| Rugby209 |
Hi Everyone. Great site. First Acura and loving it!!
I purchased a certified 2004 base MDX a couple of months ago and have a couple of small issues. (I say small because coming from owning mostly Saturn's any issue is small)
I hear a sort of grinding noise from the rear of the vehicle when I go over bumps. I took it into the dealer they said my spare tire was loose, tightened it, and off I went. It was fine for about two weeks and then the noise came back. The second time they took it in and replaced the rear sway bar. (I think that's what it was I don't really have the paperwork in front of me) and again I drove away and no problem. Now again 2 weeks later there is a noise from the rear. The noise before they replaced the sway bar was very loud but now it's not as loud so I’m thinking the sway bar and bushings had something to do with some of the noise. So what I did was try tightening the spare tire and that seemed to help a little. Has anyone had a problem with the spare tire continuously coming loose? The second issue is sort of a banging noise coming from under the car sometimes when I brake and sometimes when I start from a complete stop and I can feel it a little. (of course I can’t make it happen all the time) I haven’t brought that up to the dealer yet but I will when I bring it in next. Anyone have that issue?
Issues aside I love driving this car!! The acceleration is great, the comfort is great, fuel economy (not so great) but that’s not why I bought the MDX!!
I’ll tell you what I have never had a better dealer experience than with Acura. The dealer wasn’t the same dealer I bought the car from and they still treated me great. Both times a no questions asked loaner 07 MDX. (VERY nice I might add) I had many, many problems in my first 3 years of owning both the Saturn Vue and Ion and I said enough with GM. Plus the safety for the price was great on the 04 MDX.
Last question, how is the overall reliability of the car (transmission, engine, etc)? I see a lot of issues with the 01/02 on here and some with the 03 and 04 but it is a forum and of course if you have a problem you’re going to post it. Again coming from GM, is the problem that they are not up to what a luxury Honda vehicle should be in terms of reliability OR overall compared to all SUVs on the market the MDX quality is not very good? Or is it just that this is a forum and of course if you have an issue you will post it and reliability is really good? Ok I guess this is more than a couple of questions!!
Sorry for the length of the post. |
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| midnightMDX |
| Welcome to the forum! :D Havent heard of any spare tire issues. Bring the car back and let them look at it again. 04 issues are minor and most issues are known. You'll be very happy. Its obvious you'll hear the negative more the positive in most any discussion. This forum only represents a tiny fraction of MDX owners. Not all dealers are created equal. :p |
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| Rugby209 |
| Good to know. I figured consumer reports and numerous car magazines couldn't be to far off. I'm going to tighten the spare tire again and see if it solves the problem again. If the noise comes back I will take it in and let you know what the problem is. Thanks for the quick response. |
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| midnightMDX |
quote:
Originally posted by Rugby209
Thanks for the quick response.
Anytime. Just make sure you have read manual front to back and read up on topics in the forum. The FAQ post located in my signature is a good start. |
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| Tanner |
| Have you tried driving around with the spare off to see if the noise is there or not? |
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| Rugby209 |
I took it in and the acura dealer said the noise is coming from the bushings. The said this is a normal ocurance. I asked if they could be replaced and was told they could replace it 100 times and it would still make the noise. I used the search bar and found a couple of other owners with this issue. The only solutions I found were to grease them and once the grease wears off the noise will come back. Not very perminant. Was the dealer right that if you replace a bushing it won't matter or should I press them?
The banging noise was the "gas slosh" which I probably should have looked a little harder on the forum before posting that question...Sorry.
Thanks for all the help! |
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| Rugby209 |
| Tanner.....It's always the simplest things that you never think to do. I tried your suggestion of taking the spare tire off and I still heard the noise. Even though the dealer did state it was a bushing problem I just wanted to be sure for my own peace of mind. I think I'm going to continue pushing the dealer on this problem. There is also another dealer about 20 minutes from my house in the opposite direction that I may want to get a second opinion from. I'll keep everyone posted. |
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