Used 2015 Acura TLX Consumer Reviews
Used TLX for sale
Seemed great at first, but....
Mitch J., 05/06/2018
2015 Acura TLX SH-AWD 4dr Sedan AWD w/Advance Package (3.5L 6cyl 9A)
23 of 25 people found this review helpful
I owned an '07 TL and absolutely loved it. So I went in fairly sight unseen to get what I hoped would be a step up from the older model. I was disappointed to learn they had eliminated the standard V6. Not wanting a 4 cylinder, I ended up selecting an in-stock 2015 V6 SH-AWD Advance. After owning it for three years and 36k miles, I'm trading it in, and here's why: 1. Vibrations!!!! Little did I know the V6's Variable Cylinder Management system runs on 3 cylinders probably 90% of the time. Any time you are in a light cruise (basically settling into speed on almost any road type, when tach settles around 1500 rpm), the car produces a vibration similar to going over light rumble strips. Much of the time you live with a low rumble you feel through the steering wheel and pedals. Honda designed complicated active engine mounts to cancel these vibrations, and Honda even issued a YouTube video describing this phenomenon as "normal operation." There are aftermarket gadgets that can circumvent this system and keep it V6, but they will void your warranty. Honda needs to make VCM user-switchable. 2. More Vibrations!!! Fairly strong resonance right at 72-76 mph, right at interstate cruising speed; feels like unbalanced wheels. My dealer spent two days balancing, rotating, and force-balancing the wheels, to no avail. So basically there's constant vibration while on the interstate, which is unacceptable in a $43k luxury car. I'm not dropping a grand on new tires to hope it goes away. 3. Awful transmission, awful push buttons. Extremely sluggish shifting from P to R or D. Shifting among the first 3 gears is abrupt and needs re-programming. In Sport + mode, paddles take a good two-count from action to actual shift. Forums are full of unfavorable commentary on the transmission. Those things were the deal-killers. Some minor irritations: 4. If you're within several hundred feet of a car in front of you, the car will not downshift and accelerate to allow you to merge into a faster lane. Your foot feels like it’s going into a marshmallow and the car isn’t reacting. A safety nanny that actually puts you in jeopardy or forces you to follow that slow truck. 5. If you're coming out of a turn, the car will not downshift and accelerate until you're out of the curve and going straight. Nice and minivan safe, but hardly sporty-sedan worthy. 6. Auto-Braking system will often flash and even apply the brakes if you approach a right hand curve with an oncoming car on a two lane road. Extremely unsafe. This system needs refinement and reprogramming. Perhaps it's been improved since the 2015 model. 7. The stereo has weak bass response. You can get almost decent bass by turning up the bass and sub gains all the way, but that shouldn’t be necessary. The overall quality and imaging is very good; Bluetooth sources and XM are easy to use. 8. The HDD CD storage system puts gaps between every song, and you can't reorder titles after they're loaded. Pink Floyd and many others don't work with gaps between the songs. 9. Flat screen often requires two button hits for functions. Dangerous to take eyes off the road for that. Climate control functions should have tactile buttons. 10. The Nav loses minor roads as you zoom out. Other cars have systems that keep the detail on zoom-out. 11. The headlights sure look cool but have a very sharp cut-off not backfilled with the high-beams on rural roads. This leaves a light-dark contrast line that leaves you wanting more light up high. The fog lights look cool from the outside but offer no additional illumination to the driver. 12. The Engine Auto-Off is irritating, and shuts the engine off immediately after coming to a stop. Annoying at stop signs and in traffic. However, it is switchable with a button. Wish VCM had such a button. There are things I really like: The SH-AWD system inspires confidence in all weather and pulls like a tractor in snow. Seats are very comfortable, fit and finish is very good, cabin is very quiet, vibrations notwithstanding. Phone sync and use is simple. Storage is decent and trunk is roomy although it could use tie-down rings. Handling is outstanding and nicely weighted. Heated and ventilated seats are great. And when you do want it to really go, after it selects a gear, decides how many cylinders to use, if no one is near you, and you’re not already rolling on a curve, the car goes like a rocket.
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overall good car ruined by crappy 9speed tranny
mlody_me, 01/27/2016
2015 Acura TLX SH-AWD 4dr Sedan AWD w/Technology Package (3.5L 6cyl 9A)
23 of 25 people found this review helpful
Overall good car, but watch out for 9-speed tranny. It is horrible especially in early models (not sure if the issue is still present in 2016). My car also vibrates on a highway that takes tons of enjoyment out of driving, so if you drive a lot on highway, make sure to test it on a highway before spending hard earned money as Acura will not fix it!!!! My car was in service 6 times to address vibrations and 9 speed tranny and I gave up and sold the car cause I could not deal with it anymore. Also for people coming from 4th generation TL. The TLX is a bit smaller and overall cheaper (material, plastics, smaller engine, tires etc), so just beware of that.
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2015 Acura TLX for sale near you
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- Base SedanMSRP: $11,99932 mi away
- Base SedanMSRP: N/A9 mi away
- SH-AWD Sedan w/Advance PackageMSRP: $21,99022 mi away
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Upgrade from 2013 ILX
Eddie, 09/13/2015
updated 09/15/2016
2015 Acura TLX Technology Package 4dr Sedan (3.5L 6cyl 9A)
10 of 10 people found this review helpful
I've had zero transmission or other problems my 2015 TLX. I've had the same excellent service from McDaniels Acura as on our previous vehicles. I am very satisfied my TLX and Acura service. I was hit from the rear at 35+ mph. The TLX protected me well and was readily repaired, I'm very pleased with the TLX.
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It was mostly a mistake to buy a TLX
Former Acura Fan, 09/26/2018
2015 Acura TLX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 8AM)
9 of 9 people found this review helpful
On paper this car is close to perfect: decent amount of luxury, good looking (at least to me), quite reasonably priced, perfect size for both city and long trips, Acura legendary reliability and engineering, and so forth. After 30K miles in 4 years (I really take care of my cars), I have to say that some of this is true, but overall it was a mistake to buy a TLX. The good: quiet for its class and price bracket interior, good cockpit layout, decent acceleration, very stable in corners, and good looks. Materials are OK-to-good, but that is to be expected. The bad: the transmission is borderline garbage with a very dangerous lag getting the car from full stop or after switching from reverse and the tendency to select the wrong gear quite often during descents or assents (it also has the nasty habit of overriding driver input from the paddle shifters, unless put in manual mode); it killed 2 batteries in 4 years and I live in California (e.g. never cold); there are already some knocking noises from here and there, which is not typical for the Acura of old at this mileage; the rear of the car is buzzing from the subwoofer at anything than low music volume. In short, sorry to see a once rock solid brand slide to this point: this is not my first Acura/Honda product, but it will be the last.
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15 TLX - It is not that "kind of thrill"
westlx, 04/23/2016
updated 05/01/2017
2015 Acura TLX Technology Package 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 8AM)
9 of 9 people found this review helpful
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 won't 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 don't 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 doesn't 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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