Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11271078

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2019 ACURA RDX

Manufacturer

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)

Components

ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

Dates

Incident: 10/16/2019
Filed: 10/25/2019

Owner complaint summary

ON WEDNESDAY, OCT 16, 2019, I WAS DRIVING THIS RDX FOR ABOUT 2 HOURS, AND WAS GOING SOUTH ON N CAROLINA RT #171 IN A STEADY RAIN ON A FLAT ROAD. I DROVE BEHIND A 18 WHEEL LOG TRUCK FOR 10-15 MINUTES AT 50-55MPH BEFORE CONFIRMING THERE WAS NO VEHICLES COMING THE OTHER WAY. WHEN IT WAS CLEAR FOR 1-2 MILES, I FLOORED THE ACCELERATOR TO PASS THE LOG TRUCK. THE RDX LEAPED FORWARD AT FIRST, BUT HALFWAY PAST THE LOG TRUCK THE VEHICLE LOST POWER AND SLOWED TO 35-40 MPH OR SO (MAYBE SLOWER, AS I AM GUESSING--- I WAS NOT LOOKING AT THE DASH). I WAS SCARED THAT I COULD NOT COMPLETE MY PASS OF THE TRUCK. FORTUNATELY, AFTER 5-10 SECONDS, THE TRUCK DRIVER NOTICED SOMETHING WAS AMISS, AND HE SLOWED DOWN TO LET ME PASS AT MY SLOWER SPEED. I PULLED OFF AND WAS GRATEFUL FOR TWO THINGS. FIRST THAT NO ONE WAS COMING THE OTHER WAY, AS A HEAD ON COLLISION COULD HAVE TAKEN PLACE. SECOND, THAT THE TRUCK SLOWED TO PERMIT ME TO PULL OFF ON THE RIGHT SHOULDER. THIS TOOK PLACE ABOUT 220PM. AFTER PULLING TO THE SHOULDER, AND LEAVING THE RDX RUNNING, I WAITED FOR SEVERAL MINUTES, AND TRIED TO PULL FORWARD. THE LIMITED POWER CONDITION REMAINED. AND THE ORANGE ENGINE SYMBOL CONTINUED TO APPEAR ON THE DASH. I SUSPECT THE ORANGE SYMBOL APPEARED WHEN I LOST POWER, BUT I WASN'T LOOKING AT THE DASH. AFTER SEVERAL MORE MINUTES, I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND WAITED FOR SEVERAL MORE MINUTES. WHEN THE CAR RESTARTED, THE SYMBOL WAS GONE, AND REGULAR POWER HAD RETURNED. I DROVE ABOUT 100 YARDS, AND THEN RE-ENTERED RT#171 WHEN THERE WAS NO ONE COMING BEHIND ME. THE RDX OPERATED FINE THEN AND I COMPLETED A 3.5 HOUR DRIVE TO MYRTLE BEACH. I DROVE NORMAL FROM THERE TO NAPLES FL OVER THE NEXT 5 DAYS WITH NO ISSUES. BUT, I DIDN'T TRY TO ACCELERATE BY DEPRESSING THE PEDAL TO THE FLOOR IN THE RAIN. THERE WAS A CLEAR SAFETY INCIDENT AT 220PM OCT 16TH. .

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11271078). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11271078. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.