2009 Acura TL
This year drew an ordinary 42 complaints for a Acura TL — the model's median is 124. What they were about is the unusual part: 16.7% of them mention cause, against 3.8% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 42 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 124 |
| Involving a crash | 5 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 20.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- cause — 16.7% of this year's complaints, against 3.8% across the model's other years (4.3×).
- danger — 7.1% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the model's other years (35.7×).
- changing — 7.1% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the model's other years (35.7×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
VEHICLE OCCASIONALLY HESITATES, VERY HEAVILY, WHEN ACCELERATING UPHILL, LIKE ON FREEWAY ENTRANCE RAMPS. WHEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE ABRUPTLY, OR FROM FIRST OF SECOND GEAR, IT FEELS LIKE THE TRANSMISSION IS DOWN SHIFTING, WHICH COULD BE DANGEROUS IN CERTAIN SITUA…
WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH, THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED INDEPENDENTLY AND CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO CRASH INTO A FENCE. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED HAND AND FACE INJURIES THAT REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDEN…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V182000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V500000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V061000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Acura TL was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Acura TL? What happened to yours?
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