Used 2015 Acura TLX SH-AWD 4dr Sedan AWD w/Advance Package (3.5L 6cyl 9A) Consumer Reviews
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Close to Great... but not Quite There.
HondaDriver, East Troy, WI, 11/12/2018
Acura TLX SH-AWD 4dr Sedan AWD w/Advance Package (3.5L 6cyl 9A)
16 of 16 people found this review helpful
Like the title suggests, this car is close to great, but not quite there. Do your research before you buy. The reviewers here speak the truth about the pros and cons. Read the reviews from the magazines and websites – I find these to be skewed slightly more positive than the car actually delivers. Here are my takes after a year and several thousand miles: 1) The car vibrates on the expressway. If you feel this during the test drive, it is not an imbalanced tire. Many buyers were fooled into thinking it would be an easy fix. Google “TLX vibration” for more on that. It affects all models from I4 FWD to V6 AWD. It happens between 70 and 80mph. It’s not the engine, transmission, VCM or lugging. My dealer minimized my vibrations with two TSBs and road force tire balancing. 2) The transmission makes me nervous, but I trust Honda to know their stuff. The push button does take time to shift, the gears do shift hard when cold, and nine speeds are too many. The car sometimes hunts for the right gear, randomly down or upshifting. At cruising speed between 30 and 50, the transmission picks really low gears and the VCM deactivates cylinders for better MPGs, but it makes a lugging sensation. Google “TLX lugging” for more on that. That isn’t a defect and can’t be fixed, but you’d expect better from an Acura. 3) The TLX was completely unchanged for 15-16-17 model years. The 18-19 was only a facelift (primarily the grill). The mechanical underpinnings remained the same. Nothing should drive you towards any year for any reason. No reason to pay more for a 17 over a 15. They are the same car. There are no “first model year” kinks or glitches to avoid. 18+ added some base model features and standard equipment that were only available on 15-17 Tech and Advance packages. Those aside, the car is a solid 9 out of 10 to me. It looks great inside and out. I get compliments all the time. SH-AWD inspires confidence on the road and is on par with the Audi Quattro and Subaru systems. The V6 pulls hard when I get on the pedal. It’s unbelievably plush and comfortable. It’s not a sports car – it’s too comfy and mushy for that. It’s not a luxury car – it lacks refinement for that. It’s a hybrid of both. The navigation takes getting used to, but I use my phone anyway. The sound system is amazing after my dealer fixed the rattling. This car soaks up miles in style after enabling adaptive cruise and lane keep systems. It’s simply a car I look forward to driving every day after a couple things were fixed. If it lasts as long as I expect from a Honda, I’ll be a satisfied customer.
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Beware the TLX
ExAcuraGuy, Grafton, WI, 09/08/2019
Acura TLX SH-AWD 4dr Sedan AWD w/Advance Package (3.5L 6cyl 9A)
11 of 11 people found this review helpful
The TLX is unlike any other Acura/Honda product ever produced insofar as it singlehandedly landed Acura at or near the bottom of many reliability studies and ratings over the last five years. Check out Consumer Reports for more on that. Here are the reasons: -The transmission (9-speed ZF) is bad. Seriously bad. About half of the 2015 TLXs produced are eligible for a replacement transmission, but more owners aren’t aware and don’t complain enough about the hard shifting to get on. Even the replacement are bad though. Read up on forums to see how badly, confused, hesitant, unpredictability or jerky this thing shifts. It’s unlike any other car I’ve owned. -Quality control on this car was poor. There are many TSBs that required trips to dealer to fix fortunately under warranty. Transmission replaced, propeller shaft rotated, engine mounts replaced, fuel pump replaced, pulley ships installed, door seals replaced, fuel pump recall, broken seat plastic fixed and vent fan fixed. Now the new transmission is clicking and squeaking all over town. This car is a hunk of junk that I feared owning after the warranty ended. Even if you can get over the plethora of costly repairs associated with owning the TLX (probably because you think it’s worth driving such a beautiful, comfortable car), it: -Vibrates on the highway over 70mph -Vibrates around town thanks to VCM -Windshield wipers act crazy -Lane keep assist rarely works and drops out frequently for no apparent reason -Adaptive cruise randomly deactivates for no apparent reason -Auto engine start/stop activates unpredictably and works in a jerky manner -Traction control system nannies the driver and neuters any semblance of performance This is simply not a good car. The few pluses are greatly outweighed by the long list of quality and performance issues. I hated driving it and left the Acura brand after such a miserable ownership experience. There are so many TLXs with so few miles and appear to be in mint condition because they’re undriveable. Be very careful if considering the TLX.
Seemed great at first, but....
Mitch J., Henrico, VA, 05/06/2018
Acura TLX SH-AWD 4dr Sedan AWD w/Advance Package (3.5L 6cyl 9A)
22 of 24 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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Best car for the $$$
PJ, Crofton, MD, 10/19/2015
Acura TLX SH-AWD 4dr Sedan AWD w/Advance Package (3.5L 6cyl 9A)
20 of 22 people found this review helpful
Before making the purchase, I've been comparing cars within the $40k to $50k range that are not necessarily in the same class, like the BMW 335xi, 435GC xi, Lexus ES 350, Audi A4, and the Acura TLX. Taking into consideration the included tech and the SH AWD system, the TLX was the clear winner. With regards to the 9 speed ZF transmission I think it's hit or miss. I test drove three cars at the dealership and one car had a very jerky 1-2 and 2-3 shifts along with moderate in-cabin vibration between 60mph to 80mph and the other two did not. The jerkiness feels almost like letting go of the clutch too quickly while shifting a manual tranny car. I ended up purchasing the TLX V6 SH AWD with Advance package for 41780 OTD and I have no issues with transmission and it shifts like butter. The only gripe I have is the gas mileage in city. I drive in sport mode all the time and my commute is only 4 miles in the city. I only get about 16 mpg on the trip computer and I get about 250 miles per gas tank. On the highway it does great; I was able to get 33mpg in sport mode easily.
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Do Not Buy Until Acura Fixes Transmission Issue
Chris Rayala, Cary, NC, 07/23/2015
Acura TLX SH-AWD 4dr Sedan AWD w/Advance Package (3.5L 6cyl 9A)
21 of 25 people found this review helpful
Before you buy this car, head on to the Acurazine website and search "TLX transmission". You will learn from a 9-page thread that a lot of owners are very upset about the TLX shifting hard between the 2nd to 3rd gear. The problem seems to be with the new ZF 9-speed transmission. It doesn't seem like Acura has a solution to the problem yet. [HTML removed]
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