I AM WRITING TO NHTSA TO REPORT A TRANSMISSION LOCKUP INCIDENCE ON THE HIGHWAY OF MY 2001 ACURA MDX SUV. ON 1/23/2009, WHILE I WAS DRIVING AT THE HIGHWAY AT 60 MPH, THE CAR HAS ABRUPTLY STOPPED TO LOW 30 MPH AND ALMOST CAUSED A CATASTROPHIC ACCIDENT TO MY FAMILY. THE CAR DIDN'T HAVE ANY WARNING LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD CONSOLE PRIOR TO THE FAILURE. THE CAR HAS 148,000 MILES AND IT'S IN A GOOD MECHANICAL STANDING (WITH REGULAR INTERVAL MAINTENANCE). SINCE THEN, I HAVE DONE SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND THAT THIS VEHICLE IS KNOWN TO PRODUCE SUCH SYMPTOM. IT'S CLEAR THAT THE VEHICLE TRANSMISSION HAS DESIGN ISSUE AT ITS BEGINNING, AND AT HIGH MILEAGE, IT MIGHT EXACERBATE MORE SEVERELY. SHOULD NHTSA REGULATE ACURA TO CONCERN MORE FOR THE SAFETY OF ITS CUSTOMERS? ACTION THAT ACURA CAN HELP COULD BE AS ISSUES NEW ERRATA BULLETINS OR COURTEOUS ACCIDENT PREVENTIVE MEASUREMENT TO MAKE ITS OLDER(HIGH MILEAGE) CAR SAFE. I HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT TO ACURA BUT DIDN'T THINK IT HAS ANY USE. FOR ONE THING THAT ACURA FACTORY WON'T MAKE ITS CUSTOMER SAFE IS TO COLLECT ACTUAL OLDER HIGH MILEAGE FAILURE TRANSMISSION AND INVESTIGATE FOR PREVENTIVE SAFETY MEASUREMENT. ACURA SHOWED NO INTEREST DESPITE MY EFFORT IN TALKING TO THEM. I HAVE DRIVEN CARS WITH FAILURE TRANSMISSION, BUT HAVE NOT EXPERIENCE ONE THAT LOCKS UP AT HIGH SPEED IN HIGHWAY. THIS TYPE OF FAILURE SYMPTOM IS TOTALLY NOT ACCEPTABLE. SURPRISINGLY, I WAS ABLE TO FIND REPORT OF MANY MDX TRANSMISSION LOCKUP CASES ON WEB. SHOULD THERE BE LAW TO PREVENT HIGH MILEAGE UNSAFE MDX GO RIDE ON HIGHWAY UNLESS SOME SAFETY INSPECTION HAS BEEN PERFORMED. AND, THIS IS FOR THE SAFETY OF OTHERS. I AM CURRENTLY HAVING THE TRANSMISSION REPLACED AT MY OWN EXPENSE. *TR
2013
EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL
BACK-UP CAMERA VIDEO / NAVIGATION MODULE, AND STEREO / CLOCK SCREENS REMAINED BLANK AFTER STARTING ENGINE, PLACING CAR IN REVERSE GEAR AND MOVING SLOWLY DOWN DRIVEWAY IN AN APPROXIMATE TIME FRAME OF 3-4 MINUTES. ALL SCREENS CONTINUED TO BE BLANK AFTER EXITING DRIVEWAY, STOPPING, THEN PLACING CAR IN DRIVE AND TRAVELING 5-7 MPH ON STREET. STOPPED VEHICLE AT STOP SIGN AFTER TRAVELING 200 YARDS. RE-ENGAGED REVERSE, THEN DRIVE GEARS WITH FOOT ON BRAKE. BOTH SCREENS FINALLY ACTIVATED, SHOWING CORRECT TIME AND BLUETOOTH CONNECTION STATUS ON STEREO SCREEN, AS WELL AS REAR CAMERA VIDEO PICTURE ON NAV MODULE SCREEN WHILE REVERSE GEAR ENGAGED. SIMILAR INCIDENTS HAVE OCCURRED ON TWO PRIOR OCCASIONS SINCE PURCHASING THIS USED VEHICLE IN MAY 2012. *TR