The 1997 Acura TL has 2 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 221,393 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 29 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the electrical system. Last updated July 5, 2026.
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. A TRANSMISSION CASE BOLT CAN LOOSEN AND FALL OUT ALLOWING THE TRANSMISSION TO DISENGAGE FROM THE DIFFERENTIAL.
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.
DEALERS WILL INSTALL A REDESIGNED BOLT.
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.
THIS CONDITION WOULD RESULT IN VEHICLE DECELERATION AND A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER. ALSO STEERING CONTROLLABILITY WOULD BE REDUCED.
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINTS.
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.
“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…”
“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…”
“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…”
“My 1997 acura tl 2.5 spontaneously burst into flames in the area of the starter. This was clearly an electrical problem. *tr”
“My 1997 acura tl has been acting up. It would stall periodically without any warning (I.e when I was going on the highway, the car ran just fine; but all the sudden I lose power and the car stall. It also happen when I took the inside road.) when I tried to restarted the car. It wouldn't started.…”
“Dt: there was heavy rain the night before the incident occurred. The vehicle was parked in driveway when the consumer got up and went to get in the car and found that the driver's side door, driver side dash , and driver side seat had burned. The floorboard was damaged by dripping plastic. The…”
“1997 acura 3.2 tl faulty airbag. My acura recently displayed a srs error. I brought the car into radley acura in falls church where they told me that a potentially faulty airbag is not covered by acura and that to have the airbag replaced to prevent it from either deploying randomly or not…”
“1997 acura 3.2 tl faulty airbag. My acura recently displayed a srs error. I brought the car into radley acura in falls church where they told me that a potentially faulty airbag is not covered by acura and that to have the airbag replaced to prevent it from either deploying randomly or not…”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1997 Acura TL as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.