2005 Acura TSX
This year drew an ordinary 51 complaints for a Acura TSX — the model's median is 47. What they were about is the unusual part: 21.6% of them mention under, against 6.6% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 51 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 47 |
| Involving a crash | 5 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 22.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- under — 21.6% of this year's complaints, against 6.6% across the model's other years (3.3×).
- covered — 9.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.2% across the model's other years (4.5×). Owners wrote it as: covered, lifetime.
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
The seat belt light on the dash remains lit when the vehicle is started. I contacted the local dealer. I was advised to bring it in to be evaluated and I would be charged a service charge to fix it unless it was covered by the warranty. I was under the impress…
AT 230,000 MILES THE PASSENGER AIRBAG LIGHT STARTED FLASHING WHEN THE SEAT WAS UNOCCUPIED. AT 236,000 THE LIGHT IS NOW ON CONSTANTLY. I HAVE SEEN OTHERS COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS SAME PROBLEM AND HAVE TO AGREE THAT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS YEARS MODEL IS NOT COV…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19E068000 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL Fixed free of charge.
- 13V093000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 10V174000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 07V097000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Acura TSX 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 2005 Acura TSX? What happened to yours?
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