Acura TLX Years to Avoid — and the Years to Buy
Every Acura TLX model year from 2012 to 2025, benchmarked against each other with 1,339 federal complaints, 13 recall campaigns, and the odometer readings owners put in their reports.
Avoid: 2015. These years top the TLX's complaint rankings by volume and severity.
Safer bets: 2020–2022 — the quietest years with at least four years on the road.
The method in one line: every NHTSA complaint for this model is counted, weighted for crashes, fires, injuries, and deaths, and each year is measured against the TLX's own worst year — full methodology.
Under investigation. Federal regulators currently have 2 open defect investigations on the Acura TLX.
Component: ENGINE
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 414 reports of connecting rod bearing failures in the 3.5L V6 engine used in the following vehicles: Model Years (MY) 2018-2020 Acura TLX, MY2016-2020 Acura MDX, MY2016-2020 Honda Pilot, MY2018-2020 Honda Odyssey, and MY2017-2019 Honda…
Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:CRANK/CAMSHAFT POSITION SENSOR
On June 3, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE22005 after the agency received VOQs and several field reports concerning the Auto Idle Stop (AIS) feature on 2016-2019MY Honda Pilot vehicles. The complaints allege that the engine fails to restart on its…
Model years named: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
An investigation is not a recall; it may close with no action. All open investigations →
The trouble strip
One cell per model year. The whole answer in one glance — click any year for the full report.
The defining problem
Engine tops the Acura TLX file with 287 complaints, concentrated in the 2015 model years, most often reported around 56,000 miles. The year pages break down what fails and when.
Every year, ranked
| Year | Verdict | Complaints | Recalls | Top problem | Trouble index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Few reports | 6 | 1 | — | 1 |
| 2024 | Few reports | 8 | 1 | — | 1 |
| 2023 | Few reports | 11 | 3 | — | 2 |
| 2022 | Better year | 35 | 3 | — | 6 |
| 2021 | Better year | 93 | 4 | Transmission & drivetrain | 19 |
| 2020 | Better year | 96 | 5 | Engine | 18 |
| 2019 | Typical | 134 | 6 | Engine | 32 |
| 2018 | Typical | 150 | 4 | Engine | 29 |
| 2017 | Typical | 108 | 3 | Engine | 23 |
| 2016 | Typical | 163 | 3 | Engine | 34 |
| 2015 | Avoid | 534 | 6 | Transmission & drivetrain | 100 |
| 2012 | Few reports | 1 | 0 | — | 0 |
Technical service bulletins
Beyond complaints and recalls, 1,274 manufacturer communications — service bulletins, service campaigns, warranty extensions — are on file for the Acura TLX. A TSB is factory repair guidance, not a recall — the repair is not automatically free.
Browse the Acura TLX TSB list by year →
Questions buyers ask
What Acura TLX years should I avoid?
Federal complaint records point to 2015 as the Acura TLX years to avoid — they drew the highest volume of serious complaints relative to the model's other years.
What is the most common Acura TLX problem?
Engine tops the Acura TLX file with 287 complaints, concentrated in the 2015 model years, most often reported around 56,000 miles.
What are the best Acura TLX years to buy used?
The quietest Acura TLX years in federal records are 2020–2022 — each with at least four years on the road and well-below-average complaint volume for this model.
Every number on this page is a count of records in the federal complaint, recall, and investigation files published by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. Counts cover the Acura TLX only, scored against this model's own worst year — not against other models. Check any specific vehicle's open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.