Acura TLX problems: recalls, complaints and what they cost
Pick a model year below for the Acura TLX's open safety recalls and the components owners complain about most — then, for each of those, whether it is safe to keep driving and what the repair should cost.
Choose a year to load recalls and complaints.
What goes wrong with the Acura TLX?
Across 7 model years sampled between 2015 and 2023, NHTSA records 26 recall entries — one campaign counts once for each model year it covers, so the number of distinct campaigns is lower — and 726 owner complaints for the Acura TLX. Counts track how many were sold as much as how good the vehicle is, so the useful signal is which components the complaints cluster on and which years stand out against the rest of the run.
Where complaints concentrate
| Component | Owner complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Power Train | 232 | 32% |
| Electrical System | 94 | 13% |
| Engine | 82 | 11% |
| Unknown or Other | 59 | 8% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 49 | 7% |
| Steering | 34 | 5% |
Power Train draws the most reports on this nameplate. That is a starting point rather than a verdict — a component can dominate because it genuinely fails or simply because it is the part owners notice. Match it against what your own vehicle is doing before spending anything.
By model year
| Year | Recall entries | Complaints |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 | 11 |
| 2022 | 3 | 26 |
| 2021 | 4 | 70 |
| 2018 | 4 | 94 |
| 2017 | 3 | 71 |
| 2016 | 3 | 111 |
| 2015 | 6 | 343 |
Model years 2019, 2020 are not in this retrieval, which means no records were returned for them — not that there were none. Use the year selector above to query those years live.
Older years accumulate more complaints simply by being on the road longer, so compare a year against its neighbours rather than against the newest one.
Recent safety recalls
Fuel System, Other
Particulates in fuel may adhere to the internal components of the fuel pump, reducing its performance.
Free remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will update the fuel injection engine control unit (FI-ECU) software and, if necessary, replace the fuel pump, free of charge. The recall began March 25, 2019.
Power Train
In the affected vehicles, the transmission wire harness connections may have insufficient crimps, and, as a result, the transmission may unexpectedly shift to neutral.
Free remedy: Acura has notified owners, and dealers will, based on the automatic transmission serial number, update the transmission software to prevent the transmission from shifting into neutral due to a faulty crimp.
Equipment
The affected vehicles may have incorrect values for the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) and Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) front and rear printed…
Free remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will install a corrected certification label, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on October 21, 2014. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-800-382-2238.
Engine and Engine Cooling
Due to a manufacturing error, the connecting rod bearing in the engine may wear and seize, damaging the engine.
Free remedy: Dealers will inspect and repair, or replace the engine as necessary, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed March 28, 2024. 2016-2017 Acura MDX owner letters were mailed November 1, 2024.
Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit. Take the campaign number to any franchised dealer. How recalls work.
Recall text above is abridged from the NHTSA record. Search the campaign number at nhtsa.gov/recalls for the full notice, affected VIN ranges and dealer instructions.
Source: NHTSA (US Department of Transportation), public domain, retrieved 2026-10-08. Use the year selector above for the current live figures.
How does a luxury or performance car typically fail?
The failure profile of a premium car is less about frequency than cost. More electronic modules, more actuators, air suspension instead of springs, adaptive dampers, complex cooling — every one of those is a part that a simpler car does not have and therefore cannot break. Labour is higher too, and access is frequently worse, so the same nominal job costs more hours.
What should I check first?
For a luxury or performance car, the systems worth ruling out before anything else are air suspension, electronic modules and cooling system complexity. Match what the vehicle is actually doing to the guide below — each one opens with a safety verdict, not a parts list.
What is the difference between a recall and a complaint?
A recall is a defect the manufacturer must fix free of charge, forever, with no mileage limit and regardless of how many owners the car has had. A complaint is one owner’s report filed with NHTSA. One complaint is an anecdote; two hundred naming the same component is a pattern, and patterns are what you want before you buy or before you authorise a large repair. Read the complaint list by concentration, never by total — a model that sold three times as many units collects roughly three times as many complaints while being no worse.
What should I check before buying one?
Price the depreciation curve against the repair curve. These cars become cheap to buy long before they become cheap to own, and the gap between purchase price and annual running cost is where people get caught. Budget for a specialist independent rather than a dealer.
Beyond that, the checks that find expensive problems are the same on any vehicle: see it started from stone cold, look under the oil cap, smell the transmission fluid, and scan it for stored and recently-cleared codes. Our used car inspection checklist walks through each one, and why cars fail explains how systemic defects emerge in the first place.
Check one before you buy it
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Does the Acura TLX have any open recalls?
Open safety recalls for the Acura TLX are listed on this page, pulled live from NHTSA's public database. Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit, so an open campaign is money the manufacturer owes you rather than a repair you pay for. Check by VIN for certainty on one specific vehicle.
What are the most common Acura TLX problems?
The complaint list on this page groups owner reports by component, which is the useful view: one component dominating the list is a pattern, while complaints spread evenly across many systems usually just means the model sold in volume. For this class of vehicle, air suspension, electronic modules and cooling system complexity are the areas worth checking first.
Is the Acura TLX expensive to repair?
Cost depends far more on which system fails than on the badge. Each symptom guide linked from this page carries a parts-and-labour range for US independent shops, so you can price the specific fault rather than the car in general.