Acura Exterior Lighting

Acura is recalling about 322,897 vehicles over a problem with the exterior lighting. Loss of the taillights reduces the vehicle's visibility, increasing the risk of crash.

Campaign
19V256000
Manufacturer
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Reported
28 March 2019
Vehicles
322,897
Built between
Oct 2012 – Oct 2018
Models
2
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
7 May 2019
Repaired
86%
Unrepaired
43,901

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between October 2012 and October 2018. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2014-2019 Acura MDXBuilt October 2012 to October 2018
  • 2017-2019 Acura MDX Sport HybridBuilt July 2015 to October 2018

Repair progress

43,901 of 322,897 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q3 2020.

86% repaired — 277,038 of 322,897 reported

Owners not reachable
140
Scrapped or exported
1,818

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

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.

What could happen

Loss of the taillights reduces the vehicle's visibility, increasing the risk of crash.

What gets fixed

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.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtOctober 2012 to October 2018
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA28 March 2019
  3. Owners notified7 May 2019
  4. Latest repair reportQ3 2020 — 86% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 28 March 2019.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Acura customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's number for this recall is M49.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
M49
Recalling manufacturer
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand