2018 Acura Tlx problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Engine (18) · Engine And Engine Cooling (12) · Fuel/Propulsion System (11)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Acura Tlx model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
29 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (4)
Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification:front Passenger 2026-05-21 · campaign 26V332000 · 98,892 vehicles
Defect: 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 ma
Risk: Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury.
Fix: 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.
Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump 2023-12-18 · campaign 23V858000 · 2,490,460 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: 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.
Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:hard Parts Internal/Mechanical 2023-11-13 · campaign 23V751000 · 248,999 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: A damaged engine may run improperly or stall while driving, increasing the risk of a fire, crash, or injury.
Fix: 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 Apr
Fuel System, Other:delivery:fuel Pump 2019-01-29 · campaign 19V060000 · 437,032 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: Reduced fuel pump performance can result in an engine stall, increasing the risk of crash.
Fix: 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.
Service bulletins (92)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Fuel/Propulsion System 2026-09-25 · B26-023 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - the factory fuel fill pipe assembly may not have been manufactured to specification. as a result, small contamination particles inside the fuel fill neck may prevent the primary shut-off valve flap seal from sealing properly. this may result in a fuel smell from the fuel fill neck
Fuel/Propulsion System 2026-09-25 · BEBM09252026901 · Other
dealer message - the fuel fill pipe assembly may not have been manufactured to specification. as a result, small contamination particles inside the fuel fill neck may prevent the primary shut-off valve flap seal from sealing, resulting in fuel smell from the fuel fill neck area and may cause dtc p04
Engine 2025-07-07 · B22-009 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - under certain circumstances, after coming to a stop and engaging idle stop the vehicle may not restart automatically due to excessive cylinder pressure and/or low cranking torque. typically, the client can immediately restart the vehicle by selecting park and pressing the engine s
Engine 2025-02-19 · B24-022 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - the awd warning light is on with one or more awd dtcs having been set due to water intrusion into the electric oil pump motor connector area corrodes the terminals.
Structure:body 2024-11-22 · B24-022 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - the awd warning light is on potentially due to water intrusion into the rear differential pump motor connector area that corrodes the terminals.
Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System:emission Control 2024-01-10 · B23-035 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - the mil comes on during vehicle operation due to variations in the purge control solenoid valve spring, the valve wears unevenly and intermittently sticks. this may result in setting dtc p0441 (evaporative emission (evap) system purge flow malfunction).
Showing the 6 most recent of 92 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-26 · Engine And Engine Cooling · 147,000 mi“the contact owns a 2018 acura tlx. the contact stated that while driving and accelerating there was a knocking sound coming from the engine. the vehicle was later towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine rod bearings had failed, and the contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. the contact stated that the engine was…”
2026-10-07 · Engine And Engine Cooling · 89,000 mi“the contact owns a 2018 acura tlx. the contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the engine started knocking. the contact associated the failure with nhtsa campaign number: 23v751000 (engine and engine cooling). the contact stated that the closest dealer was a two-hour drive from the residence. the manufacturer was contacted by phone and was …”
2026-09-22 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking“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 high-beam problem collision mitigation system problem road departure mitigation system problem brake system warning i safely stopped t…”
2026-06-10 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings“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 anymore. but that’s not my issue. i’ve had this issues 5-8 times in the last 2 years. i will be driving and my top screen in in the dash(i…”
2026-06-06 · Fuel/Propulsion System“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 showing code p0087 low fuel rail pressure. this is extremely dangerous as the car will randomly do this and will go into limp mode which …”
2026-05-27 · Engine“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. warranty covered engine replacement. this was just around the time of the 3.6l v6 engine recall. i waited on the recall because th…”
2026-02-11 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking“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 this model that have had similar occurrences. i could easily have been rear-ended if someone had been following. i was lucky that didn…”
2026-01-13 · Unknown Or Other“the vehicle experienced vibration symptoms and stalled on the road. the day before it stalled, there were rattling noises which prompted me to take the car to the dealership the next day. i had just received the letter about the recall so i knew it was likely related. the car was towed to the acura dealership but the dealership denied recall cove…”
2026-01-12 · Suspension“while performing routine maintenance on my 2018 acura tlx, i discovered a critical structural failure in the front right (passenger side) lower control arm. the factory weld connecting the stamped steel control arm to the compliance bushing housing has failed and separated. visual inspection reveals a clear manufacturing defect: there is a signific…”
2026-01-09 · Engine“the engine has been making rattling noises when you start the vehicle from a long rest, mostly over night, since it has about 24k miles on it, when i purchased it used. i noticed it some time after i purchased it. took it to honda dealer in hickory, nc, but they couldn't hear it. later also took it to acura dealer in charlotte, nc. they couldn'…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.