to get a comparably equiped SUV from another manufacturer that offers the same level of refinement, reliability, and performance, you would have to spend thousands more than what the MDX costs.

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- BMW X5 (handles great, small cargo area, too expensive) - Mercedes ML320 (poor reliability record, looks like a minivan) - Nissan Pathfinder LE (second choice after MDX) - Infinity QX4 (Pathfinde

Availability improving

Outdated interior, you know what I mean if you've driven or owned an Acura Legend. No pearl white exterior color. Ugly rims. Demo vehicle rattled in the rear. Cheap vinyl in the 3rd row seating. No console lighting. Noisy.

What is Acura thinking? I previously owned a fully (all options) Acura Legend and the new MDX by far doesn't compare. First of all, how do you explain the bogus and fake wood trim. One would think after spending near $40K the MDX would include real wood trim. My old Legend came with real wood. Secondly, although I loved my layout of my Legend, the interior of the MDX feels and looks like a Legend. I guess I expect much more from a manufacturer in the luxury market. Thirdly, the appearance could be much more updated and not so boring.

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Lexus RX300, BMW X5

Rides well, roomy interior, looks good.

Never had a rearview mirror fall off in any of the 50 or so new cars I've purchased in my lifetime. Acura customer relations and product services are terrible.

Having current problem because the rearview mirror fell off and I can't get it fixed at the local Acura dealer or the Acura dealer I purchased it from. Acura Client Services no help. Unsafe to drive it so it sits in the driveway unused (over a week now). Don't know what to do...

Looks great, nice curb appeal. Loaded with features. Solid ride.

Cost of options. Cheap interior wood trim. Engine pickup.

I have had the vehicle for 4 months and I am still making up my mind. For the most part I am quite satisfied with the performance with the exception of the gas mileage. I have 6000 miles on the MDX and am averaging 21 mpg, in my opinion it could be better. The vehicle has execellent features (with the exception of the cheap looking fake wood trim items)but in my opinion the engine pickup from a stop could be better. It sure seems to labor for 240 hp. All in all I'm very satisfied with the vehicle, but I can't say the same for the dealer. My vehicle was delivered with 2 options that I did not order, and 3 of the things I did order were not installed. The dealer did correct the problem after a few days. One of the things to watch out for is the cost of the dealer installed options. They are really overpriced (must have great margins). For instance the "wood grained" steering wheel costs $500 and is exactly the same as the base steering wheel with a small piece of fake plastic wood added. Not worth $500. I have yet to use the 4 wheel drive in the snow, so I must reserve judgement on that feature.

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none

Engine power, Navigation system, comfort and convenience, alot of SUV for the price PLUS honda reliablity

no body side molding to help protect against door dings

Overall I am very impressed with the MDX. I would have to agree with other owners, looks smaller from the outside, but has nice amounts of room on the inside. Great performance/power. Contrary to what some may think it is NOT built on the odyssey frame. Lots of standard features that would cost more in other Luxo SUVs

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Honda Odyssey (sold our '99 to buy the MDX)

Great vehicle for the money; all the necessary armentarium for an urban assault vehicle. Roomy, responsive and carefully designed.

Need body side molding to guard against door dings; better grade of tires. Stereo could better as well for a vehicle in this price range.

We purchased the vehicle for my wife who is a real estate agent. She has driven the vehicle over 30,000 miles over the course of the last 18 months since purchase in January 2001. We are pleased with the vehicle in most part. We have three sons and it works well for separating everyone on trips and during school/activity ferrying. We also obtained the service/maintenance program at purchase and the dealership has been courteous and responsive with the exception of one problem with the tires we have recently noticed. Our hopes are they will resolve this matter with Acura or Michelin in due course given all the furor with the Goodyear/Ford Explorer incidences. We have noticed that our tires are experiencing inordinate wear for the amount of mileage (less than 3/32 of tread presently). In checking with Michelin printed warranty states that the tires are covered for 65,000 miles. We are not going to come close. It appears that we are one of the earlier MDX owners and have put more mileage on this vehicle than most at this point of ownership. Does Acura have a problem with these vehicles with these tires due to the all-wheel drive setup and the type of tires they are equipping these vehicles? We just wanted to go on record somewhere in case there is an unfortunate event due the dealer's blase attitude when we complained.

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Volvo wagon, Mercedes Wagon, Suburban

See above

Problems from the start. A loose gasket/gas tank that makes sounds when braking. The dealer has not been helpful, nor has Acura national reps. I would never buy another Acura product again, and certainly would not recommend the Acura MDX to anyone.

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Any other car I have ever owned had fewer problems than this one.

Nav System

RIDE interior materials plasticy wood trim. Leather seats. Useless third row seat. My child whose 8 can not fit in it.

I do not think that the MDX should be SUV of the year at all. It did not impress me at all. The exterior colors did not have much of choice. They should have like ten choices of colors so someone could find what they want. Interior materials were not pleasing either. The RIDE sucked on roads with bumps , that is like ever road. Nav system was okay at first it was hard to use. I had a FRONT SUSPENSION problem also bolts were already loose and I don't go off road.

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none

Wet driving conditions. Lots of space.

A few Honda like quality issues.

We bought in March 2001 after quite a bit of shopping around. Overall quite good with a few gripes. The windshield glass is rather thin and ours cracked soon (a few months) after we got it. The dealer refused to acknowledge a problem so we replaced it with aftermarket glass and haven't had a problem since. I have read in some 2002 model reviews that one of the changes for 2002 was thicker windshield glass so, apparently, someone at Acura thought there was a problem. Also, we have had a screeching sound come from the driver's side on fairly frequent occasions. This seems to depend on a combination of wind speed and direction and car speed and direction. It seems to come from vibration in the area of the plastic housing around the base of the driver's side mirror. Once again, the dealer has been head-in-the-sand useless. I understand that first year models in particular can have some issues and these have not ruined my opinion of the car. But when an automaker aspires to luxury car status they should address quality problems. Our Jaguar service has made adjustments for issues that appear to be quality issues for years after expiration of the official warranty , although normal repairs and service are pricey. Now, the good. Best 3rd row seating in it's class. Quiet enough (other than previously mentioned anomaly). Excellent acceleration and braking. We took it to the 4 corners area a few months after we got it and checked out valley of the gods, monument valley, natural bridge monument, and some others. The all wheel drive worked nicely and when it should have. Also excellent in wet driving conditions. Other than this it is mostly a to and from work and shuffle the kids around vehicle. It works well for this too. Quite a bit of room for shoes and soft bags even with the 3rd row up. The spit 3rd row seat is very convenient at times. The only vehicles with better 3rd rows are sadly deficient in several other areas. The touring package sound is very good on classical, voice, and most music that isn't dependent on great bass - which is hard to make sound good in an auto system. This would be a 5 on both if the service were better.

• Smooth ride • Great stereo system • Excellent service department (although we haven't had to use them) • Great looking! • Good mpg (18.5 or so, mixed hwy and local) • Did I mention the smooth ride?

The 4 month wait.

Amazing that people would write a review based on a test drive. We test drove several other SUV's, and were able to determine based on the ride and safety ratings that the MDX was the best for us. We have not been disappointed. This is absolutely a great car! Purchasing the car was easy, although I'd rather not have had to wait 4 months. After driving a few of the competing cars, came to the conclusion that this was simply the best value out there. Not surprising that there are occasionally cars that don't measure up to Honda/Acura's standard. The best of manufacturers will make a lemon from time to time.

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Test drove the Toyota Highlander & 4Runner, BMW X5, and Ford Explorer.