Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  I was shocked! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Steve Turso - December 2 - 8:22 am

  It took a while for me to get over no spare tire with this car or you can buy one for about $300.00 - 400.00 but we had a problem, the battery went completely and couldnt be jump started. We then found out that with the awful new transmission they forgot one thing.......you cant put the car in neutral to push it unless it starts. Roadside assistance came out and they had no idea, I called the dealer and they said the only way to move the car is to jack up the car and put rollers under the tires. So I wrote Acura and this is what they had to say "We value you as an Acura client and we appreciate the opportunity of responding to your concern. On behalf of Acura, we offer our sincere apologies for the circumstances which prompted you to reach us. We assure you of our interest in your feedback and we thank you for bringing your concern to our attention. Upon further research, the information provided by your dealership is correct and we apologize for any convenience this may have caused. It is our pleasure to note your valuable feedback as Acura strives to produce vehicles which exceed our clients expectations and your insight assists us in fully understanding consumer perspective." Do with it what you may but I think its clearly a case of engineers not thinking about the consumer. Its just like when they reasoned no spare tire saying it increased the fuel mileage...I found that funny. Acura is losing site of you and me. My 4th Acura and surely my last.

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  Outdated tech package makes the TLX a near miss - 2015 Acura TLX
  By William - November 22 - 10:53 am

  There are many things that I expect from a mid-level luxury car and the TLX is a miss on half of them. The climate control system when set to auto seems to set the fan speed on the higher settings which are extremely noisy and doesnt seem to hold temperature very well. The lane keeping system is a dangerous miss it disengages often and for no apparent reason with an almost inaudible chirp, and sometimes doesnt indicate that it has disengaged at all. The navigation system is awful The trip planning doesnt take into account traffic when calculating route times and therefore you will often get the worst routes. There is no option to send route information or addresses from your phone/online to your cars nav. The transmission is smooth in normal mode but the economy mode is a little herky-jerky. Shifting from park into reverse on a slight incline (think driveway) results in a gut-wrenching noise. The sport mode and sport+ modes are fun in winding mountain roads, but the lack of any acceleration limits their fun factor. Braking is mushy. The seating is spacious and comfortable in both back and front. The seating controls are intuitive and easy to reach. The two driver settings are tied to the keys which is a nice touch. The trunk is also large and easy to access. If the lane keeping system and nav performed as expected this would be the perfect touring car , but like I said its a near miss

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  Love this car from the outside - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Ann - October 22 - 9:53 am

  Once you get in, and drive - particularly at NIGHT is when you really cant stand it. The lights are so very dim - we live in an area with no street lights. Test drive was on a highway - and didnt notice how DARK the car is. When you come to an intersection and need to turn - you see an absolute BLACK HOLE on the sides of the car - no visibility whatsoever. Cant see a deer, dog, bear, bicycle rider, pedestrian - zip nada nothing! You have to use the high beams the entire ride - and my 2006 Acura had great lights. Loved the look of these LED from the outside, but the brightness is very short distance ahead. Makes you very unsure around the next bend. I have to look into some type of fog lights being added, because my husband and I recognize we could well be killed driving this vehicle at night. The transmission is quirky - especially around 40-45 MPH, does this zooming up thing while you are coasting. Should you take your foot off the gas to approach either a hill or railroad tracks - the car comes to life and speeds itself up! Craziest thing. Absolutely HATE electronics all on the screen. Simple function like adjusting fan speed cant be accomplished because of the glare on the screen. Just give me a dial! Why does the car rock repeatedly every time I brake - no matter how gently? I feel that someone went way too far with the electronics, and over engineered what ought to be simple tasks. Headlights are DANGEROUS and I foresee a recall in the near future - as was the case with the shiny ac vents reflecting off the mirror - which were replaced with black matte ones. BTW - Still havent found the odometer??? 6 Weeks of ownership.

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  Good value but transmission annoying! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Bob Ford - October 20 - 9:52 pm

  Leased the car about a year ago. Like the gas mileage but it has some annoying traits like the transmission. I should preface my comments by stating that I my previous car was a 2012 Audi S4 with manual transmission. This car was real fun to drive with the stick as I was able to stay in gear for max performance... My motivation for going with TLX was to get something more practical for work as I drive approx. 20K per year calling on clients and a manual tranny can be difficult if you run into stop and go highway traffic. Also wanted to keep my costs down so the TLX fit the bill for that reason as well. Anyway, the TLX even in sports mode tacks too high at lower gears and is sluggish in higher gears. I dont bother with the paddle shifters because I cant be bothered. Not the same as clutch and shifting. The other thing I find annoying is not being able to permanently disable the auto shut off which shuts the engine off when you come to complete stop in traffic or light. You can shut if off by pressing a button by the transmission controls but you have to do that every time you start the car. I forget to do this sometimes and car shuts off at light - completely unnecessary for the minimal positive affect on gas mileage in my opinion. In short, it is a solid car that I use primarily for work. It is dependable and provides very good gas mileage but a bit boring to drive. In hindsight, I wish I test drove a 2013 or 2014 Lexus GS 350 AWD on a purchase basis. I have a feeling that I would have liked the transmission more and would have been happy to give up a mile or two per gallon for a smother shifting tranny. Two more years to go on lease so plenty of time to research next vehicle!

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  Critical but Subjective Review - 2015 Acura TLX
  By acuradriver6 - March 25 - 4:01 pm

  The TLX does represent the best value for your money, with all the useful entertainment and drivers assistant features, quiet ride, and comfortable seats. Then here is the big problem that has made me and many others regretted its purchase. The TLXs all new 8-speed DCT is causing all kinds of problems: Hard jerk right before entering a complete stop(like the car has been rear-ended). Delay during acceleration after momentarily letting off gas - engine revs up and then the car slams into the gear that it finally selects - especially dangerous when coming out of a corner or attempting to accelerate after yielding in an intersection. Takes 2-3 key strokes turn on heated seats!!

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  15 TLX - It is not that "kind of thrill" - 2015 Acura TLX
  By westlx - May 29 - 5:37 pm

  Got a great deal on the TLX end of 2015 and only bought it due to getting thousands off sticker. I did not think the 1,000 off sticker was justified for this car after driving it earlier in the year. It does have a great smooth, quiet ride. The 4cyl has more than enough power with the 8speed DCT. It is nice having the rear cross and blind spot protection and it is a great highway cruiser getting around 35 on premium gas. Do not believe the dealer than you can run 87, well yeah you can but the engine knocks. So pros: Quiet ride, very nice ride over bumps etc, sound system is great and gas mileage is good for a car this size. Cons: 2,000 miles into owning the car noticed a crease in the headliner, not just a wrinkle as I thought. The headliner was broken, how did that pass QA? Dealer had to pull windshield out to put a new one in. Just great having a new car all ripped apart. This warranted 2 trips to the dealer, because it was not assembled 100% like new when I went to pick it up and they had to order more parts. Fit and finish inside is just ok, I would expect better for the luxury brand of Honda. Touch screen for hvac is just dumb, good I have LKAS cause you need it while changing the controls. Granted I knew this and thought I would get use to it, but give me knobs back please. Now my most recent issue is the car when sifting out of drive will not go into reverse, you have to play with the trans to get it to work. 50-75% of the time it wont go in reverse. On day one at the dealer I was told this never happened before. Now on day two being told it has happened before and it is a shift cable that is damaged. I asked what caused the damage and I was told Acura does not know. During this visit also asked to fox the rattle/vibration in the headliner. So much for no rattles after the car was ripped apart. Now to see how the panels are fitting after being ripped apart twice now. After the first time they certainly dont look like my loaner now where it is all neat and tight. And forget calling Acura Client Relations they are a joke. Person today was rude and told me they cannot do anything about these issues and that the dealer needs to address any complaints since they sold the car and each dealership is an independent business from Acura. Based on the call today, I guess Acura doesnt give a crap about the defects they put out from their production lines. I had some initial problems with my Jeep, and I have to say their customer service puts Acura to shame! Overall I want to like the car, but so far the ownership is not what I had expected from an Acura product. Go read consumer reports and check out what they are stating about the Acura brand this year before spending your hard earned money. Update: ending up selling the car. Around 8000 miles my seat seemed to break in, however where the seam is on the back by your lumbar area stayed firm. After driving. Ore than 2+ hrs it was like something was stabbing you in the back. I took some trips in my jeep, and bam my back was no longer sore. I tried to get two dealers to look at it and both said nothing was wrong with it. Ended up ditching it as I could not take it anymore.

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  Vibration at 1500 RPMs - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Randy Atkins - November 23 - 1:13 am

  Ive had the car for about 6 weeks now and bought it after being extremely pleased with my 2016 MDX Advance. It was a CPO loaner car with 4600 miles. After about 2 weeks I noticed when I was cruising along at 1500 RPMs it felt like I was riding on a rumble strip. At first I thought it was the road, but then it seemed to happen on any road I was on. I took it to the dealer and they said that it was due to the VCM system (variable cylinder management). When it reaches a cruising speed it drops back to 3 cylinders for optimal gas mileage and therefore causes a vibration. The dealer said there was no fix which lead me to call Acura customer care. After talking with them and them talking to the dealer, they told me that was how the car is supposed to operate, to which I told them no $40k luxury car is designed to rumble when you are at cruising speed. They were absolutely no help and offered no assistance to remedy the problem, just repeated that was the way it was supposed to operate. I took it to another dealer and they basically confirmed the findings of the first dealer. In addition, I started to have a vibration when braking. They looked at that issue and ended up having to replace the entire front brake system...not very comforting for a car with 7k miles. I will say the gas mileage is exceptional as I got 38 MPG straight interstate on a 300 mile trip; however, I bought it for the ride more than the MPG and would gladly take a lower MPG for a smooth ride. Probably wont keep it long.

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  SH-AWD: Willing Engine but lazy transmission - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Scott - October 25 - 7:53 am

  If you interested in owning a SH-AWD V6 TLX, heres what you need to know. The V6 is a great engine with typical Honda growl and furious acceleration. Unfortunately, the 9-speed automatic gets in the way of truly exploiting what this engine has to offer. The transmission is consistently caught hunting for the correct gear when you dig in for more power, unless your using the Sport + mode which does bring the transmission to life. Unfortunately, Sport + mode also brings with it a "rev matching" downshift program that proves to be harsh for all on board, nothing like a manual heel and toe downshift. Left in Sport mode (not Sport+) the car does a decent job of being sports sedan but leaves the driver wanting more. Its too bad this engine cant be had with Acuras more precise dual clutch automatic (4 cyl only) or a manual transmission. The SH-AWD V6 is best suited in day to day use for people looking for luxury over performance. To that end, Acura does offer an engine start / stop system to improve fuel economy that shutters the engine at a stop light. Unfortunately, engine restarts are a bit rough and do catch the car off guard when you need more than a small amount of power off the line. Additionally, the stop / start feature will kill the engine on occasion, only to restart it 60 seconds later for no apparent reason and then shut it off again after moving a few feet in heavy traffic. Other tech features include Acuras blind spot monitoring system. which is very accurate and can easily tell the difference between a guard rail and a car in your blind spot. Unfortunately, the lane keeping assist seems more like a waste of money than an actual feature. The system can barely detect lane markers and consistently fails to engage. During my week with the car, the navigation system was consistently beat by Waze and Google Maps on my iPhone. Both offering better directions and more accurate arrival times than Acuras system. Apple CarPlay would have been 100 times more useful than another dated navigation system like that offered in the 2015 TLX. Overall, this is a good car. Its quiet. Its fast. However, it sorely needs a better transmission and better technology package. In all, the base TLX with an inline 4 and Acuras dual-clutch automatic provide a much better value as long as youre willing to bring your own Smartphone along for the ride.

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  Bad Transmission Ruins the WHOLE Car!! Stay Away!! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Cole - June 7 - 9:16 pm

  Huge Acura fan, this was my 5th Acura in 4 years. This car really makes me question the brand. Good design (not so much in the back), awesome headlights, decent pickup, nice interior, awesome fuel economy (36 mpg avg on hwy), cool technology, good value, HORRIBLE transmission. I mean this thing is downright awful and RUINS the whole vehicle for me, what a shame! My car has the 2-3 transmission jerk and just sloppy shifting in general. It wouldnt be a big deal if this very well known problem among 15 TLX V6 owners (2-3 gear jerk) would be addressed and fixed by Acura, but they wont do ANYTHING for me and most owners. The 16 TLX doesnt have the 2-3 gear jerk, so you think they could fix the 15, right? Wrong! So dont think you can buy the car and if it has the gear jerk, itll be fixed since its under warranty because they wont do anything for you! I used to swear by the brand and recommend it to everyone, but not anymore, especially not their service! STAY AWAY FROM THIS CAR!!

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  Not As Great As I Had Hoped... - 2015 Acura TLX
  By C. Lang - May 1 - 6:44 am

  Ive driven my 2015 TLX for a little over 2 years and Im really sad that the "redesign" for 2017 didnt fix any of my complaints. First off - the shifting "buttons" in between the seats. So unnecessary and awkward. My dog has turned on my brake assist button way more often than me! Second complaint - weird acceleration. The car has get up and go but it shifts weird and sluggishly in the lower gears, better once it gets going but it clunky that a car like this should be. Moving on - the "Brake" sensor that is supposed to alert you to brake because youre about to run into something has never actually gone off properly. It goes off when Im taking a curve and there are parked cars on the road, or it goes off when Im passing semis but not once has it gone for a real reason. Good golly Acura, could you please just give me a damn twisty knob for the temperature control and fan. 15 screen buttons later I might finally be able to change the fan from floor to defrost! I cant believe I havent hit someone yet while trying to work through the "Infotainment" system! You cant really dial in the windshield wipers. You might think youve got them on intermittent low, but low and behold this smart car "senses" more rain and kicks it into high gear which you cant slow down. The good - sitting in the drivers seat is very comfortable, rear seat, not so much! The car does handle the road very well and it does drive good in the snow and rain. I was so hopeful that the redesign for 2017 would fix some of my major issues, but alas, Acura decided the keep the horrid infotainment system and the shifting buttons. I doubt many of my other cons have been changed either so sadly this Acura will be going back to the dealer soon and I wont be shedding any tears when I see it go! Overall - I should have kept my 2012 Honda Accord, I liked it much better!