Showing the 2017 MDX Advance. We haven't verified this trim's engine; the numbers below cover every version of this model year. Every version
Owner complaints, recalls, fuel economy and safety ratings from public NHTSA and EPA data, updated Oct 18, 2026.
Fuel economy
21–27 mpgcombined; city 18–26, highway 26–27; every version of this model year
Five years of fuel
$14,910–$19,160U.S. average; Ohio $14,050–$18,060 at local prices; every version of this model year; fuel only, not other costs of owning it; 15,000 miles a year, at EIA fuel prices for the week of Oct 12, 2026
NHTSA's VIN data lists these trims for the 2017 MDX. A trim's engine and numbers are shown as its own only where EPA names versions after the trim and no other version could be it; "seen with" means a source shows that engine on the trim, not that it was the only one. Recalls and complaints cover the whole model year: whether a recall applies to a car depends on its VIN, on NHTSA's recall lookup.
Owners have filed 268 complaints with NHTSA about the 2017 MDX. These are unverified owner reports, counted by the part of the car they name; one complaint can name several parts. Counts aren't adjusted for how many were sold, so they don't show how reliable a car is.
Complaints by part of the car
Part
Complaints
Crashes
Fires
Injuries
Engine
80
1
2
0
Power train
69
0
0
0
Electrical system
48
1
1
3
Forward collision avoidance
38
1
0
0
Unknown or other
30
1
2
2
Vehicle speed control
22
1
0
1
Lane departure
21
0
0
0
Service brakes
21
3
0
1
Fuel/propulsion system
20
1
0
0
Engine and engine cooling
18
0
0
0
Structure
10
2
0
1
Exterior lighting
7
0
0
0
13 more parts
Wheels
4
1
0
0
Back over prevention
3
0
0
0
Seat belts
3
0
0
0
Seats
3
1
0
0
Air bags
2
2
0
2
Electronic stability control (ESC)
2
0
0
0
Parking brake
2
0
0
0
Steering
2
0
0
0
Tires
2
0
0
0
Fuel system, gasoline
1
0
1
0
Suspension
1
0
0
0
Visibility
1
0
0
0
Visibility/wiper
1
0
0
0
What the columns count
Complaints: complaints that name that part. One complaint can name several parts, so the rows overlap and don't add up to the total.
Crashes and Fires: complaints that report one. Two owners can file about the same event, and NHTSA doesn't link them, so these count reports, not events.
Injuries: the number of people the complaints say were injured.
None of these columns shows that a part caused a crash, fire or injury: they're what owners reported, unverified.
Complaints by model year
Newer years have had less time to collect complaints, and counts aren't adjusted for sales, so a shorter bar doesn't mean a more reliable year.
NHTSA lists 9 recall campaigns for the 2017 MDX over its history. Campaigns are matched by model and year, so each one may apply to a given car, and its repair may already be done: check a VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup for the open recalls on that exact car.
Structure: frame and members; Suspension: rear
NHTSA campaign 26V365000 · reported Jun 4, 2026 · 965,561 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the rear subframe and install a rear subframe reinforcement kit and, as necessary, repair or replace the rear subframe components, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed July 27, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available, anticipated in the fall of 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are AOU and AOT. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning June 10, 2026.
American Honda Motor Company (Honda) is recalling certain 2016-2022 Honda Pilot, 2017-2023 Ridgeline, 2019-2023 Passport, and 2014-2020 Acura MDX vehicles that were sold in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, or Wisconsin. The rear subframe may corrode at the suspension mounting points, which can result in rear suspension component failure.
Risk: Failure of rear suspension components, such as the rear control arm, can cause a loss of vehicle handling and control, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
NHTSA campaign 26V332000 · reported May 21, 2026 · 98,892 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are BOL, WO9, OOA, WOM, XOH, NOC, POD, BOE, UOF, POB, EOG, AOI, QO8, TOJ, DO7, and SOK. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 24V064. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V, 2018-2020 Fit, 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid, 2017-2022 CR-V, 2017-2018, 2021 Civic Type R, 2017-2021 Civic hatchback, 2016-2020 Civic coupe, 2016-2022 Civic, 2017-2022 Accord Hybrid, and 2016-2022 Accord vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, which can cause the air bags to deploy unintentionally during a crash.
Risk: Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury.
NHTSA campaign 25V259000 · reported Apr 17, 2025 · 152,800 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the wiring and install a fuse harness, replace the lid light, and repair the body dust sealer, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 30, 2025. Owners may contact Acura's customer service at 1-800-382-2238. Acura's number for this recall is FLI. Vehicles included in this recall that were previously repaired under NHTSA recall number 19V-256 will need to have the new remedy completed.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2014-2020 Acura MDX vehicles. Moisture may enter the tailgate lid light assembly and wiring harness, which can cause the interior and exterior lights to fail, including the lid lights, position lights, license plate lights and taillights.
Risk: Vehicle lights that fail to illuminate can decrease visibility and increase the risk of a crash.
NHTSA campaign 23V858000 · reported Dec 18, 2023 · 2,490,460 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: Dealers will replace the fuel pump module, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 6, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are KGC and KGD. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall numbers 21V-215 and 20V-314.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013-2023 Honda Accord, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R, CR-V, HR-V, Ridgeline, Odyssey, Acura ILX, MDX, MDX Hybrid, RDX, RLX, TLX, 2019-2022 Honda Insight, Passport, 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Clarity PHEV, Fit, and 2015-2020 Honda Accord Hybrid, Pilot, Acura NSX vehicles. The fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
Risk: Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
NHTSA campaign 23V751000 · reported Nov 13, 2023 · 248,999 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and repair, or replace the engine as necessary, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed March 28, 2024. 2016-2017 Acura MDX owner letters were mailed November 1, 2024. 2016-2020 Acura MDX owner letters are expected to be mailed in mid-December 2024. Honda began mailing owner notification letters as of March 18, 2024. 2015-2016 Acura owner letters are expected to be mailed mid-December 2024, 2018 Acura TLX owner letters are expected to be mailed the end of March/early April 2024, 2019 Acura TLX owner letters are expected to be mailed mid-May 2024, 2020 Acura TLX owner letters are expected to be mailed mid-June 2024, and 2016-2020 Acura MDX owner letters are expected to be mailed January 27, 2025. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for these recalls are XG1 and GG0.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2015-2020 Acura TLX, 2016-2020 Acura MDX, 2016 and 2018-2019 Pilot, 2017 and 2019 Ridgeline, and 2018-2019 Odyssey vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error, the connecting rod bearing in the engine may wear and seize, damaging the engine.
Risk: A damaged engine may run improperly or stall while driving, increasing the risk of a fire, crash, or injury.
NHTSA campaign 19V256000 · reported Mar 28, 2019 · 322,897 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: Acura will notify owners, and dealers will modify the tailgate lid lights and install updated gaskets and a wiring sub-harness or will replace both tailgate lid lights. The repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began May 7, 2019. Owners may contact Acura customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's number for this recall is M49.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2014-2019 Acura MDX and 2017-2019 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid vehicles. Moisture may enter the tailgate lid lights, possibly causing a loss of the tailgate lid lights and the taillights.
Risk: Loss of the taillights reduces the vehicle's visibility, increasing the risk of crash.
NHTSA campaign 19V060000 · reported Jan 29, 2019 · 437,032 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will update the fuel injection engine control unit (FI-ECU) software and, if necessary, replace the fuel pump, free of charge. The recall began March 25, 2019. Owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's recall number for this recall is P3W. Honda's recall number for this recall is N3X.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Acura MDX, 2015-2019 Acura TLX and 2015-2017 Honda Accord vehicles, equipped with a 3.5L V6 engine. Particulates in fuel may adhere to the internal components of the fuel pump, reducing its performance.
Risk: Reduced fuel pump performance can result in an engine stall, increasing the risk of crash.
NHTSA campaign 18V777000 · reported Nov 1, 2018 · 64,785 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: Owners will be notified, and Honda or Acura dealers will bleed the brakes, free of charge. The recall began December 11, 2018. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are C31 and L30.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Acura MDX, 2017-2018 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda HR-V and Honda Odyssey, and 2016 Honda HR-V vehicles. The rear brake caliper pistons may have an insufficient coating, causing gas pockets to form, reducing brake performance. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 135, "Light Vehicle Brake Systems."
Risk: A reduction of braking performance increases the risk of a crash.
NHTSA campaign 17V424000 · reported Jun 30, 2017 · 193 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: Acura will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the routing of the fuel feed hose and the fuel purge hose. If misrouted, the hoses will be replaced and installed correctly, free of charge. The recall began on August 14, 2017. Owners may contact Acura Client Relations at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is KF8.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2017 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid vehicles. The affected vehicles have an engine fuel feed hose and a fuel purge hose that may have been misrouted during vehicle assembly.
Risk: The misrouting can cause the hoses to be damaged from contact with other components, potentially resulting in a fuel leak. A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may increase the risk of a fire.
Carmakers sent NHTSA 245 service bulletins and notices that cover the 2017 MDX, the latest on Jan 31, 2026. They tell dealers how to fix known issues.
The parts they mention most: electrical system (50), engine and engine cooling (46), equipment (35), power train (35), fuel system (32).
NHTSA defect investigations
Opening an investigation isn't a finding of a defect. Outcomes are as NHTSA's summary states them. A recall is shown as an investigation's outcome only where NHTSA's summary names it; other recalls NHTSA's file lists with it are marked as listed, not caused.
Investigation
Part
Opened
Status
Preliminary evaluation PE25008 Engine failure · covers 2 makes
The owner's manual gives the oil and how often to change it. We show oil facts only once we've checked them against the manual, and we haven't yet for the 2017 MDX.
These are searches on those sites; we don't copy or check their listings. Your ZIP is used for these links and never kept.
Specs
EPA class: small sport utility vehicle. EPA greenhouse gas score: 4–6 out of 10. Each version EPA tested:
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Version
Engine
Transmission
Fuel
City / hwy / comb
MDX Front-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic (S9)
Premium Gasoline
20 / 27 / 23
MDX Front-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic (S9)
Premium Gasoline
19 / 27 / 22
MDX All-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic (S9)
Premium Gasoline
19 / 26 / 22
MDX All-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic (S9)
Premium Gasoline
18 / 26 / 21
MDX Hybrid All-Wheel Drive
3.0 L, 6 cyl
Automatic (AM-S7)
Premium Gasoline
26 / 27 / 27
Sources and dates
U.S. EPA fuel economy data, file of Sep 29, 2026
NHTSA owner complaints, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA recalls, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA manufacturer communications, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA defect investigations, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings, file of Aug 7, 2026
U.S. Energy Information Administration, file of Oct 12, 2026
Fuel cost: EPA mpg with fuel prices for the week of Oct 12, 2026 and electricity prices for Jul 2026. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Oct 2026). Complaints are unverified reports owners filed with NHTSA. About the data