Used 2015 Acura TLX Base Sedan Review
Consumer reviews
Read what other owners think about the 2015 Acura TLX Base Sedan.
Most helpful consumer reviews
It was mostly a mistake to buy a TLX
Former Acura Fan, Greenbrae, CA, 09/26/2018
2015 Acura TLX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 8AM)
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.
DO NOT BUY 2015 Acura TLX; 2016 TLX much better
Steven Schwartz, Alpharetta, GA, 02/23/2016
2015 Acura TLX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 8AM)
I filed for arbitration. At the arbitration I settled my claim with Acura. They took the car back and Gave me a cash settlement. They also arranged for me to buy a 2016 TLX at very favourable terms. They also gave me free service for life of warranty. I am pleased with the new car. The transmission is 90 percent better than the old one. I would still not do business with Acura Carland … in Duluth, Georgia. I purchased new car at Jackson Acura. They treated me very well.
2/24/19 update - Still driving the 2016 TLX. Have 31,000 miles on it. My earlier review of this car remains the same. The difference between it is night and day. The transmission "bucks" a little bit from time to time, but easily livable. The 2015 TLX was a living hell!
Love this car!
Arathena, Santa Clara, CA, 11/14/2015
2015 Acura TLX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 8AM)
I’ve had my eye on the Acura TL since it first came out years ago. When I finally had an excuse to get a new car, I made sure to test drive it, only this time the newer model is TLX. I test drove a variety of cars - sedans/sporty cars/SUVs, like from Subaru, Mazda, Ford, and finally the Acura ILX and TLX, not really sure which car I wanted, but I did know that I wanted something that … combined elegance, sportiness and reliability, bonus for comfort, spaciousness, fuel efficiency, and if it came in crimson. I didn’t get that last one, but I definitely got everything else with the TLX!
Pros:
— Great bang for the buck! I didn’t set out to buy a luxury car, though Acura touts it as such, and it’s cheaper than their competitors. I just wanted something that has most of the things I mentioned above, and I got a great deal for them.
— LOVE the Brake Hold feature. When it’s on, simply tap on the brake pedal, let go, and the car stays stopped. Step on the gas and off you go. Very handy!
— It’s QUIET! I love whatever noise cancellation Acura incorporated. Whether talking on the car speaker phone system, listening to music or to silence, you get the most out of it.
— Other pluses are the soft leathers, wood-like paneling on the door handles, a dim light that laminates the door handle so you can easily see it in the dark. The lights on auto adjust depending on how light or dark it is outside, so if I’m in a dark garage building, it’ll go brighter. The windshield wipers on auto can be adjusted depending on how wet it is. The trunk cargo - you can lift up the bottom flap and find extra cubby holes.
— AWS rocks! Great handling, steering is stable and braking is responsive. I’ve driven it in light and heavy rain and had no problems.
— Though 2.4L doesn’t have turbo, it’s still quite nimble and zippy.
— Love the 8-speed Dual Clutch Transmission. It comes with 4 modes: Econ, Normal, Sport, Sport+ (this uses the paddle shifters). In traffic I switch to Economy, but by default I use Sport mode for the higher revs and faster acceleration. The paddle shifters can only be fun for so long, and not so fun when you’re trying to turn the wheel so you can’t easily paddle-shift up or down. Sport/Sport+ mode gives me the feeling of manual shifting, only smoother and without the stick. If they came out with a stick shift version, I would really love it more, but for an automatic, I think it’s pretty awesome!
— Fuel economy - my daily commute involves a lot of stop-and-go freeway traffic, but so far I’m getting 25.4 mpg.
— Suspension - this is such a comfortable ride! It’s rigid enough to be sporty, but you hardly feel the bumps on the road. Best of both worlds to me.
— Infotainment: Generally easy to use. It’s strange at first that there are 2 screens. The upper one can display navigation or music playlist (easier to look at for line of sight, the lower one is a touch screen to control things like settings, climate, music (closer to access by hand).
— Except for the front (see cons), I love the look. It’s classy, sleek, sporty. Fantastic wheels even at base model. I get a lot of compliments from my coworkers when they see me driving in.
— I opted out of the tech package since I didn’t want to spend an extra $4K, nor an extra $10K for AWD and V6 engine, but if you can afford either, go for it. Very nice to have.
Cons:
— Infotainment: Slow response for bluetooth and could be more intuitive. It takes longer for the system to detect my device phone or tablet. When I skip a song or go back one, there’s a few seconds delay. It’s annoying, but I can live with it. What does annoy me quite a bit, though thankfully I don’t do much of, is that while driving and trying to switch to my phone that I just connected via bluetooth, if the mode is not already on bluetooth (like it’s on XM), instead of the Infotainment switching automatically to bluetooth and displaying my music from my phone, I have to tap on the bluetooth button. This is an unnecessary extra step.
— Sporty, but not that fun on windy roads. This is probably due to the AWS, which keeps the car VERY stable, which means you don’t get the sensation of possibly slipping or tipping over, ha.
— Front is a little conservative (it’s growing on me, though). I prefer the sportier look on the front of ILX, but over all I think I got more bang for my buck with TLX, so I don’t mind so much.
— Not a gripe, but you should expect this in case you plan to have 4 other people ride with you on a more regular basis: the 4th person who will be sitting in the middle of the back seat will not be so comfortable, I’m told. Definitely not for a tall person, that seat. Make sure when you test drive that you have someone try out that seat.
I think it's a great value
rwp626, Milwaukee, WI, 02/25/2016
2015 Acura TLX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 8AM)
I drove an Acura ILX before getting the TLX a few months ago. The difference is night and day. While both have the same reliable Acura quality, the ride in the ILX was choppy. By contrast the TLX is a very comfortable ride. I have the 4 cylinder base model, but I find it fine for me. If someone wants to drive aggressively, with lots of peppy acceleration, this is not a match for that. … But for the average driver, the performance of the car is fine. Its comfort is well above average. I would compare the drive to a Lexus 350. I did not get the navigation system, because with a smart phone, it's all you need. Acura service is tops when you need it, but you rarely do.
Edmunds Summary Review of the 2015 Acura TLX Base Sedan
Pros & Cons
- Pro:Quiet interior
- Pro:good fuel economy ratings
- Pro:sporty handling, particularly with all-wheel drive
- Pro:plenty of features for the money.
- Con:Touchscreen has so-so graphics and a distracting interface
- Con:underwhelming acceleration
- Con:subpar braking performance.
Full Edmunds Review: 2015 Acura TLX Sedan
Edmunds Insurance Estimator
The Edmunds TCO® estimated monthly insurance payment for a 2015 Acura TLX in Ohio is:
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