2007 Acura RL problems & reliability
20 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2007 Acura RL, alongside 7 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
1 complaint report injuries (1 injured).
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Air Bags | 7 | 35% |
| Unknown OR Other | 3 | 15% |
| Electrical System | 2 | 10% |
| Engine | 2 | 10% |
| Exterior Lighting | 2 | 10% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 2 | 10% |
| Equipment | 1 | 5% |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 1 | 5% |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 1 | 5% |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 1 | 5% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“My RL 2007 had battery fire incident on 3/19. Car started smoke and fire after 5 min parked outside restaruant. RL was totaled.”
Unknown OR Other · filed Apr 21, 2026
“SH-AWD will randomly come on and I’ll lose power suddenly as it switches from awd to front wheel drive. It can be scary especially if you are accelerating to get up to speed for the freeway or trying to take a quick left hand turn. The whole car shutters while the awd kicks off. It happens randomly, it has probably…”
Power Train · filed Mar 11, 2026
“At low speed while driving on a parking lot of a local supermarket. The Car surged without accelerator being pressed , causing an unintended acceleration that was dangerous to pedestrians. No check engine or other safety information was displayed.”
Engine · filed Jan 27, 2026
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
71 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2007 Acura RL. The 10 most recent:
Service Bulletin - Warranty Extension: Customer Support Program For Front Passenger's Airbag Inflator.
B18-023 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 30, 2026
Service Bulletin - Warranty Extension: Customer Support Program For Driver's Airbag Inflator for 2013-14 ILX Hybrid and Other Listed Years and Models.
B18-020 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 28, 2026
Service News - The navigation clock and date are incorrect. This is due to a limited GPS receiver capacity resulting in rollover of internal chip memory. The rollover occurred on January 1, 2022 at 12:00AM local time
B23040A · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 17, 2023
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
B18-020 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 8, 2022
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
B18-020 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 1, 2022
ServiceNews Article - The clock shows the incorrect time. This issue is due to a limited GPS receiver capacity resulting in "rollover" of the internal chip memory; the "rollover" will occur on January 1, 2022, at…
B21120A · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 25, 2022
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
B20-010 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
B20-006 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
B18-020 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 11, 2019
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
B18-025 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 7, 2018
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2007 Acura RL has 7 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2007 Acura RL?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.