VIN and engine number match?
 

I'm currently looking at a 2013 MDX as a posssible purchase. The VIN in the windshield matches all the little stickers throughout the rest of the car. The engine number does not. As a matter of fact, the documentation provided to me by the dealer ID's an engine number. I've never seen this on any documentation on any Acura product I've owned previously, or any that I've looked at recently. Does anyone here have any thoughts or ideas? Is it a replacement engine? Maybe the dealer 'forgot' to mention it...

Does the engine number and VIN match on these cars? If not, is there a way to ensure the engine that is in the car - is the one the car was built with?

The vehicle is being sold at an Acura dealership. But that doesn't mean they have the customer's best interests at heart.

Personally, I find that, even with all the added info purchasers can access today (as opposed to the 'bad old days' of car buying), the process is still heavily loaded in the dealer's favour. Carproof, computerised access to service histories, etc., have helped to level the field - in a minor way. However, we will never know as much as the dealer about any given car. We need more info available to us as buyers.

Anyway, anybody know about the VIN/engine number match question?

I have an 07 and have not looked for a vin on my engine, so it might be there. Where on my engine should I look?

Did you ask the dealer if the 2013 MDX has a service history at his dealership, or is it an auction car from who knows where?

Then there is the "nikasil liner" issue, on the 2010 thru 2013..."the Nikasil liners that Acura started using in 2009 3.7L (2010 MDX's) that has caused nothing but problems. The liners pit due to bad fuel, bad oil, etc and cause a ton of oil consumption that is only fixed by replacing the block itself."

Here's the complete thread on this mdxers site:
2010-13 mdx engines destroyed

Thanks for your response.
It's at an Acura dealership. The car was originally sold there too. They say that this MDX was traded in on a new MDX. Who knows if that is the truth? They have provided some of the service history of the car (the info they have anyway). The carproof is clean (which is good). But, the value of the carproof/carfax type reports is admittedly limited.

Actually, it's on the service record info sheet that the dealer provided to me: the engine number. I've never seen that info on ANY service info from Acura/Honda. Everything on this MDX checks out 100% so far, but the listing of the engine number has me confused.

I have 3 Honda products currently. (the MDX is meant to replace an old CL). I've also had several other Honda products over the years. I've gone through the info on the ones I have/had - all the way back to when I purchased those cars - nothing. No engine number listed on any of the documentation.

I've been looking for an MDX for a while. I prefer the 2012/2013 model. I've looked at probably 9-10 MDXs over the last 6-8 months. When I'm shopping for a used car, I get all the paperwork in advance (carproof, service history, etc.) before I actually see/drive the car. I went through all the paperwork provided from the various dealers over the past 6 months - on the assorted cars I've looked at. Again, nothing with an engine number on ANY of the information.

So, where I'm at now is to go back to this dealership and talk to the sales manager and/or service mgr about why this engine number is listed. It's going to be interesting...

WRT your question on where to find your engine number: your owner's manual should have it in there. It's likely listed somewhere in the 'engine' section of the manual.

WRT the oil consumption issue -- I'm well aware of that issue but thanks for bringing it up. I have a 2013 TL SH AWD with the same J37 engine. So far (fingers crossed) there isn't any oil consumption issue with the TL. But, again, thanks for mentioning the issue.

no they are different and should not match to the VIN! Engine number is probably listed bc the 3.7L's have had oil consumption issues and there is a fix. Some folks got entirely new engines in the beginning (few years ago), then they switched to replacing the heads only and the issue still persisted. Honda/s come to the conclusion it's the piston rings getting clogged with carbon.