2013 Tech Vibration at Highway Speeds (70+mph)

[Chelcamp]

Well...The second dealership had it for a week and told us that "they felt nothing that was abnormal for this car"! They checked everything, but I still have the vibration issue. Pretty upset at the quality of the Acura these days. They obviously have a problem if there are this many people that feel the vibrations at the same speeds.Not sure exactly where to go from here. Let me know your thoughts as to the next steps we should take. The dealership has offered to replace the car...but...the few that we drove still had the vibration (and some had it worse). Getting a little fed up!

[newyork326]

Just keep driving them until you find one that does not vibrate or ask them to buy it back and go with another manufacturer.

Those are really the only 2 options.... there is no fix to the vibration problem.

[tolson37]

I have a hard time believing every x on the lot has vibration problems. Maybe I have the only two that didn't. Does not make sense.


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[ninor]

Originally Posted by tolson37

I have a hard time believing every x on the lot has vibration problems. Maybe I have the only two that didn't. Does not make sense.


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Agreed, my 2007 is smooth as driving on glass, and always been. Winter and summer tires included.

And my summer tires are done, and also 275/45/19, but smooth none the less.

To be clear, I am not saying that you guys don't have issues, but vibrations of this nature are basic stuff, no car/truck has this as a "feature" of a design.

I would suggest that with colder weather these tires will loose balance +/- a little from sitting around at night. Colder weather is relative term, and usually things improve by driving on hwy for 20 minutes or so.
It could be something else, but again I suspect to do with the tires. Going back to Acura limits choice, if they have every 2013 MDX delivered with these sorts of tires, they have no solution for you.

I think that this whole 'green' business these days is probably behind tire OEMs putting different formulation into tires to get more 'ECO' 'GREEN' mileage something, and formulation might be something more rigid/plastic and less compliant/rubbery therefore resulting in tires that get flat spotted or loose balance easier.

They might be Michelin Lats, but that doesn't really equate same tire as 2011 Michelin Lat. Same name and all. Also check country of manufacture, same tire from two different countries WILL act differently.

Just a guess...

Best of luck,

Nino

[zmanH2]

Originally Posted by tolson37

I have a hard time believing every x on the lot has vibration problems. Maybe I have the only two that didn't. Does not make sense.


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In my case, I can't say it is every MDX on the lot but on my 2nd return, I drove with the senior tech with my 2013 MDX after he said they balanced the tires again after seeing they were for some reason off again after being balanced 2 days earlier. While driving I pointed out the vibrations and he calls up the service advisor and instructs him to bring out another brand new 2013 MDX for comparison. We took the new car (5 miles on the meter) and sure enough it was also there It only took us one freeway exit to discover the shaking on that one.

This got me thinking...I should make my own thread to at least document my progress.

[Chelcamp]

I know that no car is perfect and I am not a mechanic or tire expert. But we have owned 4 Acura's and they have all drove like a dream! We bought the 2013 MDX b/c the 2011 my sister has is "smooth as glass". We drove a ML 350 and my sisters 2011 MDX drove better than the 2013 ML350. The one that we test drove at the dealership did not have the vibration and we had taken it and driven it about 100 miles before we purchased the 2013. Assuming, since the one we test drove rode like a dream, and my sisters did too; we just picked a color, signed the papers and drove off. We were not off the lot 10 minutes before we realized the vibration issue.

I am not sure that this is a tire issue. The reason I don't think it is a tire issue is b/c on our many trips back to the dealer we actually had them take the rims and tires off the demo we drove for 100 miles(that drove like a dream) and put those rims and tires on my car. It made it a little better, but the problem is still there. If it was a tire issue then the switching of the rims/tires would have stopped the problem. It is more of a vibration than what you would get with an unbalanced tire. It is mainly felt on the passengers side front seat and a little in the driver front seat. And the odd thing is that it is not at all speeds....or at least that we can feel. I feel it when it hits 40mph and then between 70-75mph. The front passenger seat literally shakes, along with the door panels. In our quest to find a solution with the dealer they did put 3 different brands of tires on the car and all 3 still had the same result....vibration!

Just frustrated and trying to find a solution!

[zmanH2]

Sounds very familiar Chelcamp

Have you spoken to Acura Client Relations yet?

[ninor]

Originally Posted by Chelcamp

The reason I don't think it is a tire issue is b/c on our many trips back to the dealer we actually had them take the rims and tires off the demo we drove for 100 miles(that drove like a dream) and put those rims and tires on my car. It made it a little better, but the problem is still there.

Did you by any chance ask to drive that demo again? If it is still smooth, I would agree that something is funny here. I would suspect that now demo has vibration as well...

Best of luck,

Nino

[turn1racing]

While reading through another vehicle forum, they were having issues with vibrations as well. It seemed that quite a few of them were able to rectify the issue by making sure that all the lug nuts were torqued to spec using a torque wrench. It might be worth mentioning to the service department since they are most likely using an impact wrench.

[AC_MDX]

Test all the MDX's on the lot, and if you can't find one that works, return the vehicles ASAP.. Go to another dealer and test other MDX's to see if you find any without the issue, then you can change it for that one.. The more you wait the more complicate it gets..

AC

Originally Posted by Chelcamp

We just purchased a 2013 MDX Tech 10 days ago. From the moment we drove it onto the highway we get a horrible vibration at speeds of 70 mph and above. Not just a small vibration, but one that shakes the whole car. You can feel in steering wheel, but most is felt in seats. We have taken it back to the dealer everyday since we purchased it with no remedy to the problem. They have balanced, road forced balanced, changed tires, changed rims, swapped tires, etc. and the problem is still there. They were going to switch out the car, but the other one we drove did the exact same thing. We are at our wits end and really dont know what to do. I have never owned an MDX but have owned several different models of acuras and hondas and have never had a problem like this! I am almost certain this is not normal! Any info anyone can give would be helpful!
Thank you

[mdxing21]

Chelcamp,

Did you ever find a resolution to your vibration issues? I too have the same problem and dealer and Acura client relations were unable to resolve. Seems I'm stuck with it or will have to trade out. I recently had the opportunity to drive the redesigned 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe and it rides very smoothly and MUCH better than my '12 MDX at highway speeds. I'm feeling very ripped off at this point and considering the 3-row Hyundai that is coming out to be a better alternative given the ride quality.

[moeshaker]

I have same problem 2009 MDX CPO and i am so frustrated from the vibration.
I think its about time for this car to go away and stick with a lexus... i was undecided between lexus and acura and i regret my choice,,, when they say you cannot go wrong with a lexus they are 100% right....

i was wondering if anyone found a solution for the vbration issue and it does not seem like it.

[NewMDXOwner]

Just a wild ass guess here, but a bad tire will start vibrating at much lower speeds, in the order of 30-40 mph. Since all the vibrations I see in this thread occur at around 70 mph, I would suspect that the axle/CV joints are out of balance instead.

[mdxing21]

Like someone else with the problem pointed out in one of the threads, it's not fixable. My dealer gave up after trying for 9 months. Most recently they found a bad rear wheel bearing and replaced it. The vibration is the same if not worse. Acura knows it's a problem, perhaps that is why the SH-AWD will be optional on the new 2014.

[WNY PAT]

Mine is smooth thus far - but less than 100 miles.