2008 Acura MDX - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

"the clock in the 2008 acura mdx stopped working over 18 months ago. this occurred after an acura day-light-savings time update. in order to check the time now you have to take your eyes off the road. there are thousands of acura vehicles with this problem. acura refuses to help. they state there is no solution to the problem. they caused the problem!"

"my 2008 mdx's battery would drain out often and had to replace 2-3 new batteries during that time frame and numerous jump start. recently, i just changed battery and had to jump start again within a month. i really got frustrated and took the car to car dealer and he said it's an hfl issue which drains your battery out, so i have to pay $200 to disconnect the system or pay $4000 to put a new hfl system. their is also a class action law suit regarding this issue and another customer at the dealership had the same issue on his 2008 tl. why doesn't acura recall and fix the issue??? that's what i want to know. i even emailed acura with a complaint and no response from them yet. ..! this is ridiculous and would never buy acura or honda cars again..!"

"battery was replaced in february 2017 (about 7 months ago). today, everything electrical just died while i was driving. thank god my children were not in the car & that i was 1 minute from home. the internal lights flickered and then all lights, the radio, and any other electrical portion went dead. the car was still running, but sensing something was wrong, i immediately called my husband and told him to meet me. after i stopped the car, it went dead and never turned on. we have tried numerous approaches to fix and having found the solution yet. per research, many others have had similar dangerous issues. see http://www.carcomplaints.com/acura/mdx/2007/electrical/electrical_system.shtml. my absolute fear is that my car will stop completely while on on a fast road, with my children in the car, and at night. while we don't yet know if it's an hfl issue (it's not a battery issue as we just had it checked less than an hour ago), i'm very fearful. if it is a hfl issue, acura should have addressed this a long time ago."

"the hands free link constantly drains the battery, even when the vehicle is not in use. i have replaced 3 batteries. this issue leaves you stranded and the repair cost by dealers are ridiculous when this is a wide spread issue. my local dealer explained the only way to fix the issue was to remove the hfl module. why install something on a vehicle if it's not capable of performing the function it is meant to. also the cd changer constantly get stuck and will not work. due to this issue i get an error message or a busy message when trying to remove a cd. this issue has occurred in my acura multiple times and i have gotten it out however this time when the battery was drained due to the hfl module the cd got stuck due to the battery issue and will not come out at all now. so my cd player is non-functioning at this point. so one issue has lead to the other."

"*****acura mdx 2008 battery is draining and car will not start due to hfl unit.******** ***consumers should know so they can address this issue prevent being stranded somewhere with a dead battery*** this has been my experience 1) february 2013, vehicle @ 35,000 miles- battery replaced at acura 2) october 2014, vehicle @ 48,000 miles- told by acura battery needs to be replaced again 3) january 2015, vehicle @ 49,000 miles- i found online forum where acura mdx owners are having the same issue and the conclusion is a defective hfl (hands free link) unit draining the battery while the vehicle is off. 4) january 2015, vehicle @ 49,000 miles - i tell acura service advisor at intake about online discussions and that i believe the hfl unit is draining my battery. the service advisor agrees the issue is definitely the hfl unit and the hfl unit will need to be replaced or unplugged but he will have the technician diagnose to confirm . i had acura replace the hfl unit and the battery has not died since even after not driving the vehicle for three straight days. this is a safety concern for me as i believe driving hands-free is safer than driving with a phone in one's hand. it is also illegal to drive and talk on a hand-held phone in the state in which i live so unplugging the hfl unit is not an option for me. i believe acura is aware of this issue based on my experience and all the many online forums where consumers with different acura models, makes and years are discussing the same problem with the hfl and giving their feedback about their contact with acura. instead of doing a thorough diagnostic check i was told twice i needed a new battery. it was my third visit along with the information i found online that i got acura's attention however by then the hfl was out of warranty. *tr"