Owners have filed 11 complaints
about the 2023 Acura TLX with NHTSA between 2023 and 2026.
The largest single group is the other & unspecified.
Across this model's run it ranks 9 of 9 worst.
The letter says how bad. This says what kind — whether this year drew
an unusual number of complaints, unusually dangerous
ones, or failures that arrived unusually early.
The dashed ring is 50 — the national norm. Further out is worse.
Complaint volume — 4
Against the median year of the Acura TLX. 50 means typical for this
model; 100 means roughly double.
Severity — 0
0% of these complaints
involved a crash, fire, injury or death, against a national rate of
9.7%.
Early failure — not reported
Too few complaints recorded a mileage to measure this.
Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade:
A
B
C
D
F
ungraded
What breaks on a 2023 Acura TLX
Every complaint is filed against a part. Follow any row for the complaints about that part alone.
Other & Unspecified
436.4%
Brakes
218.2%
Electrical System
218.2%
Seat Belts
19.1%
Suspension
19.1%
Transmission & Drivetrain
19.1%
When owners complained
A spike years after the car went on sale usually means a part wearing
out on schedule across the whole fleet — the kind of pattern no single
owner can see from inside their own car.
Sep 2023peak 3Jun 2026
NHTSA investigations into the 2023 Acura TLX
An investigation is the step before a recall: the agency has seen enough
complaints to look into a pattern itself. An open one means it thinks
something may be wrong and nothing has been fixed yet.
1
investigation is
still open.
EA25004Opened 26 Mar 2025Still openENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:CRANK/CAMSHAFT POSITION SENSOR
No Restart After Auto Start/Stop Engages
On June 3, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE22005 after the agency received VOQs and several field reports concerning the Auto Idle Stop (AIS) feature on 2016-2019MY Honda Pilot vehicles. The complaints allege that the engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the AIS function engaged. The subject vehicles are equipped with a 3.5L engine with a 9-speed automatic transmission. On January 6, 2023, Honda released service bulletins 23-008 and 23-009. These service bulletins address the failure to r...
DP26001Opened 6 Mar 2026Closed 4 Aug 2026POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
All wheel drive allegation
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has completed its review of a Petition dated January 9, 2026, requesting an investigation into the loss of the optional all-wheel drive capability in model year (MY) 2021-2023 Acura TLX and MY 2022-2023 Acura MDX vehicles. The Petition alleges failures in the interfacing splines between the front wheel drive transaxle and the rear wheel drive power take off unit. Failure of these splines prevents the transfer of drive power to the rear axle, making the vehicle front wheel drive only. The Petition further alleges that this failure reduces vehicle direct...
Recalls on the 2023 Acura TLX
A complaint is one owner's allegation. A recall is the point at which
the manufacturer or a regulator agreed the defect is real and dangerous
enough to fix for free — however old the car is.
Canada — Transport Canada
Canada runs its own recall programme, and its campaigns do not
always mirror the American ones.
Recall 202502916,977 units in Canada
Fuel System
Issue: On certain vehicles, a software problem in the fuel injection electronic control unit could cause the engine to stall while driving. Safety Risk: A sudden loss of power to the wheels could increase the risk of a crash. Corrective Actions: Honda will notify owners by mail and advise you to take your vehicle to a dealership to update the fuel injection electronic control unit software.
In the owners' own words, exactly as filed with NHTSA.
Akron, OH
POWER TRAIN
The AWD components fail and turns the car into front wheel drive only. Yes it’s available. This puts mine and others after at risk due to expecting the car to accelerate at a full stop instead, it causes me to slowly accelerate <5 mph until the system recognizes it’s in FWD only. I fear that someone will rear end me expecting the car to go faster than it can in that moment. Yes, this has been reported to a reputable dealer and was told they could not create the issue once clears after turning car off and back on again. This car has not been inspected by anyone other than the local Acura dealership. There were no prior warnings other than when it was cuts out. This pops up on the dash and is effective immediately putting the car into a limp state. This is happening one a week and has been occurring for once the car hit ~40k miles.
NHTSA complaint #11743017 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Clover, SC
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Purchased a 2023 TLX Aspec with Telecommunication package from Carvana. When I as unable to connect my device to the vehicle, I took it to my local Acura dealer per the limited warranty instructions. It was there after they removed the dash, we discovered the control device was missing and the bracket was missing and the coaxial connector that attaches it to the dashboard is broken. The cellular device was removed as well to avoid tracking. With the harness damage, the correct repair to the car with the low miles it has is to replace the harness and then replace the missing part and the bracket. None of this was disclosed at the time of purchase. I have tried reaching out to Carvana and the only answer I receive is to email their fraud department, which I have twice.
NHTSA complaint #11712325 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Upper Marlboro, MD
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Car’s advertised anti-theft features are faulty. They have two tracking features with also both failed. When I contacted Acura they said this was a known issue and highly prevalent in NY, DC, FL, MD. Cars computer is cloneable and it takes less than 3 minutes to enter and steal without keys or breaking windows or enabling alarms.
NHTSA complaint #11699323 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Washington, WV
SEAT BELTS
If you don't turn the car off and you drop a passenger off from the front seat the seatbelt not fastened alarm will go off until you fasten it or turn the car off then restart the car to clear the alarm taking it to the dealership.
NHTSA complaint #11697333 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Arlington, VA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car was stolen unreasonably easily. Car alarm did not sound, Acuralink tracking was immediately disabled. Car started and drove away despite keys being secured in a faraday box. Acura has a fatal design flaw in their hardware/software that makes theft of the TLX extremely easy. Evidenced by numerous online complaints from owners like myself, as well as by IIHS study on most stolen cars. TLX appears as both the second and fifth most stolen car relative to average:[XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11685759 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Reston, VA
SERVICE BRAKES
ALL FOUR BRAKE ROTORS ARE BENT ON 30K MILES
NHTSA complaint #11675743 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Birmingham, AL
SERVICE BRAKES
I had an awful noise that accompanied a sticky/ inconsistent brake pedal feel and braking concerns. Upon contacting multiple dealerships and honda corporate is was told everything is working as designed. I filed a claim with NCDS and was awarded a repair. When contacting the dealership and manufacturer they did another inspection and said it's working as designed and there was nothing to repair. Now in the news they are recalling approximately 250,000 Hondas/Acura vehicles for a safety issue with the brake pedal. There is no information on what the recall is supposed to entail. My vin is still not associated with the recall. This is a safety issue that the manufacturer has been ignoring for a long time now.
NHTSA complaint #11671984 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Lancaster, TX
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
My TLX Tech 2023 lost complete power while I pulled up to a busy intersection on a dark and rainy day. As a puled to stop and my idle stop enabled the car was fine. Once I tried to accelerate the car immediately went into Park from Drive. All of the controls started to blink and the car powered down like a computer system who was on 0%. I completely lost power, so that I could not even put my hazard lights on to indicate to the busy oncoming traffic that I was in danger. When the police arrived, he even tried to shift to neutral to help me roll out of the street, but the car was inoperable. I had to remain in the car due to the freezing rain and sleet. The emergency services called an emergency tow to get me out of the street and I was then towed to the nearest Acura dealership to get it reviewed. The service department indicated that they had known about the idle start/stop issue, but not on my specific model. I had my car inspected just the day before at the same dealership and there were no issues that had come up. I am concerned that this is very dangerous and leaves me in a vulnerable state.
NHTSA complaint #11554520 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Algona, WA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Well, since i purchased the 2023 Acura Tlx TECH PCKG, "It's a nightmare" everytime i drive it , i'm not enjoying it at all! I can't keep the car to go between the 2 lines! It just keeps going zigzag, i keep telling myself that maybe because "it's a brand new car" give it more time for adjustment...! But it's getting worse and worse to the point that when it's raining, i have to pray to get home safely!
NHTSA complaint #11547255 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Maple Hts, OH
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Please see attached document, as my whole description would not fit in the box.
NHTSA complaint #11544892 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Maple Hts, OH
SUSPENSION
Please see attached document, as my whole description would not fit in the box.
NHTSA complaint #11544892 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.