ryan134511111

Recently purchased a new 2017 TLX AWD V6. I returned the vehicle the next day...

I went into the dealer and saw the great incentives to buy the 2017 TLX (to make room for incoming 2018s). Ended up buying the car quickly. However I returned the car for these reasons.

1) Transmission issues: The TLX was not smooth, in fact on regular drive mode the V6 seemed sluggish and not responsive to pushing on the acceleration. There were also very weird and possibly dangerous downshifts in which the vehicle seemed to "lurch" forward when slowing down. Overall very disappointed with the transmission

2) Back up camera is messed up: grass is not green! Weird color hues show grass as yellow/brown affecting the picture quality of back up camera

3) Car was unstable at highway speeds. There was what I believe as excessive vibration of the steering wheel, center console, and passenger seat at highway speeds that a 35k+ car should NOT have. For example, passenger seat belt holder was flopping all over the place going 65 mph. Cabin was loud. Overall there is excessive vibration... this was after dealer road forced and balanced factory tires...


For these reasons and others that were dealer specific I ended up returning the TLX. For anyone planning on buying a 2017 (or even a 2018) be aware of these 3 things and test drive alot!! I really wanted to love the TLX but now it has ended up on my short list of cars I refuse to drive ever again

pyrodan007

Sorry to hear about your experience but all three of your reasons are the top known issues in the TLX forum. Surprised that your transmission is still garbage though, should have been fixed with the 2016s and above. My 2015 is even worst than yours, many owners have since left Acura just because of the TLX. What car did you end up getting? Good luck with shopping!

hadokenuh

Glad it worked out for you. Surprised that you could "return" a car. Was the finance already done?

mondster

Seems like OP did not do any research nor test drive the car. The issues mentioned are well documented, and test driving the car would have confirmed these issues.

RDX10

I feel like it was partially this. The wind noise is very noticeable, on any TLX. In terms of vibrations, maybe he ordered it in and never got to test drive it? In terms of the transmission, it seems very personal or maybe hit or miss. Some people say it's really bad, others say it's good, others say it's fixed now....no clue where the truth lays.

GhostTL09

iTrader: (1)

Did you actually buy or was it an extended test drive?

mondster

The tlx is actually a pretty quiet car. Road and wind noise are pretty much non existent.

RDX10

"Quiet" is subjective really. Some people will say a TLX is like a Vault, others will say it's noisy as hell. Honestly IME Acura's tend to be fairly quiet except for wind noise. With that being said, maybe his car was a Monday" or Friday build" and therefore just wasn't put together right?

madtownguy

Interesting. Although my 2015 transmission isn't as smooth as it could possibly be, it's nothing too noticeable. I think the car is extremely quiet and I've got over 65,000 highway miles at 90mph plus. My buddy drove it back from the bar one night cuz I had too many and he was shocked how easy it was to speed. I think the camera is a mute issue, if mine does that I wouldn't notice as I'm not concerned in color just backing up safely. As long as my car makes it 200,000 miles I would say I'm going to be extremely happy with it. I got 60k out of the tires alone. Gas mileage was amazing, it has dropped but haven't figured it out. I got better tires maybe somehow better means less gas mileage. Really not sure there. Nothing else I really like in quality and price range. Mercedes really f'd up by putting a stupid ipad on their c300 console otherwise it may have been in the running.

Saintor

It is NOT the transmission, IMO. It is the throttle mapping, revised for 2018 at the expense of fuel economy.

The only way to get this car acceptable in my book is to drive it in Sport+ mode (not even in regular Sport). All three other modes suck, regarding throttle mapping. My Bimmer #2 (a 2007) was as infuriating, enough that I had a $350 module installed to reprogram it.

Rear camera is weak, I agree.

"Cabin was loud. " sorry this is ridiculous.... the TLX V6 is a supremely comfortable ride and very quiet.

fryrice

I'm still waiting for OP to comment on how he was able to "return" a car after purchasing it. haha

TacoBello

Plenty of dealerships, at least around here, give you up to a week to return a car if you're not happy. Not sure on the details, but yeah... it's doable.

Alypep

I wish I could return my 2017 TLX! Mine isn’t AWD, but the 9 speed with tech package. I have the same problems (except for the backup camera problem). The car hesitates and jerks all around. My biggest complaint is that if my car sits for more than 1 day, the brake pedal won’t go down when starting it. It is hard as a rock and there are times I think I’m not going to get out of my garage. It’s getting worse as the weather gets colder. I’ve had my TLX back to the dealer twice and they kept it for days. They are saying they can’t replicate the problem! I am taking it to another dealership to get a second opinion. I’ve spend hours on the phone with Honda/Acura client services and they just keep saying there’s nothing they can do unless they can replicate the problem.

theredia92

The hard brake pedal is normal after the car has sat for a while, especially in cold weather. The braking system can only hold so much vacuum, for so long before it starts to bleed off. Push firmly on the brake and start the engine. The pedal should feel normal once the engine is running. As for the shifting quality, I would experiment with the different Drive Modes. "Sport" tends to be the most preferred.

fryrice

I have the same issue with my 2012 TL, stiff brakes during cold startup.

Searched the forums and found that MDX owners had the same issue and the dealership replaced something under warranty. My TL is about to hit 100k my warranty is going to expire soon, I am hoping to bring the car in and have it checked out.

Alypep

Thank you for your responses theredia and fryrice. I had a 2015 accord that never had a hard brake pedal and it also had keyless start. I can’t push firmly on the brake. I could stand on it and it won’t go down. It takes me about three tries before I can get the brake pedal to go down and while pushing the start button the car sort of does a “I think I can, I think I can” and then it will barely start. I’ve never had a car that takes so long to start. This cannot be normal. Regarding the hesitating and jerking around while driving, I’ve tried all modes. The sport and sport+ Mode are much worse. My friends and family that have cars of all different makes, with keyless start have never heard of this. I wish I had my accord back. I wanted to treat myself to a more luxurious car and I have had nothing but aggravation and hours on the phone and at dealerships.

TacoBello

1. Not everyone is going to start signing up for forums and hundreds of pages, for every single car they're looking at. The average car buyer would be bored to death in 3 minutes flat. Acura has always been deemed a safe bet- I can totally understand someone not digging super deep into it.

2. Test drives don't always seem to be the same for every car. It's hit and miss with which will have issues- at least that's what it appears to be on AZ, unless lots of people are lying and saying their car is golden, when in fact it is shit.

3. Those issues, even though common to the TLX, are completely unacceptable in 2017, for any car.

Robs252

My 2015 TLX has had the transmission replaced twice, and it’s great now!