"How reliable is the 1996 Acura Rl?"

"Based on 26 NHTSA complaints, the 1996 Acura Rl has a median complaint mileage of 144000 miles. The most common issue is VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS."

"What are common problems with the 1996 Acura Rl?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1996 Acura Rl is VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS, accounting for a significant portion of the 26 total complaints filed."

1996 Acura Rl: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 26 complaints

Total Complaints

144,000mi

Median Mileage

VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

100,000 25th Percentile

144,000 Median Mileage

179,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:LEVER AND LINKAGE:COLUMN SHIFT

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

POWER TRAIN

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

STRUCTURE:BODY:DOOR:HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS

SERVICE BRAKES, AIR:ANTILOCK:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"SPEEDOMETER DEFECTIVE."

"ENGINE BLEW UP AS CONSUMER WAS DRIVING VEHICLE. WILL SEND IN MORE INFORMATION. *AK"

"THE CONSUMER HAS A RECALL LETTER FOR THE TRANSMISSION/RANSFER CASE. UPON CONTACTING THE DREALER CONSUMER WAS TOLD THAT THERE WERE NO REPLACEMENT PARTS, AND COULD NOT BE ADVISED ON WHEN THERE WOULD BE. MFR RECALL #K68. *AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP 5 complaints

Median: 144,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

TX: 4 GA: 3 VA: 3 NY: 2 MD: 2 WA: 2 FL: 2 MN: 1 IL: 1 CA: 1

Who Files Complaints?

15.4%

Original Owners

84.6%

Second+ Owners

Acura Rl — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1997	24	145,000	SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT	2
1999	26	81,395	AIR BAGS	0
2000	79	77,000	AIR BAGS	6
2002	54	81,000	AIR BAGS	1
2005	152	73,000	EXTERIOR LIGHTING	4
2006	39	48,000	AIR BAGS	3
2007	23	34,750	AIR BAGS	1

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28