Acura Tlx
Problems & Worst Years

Shoppers weighing an Acura TLX will find the complaint record splits cleanly by year and by system. The 2015 model year is the heavier file — 188 complaint occurrences across 20 distinct problems — and it is a transmission story almost top to bottom. Owners reported general shifting issues (23 occurrences), jerkiness and hard shifts, rough shifting, and, most concerning, the transmission randomly shifting into neutral (13 reports). A separate cluster describes engine stalls at idle attributed to stop-start system failure. Nothing in the 2015 top five carries formal safety severity, but a gearbox that drops to neutral on its own deserves a careful, extended test drive with attention to shift quality both cold and warm.

The 2016 TLX generated far fewer reports — 61 occurrences across nine problems — but the leading complaint is arguably more serious in character: an engine rod bearing defect leading to seizure, with 20 occurrences. Supporting complaints about the engine and engine cooling system, including reports that the issue was not addressed in a timely way, fill out the top of the list, along with a couple of reports of transmission stalling and jerking.

Recall history is worth checking closely on either year. The 2015 model year is covered by campaigns 14V613, 14V779, 16V640, 19V060, 23V751, and 23V858; the 2016 year by 19V060 and 23V751. That's a long list for the 2015 car, so pull the VIN history and confirm every campaign shows as completed before you negotiate.

As always, read these numbers for what they are: complaint counts reflect what owners filed with NHTSA, not measured failure rates, and later model years have had less time to accumulate reports. The transmission behavior on a 2015 or the engine health on a 2016 is best evaluated on the specific car — through a pre-purchase inspection and its service history — rather than assumed from the model year.