2018 Acura TLX reliability

Is it reliable?

Owners have filed 94 complaints with NHTSA about the 2018 Acura TLX over 9 years — 5 per year. The other TLX years sit at about the same rate: their median is 5 complaints per year. NHTSA has 4 recalls on file, including Front passenger seat weight sensor, Fuel pump, and Internal engine parts.

2015 Acura TLX — Photo by Mr.choppers, resized from the original. Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

Complaints

Per year

Recalls

Years on the road

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Engine (30 of 94), then Electrical system (20) and Fuel and propulsion system (14). Those filings include 3 that report a crash, 1 that reports a fire, and 2 that report an injury.

Next to 2017 and 2019

The 2017 TLX has 71 complaints, 5 per year, and the 2019 has 92 complaints, 6 per year. The 2018 has about the same number of complaints per year as the 2017. The 2018 has fewer complaints per year than the 2019.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2018 Acura TLX. How we count. Data as of 2026-10-16.

Recalls (4)

Recall Front passenger seat weight sensor 2026-05-21 · NHTSA campaign 26V332000

Summary Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V, 2018-2020 Fit, 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid, 2017-2022 CR-V, 2017-2018, 2021 Civic Type R, 2017-2021 Civic hatchback, 2016-2020 Civic coupe, 2016-2022 Civic, 2017-2022 Accord Hybrid, and 2016-2022 Accord vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, which can cause the air bags to deploy unintentionally during a crash.

Remedy Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are BOL, WO9, OOA, WOM, XOH, NOC, POD, BOE, UOF, POB, EOG, AOI, QO8, TOJ, DO7, and SOK. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 24V064. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.

Recall Fuel pump 2023-12-18 · NHTSA campaign 23V858000

Summary Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013-2023 Honda Accord, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R, CR-V, HR-V, Ridgeline, Odyssey, Acura ILX, MDX, MDX Hybrid, RDX, RLX, TLX, 2019-2022 Honda Insight, Passport, 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Clarity PHEV, Fit, and 2015-2020 Honda Accord Hybrid, Pilot, Acura NSX vehicles. The fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.

Remedy Dealers will replace the fuel pump module, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 6, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are KGC and KGD. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall numbers 21V-215 and 20V-314.

Recall engine and cooling, engine, internal engine parts 2023-11-13 · NHTSA campaign 23V751000

Summary Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2015-2020 Acura TLX, 2016-2020 Acura MDX, 2016 and 2018-2019 Pilot, 2017 and 2019 Ridgeline, and 2018-2019 Odyssey vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error, the connecting rod bearing in the engine may wear and seize, damaging the engine.

Remedy Dealers will inspect and repair, or replace the engine as necessary, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed March 28, 2024. 2016-2017 Acura MDX owner letters were mailed November 1, 2024. 2016-2020 Acura MDX owner letters are expected to be mailed in mid-December 2024. Honda began mailing owner notification letters as of March 18, 2024. 2015-2016 Acura owner letters are expected to be mailed mid-December 2024, 2018 Acura TLX owner letters are expected to be mailed the end of March/early April 2024, 2019 Acura TLX owner letters are expected to be mailed mid-May 2024, 2020 Acura TLX owner letters are expected to be mailed mid-June 2024, and 2016-2020 Acura MDX owner letters are expected to be mailed January 27, 2025. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for these recalls are XG1 and GG0.

Recall other fuel system, delivery, fuel pump 2019-01-29 · NHTSA campaign 19V060000

Summary Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Acura MDX, 2015-2019 Acura TLX and 2015-2017 Honda Accord vehicles, equipped with a 3.5L V6 engine. Particulates in fuel may adhere to the internal components of the fuel pump, reducing its performance.

Remedy Honda will notify owners, and dealers will update the fuel injection engine control unit (FI-ECU) software and, if necessary, replace the fuel pump, free of charge. The recall began March 25, 2019. Owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's recall number for this recall is P3W. Honda's recall number for this recall is N3X.

Complaints by component (94 total)

Engine

Electrical system

Fuel and propulsion system

Engine and engine cooling

Powertrain

Forward collision avoidance

Lane departure

Service brakes

Steering

Speed control

Seat belts

Structure

Suspension

Air bags

Back-over prevention

Electronic stability control (ESC)

Equipment

Exterior lighting

Fire-related

Fuel system, gasoline

Latches, locks, and linkages

Seats

Tires

Show 15 more Show less

Crash-flagged

Fire-flagged

Injury reports

Death reports

Complaints filed per year

Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings

"I own a 2018 Acura TLX with approximately 41,384 miles. While driving, multiple safety-system warnings suddenly appeared simultaneously, including: Lane Keeping Assist Problem Adaptive Cruise Control Problem Auto…"
Electrical system, Forward collision avoidance · filed 2026-09-22
"I’ve bought my 2018 Acura TLX used from Holiday Mazda in [XXX] in XXX Now that my nightmare with the Auto Engine Idle is over(the shop that replaced my starter in November 2025 some how got it so it doesn’t work…"
Electrical system, Back-over prevention, Forward collision avoidance · filed 2026-06-10
"Driving car and suddenly all the lights on the dash light up and car goes into “limp” mode. Upon pulling over turning car off and turning back on lights are all still lit up. Plug car into obd2 scanner and car is…"
Engine, Fuel and propulsion system · filed 2026-06-06
"I bought my 2018 Acura TLX a-spec V6 in Nov. 2021, certified pre-owned from an Acura dealer. It had warranty through 100k miles. At just under 70k miles, around mid-2023 I believe, the engine seized and would not start.…"
Engine · filed 2026-05-27
"I was rolling up to a stop light at approximately 20 mph when the frontal crash mitigation feature suddenly slammed the brakes on fully to a complete stop. I searched the web and found that there are other owners of…"
Forward collision avoidance · filed 2026-02-11

NHTSA crash ratings

Version	Overall	Front	Side	Rollover
2018 Acura TLX 4 DR AWD	5 stars	5 stars	5 stars	5 stars
2018 Acura TLX 4 DR FWD	5 stars	5 stars	5 stars	5 stars

Stars are how this vehicle did in NHTSA crash tests. They are a safety result, separate from the complaint record. Not rated means that test was not run for this version.

Fuel economy

Trim	Engine	Transmission	Drive	City	Hwy	Combined	Annual fuel cost
TLX all-wheel drive	3.5L, 6-cyl	Automatic (9-speed)	All-wheel drive	21	30	24 MPG	$3300
TLX all-wheel drive A-SPEC	3.5L, 6-cyl	Automatic (9-speed)	All-wheel drive	20	29	23 MPG	$3450
TLX front-wheel drive	3.5L, 6-cyl	Automatic (9-speed)	Front-wheel drive	20	32	24 MPG	$3300
TLX front-wheel drive	2.4L, 4-cyl	Automatic (AM-S8)	Front-wheel drive	23	33	27 MPG	$2950
TLX front-wheel drive A-SPEC	3.5L, 6-cyl	Automatic (9-speed)	Front-wheel drive	20	30	23 MPG	$3450

Specs and fitment

1st generation (UB), 2015–2020

Body styles Sedan

Oil 0W-20 (V6 or 2.4L per manual) , 4.5 qt capacity

Tire size 245/40R19, 225/50R18 (trim dependent)

Known issues for this generation

NHTSA safety recall 21V215000 covers affected vehicles after the agency found that honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Acura MDX, MDX Sport Hybrid, RDX, TLX, Honda Accord, Civic Hatchback, Insight, 2019 Acura ILX, Honda Accord Hybrid, Civic Coupe, Civic Coupe Si, Civic Sedan, Civic Sedan Si, Civic Type R, Fit, HR-V, Odyssey, Passport, Pilot and Ridgeline, and 2018-2019 CR-V vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail. Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash. Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed May 18, 2021. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Note: This recall is an expansion of recall 20V-314.

Compare

Previous year 2017 Acura TLX Next year 2019 Acura TLX See every Acura TLX model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2018 Acura TLX reliable?

What are common problems with a 2018 Acura TLX?

Is the 2018 Acura TLX more reliable than the years next to it?

Has the 2018 Acura TLX been recalled?

The 2018 Acura TLX has 4 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2018 Acura TLX?

Owners have filed 94 complaints about the 2018 Acura TLX with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2018 Acura TLX get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2018 Acura TLX is 24.2 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

What engine oil does a Acura TLX use?

US TLX manuals specify 0W-20 for recent gasoline engines.

What generation is the 2022 Acura TLX?

2nd generation (2021-on).

What tire sizes does an Acura TLX use?

First-gen trims list 225/50R18 and 245/40R19; second-gen pages commonly list 255/40R19.