Tardym should get credit for posting the information here, but if you don't want to click the link, it shows Honda in the middle of the pack for dependability and Acura almost at the bottom at 26. Mind you, this 26 rating is hanging out along with the likes of Land Rover (a notoriously and overwhelmingly poor reliability brand for 20+ years) and RAM, Dodge and Fiat, which comprise the Fiat/Chrysler Group FCA, who have been nothing short of abominable in essentially every single reliability/dependability survey and measurable metric researched by any publication or quality group over the last 6 years.

So why did I buy my TLX? I thought all those studies were wrong and Acura would never produce such unreliable vehicles. After my experience, I was wrong and they were right.

I'll just point out the obvious here that you indicated you don't drive cars longer than 3 years old and you don't drive them further than 36k miles (maybe you did with a mileage surcharge). It should surprise no one that you experienced few issues driving brand new Acuras every third year, especially during that period in which they were considered remarkably reliable. Many people buy used or CPO and associate reliability with any issues up to 5yrs/60k (powertrain warranty period) or even 10yrs/100k and beyond, for which it appears you have no applicable experience.

Research on "reliability" can be found here. It's the ability of a system to function under stated conditions for a specified period of time. If anyone reading this right now spends a little time reading feedback from owners and researching TSBs available on this forum, they will find that the TLX is far from that. Look at the TSB list for starters. These are basically an admittance of a generally universal and underlying issue. With the TLX, there are/were numerous customer issues documented and TSBs issued with transmissions, vibrations, electronic gadgets/gizmos and squeaks/rattles. On this forum, there are lessees who couldn't wait to give back their TLX after the lease, and there are buyers who took baths trading in their new TLXs for huge losses ($thousands$). TLX resale value is awful in light of these issues. In 20 years of car ownership, I've never given thought to how my transmission shifts, how my steering wheel shakes on the expressway, how my engine squeaks, or how my door seal pops until my TLX. I wanted to let your post slide, but the "case closed" part sounded so absolute and pompous that I had to clarify how misleading it was for anyone who read it.

I've owned a '15 TLX for 10K miles so a short timeframe but to report thus far.....The shifting on the 8 speed when cold is a bit jerky but smooths out quickly after a minutes or two driving, it's somewhat annoying but not a huge deal. I had the clutch relearn done and things are better but not perfect, again, only when car is cold (40 degrees and below).

Otherwise I really like the 4 cyl / DCT combo, lightning quick and smooth shifts. I don't have any rattles to complain about maybe I got a good one or maybe they haven't shown up yet. I am however thinking to sell the car due to not fitting great in it (6'2" big guy) but that's an entirely different story. It's just a bit small for me and something I didn't realize on the test drive but found out after spending some time in it.

Get an RLX...

The ILX is, after all, nothing more than a glorified Civic.
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Well...


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A recent article about JD Powers:
"no weighting assigned to the problems reported in the survey. And that still appears to be the case. Therefore, a problem with an infotainment system or a loose piece of trim is deemed as serious as a blown engine or leaky transmission. (And yes, infotainment is still the biggest problem across the board.) If the categories of problems were weighted, you'd see a different picture."

Honda scores very poorly as well but I don't hear people that own them saying they are unreliable. Surveys like JD powers would not have me running out to by a mercedes, audi, chevy or any of the other "more reliable" cars. My own experience has been Acura both my 2017 RDX/TLX and 2018 TLX have been 100% problem free as have prior Acura's over long periods of ownership. Could the trans shift better or infotainment be better? Yes, but that's nothing that putting the car in the shop. Just not as good as it could be.

I've owned alot of Acura's and Hondas and even a Lexus ES300 but once I got my 2007 GS350, I knew that Acura was behind Lexus in every way. I purchased that GS with 120K on the ODO and it was in perfect condition. 170K on it now and it still rides like a dream. I've only done fluid changes and brake pads on the car (aside from lowering and adding new wheels). I now also own a 2018 GS350 F Sport and that car is leaps and bounds ahead of anything I've ever had from Acura in fit, finish, and quality. I'm still anxiously awaiting a proper turbocharged Acura just to appease my inner fanboy but Lexus quality and reliability is no myth.

You know, that's kind of the same experience I've had with older high mileage Lexuses (Lexi?). My parents have an 11 year old ES350 with 200K miles on it, and it still feels just as solid, smooth, and refined as it did on day one. I've driven higher mileage Acura TLs and those just felt tired and used, with rattles, random squeaks, etc.

Strange right? I've had some high mileage Honda/Acuras as well and while they were mechanically reliable, I was always changing mounts and tracking down "loose" parts.

Had a 2007 type S TL for 10 years, other than an HFL module going bad nothing but regular maintenance. Have had 5 Acura's since 2007 (across my family) and no problems. I do recall when I was looking at lexus back in 2007 and went for a test drive it honestly rode like a corolla. I don't recall the model, probably a low level but that was my impression at the time. Acura for cost and value in 2007 was way better value for the dollar, that's just one opinion.

Then again the only car I kept that was pushing 200k was a BMW and that was rock solid (but years back).

I would consider it as a Bitch Sheet. Acura's problem is not what the items are its that its been at the bottom of the list for a number of years running now. If people are bitching who own the car its a major hit on word of mouth perception regardless of how serious the problem is.

So my father in law inherited an ES350 and having helped him fix many things I did not walk away impressed with Toyota / Lexus on this example. First was the melting / goo dash:

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2...-lawsuit.shtml

Then the oil leak (requires engine removal to fix it):

https://us.lexusownersclub.com/forum...over-oil-leak/

Then the vibration caused by failing passenger side axle bearing:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...le-issues.html

All these issues on a well maintained, family owned from origin ES350 and while I'm not happy about the mediocre ratings of the Acura brand I really struggle to put them on par with a Range Rover and until they add weightings to this system I find it useless.

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^ It's interesting how the Q50 has the least repair cost out of the group. While the ES gets second best in repair cost, it is also worth noting that the ES get second worst in terms of maintenance cost.

What were the purchase prices of the cars in the KBB list?

@F23A4: Solid analysis but this comes with no surprise. This is what Acura has been building its image on. Solid and reliable at reasonable price. After all these years, their prices are still okay but they are loosing out on the solid and reliable side. It comes down to how much people want to put up with the troubles for saving money.

In additional to that, German manufactures produced cheaper versions of their cars like the 320i, CLA, A3 with attractive lease deals.

Not worth going through a full look up. Thought KBB would publish it as part of the analysis. Could be an interesting number since depreciation is usually the biggest hit on cost to own. Typically the higher the purchase price the bigger the raw depreciation dollar lost amount is. Its the built in luxury car tax.

I've sold both Lexus and Acura, I drive an Acura.

The main difference is Lexus requires 3x the quality control steps as the Toyota products and the paint jobs are immaculate, they even ship the cars better protected. When I sold a Lexus it was perfect every time, and never had a callback as far as I can remember.

I've seen Acura's come in with hair under the body, panel issues etc. They don't seem to have any more QC than the Honda stuff...

Why do I drive the Acura? It's just more fun to drive, and I love the way the Honda engines sound and respond. I had my 2016 TLX for 40k miles with zero issues except oil changes. The Lexus cars are beautiful and very nice, they just don't drive or respond the way the Honda stuff does

I will agree on your short feedback... I've been with Acura now Lexus, thinking to go back to Acura if they offer by design I will like.

While we're on the topic, kinda... I'm curious if anyone here has driven, say, a 2006-2009 IS250 or IS350... How does the steering feel? Is it tight and persice? Or does it wobble and have a giant dead spot like my Kia?


If the steering is good, or atlest, decent, I'd surely like to consider one one day.


I'm mainly cross shopping this with an older Accord or TSX... I know they are in totally different classes, but I feel they are both Touring style sedans...

I have driven my brother's 2009 IS350 RWD and I find the steering/cornering ability of the car being unsatisfactory or disappointing. The IS only has 19,000 kms and it is in brand new condition. I was expecting more to be honest. But, I should mention that it has winter tires at the moment with the back tires being only 225 wide. He will install new summer tires next Friday and will be back to the oem staggered setup. Maybe my impression will change after that.

OK. Thanks...


How is it, say conpared to an Accord or base TL of that 'era? Like, if you've driven one...

The handling on the 2nd gen IS is atrocious with the stock sway bars.. Definitely need to upgrade to the F Sport one in the rear to really tighten things up.

Consumer Reports is just one source for car reliability. You may also want to look at True Delta (www.truedelta.com) for long term reliability data. Lexus, like Toyota, is probably the pinnacle of the industry in terms of reliability. However, Honda/Acura is well above average like most of the other Asian brands.

I am a longer term Acura owner like several other posters on this thread - 4 vehicles over the last 17 years with a combined total of about 400k miles. I can only think of one or two "repairs" that had to be performed, everything else was maintenance. I question the reliability of Consumer Reports reliability data, pun intended. It is inconsistent with every other report I have seen regarding Honda/Acura.

Lexus makes fine cars. They tend to be slightly biased toward comfort and luxury, than sport and performance though the GS and, to a lesser degree, the IS. are more sport oriented. My personal opinion is to purchase the car that appeals to you the most since either brand will most likely provide reliable service for an extended period of time.

But isn't that super easy to do, right?

This isn't about Lexus vs Acura per se, but about an article about Koreans winning the quality war.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/kore...ty-survey.html

I happen to hate "initial quality" ratings. I'm with the Masshole Mark from that Chevy "real people" parody video where he goes something like: "I'm pretty sure initial quality is made up. It's only the first 90 days. Then what? After that it gets crappy?" So initial quality is practically meaningless to me. I care much more about dependability studies.

However, this article does make me think about the TLX and the hundreds of you who bought new and returned to complain about ZF9 shifting, VCM vibrations, diff vibrations, chirping fuel pumps, squeaky belts, stalls, bad batteries and other various gremlins that were eventually addressed by TSBs. It's no surprise that Acura is down near the bottom. This is the price for releasing a car that wasn't ready for release (2014/2015), then riding that same design for two more years (2016/2017) until the MMR, then riding the same design for another three more years (2018-2020). Acura practically committed sedan suicide with the TLX. Presumed reliability brought many people to the TLX - and the lack of it drove them away from it almost immediately. There is no doubt ratings like these will drive future buyers away from the brand. Reliability was always Acura's strong suit compared to the Europeans and Lexus... until the TLX.

No doubt someone who bought a new TLX recently will chime in that they had no problems in the first 90 days. I'm sure that's accurate. But someone else had two problems for your zero. This is an enthusiast forum. Most TLX owners aren't on here. Some owners who are here, like me, are here because of its issues, not being a fayboy of it. I mostly stick around for interesting reading and to see EE4Life post TSBs (hopefully rear diff someday).
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I believe the biggest hit to Acura's IQS score was the RDX, not the TLX, from its brand new touch pad system (and other 1st year problems).

Acura's been below average for the past few years on the IQS rankings.

The most interesting thing about that is the Koreans are up at the top again and Ford, Chevy, and Dodge are above (or on par) with Lexus and Toyota. To be honest, I'm not a big IQS watcher especially since I want to know how the issues were handled, as well. I'm more concerned about long-term reliability, but it's still interesting.

This has been said before, but I take JD survey with a grain of salt, show me 5 year reliability and total cost of ownership. I thins TLX Hirt them with tranny, but that was in 15/16 surveys, now I would say the RDX infotainment, and it’s damn horrible brakes. My wife bitches about the RDX brakes all the time, too soft and no gripe. Also she has a bunch of squeaks and rattles. The squeaks and rattles surprise me as my 15 TLX as a new model was tight, just a crappy tranny.

I find it interesting that the "industry Average" is that almost all cars will have a prblem in their first 90 days (93 out of 100). Not that impressive!

hondu: not sure if you read the article, but it mentions the infotainment issues of late have mostly been resolved - these are mechanical or electrical issues creeping up again. I’m sure some people can’t figure out their systems, but I don’t think that drives poor IQS.

The last east three of you made very good points. Yes, Acura is down recently, opposed to battling Lexus for the top spot probably as recently as 4-6 years ago. Yes, the RDX has other issues besides infotainment. And definitely good point that yes, industry average is 93, which sounds like a lot of issues to me! Basically one visit to dealer for something within the first 90 day per new car buyer. That’s really bad! To be sure, Acura is only a fraction above the average. So really this study only really says new owners complain about or experience something slightly more often with Acura than Lexus or Koreans. I just want so badly to see Acura at the top of this list where they used to be building really high quality, reliable cars that used to define Acura. If their infotainment is really that bad, then geez, they need to go with something better. Why are people buying RDXs with such lousy systems, then complaining about it?? Didn’t they play with it at the dealer??