2021 Acura TLX Type S Owner Complaints

While accelerating from a stop, I heard a loud bang from the drivetrain area and initially believed another vehicle had struck the rear of my car. After checking my surroundings, I realized there had been no collision. Immediately after the incident, the vehicle lost power delivery to the rear wheels. The vehicle is designed as an all-wheel-drive performance sedan, and the sudden loss of rear-wheel power significantly changed the way the vehicle handled. The vehicle became effectively front-wheel drive without warning, causing all engine power to be directed through the front wheels. This resulted in reduced traction, altered handling characteristics, and increased front tire wear. No warning lights, messages, or indicators appeared on the dashboard before or at the time of the failure. There were no symptoms that alerted me that a drivetrain failure was about to occur. The vehicle was inspected by an Acura dealership, and Acura confirmed failure of the transfer case and transmission components associated with the all-wheel-drive system. The transfer case and transmission are currently being replaced under the manufacturer's drivetrain warranty. I believe this failure created a safety risk because the vehicle unexpectedly lost its intended all-wheel-drive capability while in operation. Drivers rely on the handling, traction, and stability characteristics of the SH-AWD system. The sudden and unannounced loss of rear-wheel power changed the vehicle's behavior and could increase the risk of loss of control, particularly during acceleration, cornering, emergency maneuvers, or operation in poor weather conditions. The failed components are available for inspection through Acura as part of the warranty repair process.

NHTSA ID

11741121

Incident

Nov 10, 2025

The awd transfer case failed and require replacement along with the transmission

NHTSA ID

11732126

Incident

Nov 12, 2025

The All Wheel Drive (AWD) system of the vehicle became partially inoperable after hearing a loud bang under normal vehicle acceleration some time in early 2025. The vehicle did not trigger or display any warnings stored in the onboard computer or on the dash display that the AWD system had any faults or issues. Had this system failed during an emergency situation involving hazardous or dangerous driving conditions like snow, ice, heavy rain, it could have caused me to not have improved capable vehicle handling. The vehicle's ability to distribute power evenly to all 4 wheels was hindered and operating as front wheel drive only after the loud noise was observed. Additionally, transmission gear oil began leaking underneath the vehicle around the transmission casing. The issue has been reproduced, confirmed, and validated by technicians of a local Acura dealership. The dealership was approved to completely replace the following two components of the AWD system under the manufacturer's 6 year / 60K mileage powertrain warranty: 1. Transmission 2. Transfer case - also known as power transfer unit or PTU

NHTSA ID

11728955

Incident

Jun 7, 2025

The transfer case in my Acura TLX Type S failed due to the internal splines stripping at approximately 57,600 miles. I heard a loud bang while attempting to maneuver out of a parking spot that was covered in snow. When this occurred, the transfer case was no longer able to transfer power to the rear wheels, causing the all-wheel-drive system to stop functioning. As a result, the vehicle effectively operated as front-wheel drive only. The most concerning part of this failure is that the vehicle provided no warning whatsoever to the driver. There were no dashboard alerts, drivetrain warnings, AWD system warnings, or check engine lights indicating that the AWD system had failed. The vehicle continued to operate and display information as if everything was functioning normally. This occurred during the winter in New York while driving in snowy conditions, where the AWD system is critical for traction and safety. Because there was no warning that the AWD system had failed, I continued driving the vehicle assuming it still had AWD capability. On multiple occasions the vehicle became stuck in snow due to the loss of rear-wheel power. A critical drivetrain component such as a transfer case should not fail under normal driving conditions at this mileage. Additionally, a vehicle equipped with AWD should provide a clear warning to the driver if the system is no longer functioning. The absence of any warning combined with a sudden loss of AWD capability creates a serious safety concern, particularly in winter climates where drivers rely on AWD for traction and control. Under the wrong circumstances this type of failure could potentially lead to an accident or serious injury.

NHTSA ID

11722731

Incident

Jan 27, 2026

See Attached Letter for potential Defect Petition DP26001

NHTSA ID

11712885

Incident

Jan 9, 2026

This 2021 Acura TLX Type-S has experienced a complete failure of the transfer case after approximately 40,000 miles of use. This unfortunately is a known issue on the online forums for this vehicle in model years 2021-2023. I have a video inspection performed by the local dealership proving this. The only warning is a one-time loud boom when accelerating and a leaking from the transfer case of fluid thereafter. There is no safety issue best I can tell, however the car only performs in front drive mode once the transfer case quits working. The issue is due to weak splines within the transfer case that shear off and thus damage the 10-speed automatic transmission in the process. Acura has a 6 year 70,000 mile warranty, so a complete replacement is covered, however my concern is for whether the new transfer case part # 29000-5YK-060 which replaces the old 29000-5YK-050 part will do the same. This is a very expensive fix into the 5 figures (over $10,000) and really needs to have a recall as there are dozens and dozens of owners online who have experienced this failure.

NHTSA ID

11712500

Incident

Jan 20, 2026

My 2021 TLX Type S front wheels started to spin upon acceleration at 44K miles. I immediately scheduled an appt for the dealership. Was informed I needed a new Transfer Case Unit, as the splines were shredded. With this, I also had to replace the transmission. All replaced and picked up today 12/2/2025

NHTSA ID

11702530

Incident

Oct 12, 2025

Was driving the car under normal acceleration when the transfer case failed. No power to the rear wheels. Acura dealer confirmed the problem. Will be fixed under warranty. No warning lamps or messages on the dash.

NHTSA ID

11696739

Incident

Oct 27, 2025

Transfer case blew. AWD was not working.

NHTSA ID

11696489

Incident

Sep 27, 2025

While driving my 2021 Acura TLX Type S, I began losing traction frequently during normal daily driving, especially when turning corners or accelerating from a stop sign or stop light. At first, I believed the issue was related to my tires, so I replaced them, but the same problem continued. After researching online, I discovered that transfer case failures are a known issue on these vehicles, affecting both new and used models. Currently, my vehicle is at the dealership, but they were unaware of this recurring transfer case problem and have no information about it. This is concerning because the failure of the transfer case directly affects traction and stability, creating a potential safety risk to myself and others on the road. It appears to be a systemic issue that Honda/Acura has not yet acknowledged.

NHTSA ID

11693788

Incident

Aug 1, 2025

- The transfer case failed causing the AWD system to stop working -It is a safety concern because you may lose control since no power is going to rear wheels, especially in inclement weather that we receive in the northeast. -Yes the problem has been confirmed by dealership by putting car on lift and seeing that no power is being sent to the rear wheels. -There are no warning lights or any signs, you just hear a loud bang while driving and lost of traction while accelerating

NHTSA ID

11689393

Incident

Aug 22, 2025

While performing a right turn, under normal acceleration a loud "pop/clunk" occurred. I immediately pulled into a parking lot as the vehicle was still able to drive. The vehicle runs as normal, no leaks of any kind present. Nothing visibly broken. Afterwards, I was able to determine with the vehicle suspended off of the ground, I am getting power only to the front wheels. Utilizing google, it's easy to see that this has become a MASSIVE issue on this particular model TLX Type S. The vehicle will be taken to Acura on Monday Aug 18th 2025 for diagnostics, but it's quite obvious that the splines on the transfercase at the transmission mounting location have sheared completely, thus making the vehicle front wheel drive powered only. Given my current situation, my hope is that Acura will honor the power train warranty as it is my understanding that both the transmission and the transfercase are required to be replaced in this instance. Acura also needs to issue an updated transmission/ transfercase combination and a recall because this is happening way to often and it's quite an expensive repair.

NHTSA ID

11681206

Incident

Aug 17, 2025

Transfer case failure. Spline is stripped after 40k. AWD is disabled. Requires new transfer case and transmission

NHTSA ID

11667060

Incident

Mar 4, 2025

While driving normal, I heard a pop sound coming from the bottom of the car which resulted in my AWD not working. On acceleration the car would spin the front wheels and the traction light would light up. Took to dealer and they confirmed the transfer case and transmission failed and had to be replaced. The splines between both components had stripped.

NHTSA ID

11665477

Incident

Feb 14, 2025

• Transfer Case failure, leading to transmission damage. • Vehicle gives no indication of Transfer Case failure, in turn, giving the Driver the impression that the vehicle is AWD. Potential risk to safety as the failure happened under normal driving conditions, vehicle suddenly jolts, with loss of power. • Problem addressed by Dealership Service Dept. but not able to recreate, as this is a drivetrain fault. • Vehicle and components inspected by Dealership Service Dept. only. • No indications or warning lights for TC failure. AWD system on dashboard indicates power is going to all four wheels when this is not the case.

NHTSA ID

11665179

Incident

Mar 7, 2025

-Transmission and transfer case failed, specifically the splines on the input shaft connecting the two, rendering the vehicle FWD instead of AWD. Parts are not available to inspect as they were returned to dealer. -While the vehicle could still function in front wheel drive, the lack of AWD could be a safety risk in poor weather or road conditions, especially given that the vehicle does not send an error code for this issue. -Problem was reproduced by the dealer, who replaced both parts after a 2-month wait for parts. -There is zero indication that these components failed, no error codes or anything. The car also displays how much power is going to each wheel on the gauge cluster, and displays just as it did when everything worked. The problem can only be noticed when using AWD, so many drivers may not know they have this issue. I experienced the traction control light blinking on hard acceleration due to front tire slip and understeer during turns, but beyond that there was no indication anything was wrong. -The dealer informed me this would be a $12,000 repair out of warranty, which I find unacceptable given that the car doesn't give any error codes. Many many people may not know their car is effected.

NHTSA ID

11665162

Incident

Mar 17, 2025

At 36,823 miles and October 11,2024 I was taking off from a stop. About 10 seconds into my take off I heard a loud bang and hard jerk. Dash cam caught it happening. As soon as it happened I was still moving forward but just coasting. As soon as I accelerated a tiny bit it sounded like metal being beaten around inside something. No warning light or CEL came on. Nothing. After I parked it the sound disappeared and it seemed to drive fine but a little different. I noticed then that I would lose traction easily and my front wheels would spin out like a fwd Civic. I called the dealership immediately and told them what happened. They put a note in my file. They said they couldn’t do anything unless it happened again. I had to go to the dealership 3 separate times to try to get them to look at it. At the third trip and me being a little pissy that they took me seriously and found out that in fact my rear wheels wouldn’t spin and my driveshaft wasn’t spinning either. In December of 2024 my transfer case and transmission were replaced under warranty. The splines in the transmission were totally stripped.

NHTSA ID

11664344

Incident

Oct 11, 2024

Transfer case failed, awd system inoperable. Only front wheel drive when it is suppose to be awd. Vehicle is at the acura dealership getting repaired

NHTSA ID

11662895

Incident

Dec 24, 2024

2021 Acura TLX Type S. Car has 53k miles on it. No modifications, bone stock. When accelerating from a stop at ~50% throttle, there was a sudden loud pop from the front of the car, followed by immediate loss of power to the back wheels (AWD car) . The vehicle was about to shift from first to second gear, so thankfully I was still only going about 10-15 mph at the time. Had i been traveling faster, turning, or if the roads were wet/slick, it could have caused an accident due to my loss of control of the car. There were no warning lights or indication prior to this occurring, and no warning lights or indication after the incident occurred either. In fact, the torque distribution screen on the console showed power to the back wheels, despite that not being true. All recommended maintenance and oil changes were performed on the car at appropriate times. The problem ended up being a completely stripped transfer case housing / damaged splined shaft on the transmission (picture of transfer case attached). This was finally diagnosed after 2-3 weeks once the dealer lifted the vehicle and checked for power in all 4 wheels (of which only the front two tires would spin). Dealer replaced the parts under warranty after it was shown that the back wheels had no power. However, I believe the same part number was used in the replacement, indicating a potential likelihood of another failure in the future if this part is defective. I'm not sure if this has been reported by others, but I was only able to identify the problem by finding a post on an owners forum that showed identical problems to mine. Conversations in other owners groups suggests this is a wide spread problem with the early renditions of the new Acura TLX Type S line (~2021-2023). A poll in a TLX Type S Owner facebook group I am in, indicated that 16% of folks have had similar failures (out of 170 members polled).

NHTSA ID

11662805

Incident

Nov 4, 2024

AWD system is no longer working. Every time I accelerate the front wheels are slipping and there are no warning lights or system failure messages. I believe this is a transfer case issue as there are now videos on YouTube about TLX Type S's having this issue.

NHTSA ID

11652239

Incident

Mar 18, 2025

I was driving and was making a right turn at a stop light. I stopped, then took a right. As I took the right, I throttled a little from 5-10 mph and my transfer case blew up and made a loud bang and lost power to my rear wheels. Along with losing power to my rear wheels, the computer still did not recognize this mechanical failure. The dash has a feature that shows power to each wheel and when the cars rear power wasn’t working, this feature showed power still. Along with this failure, immediately after the loud bang, the car was jerking and there was sounds of clunking in the rear.

NHTSA ID

11652130

Incident

Jun 28, 2024

The transfer case splines between the transfer case are stripping causing the car to lose power in the rear wheels forever. This is a safety hazard as now the wheels lose traction and massive oversteer. This is dangerous in many conditions especially rain as turns are much more prone to sliding and losing traction. It was confirmed at the dealer and is a known issue in the Acura car community. The only way to diagnose the problem is putting it on the left And putting the car in drive to see if the all wheel drive system is working (all 4 wheels spinning). This is a scary problem for owners as no codes are generated since there is no sensor to catch this . The cars other system were also designed with the intention of the car being all wheel drive so this could lead other systems to fail causing a likely accident or collision.

NHTSA ID

11644661

Incident

Jan 15, 2025

Power take off unit on the TLX TYPE-S’s are stripping at the splines where the drive shaft and PTU meet. This disables the cars AWD system without triggering any codes, giving drivers false confidence to drive in low traction environments which may lead to accidents. The car retains FWD function but struggles to gain grip on the road at all speeds because it is an AWD designed platform. The dealership of Spreen Acura diagnosed my car and confirmed that the PTU fluid was previously leaking and had metal shavings. They also confirmed that the car was now FWD and struggled with getting traction with acceleration. This is a problem as it does not show any indication during failure, there could be many people with failed PTU’s who are unaware and driving daily. With rainy season coming up, this could pose a big risk as drivers with these cars will think their TYPE-S is AWD and my end up getting into accidents when driving unaware.

NHTSA ID

11642028

Incident

Dec 18, 2024

The all-wheel-drive stops working and the car becomes front wheel drive only. There are no warning lights on. The only way you could tell is to jack the car up with all four wheels off the ground and put it in drive to see if all four wheels are spinning. Also the driveshaft should be turning out of the transfer case. The the roads are wet or with snow the front wheels brake free very easy and the traction light comes on, which is also sign. I took it to the dealer and they verified the issue. They said it needs a new transmission and transfer case because the splines on the output shift of the transmission strip out and also damage the splines on input shaft of the transfer case.

NHTSA ID

11638902

Incident

Jan 20, 2025

All wheel drive system began to fail. Experienced a loud bang followed by a leak from the transfer case that was observed when I arrived home. No check engine lights of any kind just car is stuck in front wheel drive. Dealer confirmed AWD system is not working. No safety risk and no insurance notifications or police because item is covered under warranty.

NHTSA ID

11638577

Incident

Dec 20, 2024