Other suspension problem on the 2003 Acura TL
1 crash 1 of the 8 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other suspension problem gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Acura TL report other suspension problem at a median of 70,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 155,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 100,000 miles. It is the 13th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 170,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 125,500 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
13% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42,600 miles | 59,518 miles | 68,150 miles | 152,500 miles | 168,100 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 3 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2005, at a median of 35,000 miles, and latest on the 2003 at 70,000 miles.
By volume the 2004 carries the most reports, with 18; the 2003 has 8. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
2003 acura tl type-s experiencing excessive wear on only the driver's side front tire. Car was taken to an acura dealer for service. Upon inspection of the vehicle, the acura mechanic indicated that the problem has been seen previously on several other vehicles of the same make/model and that the problem was related to the traction control system (vsa) allowing slippage of the front driver's side tire during right turns. Acura stated that there was no resolution available and the only recourse was to rotate the tires on a more frequent basis. Tire dealer was asked if there were any known issues with the tire itself (michelin) and indicated that there were no service notifications issues from the manufacturer. The wear on this tire is heavily accelerated and was only noticed on a routine examination of the vehicle. Based on the statements by the acura mechanic, I believe there to be a problem with the traction control system that allows the front driver's side tire to slip, thereby causing the excessive wear. Given winter driving conditions, this slippage was increased due to the loss of road traction. If unnoticed, the tire would…
Tl*- the contact stated that while driving his 2003 acura 3.2 tl at 63000 failure milage at 30 MPH the front driver's side of the vehicle dropped. The driver steered the vehicle onto the side of the road. The vehicle had to be towed to the dealer. There had been no diagnosis as to the failure , and the vehicle had not been repaired. *ak
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 acura tl. While driving 40 MPH the vehicle down-shifted without any prior warnings. The vehicle was taken to a local repair facility, and a mechanic concluded that the gears in the transmission were slipping. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. The technician advised him that before repairs could be performed he would have to pay an $140.00 diagnostic fee. No repairs were made. The technician concluded that he would call the manufacturer to determine what recourse they would provide. The failure mileage was 63,300. Updated 11/06/09. *lj the ball joints were replaced. Updated 11/10/09
Also reported on the 2003 Acura TL
Other powertrain problem
Complete transmission failure
Airbag inflator rupture
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other speed control problem
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 8 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other suspension problem happen on the 2003 Acura TL?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 70,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 155,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other suspension problem on the 2003 Acura TL?
8 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
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