Most common 2005 Acura RL problems
Share of the 125 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Acura RL complaints by model year
Best RL years: 2012, 2003, 2011. Years to avoid: 2005, 2000, 2002, 2006. Compare all years →
2005 Acura RL recalls (11)
Air bags › Frontal › Driver side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013 Acura ILX, 2015 RDX, 2005-2010 and 2012 RL, 2009-2014 TL, 2010 and 2012 ZDX, 2007-2011 CR-V, 2011-2013 and 2015 CR-Z, 2009-2013 Fit, 2013 Fit EV, 2010-2011 and 2013 Insight and 2007-2014 Ridgeline vehicles.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 12, 2019. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2012 RL, 2003-2007 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2007-2008 Fit, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, and 2006-2014 Ridgeline vehicles.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal airbag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 12, 2019. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2005-2006 Acura MDX and Honda CR-V vehicles, 2005-2011 Honda Element vehicles, 2005-2012 Acura RL vehicles, 2006-2012 Honda Ridgeline vehicles, 2007-2008 Honda Fit vehicles and 2005-2008 Honda Pilot vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California,…
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall bagan March 2017. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2003-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2011 Acura RL, 2005-2006 Honda CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2007-2008 Fit, 2003-2008 Pilot, 2002-2004 Odyssey, and 2006-2011 Ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or that have ever been registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia,…
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began June 27, 2016. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Air bags › Frontal › Driver side › Inflator module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2007-2011 Honda CR-V, 2011-2015 CR-Z, 2010-2014 FCX, and Insight, 2009-2013 Fit, 2013-2014 Fit EV, 2007-2014 Ridgeline, 2013-2016 Acura ILX, 2013-2014 Acura ILX Hybrid, 2007-2016 RDX, 2005-2012 Acura RL, 2009-2014 Acura TL, and 2010-2013 Acura ZDX vehicles.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the inflator, free of charge. The recall began March 2017. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.
Air bags
American Honda Motor Co. (Honda) is recalling certain model year 2001-2005 Honda Civic, 2003-2004 Civic CNG and Element, 2002-2005 CR-V, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2005 Accord, Pilot, Civic Hybrid, and Acura MDX, 2005 Acura RL and 2006 Honda Ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in geographic locations associated…
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger side air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began January 26, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-800-999-1009.
Show 5 more recalls
Air bags
American Honda Motor Company, Inc.'s (Honda) is conducting a limited regional recall for certain model year 2003-2005 Accord, Civic, CR-V, Pilot and Acura MDX, model year 2003-2004 Odyssey and Element, and model year 2005 Acura RL, and 2006 Honda Ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or ever registered in California, and equipped…
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the inflators in all affected vehicles, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during August 2014. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-800-999-1009.
Traction control system
Honda is recalling certain model year 2005 Pilot vehicles manufactured July 29, 2004, through August 29, 2005; model year 2005-2006 Acura MDX vehicles manufactured September 16, 2004, through September 22, 2005; and model year 2005 Acura RL vehicles manufactured March 1, 2004, through June 29, 2005.
Remedy: Owners will be notified and instructed to take their vehicles to a dealer of their respective brand. The dealer will install a partial wiring harness containing a capacitor for the VSA modulator, free of charge.
Service brakes, hydraulic › Foundation components › Master cylinder
Honda is recalling certain model year 2005-2007 odyssey and Acura rl vehicles. Brake fluid containing polymers is used that acts as a lubricant for certain brake system components. If replacement brake fluid is used that does not contain such polymers, or that contains only small amounts, a part of the rubber seal located at…
Remedy: Dealers will replace the brake master cylinder seal free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during December 2010. Owners May contact Honda at 1-800-999-1009.
Steering › Hydraulic power assist › Hose, piping, and connections
On certain passenger vehicles, prolonged high under-hood temperatures May cause the power steering hose to deteriorate prematurely causing the hose to crack and leak power steering fluid.
Remedy: Dealers will install a new heat resistant power steering hose free of charge. The recall began on December 12, 2007. Owners May contact Honda at 800-382-2238.
Fuel system, gasoline › Delivery › Fuel pump
On certain vehicles, a coil wire inside the fuel pump relay May break, causing the fuel pump to lose power. If the fuel pump becomes inoperative, the engine May not start.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the fuel pump relay free of charge. The recall began on April 2, 2007. Owners May contact Honda at 1-800-999-1009.
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into 3 possible defects involving the 2005 Acura RL:
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag…
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag…
Vehicle Stability Assist Malfunction
On March 14, 2013, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (Honda) submitted a Defect Information Report to NHTSA identifying a defect in the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) system in approximately 183,576 model year (MY) 2005 Honda Pilot, Acura RL and MY 2005-2006 Acura MDX vehicles (NHTSA Recall No 13V-092).The population and failure counts provided pertain only to the MY 2005 Honda Pilots that were the subject of this…
What 2005 Acura RL owners say
Lights all 49 →
One night while driving the driver's side headlight began flickering constantly and the afs light was illuminated and has been steadily on since then, whenever my headlights are in operation. Also, the headlight went dark. This began when the car was in motion heading from a rural area into a more populated one. I was able to turn the lights on and off very quickly and the headlight was illuminated. However. This is extremely dangerous and looks illegal from a law enforcement point of view. Every since then I have had issues with intermittent operational headlights. One of them will flicker constantly and more often than not, turn off completely. Also, the afs doesn't work so my headlights no longer shift when I turn. In addition to myself, I have read several forums where this has been happening to owners of this same generation RL. …
2005 Acura RL, headlights have flickered since purchase in 2005, have reported this over the past 9-10 years corporately and to the local Acura dealers, Acura of pleasanton and Acura of the desert. This has now become a safety issue, flickering lights now turn off at night in the dark while in motion creating a driving hazard for both the occupants of the Acura and any surrounding vehicles. This is a common problem with the 2005 Acura RL according to numerous online blogs and sites. Acura continues to ignore and refuses to assume responsibility. Please intervene on behalf of current 2005 Acura RL owners, a fix or recall is necessary before some is killed or injured.
Air bags all 36 →
I bought the car there was no airbag light on it I was driving down my road and it just randomly turned on been on ever since. Sunnyside Acura Told me that the frontal driver side airbag was replaced in 2016, Then they told me that it would not be under recall because they pretty much said they had already fixed it but the problem had occurred. They said it was done it 2016 the air bag should last the life of the vehicle. I was doing some research on Kelley Blue Book I had noticed that there is a campaign number and it sounds exactly like they issue that I was occurring that Acura told me and charged me $189 for diagnosis and told be about 2K to replace airbag . …
Tl* Takata recall. The contact owns a 2005 Acura RL. The contact stated that the air bag warning indicator intermittently illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 16V061000, 16V344000 (air bags), and 13V092000 (service brakes, hydraulic, traction control system). The parts needed for the repair were not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 174,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available and parts distribution disconnect.
Electrical system
Small electric fire in driver side door panel melted all the way through outside door handle . After this happened to me I looked through forums and this seems to be a common issue with this car and there has been no recall for this issue . Very unsafe
When trying to use keyless access system when locking the 2005 Acura RL I press the button on the door handle to lock the doors but it is not locking the car. The remote is in my pocket. The keyless access does let me unlock the door with the pull on the driver door handle. The problem is when trying to lock the vehicle with the driver door handle it will not lock the car. So now I have to just use the keyfob to lock the car with pressing the lock button on the remote. I have read and done all required to do what the manual says but it is still not working. I have just read a service bulletin saying that there is a problem with the door handles that weather like rain or moisture has gotten inside and damaged the door handle sensors.
2005 Acura RL engines & fuel economy
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | MPG city / hwy / combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5L 6-cyl | 5-speed automatic | 4WD/AWD | 16 / 24 / 19 |
EPA ratings. Class: Midsize car.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2005 Acura RL a good car?
Based on 125 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2005 RL rates avoid: 6.5× as many complaints as a typical year of the RL at the same age. It is one of the RL years we suggest avoiding. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 2005 Acura RL?
The lights — 49 complaints, 39% of all complaints for this model year, most often about headlights. Next are the air bags (36) and electrical system (18).
How many recalls does the 2005 Acura RL have?
There are 11 recalls for the 2005 Acura RL, the most recent from June 27, 2019 (inflator module). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Acura RL?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2012, 2003 and 2011. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 2005, 2000, 2002 and 2006. See the full Acura RL years comparison.
At what mileage do 2005 Acura RL problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 73,000 miles; 26% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.