Concerned: Potential '15 TLX I4 Purchase
12-10-2015, 12:37 PM
#1
Concerned: Potential '15 TLX I4 Purchase
So I'm supposed to go pick up my 15 TLX I4 on Saturday but now reading about the issues with the transmission I'm a little concerned and wondering if I should back out. Anyone provide guidance or reassurance?
I had a Ford Focus with the DCT and hated the way it drove and I'm hoping this isn't round 2.
I had a Ford Focus with the DCT and hated the way it drove and I'm hoping this isn't round 2.
12-10-2015, 12:43 PM
#2
Team Owner
Um, did you even test drive the car before agreeing to purchase it? 
Have you put any money down on it yet? Chances are if you did, you ain't backing out of the deal without losing your deposit.
Have you put any money down on it yet? Chances are if you did, you ain't backing out of the deal without losing your deposit.
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The Dark Knight (12-11-2015)
12-10-2015, 12:53 PM
#4
Team Owner
See, you're doing it all wrong. Car dealerships expect you to drop 35k after driving a car for 15 minutes. Do you know what you say to that? "Go fuck yourselves" and walk out.
If you show serious interest in purchasing a particular car, you need to TELL the sales guy you need the car for a minimum of half a day, or better yet, a full day. They'll hum and haw, likely say no. You then go talk to the sales manager and tell him "look, I want to buy this car. I want to give you my hard earned money. But I need to make sure this is the car for me and 15 minutes won't cut it."
Keep moving up the chain of command until you get the answer you are looking for. If not, go to another dealership and start again. All dealers can hand a car out for the day, but obviously, they don't like doing it. But if you're serious and you show that you mean business, they'll try to accommodate you.
A 15 minute car drive doesn't tell you anything besides the fact the car can drive. I hope you didn't sign anything yet or put money down. If you did, you don't have much room to bargain. If you didn't, the ball is in your court!
If you show serious interest in purchasing a particular car, you need to TELL the sales guy you need the car for a minimum of half a day, or better yet, a full day. They'll hum and haw, likely say no. You then go talk to the sales manager and tell him "look, I want to buy this car. I want to give you my hard earned money. But I need to make sure this is the car for me and 15 minutes won't cut it."
Keep moving up the chain of command until you get the answer you are looking for. If not, go to another dealership and start again. All dealers can hand a car out for the day, but obviously, they don't like doing it. But if you're serious and you show that you mean business, they'll try to accommodate you.
A 15 minute car drive doesn't tell you anything besides the fact the car can drive. I hope you didn't sign anything yet or put money down. If you did, you don't have much room to bargain. If you didn't, the ball is in your court!
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The Dark Knight (12-11-2015)
12-10-2015, 01:36 PM
#6
Instructor
Mine has had no shift issues since new, now over a year. They did do a program update that solved the one item that was unusual: a kind of long pause on the first R to D shift when cold in the morning. Just a 2 second pause avoided the hard shift, but the update fixed it.
Zero recalls, just that one service campaign, zero defects, zero problems.
Zero recalls, just that one service campaign, zero defects, zero problems.
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12-10-2015, 04:47 PM
#8
From what I have read here, cold weather appears to affect the DCT. So if you live in an area that gets real cold in the winter, you might want to drive the car in cold weather before you buy it.
12-10-2015, 05:02 PM
#9
Stay Out Of the Left Lane
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^^^^ OP's user name is MNTLX. MN may be Minnesota?? 
Definitely cold there!!
Definitely cold there!!
12-10-2015, 07:33 PM
#11
Stay Out Of the Left Lane
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Not here in MA either!! Upper 50s today and supposed to be 60s tomorrow and possibly Sat. 
12-10-2015, 09:55 PM
#12
3rd Gear
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I purchased my 2015 TLX I4 10 days back. I've had my doubts before making the big decision, luckily no transmission issues so far ... knock on wood! 
Looks like these transmission issues are random, or may be I didn't care to find a pattern...
Looks like these transmission issues are random, or may be I didn't care to find a pattern...
12-11-2015, 03:25 AM
#13
12-11-2015, 03:26 AM
#14
Good to hear. You are probably right considering we usually hear more of the bad than good.
12-11-2015, 06:09 PM
#16
Racer
Had mine since Feb, no problems. I'll occasionally feel a mild shift in Sport mode, but probably wouldn't notice it if I had never read any TLX forums
.
Appears they now have the DCT pretty well sorted out.
.Appears they now have the DCT pretty well sorted out.
12-14-2015, 07:41 AM
#17
Intermediate
I've had mine (I4 8 speed) for coming up on 3 months and it has been fantastic. Once in a blue moon, I'll feel a shift that feels a bit different than what my previous car felt like, but my previous car didn't have a dual clutch transmission either.
As stated above, I wouldn't think twice if I didn't see so many posts about it here on the forum.
That said, I'm still thrilled with the purchase at this point.
Good luck.
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jim256 (12-14-2015)
12-14-2015, 10:07 AM
#18
Racer
I could never buy a car with only 20 minutes to drive it and look at the vehicle. Every car I buy I take home for at least 2 days, granted I have bought 4 vehicles from the same dealer in the past couple years, but still. Especially a used car, you can't point out some problems unless you have it for the night. I would've been out $1,000 in repairs if I hadn't taken my '09 TL home for the weekend. If you're looking for a car in St. Louis, Mungenast Acura has been a great dealer to buy from.
12-15-2015, 04:45 PM
#19
I have driven mine in -25 and no untowards shifts. sure occasionally there's a rough shift but the more I drive other slush boxes/ CVTs the more I appreciate the TLX 8 speed. It is very fast to change gears, very quick to manually shift down. I have had no problems with it. In most respects it is a great piece of machinery.
12-17-2015, 11:15 PM
#20
Three Wheelin'
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I have driven 3 TLXs and 2 ILXs with the 8 speed and enjoyed all of them, in warm and cold weather. It's an excellent transmission, IMHO. BTW, there is no doubt that spending too much time reading negative posts by very sensitive car enthusiasts can be harmful to your driving pleasure. There is a fine line between Knowledge is Power and Ignorance is Bliss!
12-18-2015, 02:50 PM
#21
I'll second this comment.
I've had mine (I4 8 speed) for coming up on 3 months and it has been fantastic. Once in a blue moon, I'll feel a shift that feels a bit different than what my previous car felt like, but my previous car didn't have a dual clutch transmission either.
As stated above, I wouldn't think twice if I didn't see so many posts about it here on the forum.
That said, I'm still thrilled with the purchase at this point.
Good luck.
I've had mine (I4 8 speed) for coming up on 3 months and it has been fantastic. Once in a blue moon, I'll feel a shift that feels a bit different than what my previous car felt like, but my previous car didn't have a dual clutch transmission either.
As stated above, I wouldn't think twice if I didn't see so many posts about it here on the forum.
That said, I'm still thrilled with the purchase at this point.
Good luck.
12-20-2015, 12:53 PM
#23
Racer
Good review by what appears to be an "everyday Joe" with a decent amount of car knowledge. Thanks for posting.
12-22-2015, 06:41 AM
#27
Senior Moderator
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12-23-2015, 03:17 PM
#30
2nd Gear
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As I am strongly considering a move to the I4, I have been looking at more recent reviews. Enjoyed this Canadian review done by a 2013 TL owner.
2016 Acura TLX review - YouTube
2016 Acura TLX review - YouTube
Why are you considering the switch?
12-23-2015, 07:12 PM
#31
Three Wheelin'
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Good question. I originally set out a year ago to get the TLX 2.4 Tech, but as I wanted SSM with grey leather and liked the SH-AWD Tech I drove, went with that. A combination of the shift issue, the VCM vibration (not to overstate) that I feel in the wheel when cruising around 50 - 70k, the loss of some fuel economy with the update that improved shifting but reduced VCM and seemed to increase revs, combined to reduce my enjoyment of the car. No doubt that hasn't been helped by spending too much time on the forum reading about these issues.
I still like the car….and certainly appreciated the SH_AWD today in yet another dump of snow. However, the lighter more nimble 2.4 with the quick shifting 8 speed and without need for VCM and Idle stop to record good fuel economy appeals to me. It all depends on whether I can get a deal that makes sense, which my dealership is attempting to do.
I still like the car….and certainly appreciated the SH_AWD today in yet another dump of snow. However, the lighter more nimble 2.4 with the quick shifting 8 speed and without need for VCM and Idle stop to record good fuel economy appeals to me. It all depends on whether I can get a deal that makes sense, which my dealership is attempting to do.
12-23-2015, 11:58 PM
#32
Instructor
See, you're doing it all wrong. Car dealerships expect you to drop 35k after driving a car for 15 minutes. Do you know what you say to that? "Go fuck yourselves" and walk out.
If you show serious interest in purchasing a particular car, you need to TELL the sales guy you need the car for a minimum of half a day, or better yet, a full day. They'll hum and haw, likely say no. You then go talk to the sales manager and tell him "look, I want to buy this car. I want to give you my hard earned money. But I need to make sure this is the car for me and 15 minutes won't cut it."
Keep moving up the chain of command until you get the answer you are looking for. If not, go to another dealership and start again. All dealers can hand a car out for the day, but obviously, they don't like doing it. But if you're serious and you show that you mean business, they'll try to accommodate you.
A 15 minute car drive doesn't tell you anything besides the fact the car can drive. I hope you didn't sign anything yet or put money down. If you did, you don't have much room to bargain. If you didn't, the ball is in your court!
If you show serious interest in purchasing a particular car, you need to TELL the sales guy you need the car for a minimum of half a day, or better yet, a full day. They'll hum and haw, likely say no. You then go talk to the sales manager and tell him "look, I want to buy this car. I want to give you my hard earned money. But I need to make sure this is the car for me and 15 minutes won't cut it."
Keep moving up the chain of command until you get the answer you are looking for. If not, go to another dealership and start again. All dealers can hand a car out for the day, but obviously, they don't like doing it. But if you're serious and you show that you mean business, they'll try to accommodate you.
A 15 minute car drive doesn't tell you anything besides the fact the car can drive. I hope you didn't sign anything yet or put money down. If you did, you don't have much room to bargain. If you didn't, the ball is in your court!
01-05-2016, 01:07 AM
#33
5th Gear
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My TLX DCT had some minor transmission issues but they were all fixed after the dealer applied the following update in October 2015. My only update to the car.
Product Update: PCM Software Does Not Meet OBDII Regulations
The issues were as follows:
1. A sudden hard shift when I slowed down at a stop light. Others described this as feeling something hitting you from behind. It happened only once to me during the first month of driving.
2. Some rough shifting between gear 1 and 3, all the time before the update. Now it's very smooth.
3. When I tried to slow down and turned, the transmission seemed lost and did not know how to respond for about one second. This happened 3-4 times before the update. Now, no more.
Product Update: PCM Software Does Not Meet OBDII Regulations
The issues were as follows:
1. A sudden hard shift when I slowed down at a stop light. Others described this as feeling something hitting you from behind. It happened only once to me during the first month of driving.
2. Some rough shifting between gear 1 and 3, all the time before the update. Now it's very smooth.
3. When I tried to slow down and turned, the transmission seemed lost and did not know how to respond for about one second. This happened 3-4 times before the update. Now, no more.
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