Buyer Research

2013 Acura TSX — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $9,000–$13,000. There are 3 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

Thirty-three complaints on this year — far fewer than the 133 on the 2012 — but the same part is still the majority of them: 58 percent are the electric power steering. Fewer filings on a later year usually means fewer cars and fewer years of exposure rather than a different design, and nothing in the record suggests Acura changed the module, so treat this as the same risk with a smaller sample behind it. Four Takata campaigns to verify, a steering module to budget for or find a receipt for, and a cold-weather brake pedal to test if you live somewhere it snows. Do those three things and this is a car worth owning.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 33 owner complaints for the 2013 Acura TSX, and 4 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. 58% of them are about one thing — steering. 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.

4 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 2013 Acura TSX

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

Electric power steering module quits and the wheel goes heavy without warningHigh — wallet impact

Nineteen of this year's thirty-three filings are steering, and the accounts match the 2012 exactly: a dashboard message saying the electric power steering may not be working, then a wheel that is very difficult to turn. One owner had it lock twice within a minute on a straight road. A dealer quoted another $1,700 for the EPS. A 2024 filing adds a newer problem — the owner could not source a replacement module at all, which is worth knowing before you buy a car that already shows the warning.

Repair cost (estimate): $900–$1,800

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under steering (19).

Takata passenger airbag inflator under four campaigns (recall)High — wallet impact

Campaigns 18V042, 18V661 and 19V502 cover the front passenger inflator, which can rupture and throw metal fragments into the cabin. 19V378 is different in kind: it covers cars where a replacement inflator was installed incorrectly during earlier recall work, so a car that was already repaired can still be open. All of this is done at no charge by any Acura dealer. Five airbag filings sit on this year, one of them from a front-end crash where the bags did not deploy. Check the VIN yourself on nhtsa.gov.

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

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under airbags (5); 4 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

ABS and stability control module failure, and a hands-free unit that flattens the batteryMedium

Only three electrical filings on this year and they are three unrelated things, so read this as a heads-up rather than a pattern. One owner had the ABS and VSA module fail at 90,000 miles giving a spongy pedal, with Acura quoting $3,500 — more than the car is worth, as he pointed out. Another replaced the battery four times because the Bluetooth module kept drawing current. The third was rodents chewing wiring. Rebuilt ABS modules and independent labour cut that first number a long way.

Repair cost (estimate): $1,200–$3,500 for an ABS and stability control module; $250–$700 for the hands-free module — about 32% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (3).

Cold-weather hard brake pedal, carried over from the earlier TSX yearsHigh — wallet impact

Only three brake filings landed on this year against nine on the 2012 and fifteen on the 2010, but it is the same car and the same complaint: below freezing the pedal goes solid for the first few stops and the car does not pull up as it should. We are carrying it here because the mechanism has not changed between these years, not because three owners is strong evidence on its own. If you are buying in a cold climate, arrange the test drive for a freezing morning and try the brakes before you leave the kerb.

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

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (3).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Electric power steering warning on the dash, even if it clears after a restart
✗Steering that feels heavy or notchy at parking speed
✗ABS or VSA warning lights coming on intermittently
✗Brake pedal that stays hard for the first stops on a cold start
✗A battery that the seller says has been replaced more than once

Good Signs

✓An EPS module replaced, with the part and date on a receipt
✓All four airbag campaigns reading closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✓ABS and VSA lights extinguishing together after start-up and staying out for the drive
✓A car that starts strongly after sitting locked overnight
✓Regular oil and transmission fluid service documented by one shop over several years