AutoUtility currently tracks 77 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Acura RDX. Fuel & Propulsion System issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 34 complaints (44.2% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 5 filings cite a crash, 3 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 77 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Fuel & Propulsion System (34 reports • 44.2% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (14), Powertrain & Transmission (12)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 5 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 3 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
77
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
5
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
0
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
3
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2018 Acura RDX

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 44.2% of complaints

Fuel & Propulsion System

34 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 18.2% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

14 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports
#3 Problem Area 15.6% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

12 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
🩹 1 injury report entry
#4 Problem Area 10.4% of complaints

Electrical System

8 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 9.1% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Acura RDX

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech 5.2% of complaints

Unintended / Sudden Acceleration

4 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Acura RDX

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11757690
Filed: 08/18/2026

"The light comes on due to an emission system warning, shaking, and a lack of power; the engine is severely misfiring. This is the second time I have complained about this to the NHTSA"

Incident Date: 08/18/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE
Air Bags & Restraints NHTSA ODI ID: #11750607
Filed: 07/15/2026

"The contact owns a 2018 Acura RDX. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light was intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the driver’s side air bag needed to be replaced; however, the..."

Incident Date: 02/15/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: AIR BAGS
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11746842
Filed: 06/26/2026

"Vehicle Information: 2018 Acura RDX AWDAffected System: Power Train / Automatic Transmission / Torque ConverterAssociated Code/Bulletin: DTC P0741 / Acura TSB B23-029Complaint Description:The vehicle is experiencing a documented manufacturer defect covered under Acura Warranty Extension TSB..."

Incident Date: 06/23/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11746062
Filed: 06/23/2026

"The transmission went into limp mode one day after coming to a stop. When I safely got home, I turned the car off. Upon restarting, the issue was gone, but this has now happened several times. Each time, putting the car into park, shutting it off, and restarting it "resets" whatever was going on...."

Incident Date: 06/17/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11741418
Filed: 06/01/2026

"Was driving down the hwy with the sunroof open tucked inside the headliner when a loud sound startled me and when I shut the sunroof glass rained down All over me"

Incident Date: 05/28/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Acura RDX

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Acura RDX 409 7 3 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Acura RDX 40 3 2 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Acura RDX 75 7 1 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Acura RDX Current Page 77 5 1 Current
2019 Acura RDX 433 3 5 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Acura RDX 342 4 5 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Acura RDX 111 3 3 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Acura RDX 31 4 2 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Acura RDX 21 0 2 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Acura RDX 11 1 2 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Acura RDX 29 1 1 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Acura RDX 0 0 0 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2018 Acura RDX

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 37 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 15 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 10 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 6 0 0 1 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 3 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 3 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 2 1 0 1 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 0 0
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Lane Departure Warning NHTSA category: LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 1 0 0 0 0
Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS 1 1 0 1 0
SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (77). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.