Vehicle Data Hub

2003 Acura TL transmission problems

180 complaints about transmission have been filed for the 2003 Acura TL, which is 39% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
180 39% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
69,000 miles 158 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
5 and 1
Injuries and deaths
7 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When transmission problems show up

Transmission complaints by mileage, 2003 Acura TL Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 69,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 23 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 24 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 23 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 27 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 27 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 20 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 10 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 2 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 2 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 0 complaints 200k+ miles: 0 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 69,000 miles
Based on 158 complaints that include mileage. 44% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles23
20k to 40k miles24
40k to 60k miles23
60k to 80k miles27
80k to 100k miles27
100k to 120k miles20
120k to 140k miles10
140k to 160k miles2
160k to 180k miles2
180k to 200k miles0
200k+ miles0

What the data shows

Of the 158 transmission complaints that report mileage, the median is about 69,000 miles, and 44% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 5 crashes, 1 fire, 7 injuries.

What owners wrote

I started the acura 3.2tl type s at 6:45am, the acura had not been started or driven the previous 14 hours. Engaged transmission in reverse, the gear locked up and rapidly accelerated backward and at the same time a fire started in the engine compartment, I managed to stop the acura after 30 feet where I was on and off my parking area at my house.

Reported at 42,000 miles, January 2005 FireInjury

I was driving from ossining, ny to takoma park , md , 260 miles on I95 when at 70 MPH smoke started coming out of the exhaust and the engine compartment. The tachometer went up to 7000 rpms. I was using cruise control. I immediately touched the brake pedal to release the cruise control. However, I had no power from the transmission. I was fortunately able to coast to the right side shoulder from the left most lane of the highway and call onstar.

Reported at 107,800 miles, April 2007

Other problems reported for the 2003 Acura TL

Transmission problems in other years

Transmission problems across all Acura models