1Louder

I only have the user comments here to go on, but it does seem to me that at some point Acura cut over to the "replacement" transmission during 2015. I only say that because some owners with July/Aug+ builds said theirs didn't have the bump. But I could not tell you what month that may have happened (or if for certain it did happen). Most of the complaints seem to be coming from owners of cars build before the Spring of 2015 (April-ish?).

KeithL

My late 15 TLS-AWD has been mostly good, except for down shifts and gear hunting almost daily, I just got the latest TSB to fix the down shifting, we will see if that helps. I have grown slightly jaded and disappointed with the TLX, decent car, but will not likely get another one when the lease is up, may head back to Audi. The 2 biggest issues for me is the crappy tranny and the Infotainment. Even a Chrysler 200 has better Infotainment or a Sentra.

wilztlxs

iTrader: (8)

My 2015 SH-AWD Tech has a Jan 2015 build date. The 2-3 shift is very minor, the slight bump happens maybe 30 percent of the time, the rest of the time, it's smooth. In Sport+, the 2-3 shift is smooth every time with or without the paddles.

My VIN falls in the range for the 15-040 TSB (which has been applied), but not the 16-012 TSB.

Vlke

I got the car back from the dealership yesterday after they replaced the TCM. The field rep confirmed with me that the reason for the SH-AWD error code during the transmission swap was indeed because they installed a FWD TCM. Anyways the 2-3 shift is pretty much gone. Every now and then I still somewhat feel it but it's really subtle and unless I pay attention, I won't notice it. All gears seems smooth. I still kinda notice the delay in acceleration sometimes which apparently there's an update to fix it. I emailed another dealership to have them check if see if they can find the Canadian update similar to the B16-012.

Rocketsfan

Yes, I think it plagues many, if not the majority, of 2015 TLX owners. Well, the abrupt shifting does. From what I recall, there were people that bought the car late in the 2015 model year that still had issues. It varied all over the place who experienced what, what fixed what on whose car, and who was still pissed after the attempted fixes. lol. If you want to see people echoing this thread, head over to NHTSA.gov and search for "complaints" on the 2015 TLX. If you search on the 2016 TLX, oddly enough, you'll see only 2 complaints, but both were issues people with 2015's have mentioned in this thread/forum.

Ultimately the tranny sucks for many people. Others are able to ignore it or may not have issues. To what degree your tranny sucks almost seems like blind (bad) luck.

NJToyMan

I have one of the first production TLX's (July 2014 build date). I have always had, to various degrees, the harsh shifts (especially 2-3). I've brought my car into the dealer for probably every software upgrade, (which had improved things somewhat), but never truly cured the shifting problem.

My dealer has been very accommodating, helpful, and willing to do all they can. They've spent much time with the Acura tech line to get help and advice. Since I leased my car (and have just a little over a year left)- I never pursued any hardline stance with my dealer or ACR; nor thought about doing any lemon law actions. I just simply mentioned the harsh shift (every few months), and asked if there were any new upgrades available- which they would apply.

At the end of this February, I received an email survey from ACURA about my experiences with the car. I answered it honestly; good and bad- but I guess when I started panning the transmission, the survey started getting detailed about what went wrong.

At the end of March (a month after I completed the survey), I randomly received a phone call from someone at ACURA engineering in California (NOT from ACR). They basically said that they read my survey; were sorry I was having problems; recognized my loyalty to ACURA- and would like to send an engineer out to drive my car; take test measurements; and replace my transmission. I was shocked and thrilled! By the next day, the District Service Manager had contacted my local dealer. They set an appointment with me a few days later, and hooked me up with a 2016 MDX loaner for a week.

I picked up my car a few days ago. It's like a different car! The transmission is flawless now; with barely perceptible shifts in all IDS modes. It's hard to believe, but they actually flew out an engineer from Cali to drive my car, and the engineer authorized the replacement (it says so on my repair order). They replaced the transmission; replaced the torque converter; did an alignment; and did all the latest software upgrades and procedures (the engineer stayed during the process). I no longer have any issues with shift bumps; nor with delayed downshift/acceleration issues. I'm totally happy with the car now.

Hopefully others affected with these problems will be addressed by ACURA and regain their loyalty.

f1nzup

I turned in a 2012 TL lease and leased the TLX without driving it first. I knew the moment I drove it off the lot something was amiss. My TLX issue is VERY noticeable, and then after driving a 2016 loaner I knew something needed to be done. Acura knew something needed to be done, hence the hardware change less than a year into the new model. The fact they won't acknowledge the issue is the problem, but it's obvious by this thread they are losing some longtime loyal customers over this.

le^2

Hey guys, I got out of my 2015 TLX Elite. The transmission was the driving factor of doing so. Sorry for the next owner
This was a Canadian model, with 4x trips back and forth with the dealer for transmission updates - with no resolution. In the end I got tired of the 2-3 jerk and double dog clutches. When descending down a hill and applying the brakes, the transmission will shift gears. Depending on if you need to transfer from a dog clutch or not, you will feel a surge in speed while the transmission is in a free state to link up the dog clutches. IMO, this is a terrible concept, especially if it's your first time experiencing the surge and not expecting to zoom forward down hill!

I ended up -$3.9K, but that's a price I'm willing to pay to get out of this terrible, terrible car. I still have some accessories that I was thinking of removing and selling before turning in the car, but at this point, I can't be assed to get my hands dirty for Acura. The whole, "this car is operating within normal measures" and ACR telling you to go to the dealer, and the dealer telling you to go back to ACR while no one wants to admit fault is utter trash. I will never buy an Acura again!

rocket_pup

Curious... what did you change to, as a now former TLX owner?

Vlke

-$3.9k is actually really good. How long have you had your call and did you sell it back to the dealership?

mondster

Did you put anything down when you first got the car? If so, that should be part of your loss too.

SDSilverM3

Received a follow up call from ACR today to let us know they talked to the local service manager and advised us that they will not be doing anything for us reiterating "it is a normal characteristic of a 2015 TLX" which is what we somewhat expected. After some venting regarding the process and why we see it as an issue, it was suggested that they "might" be able to get an area field rep to schedule a test drive with the car in the next week or two. Those are the facts.

Now here's my perception of that conversation. It's extremely obvious when dealing with a customer service oriented company based on the conversations and the treatment received. Acura is no longer that. Every bit of the conversation with discussing a resolution was worded in a manner that conveyed, "We're willing to do you a favor. We'll check with the field rep to maybe see if they're willing to schedule a test drive with you." Talk about rubbing someone the wrong way.

On a different matter, my SO received a survey call from our local dealership today. Before we get into that -- a few days prior -- I looked at our service order and saw that our contact # was incorrect (off by one digit) but the cell phone # in the upper right was correct which explains how the SA was contacting us. Reading about how service folks sometimes intentionally alter the contact information after an unsatisfactory outcome, I called back to verify the info. Sure enough, now the area code wasn't correct either and had them correct it. Anyhow, they called today and insisted that we give the SA and dealership stellar feedback and kept insisting the issue "is a normal characteristic of the car". My SO was not playing the parrot game and told them, the car still drives the same so, no, it was not stellar and refused to alter that feedback because that is the truth. Both the tech and SA refused to support the customer in resolving an issue that indeed exists so how is that a stellar experience?

Sorry for the rant but I'll be sure to update when we hear back and hope others make progress with their TLXes as well.

lsbuffs

I too got out of my early build 2015 TLX Advance V6 last week in favor of the 2017 Audi A4. I've been very loyal to Acura for ages, TL, RL, two MDXs, and a few Hondas before those. Loved most everything about the TLX except the crappy transmission.

Not sure I want to calculate the loss, but I sold my 15K mile TLX for 30K, after paying nearly full price when the TLX first came out. But am very happy with the A4. The 7 speed dual clutch transmission is absolutely flawless.

I'll still be keeping an eye on this thread to see how things progress. For anybody considering an alternative to Acura, I can strongly suggest you check out the new generation A4.

Mike_TX

Congrats on the new A4. I've been eyeing it seriously, too.

I'm surprised your got $30k for your TLX ... the most I could squeeze out of my dealer on a trade to a 2016 TLX was $27k (and I have a long history with this dealer).

Did you sell the TLX yourself, or did Audi give you that as a trade-in?

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lsbuffs

Carmax and Audi both offered me $28,000. I then took it to Echo Park Automotive and was surprised when they offered me $30,000. That was over the breakeven point for me from a tax perspective (In Colorado if you trade in at the same time as the new car purchase, you only pay sales tax on the difference).

Honestly I was expecting more in the $27-$28K range and was pleasantly surprised that Echo Park paid that much more.

1Louder

^ FWD V6 Advance, right? not AWD?

lsbuffs

That's correct, FWD V6 Advance. Just under 15K miles, Denver metro area.

1Louder

In a perfect world that exists only in my mind where justice always prevails, there exists a class action lawsuit where owners who opted out early get something back for the aggressive depreciation the 9-speeds seem to be contributing to the value of our cars. I wish there was such a thing.

When I talked to my dealer last October about getting out of my V6 SH-AWD Tech (which had 8K miles on it), they quoted me $34K (which they pointed out wasn't market, but "what they'd give a valued customer"). Sticker price was $44K. So $10K in 8 months.....

lsbuffs

Count me in to that class action. I struggled with whether and when to take the big depreciation hit. As it became clear (at least to me), that the issue with the early-build 2015s was likely hardware-based, and that Acura wasn't going to step up and make it right without a fight, I just gave up and basically bent over to get into a different car that I'm going to enjoy driving. I know there are a lucky few who have received a transmission swap without too much of a fight, but there are also those who have seemingly taken it as far as possible and still are being shut down by Acura. I finally decided I didn't have it in me to continue and pursue.

atl7

I just had a software update done on my transmission a couple hours ago. The main reason I asked for it was the 2-3 rough shift my TLX has. Took them about an hour to do the update and my service adviser said they had 2 people working on it and driving it.

He really talked up the update on my way out and said it'll take a few days to learn my driving characteristics. Unfortunately, on my way home, I immediately notice the rough shift is there, just as bad as before. Bummer.

KeithL

Congrats on the Audi, I am surprised you left a year 1 Acura for a year one A4. Audi is notorious for issues first couple of years on a new model. Keep us posted I am thinking of going back at some point.

Rocketsfan

Give it a day or two and see if it's still there. After their last attempt to fix the "normal/operating within parameters" transmission I have, the shifting was horrific on the drive home. It did get better over the next couple of days. I think I was told to drive it for about 30 or 60 miles. Unfortunately, it seems like it's gotten a bit worse in the months since then with the thumping/shifting, but I guess it's still better than what it was. All-in-all, there's nothing normal about it.

1Louder

I fought as hard as I could as well - after three visits to the dealership, all the SW updates, two relearns, and the FSR driving my car they still concluded it was "normal". I'll still complain about it every time I go in just to make sure there is a long record on file. I'm timing my transition into a new car early next year. I'll be 2 years into the lease by then, and since I'm projecting to be about 6K miles over the mileage limit a depreciation hit may be a push compared to the mileage penalty I'd pay anyway.

Just so tired of thinking about it every time I drive. And the fact I'm a tad OCD anyway doesn't help. It's very difficult to ignore or forget its there.

f1nzup

The software update I had done made it worse, not better. I wish I wouldn't have had it done, but of course Acura is making us jump through all of the hoops only to tell us, sorry, no new transmission for you. I'm gearing up for round two of complaints in the next week. I won't trade in the car because I won't lose money on this POS, but I will make their life hell until my lease runs out in two years.

1Louder

My goal now is to make Acura pay more to deal with me than it would have been to replace the tranny. I'm going to complain about it every time I'm in and make them check it out ever time.

mondster

Great idea. I will do the same.

NJToyMan

I received a phone call from the "Technical Research and Support Department at American Honda Motor Company" (which is different than ACR (Acura Customer Relations)). They were following up to get my feedback regarding the recent replacement they did of my ZF transmission in my early build TLX.

I told them that, after driving the car for almost 2 weeks now, I was happy to report that I am 100% satisfied with the performance of the car, and that all my transmission issues are completely resolved. Night and day difference from before, and truly a fix (as compared to all the software updates I received, which did little to correct things.

I asked why I was selected to have my trans replaced, while there are so many others with trans issues out there. I was told that they randomly selected 6 cars with reported problems as a test- to see if the updated 9-speed transmission (the one currently being used in the 2016 TLX's) replaced in problematic 2015's led to customer satisfaction, before doing a large-scale replacement effort. I was told that of the 6 "test subjects", 5 (including me) reported total satisfaction.

Based upon these results, I was told that there are plans in the works to address all TLX owners with harsh shift issues with a trans replacement (likely through a TSB and not as a recall). To my statement that "wow, that's got to be a very expensive proposition", I was told that yes, but that they want to do the right thing and have satisfied owners.

I specifically mentioned that there are a lot of upset people on the Acurazine forum, and they said that they are quite aware and want to take care of this issue. They specifically said that MUCH of the feedback and issues they get about the cars is derived from reading the postings on Acurazine!

So,hopefully, persistence and patience will soon pay off for those still with issues.

1Louder

^ That's actually very encouraging.

If anyone from ACR or Technical Research and Support are truly reading this, you can reach out to me via issue #04126544 and I would be very happy to be another test subject, and I would be very happy to report success and return to the state of very satisfied Acura owner (who presently owns an 06 TSX, 14 MDX and 15 TLX, and previously owned an 06 MDX and 12 RDX).

I have a January 2015 build SH-AWD Tech leased in Feb 2015 with around 14,000 miles.

I'd be very willing and happy to participate.

KeithL

Hinda in generally is never going to mass replace the trannies. They screwed up by letting such a piece of junk out the door. I have a late 15 that just got the latest TSB and while my tranny is nowhere near as bad as those I have read about here, I am count down the 2.5 years left on this lease. This tranny is junk, hunts, sluggish shifts, down shit issues, laggy shifts, and in. Not a day goes by that the tranny does not remind me it is there and how much I hate it.

rocket_pup

Is this only effecting SH-AWD cars?

I have a V6 FWD Tech, and I am trying to determine if I actually have a problem. I personally do not notice any drastic problem, but with so many people complaining it seem to be plaguing all ZF tranny cars. I notice a bump between 2 and 3, but it doesn't seem bad to me. If there was something inherently wrong, I would think it would happened to most or all ZF cars. Plus, I have a 08/2014 car, which is well within the problem dates.

What are the symptoms?

rocket_pup

Trading one 1st year car for another doesn't seem smart to me. 1st year cars ALWAYS have problems in one way or another, the 2017 Audi A4 is new from the ground up from what I've read.

lsbuffs

Car is absolutely flawless after a few hundred miles, quiet, not a single squeak or rattle, and most importantly, shifts are imperceptible. The 7 speed dual clutch transmission is really a thing of beauty. At the same point in my TLX, I was experiencing jarring shifts, squeaking from the passenger seat belt, and had a defective camera causing the LKAS to be inoperable. (The first two issues remained unresolved throughout my ownership)

Time will tell, but so far so good.

f1nzup

Respectfully disagree. I have owned a TL going back to 1999, and they had MAJOR issues with the early 2000's TL trannies, and they had to replace a ton of trannies then, including my 2001 TL's. They also replaced the tranny in my 1999 TL, which is why this time around is so frustrating. They KNOW the early build TLX's tranny is crap, but up to this point have been unwilling to do anything about it.

IF they actually come around and address the issues of all TLX owners affected by this, I will be a happy customer again. It is because they have always backed their products in the past that I have been a loyal Honda/Acura owner going back to 1988, so I hope that NJToyMan's post comes to pass.

BTW, thanks for the update NJToyMan. It gives many of us TLX owners hope.

jawstlx2015

I have been reading these posts for a long time now and finally decided to post. As much as I appreciate NJToyMan post, Acura has known about the issue for 1.5 years now. They missed the opportunity to make it right as most of the owners of 2015 TLXs with 9spd transmission are past the frustration period( I am one of them) and now are looking at other cars. The time spend complaining to multiple Acura dealerships, calling ACR, reporting the same issue every visit, getting nonsense software updates has destroyed our confidence in the product. I truly do not really care if Acura fixes the problem or not anymore. Some of us who are on three year leases will be free to choose any car in 1 - 1.5 years. I bet most of us, when our leases expire will not go back to Acura.

rocket_pup

How does the A4 compare to the TLX in power, size, and price?

Mike_TX

Mmm, I don't know. I'm annoyed about the transmission shift thing, too (as well as the rumble when in VCM), but frankly, Acura has a lot going for it otherwise.

IF (big IF) they can fix or replace my transmission and restore my faith, I'm willing to stick with them. But I wouldn't buy another one with the same issues.

In the meantime, I'm looking around at other brands, too.

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neil0311

One comment I can make relative to the cost of replacing all of the problem transmissions is that you have to consider a few things.

1) The likelihood that the transmission will fail anyway at sometime within the warranty period. Does Acura know that a failure is likely and they will need to replace anyway in many cases?

2) The cost of ACR and dealers spending time with these vehicles.

3) The loss of goodwill (or creation of bad will).

Those costs may well exceed the cost of proactive replacement. In my case, they replaced the tranny AND agreed to some other direct compensation.

jawstlx2015

From my standpoint, we as owners / leases should NOT really be concerned with the above. We got Acuras due to their good value and most importantly - RELIABILITY. These cars have disappointed on the latter. Besides the transmission problems, we have had vibration problems, weak brake rotors, defective sensor for rain sensing wipers, poor paint quality etc. and this is in the first 6 months of ownership. We complain about German cars and rightfully so, but it seems Acura are no better anymore.
Why should we care about cost of warranty, if the company released a product which was not ready for prime time. Based on various posts in the problems / fixes section, the 2016 TLXs have proved to be way more reliable compared to 2015's. As others stated, it seems, 2015s were used to work out the problems and have them corrected in 2016s. The idea was to deal with 2015s on case by case basis and hope no large scale problems would be reported. Unfortunately it did not work out that way. I have never seen Acura so low in ConsumerReports and JD Power ratings. I do realized these ratings are subjective, but in the past they were all very positive for Acura cars.

neil0311

My point was only that Acura may very well be considering a proactive replacement of transmissions based on what I posted. Others disagreed that they would spend the money, and I'm pointing out that costs could be more if they continue to ignore it.

So for the folks who feel Acura is taking a position where they won't replace because it will cost them "too much" to do so, my points are to the contrary.

1Louder

It should impact any variant with the 9-speed - FWD or SH-AWD. They have the same transmission, but from what I gather slightly different transmission control modules.

If you want to know if you have a problem go into Sport+ mode, and from a complete stop accelerate through the 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 shifts (aim to shift between 2.8 and 3.5K RPM) and compare how they feel. With mine, 1-2 is a mild hesitation and noticeable shift, 2-3 is a huge hesitation and very hard shift, and 3-4 is undetectable.

Sport+ mode is where the issue seems quite obvious if you have one. The other automatic modes are more hit and miss, although for me in Normal the 2-3 shift is noticeable maybe 90% of the time.