Acura is known for making stylish luxury offerings that are quite cheap to buy as well as maintain. The 2013 Acura TL is the ultimate value if you want to go for a sedan that can do everything. However, it isn’t the most appealing one next to several competitors that have established themselves as bigger players in the market like the Chrysler 300, the Lexus IS 350, and the Nissan Maxima. Prices for the 2014 models start at an MSRP of $38,745 but the car has always had the reliability as a strong suit. It has only reported 59 complaints this year and the brand has issued 3 recalls fixing certain issues. We have to note that most of these problems are Acura TL power steering issues, and a few of them are regarding the airbags. Let us find out more about the car and its reliability problems below.
2013 Acura TL User Complaints and Problems
Mechanical problems:
- Power steering failures have been extremely common in this car and this makes the car very hard to steer. The repair is also quite expensive and hence many owners have had expensive maintenance bills.
- Many cars have had complete electrical shutdowns as well as the car dying down while driving at speed.
- The fly-by-wire throttle system is another area many owners have faced issues with because it can often be inconsistent.
- There are multiple complaints about excessive oil consumption as well.
- There have been incidents of transmission failure in this car as well and this is another expensive repair owners have to undergo. The torque converter can also produce a lot of shudders.
- The struts used to prop the hood can fail. This can release the hood while somebody is working under it and be a safety concern.
Electrical system problems:
- The tire pressure monitoring system has constantly thrown up warnings for many owners.
- There are a few complaints regarding the brightness of the headlights. Several owners feel that it is too dim to be safe to drive at night.
Safety problems:
- Most of the complaints associated with this car are regarding the Acura TL airbag inflator. In most cars, this shows up as a warning even when there is no apparent problem.
- Many cars have had the unfortunate incident of the airbag inflators exploding.
2013 Acura TL Recalls
|
S. No. |
Date |
NHTSA Campaign Number |
Issues Noticed |
Additional Remarks |
Remedy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
June 27, 2019 |
19V500000 |
Driver’s frontal airbag inflator can explode |
The driver’s frontal airbag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation. |
Dealers will replace the airbag inflator |
|
2 |
March 6, 2019 |
19V182000 |
Driver’s frontal airbag inflator may explode |
Due to a manufacturing error, the airbag inflators may explode |
Dealers will replace the driver airbag inflator |
|
3 |
February 3, 2016 |
16V061000 |
Driver’s frontal airbag inflator may rupture |
The driver’s frontal airbag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation. |
Dealers will replace the airbag inflator |
Should you buy the 2013 Acura TL?
The Acura TL is a slick-looking car that also has fun-to-drive engines and nice interiors. It's sedate styling also keeps you under the radar when you’re having a bit of fun with it and we see this as a plus point. In terms of reliability, the car is quite decent and most of its problems are concentrated in two areas. With these two being airbags and power steering, Acura has not issued any recall regarding the power steering, which is slightly disappointing. However, they have solved the airbag issue completely and restored the confidence owners have in the car. We believe that every car has its set of niggles and hence, the 2013 Acura TL cannot be written off just because it has one common issue. We would recommend this car as a good midsize luxury sedan.
