Acura issued a recall for 19 units of the TLX due to a potential tire defect issue after being informed by supplier Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO). The recall has to do with potential cuts/tears caused by a robotic arm during the unstacking process, although no such cases have been reported yet.
According to the official recall documents, the potentially affected vehicles are only 19. In those specific TLXs, the bead area of their tires may have sustained cuts/tears during the “tire sorting and loading process”.
The cause of the defect was a sharp edge on a protective plastic “shoe” located at the base of the depalletizer’s robotic arm which was used to unstack the tires. Any cuts or tears to the bead area of the tire over time, air, and moisture, could expose and damage body ply cords and bead wires. If this happens, the tire could deflate rapidly, potentially leading to a loss of vehicle control.
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The problem was discovered by Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations at their warehouse. As part of the internal investigation, the company had 1,051 tires destined for the Acura TLX returned from a subassembly vendor, and only one of them was found to be damaged. Still, Bridgestone notified Honda and NHTSA of the potential tire defect in November, with the automaker deciding on the recall on December 15, despite not having received “any warranty claims, field reports, or reports of injuries or crashes related to this issue”.
Owners of affected Acura TLX models will be notified by mail. Their vehicle’s tires will be inspected by an authorized Acura dealer who will replace any damaged tires free of charge. As part of the recall, the company will also reimburse owners who have already replaced any damaged tires at their own expense. Thankfully, the tire loading and unloading process is now performed by human workers rather than robots, which means that future Acura TLXs won’t have any problems with their OEM-fitted “shoes”.
