Looking at getting an earlier TLX, 2015 or 2016 if I can afford it. Which ones should I avoid or are all the same? I read on here that there was an early problematic transmission? I will be modding this and hopefully tuning it as well if possible.

 

Skip the 2015's. I have a late production 2015 model and the ZF 9 is still a disaster . Unfortunately, mine is outside of the VIN range that was acceptable for replacement so I just gave up on getting it replaced. I'm waiting to buy a new car now. The rest of the car is great though .

 

Stopsign, you should definitely test drive all years to get a feel for how the car drives

 

Definitely avoid the 2015. 2016 fixed a lot of the issues with the ZF9 transmission. As justnspace mentioned, test drive the crap out of it. The big one would be the highway vibration around 120 kph / 70 mph.

 

Wait, what? This is a new one to me.

I'm debating on getting (as of now) a 2016 TLX V6 or trying to find a good condition TSX V6 and save some money. But I like the idea of more than 5 gears honestly.

 

I'd avoid the V6 TLX all together. If you've read the threads on this forum, the ZF 9 speed has been plagued with issues, especially the early years. The Accord (9th and 10th gen) is a much better car and if you have to get a TLX, the 4-cyl has been more reliable, except mine for some reason. Please thoroughly test drive whatever you buy.

 

I drove a 2019 loaner TLX V6 and it was good. The ZF 9's low-speed 1-2/higher gear to lower gear thud/jerk has been smoothed out. It felt less sluggish off the line than my 2015 V6 as well. I haven't driven the 2016-2018 model so I cannot comment on how the ZF is in those vehicles.

 

As I've posted a few times, I had a 16 3.5 PAWS and now a 19 3.5 PAWS.....both have been trouble free. Granted the ZF9 isn't a ZF8 but, for average driving it's just fine.

And as a former 9G Accord owner as well, I'm not sure how the 9G is considered a 'much better car'...save for maybe the 6-6 version, which is a sports coupe. It's a competent car, probably best in class compared to it's contemporaries of the time. However, I only find it better than my TLX in the area of utility. (Largely, interior and trunk volume.) At a minimum, my TLX is quieter, more comfortable, rides smoother, runs quicker and handles far better.

But I agree that any prospective used car purchase should be test driven as extensively as possible.

 

I had a late build 15 TLX V6 and it was awful even after all the fixes. Honestly even my 19 ZF leaves too much to be desired. Both my TLXes and my wife's 19 RDX have left us looking to leave the Acura family as Acura is nto what it used to be.

 

I thought the Honda 10 AT was good no?

 

actually the tranny in the RDX and the engine seems good, but the infotainment is meh, the ride is harsh, particularly the rear seat passengers. Maybe the MMC will improve things, but I don’t see it. The new infotainment OS and graphics are weak, their poor implementation of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. I like what Hyundai/ Kia is doing and they and Genesis are on my shortlist. She has been thinking Subaru or maybe Volkswagen.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/5g-tlx-.../#post16558959

Read my post here... I have the same vintage car as you do.

 

I've had the same numerous trips to the dealer as you. The updates would fix the issue but then a day or two later, the problems would show up again. In addition to the sometimes sluggish throttle response and the TC cut, the transmission also bangs/shudders into gears, especially from taking off from a stop (the 1-2-3 upshift...I guess its trying to get to the highest gear possible) and then slowing down (as it rapidly climbs down through the gears) to a stop. The dealer (I've lived in two states) can never replicate the issue. I gave up on trying and now I just live with it. I want a new car though; maybe the next TLX will have a vastly improved transmission, but maybe I'll just go German or electric at this point.

 

I've never had the hard shifts, thankfully. But each time the dealer would do the software reset it would always 'relearn' its bad habits as before. I gave up on that long ago. Not sure what my next car will be. I've thought about electric but I'm not sure of the timing. A neighbor just bought a Model 3. But I'm not sure about Tesla as a car company yet. Maybe a pre-owned CPO 5 series will be my next car. Who knows. My TLX is long paid off and running without a problem so I'm keeping it for the time being,

 

Other than the crap transmission, my TLX hasn't had a problem and it has done several long road trips flawlessly. I just had new tires put on and it needs a brake job...but other than that, its only been regular services. I just had the transmission fluid changed out a few thousand miles ago as well. I wish Acura would just replace all the ZF's in the 2015 cars with the newer versions. I thought the late build 2015s got the updated transmissions but it seems our cars missed that .

 

I think the late 2015 models got a partial fix. I'm not sure what it was. The 2016's got the full fix. I agree, Acura could have resolved all the hate I have for them if they had just replaced the transmission. They replaced a lot of 2015's, just not ours.

 

If it's a 2015 V6, find out if the car you are looking at has had the transmission replaced or not. I got mine done 18 months ago and it's a night-and-day difference. I don't even think about the transmission being a problem any more, and now it handles slow-speed downshifts better still than our 2017 MDX.

Also consider the Technology Package -- not for the outdated navigation unit, but for the better MID in the gauge cluster, stereo, and perforated leather. Maintenance has been cheap. Outside of regular oil/oil filter/tire rotations and two batteries, I've had 60,000 trouble-free miles.

BTW, I believe the 70 mph shudder is a problem on AWD models.

I've been itching to get a new car, but selling my 2015 makes 0 financial sense. A 2015 V6 FWD w/ Technology Package at 60k miles is valued around $14k, and I would be hard pressed to find a better driving car for anywhere near that money. Good luck.

 

Besides the garbage transmission, if buying a 15 or 16 make sure you wanna keep it long term. Resale value is terrible.

 

Yeesh, only $14k . Yeah I might as well keep mine long term as a second car or something.

 

I'd either get a 2017 Accord Touring or a TSX V6 first if it was me. Not that I don't love the TLX, but that ZF-9 has annoyed quite a few people that had those cars. It's all up to weather it bothers you though! I drove a 2018 Honda Odyssey ZF-9 and didn't mind it one bit. It was far from perfect, but it shifted more predictably than the 2011 Optima I had the the time.

 

After owning Honda products for 14+ years, the TLX was the nail in the coffin for me. It was the ONLY Honda based product that scared me to own outside of warranty, and that was one of the key factors of me owning Honda products all those years. It scared me to a point that when my 2015 TLX SH-AWD was approaching the 70K mile mark to end my powertrain warranty I went into a European car. I figured if I'm going to have this many problems with a car I should just go European and enjoy the damn car.

 

Ditto....I have only owned Acura since 1988, but after a couple test drives with that horrid ZF9 I moved on. I would have been very happy with a 6 speed...or even a manual.
Very interested to see what is actually revealed on the 28th!

 

Probably wait for the 2nd gen TLX to come out and be priced and decide. Prices of some used TLX could drop.

Maybe even the four banger will astound those of us who don't yet drive a sporty enough sports sedan/coupe.

 

I had an early build 2015 (built in 2014) Beautiful car ruined by the 9 speed. The gearbox is just plan bad. Also when I bought it had 8 months of factory warranty left and in that period, the backup camera failed, the driver side puddle light conked off both of which are not cheap but I was lucky that they failed within warranty. Also the trans oil change is quite expensive on the 9 speed vs the regular ones.

Also the car threw up errors like they were candies, yes most of them would go away after a reboot but didnt expect that in Acura.

 

Kinda funny when you remember the 2G TL catastrophe that was followed by the 3G. Kind of off topic but it stands!

 

Not aware of either, any links I can look up?