1997 Acura TL: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 1997 Acura TL
On the 1997 Acura TL, the failure owners report most often is other electrical problem, with 6 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 90,000 miles. Overall it scores 62 out of 100, high risk for a 1997.
High risk for a 1997 — 140th riskiest of the 243 1997 vehicles we can rate. 29 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
The failures owners actually file about
Owners have reported 14 named failure modes on the 1997 Acura TL, and the three most-reported carry 41% of everything filed.
Other electrical problem leads with 6 reports and about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles.
No-start or intermittent start failure follows with 3 reports, median 120,000 miles.
Other speed control problem follows with 3 reports.
By system, the reports fall mostly into electrical (7), engine (4) and adas (3).
The mileage the reports cluster at
9 of the reports on the 1997 Acura TL came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 90,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 11% by 50,000 miles and 56% by 100,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 120,000 and 130,000 miles, which alone holds 33% of the dated reports.
11% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 14. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
How bad it is when it goes
Across the named modes, 3 mention a crash, 2 a fire and 4 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 5.69, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: other electrical problem at $250–$2,000, no-start or intermittent start failure at $200–$1,800, other speed control problem at $250–$2,000 and steering column or shaft failure at $600–$2,500. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
24% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 6 | 4 | — | 85k | — | 0.4 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| No-start or intermittent start failure | engine | 3 | 3 | — | 120k | — | 0.2 | $200–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Other speed control problem | adas | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.2 | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
| Steering column or shaft failure | steering | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $600–$2,500 | Critical |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 2 | 1 | — | 20k | — | 0.1 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 1 | 1 | — | 82k | — | 0.1 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,500 | High |
| Loss of braking | brakes | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $400–$3,000 | Critical |
| ABS module or sensor failure | brakes | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $500–$2,400 | High |
| Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure | suspension | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $400–$2,200 | High |
| Wiper or washer failure | glass | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $120–$800 | Moderate |
| Other engine problem | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 1997 Acura TL draws about 2.1 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 76th percentile of complaint rates among 1997 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 13,788 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 1997 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Other electrical problem
Digital A/C display stopped functioning. Dealer said component cost would be @ $1,600.00 (85% value of car). Offered no alternative (after-market, used part). Coincided with dash lights going out, indicated gear position (nuetral, reverse, drive, etc).*ak
Digital A/C display stopped functioning. Dealer said component cost would be @ $1,600.00 (85% value of car). Offered no alternative (after-market, used part). Coincided with dash lights going out, indicated gear position (nuetral, reverse, drive, etc).*ak
No-start or intermittent start failure
Although my car is about 20 years old now, I've done a lot of research about the problems I've experienced and it appears cars made from 1997 experienced malfunctioning ignition switches. My key will not start my engine and has gotten stuck inside the cylinder many times. I just replaced the battery as well due to my vehicle stalling when I turn it on. There should be no reason other than the faulty machinery that's giving me all this trouble. Many of the people who have this make, model, and year have expirenced these exact issues. I believe you guys have issued a recall which is why I'm informing the company. Hopefully you can help. Thank you .
Although my car is about 20 years old now, I've done a lot of research about the problems I've experienced and it appears cars made from 1997 experienced malfunctioning ignition switches. My key will not start my engine and has gotten stuck inside the cylinder many times. I just replaced the battery as well due to my vehicle stalling when I turn it on. There should be no reason other than the faulty machinery that's giving me all this trouble. Many of the people who have this make, model, and year have expirenced these exact issues. I believe you guys have issued a recall which is why I'm informing the company. Hopefully you can help. Thank you .
Recalls on the 1997 model year
NHTSA has issued 2 recall campaigns covering the 1997 Acura TL, affecting an estimated 21,133 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover power train:automatic transmission and suspension:front:control arm:lower ball joint. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
One caution about reading these together: a recall usually raises the complaint count for the same part, because owners who read about it go and file. The mileages stay informative; the counts get noisy.
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
96,518 vehicles 1999-08-19- Defect
- Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. A transmission case bolt can loosen and fall out allowing the transmission to disengage from the differential.
- Consequence
- The vehicle could lose power to the drive wheels without warning. Also, shifting the transmission into the park position would not lock the wheels, and a parked vehicle could move unexpectedly if the parking brake is not set.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install a redesigned bolt.
SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT
124,875 vehicles 1999-05-10- Defect
- Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. Certain vehicles were manufactured with ball joints that can prematurely wear out and, in the worse case, the ball joint would separate causing the front suspension to collapse.
- Consequence
- This condition would result in vehicle deceleration and a sudden loss of power. Also steering controllability would be reduced.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the front suspension lower ball joints.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 1997 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
Where 1997 sits in the model line
High risk for a 1997 — 140th riskiest of the 243 1997 vehicles we can rate. The comparison is always within the same model year, so an older car is never penalised for having had longer to break.
Across the 19 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 1998 comes out best at 59 and 2012 worst at 72, with 1997 itself at 62.
If the model year is negotiable, 1998 and 2007 score lower than 1997 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 1996–1998 generation specifically, 1998 is the strongest year at 59 and 1996 the weakest at 63.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 1996-1998 generation, 1998 Acura TL scores best at 59 and 1996 Acura TL worst at 63.
The limits of complaint data
29 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 29 reports, 9 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 31% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 1997 Acura TL?
The most-reported failures are other electrical problem (6 reports, median 85,000 miles), no-start or intermittent start failure (3 reports, median 120,000 miles) and other speed control problem (3 reports). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 1997 Acura TL reliable?
It scores 62 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 140th riskiest of the 243 1997 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 1997 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Acura TL is best?
Within the 1996–1998 generation, 1998 scores best at 59 out of 100 and 1996 worst at 63. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed