2009 Acura TSX problems & reliability
91 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2009 Acura TSX, alongside 6 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
5 complaints report injuries (7 injured, 1 deaths reported).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2009 Acura TSX vehicles were involved in 27 fatal crashes with 14 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Air Bags | 27 | 30% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 17 | 19% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 12 | 13% |
| Engine | 11 | 12% |
| Structure | 7 | 8% |
| Electrical System | 5 | 5% |
| Service Brakes | 5 | 5% |
| Power Train | 4 | 4% |
| Steering | 4 | 4% |
| Unknown OR Other | 3 | 3% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 23,370 miles (middle 50% between 14,750 and 75,750 miles), based on 56 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The contact owns a 2009 Acura TSX. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated, after which the vehicle entered LIMP Mode and the throttle failed to respond. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway to restart the vehicle. After restarting the…”
Vehicle Speed Control · filed May 2, 2024
“The check engine light came on and the “check transmission” warning sign came on all of a sudden one day. I started feeling hard ups/downs in gears from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 (and also in reverse order of both these sequences). Its running rough and don’t feel safe driving the car.”
Power Train · filed Sep 10, 2023
“I was driving car to work and when I was making a turn my car steering wheel stop working it was so hard to maneuver I almost crashed I took it to the shop and they asked to call the acura dealer before making repairs because this car had reports on the steering wheel malfunction I called and they said that this car…”
Steering · filed Aug 11, 2021
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
49 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2009 Acura TSX. The 10 most recent:
Service Bulletin - Warranty Extension: Customer Support Program For Front Passenger's Airbag Inflator.
B18-022 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 30, 2026
Service News - The navigation clock and date are incorrect. This is due to a limited GPS receiver capacity resulting in rollover of internal chip memory. The rollover occurred on January 1, 2022 at 12:00AM local time
B23040A · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 17, 2023
ServiceNews Article - The clock shows the incorrect time. This issue is due to a limited GPS receiver capacity resulting in "rollover" of the internal chip memory; the "rollover" will occur on January 1, 2022, at…
B21120A · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 25, 2022
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2009-2014 TLs, TSXs & TSX Wagons with a client complaint of the brake pedal feeling soft or spongy when depressed, almost reaching the…
BPaS02262021905 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 26, 2021
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2009-2014 TLs, TSXs & TSX Wagons with a client complaint of the brake pedal feeling soft or spongy when depressed, almost reaching the…
BPaS02102021903 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 10, 2021
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2009-2014 TLs, TSXs & TSX Wagons with a client complaint of the brake pedal feeling soft or spongy when depressed, almost reaching the…
BPaS01222021905 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 22, 2021
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2009-2014 TLs, TSXs & TSX Wagons with a client complaint of the brake pedal feeling soft or spongy when depressed, almost reaching the…
BPaS01062021905 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 6, 2021
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2009-2014 TLs, TSXs & TSX Wagons with a client complaint of the brake pedal feeling soft or spongy when depressed, almost reaching the…
BPaS12102020 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 10, 2020
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
B20-011 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
This SKU is a Front Upper Ball Joint. The customer communication requested return of unsold inventory to inspect for the outer diameter of the ball joint housing being too small. The outer diameter being too small would…
DORE5C4S09 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 11, 2019
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2009 Acura TSX has 6 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2009 Acura TSX?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 23,370 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.