This latest recall affects software for the RDX’s electronic power steering system.
If you own the latest 2025 Acura RDX, chances are you’ll have to visit your dealer pretty soon. The automaker just put out a new recall campaign for their popular compact SUV, saying a small number of them could lose power steering assist under certain conditions. Naturally, if that does happen, the increased steering effort could increase the risk of an accident or injury, depending on when it happens. In all, this latest campaign affects 17,334 vehicles.
American Honda, Acura’s parent company, told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that, “An improper electronic power steering (EPS) calibration may cause the EPS system to enter failsafe mode under certain vehicle operating conditions.” Specifically, Acura says this has the greatest chance to happen when the driver has the car in its Comfort drive mode, and the Lane Keep Assist System active (so normal operation, for most folks). If they then apply a sharp steering input, the current EPS calibration could inadvertently trigger a fault when there isn’t an actual malfunction.
The company tells safety regulators this failsafe condition came about as part of the supplier’s process developing the EPS software to comply with California Idle Stop requirements. That supplier set the target for normal operation to an incorrect value, causing the system to receive a “target returnability output” beyond a safety threshold, causing the failsafe and subsequent loss of power steering assist.
What’s the fix?
Fortunately, because the 2025 Acura RDX isn’t suffering an actual mechanical issue, a software reflash should sort this recall out. It does still involve a trip to the dealer, as I mentioned earlier, where technicians will install improved software without this inadvertent bug. The remedy software won’t trigger the failsafe under the conditions that caused this issue in the first place.
Overall, Acura says this issue may only impact 0.3% of that 17,000-or-so recall population — or around 50 vehicles — but owners should get the update done just in case. The automaker incorporated the software update into production on August 29 of this year, so recently built RDX SUVs shouldn’t have this problem at all.
Dealers were notified of the campaign on September 6. Acura plans to send out owner notifications around October 20, according to what it told the NHTSA. However, if you want to know sooner whether your vehicle is part of the recall, you can search by VIN using the NHTSA’s website or Acura’s own recall page as of tomorrow, September 17.
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