2020 Acura TLX: What to check before buying

Stalling is the main complaint. The engine shuts off at stoplights or while driving, sometimes in highway traffic, and may take a long time to restart or not restart at all. Several reports describe the auto idle stop restarting the engine and then dying. A stall at a light led to one rear-end crash. A second pattern is rod bearing failure with engine knock, including a repeat failure after the crankshaft and bearings were replaced. Other reports cover long waits for recall parts and power loss on inclines.

Most of these complaints are about waiting for a recall repair. Dealers tell owners that parts are not available, and several owners have not had a failure yet. Owners who do report a failure describe stalling at stops or while driving, lost power, rough idle, and a burst of driver-assist warning messages. Reported failure mileages run from about 22,000 to 98,000. A separate complaint describes repeated emissions test failures that the dealer could not fix.

Mostly these are reports of a recall repair stuck on parts availability. Many of these owners have had no failure. When a problem does show up, the car hesitates on acceleration, stalls while driving, or fails to start now and then, often with several warning lights on. One diagnosis found a failed high-pressure fuel pump along with loud revving and disabled lane-keeping. Some owners say dealers will not rush the repair unless the check engine light is on.

Two patterns stand out. The transmission shifts harshly or late, refuses to upshift, or drops into neutral while driving and stays there until the car is restarted. Separately, the engine loses all power without warning, often with rod knocking blamed on a failing connecting rod bearing. One owner reports a second rod failure after the engine was rebuilt. Sudden shutdowns when pulling away from a stop raise the risk of a crash in traffic. Other reports describe AWD cutting out alongside emissions and parking brake messages.

The auto idle stop shuts the engine off at a light and then fails to restart it, leaving the car stuck in traffic. Some cars drop into neutral, and restarting can take more than a minute. Other complaints describe electric parking brake and emissions system warnings, flickering, and a string of driver-assist faults. One of those reports also mentions sudden automatic braking with nothing ahead. A separate report describes a front tire coming off at 65 mph shortly after dealer recall work.

The front camera fails, taking adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, automatic braking, and auto high beams down with it. One owner puts the camera repair near $2000. The collision mitigation braking system also activates hard for no reason, which risks a rear-end hit. Some cars show a cluster of collision, lane-keep, brake, and cruise warnings at once, and in one case the car stalled and then would not go above 20 mph.

Few complaints exist here, but one is serious. In a rear-end collision that pushed the car into the vehicle ahead, the air bags did not deploy, and the driver needed emergency-room care for arm and back injuries. The car was not inspected afterward, so the cause is unknown. The other complaint concerns a repair that dealers at two locations could not complete because they had no parts.

Rotors warp early, around 15k miles, while the pads still have plenty of life. At highway speed this can mean pumping the brakes during a sudden stop. A second problem is the electric parking brake engaging on its own while driving, braking the car without warning in highway traffic. That report includes a parking brake malfunction alarm that stays on after a restart and an emissions warning that flashes on and off.

A front wheel comes off while driving, with no warning beyond a feeling that a tire was going flat. That happened at about 830 miles, and the dealer suggested tampering. The other complaint is mostly about waiting roughly two years for recall parts, with dealers saying a failure has to happen first. That owner also reports stalling, slow restarts after auto stop, and cracking noises while driving.