Buyer Research

2010 Acura TSX — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $7,000–$11,000. There are 2 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 5 Acura TSX years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

Sixty-three complaints across sixteen years is a thin record, and a thin record is a measure of how many people filed, not a reliability rating — read what follows as what we could verify, not as a clean bill. All seven recalls on this car are the same Takata passenger inflator campaign being reissued and re-scoped, which is the first thing to check on the VIN. The complaints that are not about airbags cluster on brakes: a pedal that goes hard in freezing weather, and rear pads wearing out unusually early. Drive it on a cold morning if you can, and get the brakes measured, not eyeballed.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 63 owner complaints for the 2010 Acura TSX, and 7 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 32% of them are about one thing — airbags. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

7 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2010 Acura TSX

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Takata passenger airbag inflator, recalled and re-recalled seven timesHigh — wallet impact

All seven campaigns on this car concern the front passenger inflator. 16V346, 18V042 and 19V502 progressively widen the population; 17V545 and 19V378 exist because replacement inflators were installed incorrectly at some dealers, so a car already fixed can still need work. A ruptured inflator sends metal fragments into the cabin. Owners here describe being told to keep the front seat empty for months while waiting for parts. Everything is done at no charge. Run the VIN on nhtsa.gov yourself — this is not something you can see by looking at the dashboard.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under airbags (20); 7 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Brake pedal goes rock-hard in freezing weather until the car warms upHigh — wallet impact

Several owners in this record describe the same event: below roughly 25 degrees Fahrenheit, the pedal feels like a brick for the first few stops and the car does not slow as expected, then behaves normally once the engine has run a few minutes. One filing describes approaching a main road with the pedal immovable. Dealers told more than one owner it was normal, and there is no recall. If you live somewhere cold, test it on a genuinely cold start, and have a shop check the vacuum supply to the booster and its check valve before you buy.

Repair cost: Not yet priced — a safety matter first, a repair bill second

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (15).

Rear brake pads and rotors wear out far earlier than the frontsMedium

Multiple owners report rear pads needing replacement between 24,000 and 25,000 miles on ordinary commuting, which is roughly a third of what a rear axle on this class of car should manage. One owner mentions a lawsuit that had already closed and did not include their VIN — treat that as an owner's account rather than a confirmed settlement. The practical effect is a running cost, not a danger. Ask for the last brake measurement in millimetres, and budget a rear axle sooner than you would on most sedans.

Repair cost (estimate): $300–$650 per axle

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (15).

Door lock actuators fail one door at a timeMedium

The small motor in each door that throws the lock gives up, so the door stops locking from the key fob or the interior switch, and the automatic lock at 10 mph stops working on that door. One owner reports every actuator failing twice in eight years, another three separate doors at 30,000, 45,000 and 75,000 miles with a dealer quote of $460 for the last one. Independent shops fit these for considerably less. Sit in the car and cycle the central locking, then walk around and physically try each door.

Repair cost (estimate): $200–$460 per door

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (7).

Cold-start rattle from the variable-timing actuator on the four-cylinderMedium

Honda's 2.4-litre engine in this car has a cam phaser at the front of the engine that can rattle loudly for a second or two on start-up as oil pressure builds. It is a known enough part that Honda issued service information on the same component in other models. It is noise rather than imminent failure, but it does not improve and the repair means removing the timing cover. Listen at a genuinely cold start; a second of loud metallic chatter that fades is what you are listening for.

Repair cost (estimate): $400–$900

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (5).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Brake pedal that stays hard and high for the first few stops on a cold morning
✗Metallic chatter from the front of the engine for a second after a cold start
✗A door that does not lock with the fob while the others do
✗Rear pads visibly thinner than the fronts through the wheel spokes
✗Dashboard SRS light staying lit after start-up

Good Signs

✓All seven airbag campaigns reading closed on NHTSA's VIN lookup
✓A rear brake job with pad thickness written on the invoice
✓Door lock actuators replaced with receipts naming which doors
✓On the V6, a documented timing belt and water pump replacement
✓Transmission fluid changed on Acura's interval with dated receipts