2003 Acura Rsx: Reliability Data

30
Total Complaints
60,250mi
Median Mileage
POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION
Top Issue
3
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

12,700 25th Percentile
60,250 Median Mileage
81,500 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION
5
AIR BAGS
5
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
3
POWER TRAIN
3
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
2
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
2
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY:SOLENOID
1
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
1
STEERING:HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM
1
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:PADS
1

Severity Assessment

3
Crashes
0
Fires
4
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"MY ACURA RSX TYPE S WAS PARKED IN A LOCAL WAL-MART PARKING LOT. IT WAS IN FIRST GEAR. AFTER MY WIFE AND I WENT INSIDE, OUR CAR ROLLED BACKWARDS THROUGH THE ENTIRE PARKING LOT, DOWN AN EMBANKMENT AND UP ON A CURB IN ANOTHER LOWER PARKING AREA. FORTUNATELY, THE CAR DID NOT HIT ANY PERSON, CAR, OR C..."
"VEHICLE: 2003 ACURA RSX-TYPE S WITH 6 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION. WITH ONLY 7,940 MILES AND 9 MONTHS OLD, THE TRANSMISSION IS BLOCKING OR GRINDING 1-2 AND 2-3 SHIFTS. THIS IS HAZARDOUS WHEN YOU ARE PULLING THROUGH AN INTERSECTION TRYING TO ENGAGE 2ND GEAR AND YOU CAN NOT GET THE TRANS INTO 2ND. IT..."
"EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE (ABOUT ONCE A WEEK) MY TRANSMISSION POPS OUT OF 3RD GEAR IN MY TYPE-S AFTER I PUSH IT ALL THE WAY FORWARD. I TOOK IT TO MY DEALER TO HAVE IT LOOKED AT AND THEY CONFIRMED THAT IT WAS POPPING OUT BUT I WAS TOLD IT WOULD GO AWAY. UNFORTUNATELY, IT HAS NOT GONE AWAY AND IT IS VERY..."

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.

POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION 5 complaints
Median: 7,940 mi
AIR BAGS 5 complaints
Median: 45,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 9 NJ: 5 PA: 4 IL: 2 NC: 2 OH: 1 VA: 1 MA: 1 FL: 1 NV: 1

Who Files Complaints?

43.3%
Original Owners
56.7%
Second+ Owners

Acura Rsx — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
2002909
2005383
2006285

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