1998 Acura CL problems
NHTSA has received 69 complaints about the 1998 Acura CL, and 26% of them involve electrical system. Next are air bags (12%) and suspension (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 69 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 26% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 3 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 95,000 miles 29 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 11 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 4 |
What the data shows
Of the 29 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 95,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 95,000 miles (11 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 3 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 6th most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Acura CL with enough data (15 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
While backing out of a parking space consumer's vehicle suddenly lurched forward hitting another vehicle and pedestrians. No warning.
While driving on an open stretch of highway, my 1998 acura 3.0cl began accelerating without me pushing down on the accelerator pedal. The car reached a speed of 95 MPH, and I could not stop it with the brakes, they were completely useless. I had to slam the transmission into park to make the car slow down. When the car began to slow down to 60 MPH I used the emergency brake to bring it to a stop. The engine was wound up at this point due to the accelerator still being stuck. I shut the engine off.
Smoke was observed coming from the engine compartment. Vehicle was stopped as the smoke intensified. The ensuing fire destroyed the vehicle. Drops of a petroleum product on the pavement leading to the vehicle indicate that a leaking fuel line may have been the cause of the fire.
Whiled driving between 25 to 30 mp consumer's vehicle rear ended a heavy truck. Upon impact, neither of the front air bags deployed.
The vehicle had a tendency to continue running after being turned off. The vehicle would also intermittently stall on the highway without warning. There was a technical service bulletin concerning this problem. The ignition switch would not turn off, even when the key was removed. The dealer would not take responsibility when they failed to replace the ignition switch.