AutoUtility currently tracks 93 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Acura TLX. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 35 complaints (37.6% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 3 filings cite a crash, 1 cites a fire, 2 report one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 93 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (35 reports • 37.6% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (19), Fuel & Propulsion System (15)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2018 Acura TLX
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Engine & Cooling
NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #23V751000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:HARD PARTS INTERNAL/MECHANICAL
Electrical System
Fuel & Propulsion System
NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #19V060000 FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP
- Campaign #23V858000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
Powertrain & Transmission
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Acura TLX
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"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..."
"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..."
"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..."
"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..."
"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..."
Complaint History for Acura TLX
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2025)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Acura TLX | 341 | 12 | 6 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Acura TLX | 110 | 5 | 3 | View 2016 Problems → |
| 2017 Acura TLX | 70 | 2 | 3 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Acura TLX Current Page | 93 | 3 | 4 | Current |
| 2019 Acura TLX | 91 | 7 | 6 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Acura TLX | 62 | 4 | 5 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Acura TLX | 66 | 3 | 4 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 Acura TLX | 25 | 0 | 3 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Acura TLX | 10 | 0 | 3 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Acura TLX | 5 | 0 | 1 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Acura TLX | 4 | 0 | 1 | View 2025 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2018 Acura TLX
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 43 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FIRERELATED | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,STRUCTURE,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SEAT BELTS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,SUSPENSION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SUSPENSION,STRUCTURE,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tires NHTSA category: TIRES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,EQUIPMENT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (3)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
Engine failure
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 414 reports of connecting rod bearing failures in the 3.5L V6 engine used in the following vehicles: Model Years (MY) 2018-2020 Acura TLX, MY2016-2020 Acura MDX, MY2016-2020 Honda Pilot, MY2018-2020 Honda Odyssey, and MY2017-2019 Honda Ridgeline. The subject engine failures were analyzed as part of a Recall Query (RQ24013). It was determined that these engine failures are outside the scop...
No Restart After Auto Start/Stop Engages
On June 3, 2022, the Oï¬ce of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE22005 after the agency received VOQs and several ï¬eld 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 traï¬c light or road intersection with the AIS function engaged. The subject vehicles are equipped with a 3.5L engine wit...
Engine failure
On November 8, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Recall Query RQ24013 to assess the scope of Honda recall 23V-751 after receiving complaints that alleged connecting rod bearing failures in vehicles that were not within the scope of recall 23V-751. In November 2023, Honda recalled 248,999 various Model Year (MY)2016â2020 Honda and Acura vehicles equipped with the 3.5L V6 engine. Honda recalled these vehicles due to a cranksh...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
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