Lazar Toshkin

Any one else having a MDX catching on fire without any symptoms while driving?
We got lucky everyone is safe and sound but this is unacceptable for this Company!!!!

NVAKeith

Glad everyone is ok! Scary ordeal. I’ve seen a couple mentions of fires on the other site.

https://www.mdxers.org/threads/2014-...riving.170629/

Let us know what the cause is determined to be. Things like rodent damage/nests and road debris impacts can cause fires.

Lazar Toshkin

Thanks and hope no-one experience the same again! The car is well maintained and as family car we babed the SUV that drives us around!
I always buy used cars with over 100K miles this time decided to get something reliable for my wife and baby! Always pay attention for any smell or vibration or sound having the habit from my old vehicles! Awaiting inspection and dont know if my wife will ever want another Acura again! She is furious

BLEXV6

It could be a defect but it could be many things. I have had many Honda's/Acuras and this has never happened.

moose66

Looks like some other folks have had fires in their vehicles over the years.

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-mdx-...parked-918976/

Edward'TLS

OP, correct me if I was wrong. This time, the fire seems to start from the front driver side of the vehicle, whereas in most previous cases, the fire started from the front passenger side of the vehicle. They said smoke started to bellow out from deep inside the glove box.

MCRacer

If it was a used car, it may be that the PO installed something in a manner that wasn't safely protected from overcurrent, or overheating. And while there definitely are cases of fires that are mfg related, often the fire is related to some other damage that may have occurred. Could be from a previous repair, could have been rodent's chewing on wires.

If you bought it new and had it maintained by the book, no damage, no accessory installed, then it is likely that it is mfg related and Acura and NTSB need to know about the incident and the cause(s). Remember the Ford? fires that started in cars AFTER they had been turned off, sometimes parked in the garage that were related to an ignition switch issue?

First step if to find out the exact cause. May be hard to do but it can be done.

TLbullet

Isn’t there a recall on the fuel pumps (making a ticking noise)? I thought could lead to a fire starting?

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

Fuel pumps are usually located towards the rear of vehicles, inside fuel tanks.

But almost all 3G MDX fires were originated at the front-engine/inside-dashboard locations. So this rules out fuel pump faults.

Lazar Toshkin

So gave enough time to everyone from insurance and HONDA USA to collect their part and see what is the best outcome after this major car malfunction!

Results : Geico is amazing company handling this claim !!!!

HONDA USA doesnt give a shit about their customers and if I ever knew that this company doesnt stand behind their Products I would never EVER purchase this vehicle!
The car is a total loss and according to HONDA USA our experience is just verbal and they need a documents stating malfunction or whatever! Dealing with Honda USA I learned important lesson ! This was a serious fail on their end and not a alternator issue THAT IS SAFETY ISSUE! NO assistance with nothing NOTHING! If you plan to buy an Acura KNOW that they DONT STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS!
All they had to do is to send and investigator and determine the cause of fire BUT NO! They are ready to wash their hands with CAUSE And ORDER report which is not filed by our insurance and are ready to close the case! On my end interstate travel to pick my Family during Pandemic! Inconvenience to the max with my 2 years old!
And not even trying to compensate our inconvenience with credit towards a new vehicle!!! My family was inside the car when the car caught on fire!!!!

STAY AWAY FROM ANY ACURA OR HONDA

BLEXV6

The problem with severe fires, is it is difficult to pinpoint the cause of the fire. It looks like your Insurers do not know either or they would be going after Honda for recovery? Don't know why Honda would do anything if they do not know why the loss happened. It's like your house burns down, and you want to go after the builder, but you cant because you have to prove they were negligent.

It would be interesting to know the cause. If you don't, then everyone walks away and at least you have insurance to cover the loss of the vehicle. Of course you never get what you want in a settlement to get what you had.

Lazar Toshkin

Thanks for your reply!

I agree but at least they should try to narrow the reason for this major SAFETY FAIL! Those are mostly family cars! At least participate and send an investigator and offer some Credit for the inconvenience and stress! At this moment I am ready to call Call for Action and resolve this infont of the cameras! This company did absolutely nothing to help NOTHING I mean NOTHING!

BLEXV6

I can understand your frustration, But if you can't find the cause of loss, how are they liable? I am guessing they may know what the problem is, but they are never going to tell you as this opens them up to litigation.

Lazar Toshkin

My Wife Was driving at the time with our two year old in the back seat and she saw white smoke and escalated quickly to actual fire! Even the police was unable to put it down with extinguisher! Then fire department came and this was the result

Lazar Toshkin

I am surprised that HONDA USA dont want to investigate what caused this fire and are ready to wash their hands! We were lucky some else who knows what can happen! Imagine if they build aircrafts They will have at least 40 cases of crash landing so far! All we need is investigation and credit towards new vehicle that will cover our inconvenience and additional costs! NOTHING ON THEIR END !!!! They dont have any useful customer service! STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY PERIOD

ceb

What steps did YOU take to report this to NHTSA and to Honda/Acura?

moose66

Having a close friend who has been in the auto insurance industry for a while provides some interesting conversations. In the past, a case like this has come up in conversation. Your insurance company should have been a little more concerned about this as well. You have one vehicle to be concerned with, but they could have potentially thousands on the road where this exact issue could just pop up. As opposed to just taking the payout, I'd be pressing them to find out what happened. They should have experts, or know where to find them to look into this issue.

I can certainly understand the need to get the word out to other owners, but it probably does you no good to get on this forum and trash Honda/Acura for what you perceive as their lack of concern and/or action. If you are really eager to get answers, you may have to lawyer up and try that avenue. Right now you are the little guy attacking a global giant from a distance. A blip on their radar.

ceb

It also depends on how the OP contacted Acura. If they contacted Acura Customer Service, then it is quite likely that no real action was taken.

A proper in-depth report to NHTSA and a real registered letter to Acura and the insurance company (providing that NHTSA report) would have had Acura falling all over themselves to examine the car. A call to NHTSA would have gotten them involved as well.

Most people don't understand the need to write a proper letter and that the customer service people are there to (essentially) resolve minor dealer issues.

FWIW, I just searched the NHTSA database back to November and saw no reports of fires on a 2016 MDX

MCRacer

ceb is right on.