My 2003 3.2cls Acura had an airbag recall in in 2016. My vehicle was supposedly repaired at this time. However, recently my SRS light has been on requiring me to take my car to an Acura dealer. The dealer believes my steering wheel air bag has a faulty air inflator, which they claim is out of warranty and may require me to pay $3000 to repair. I do not understand how the manufacturer of the airbag/inflator can avoid repairing this. Shouldn't an airbag last longer than 8 years? What if everyone had to replace their airbags every eight years?
Acura CL airbag light comes on
27 of the 586 owner complaints about the Acura CL describe airbag warning light, most of them for the 2001 model year.
- owner complaints
- 27
- worst model year
- 2001
- typical repair cost reported
- $500
- typical mileage
- 120,000
Is there a fix? There are 5 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
I have an SRS light illuminated on my dashboard. Upon researching this, it is apparently a sensor issue which, when the light is on, indicates that the sensor in the seat - belt is malfunctioning, and this will keep the air bags from deploying. This of course is a serious safety issue. Also, in reviewing the warranty information, it states that all seat-belt issues are under a lifetime warranty. I'm wondering if you could provide confirmation of this. Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) Randal Steadman
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2002 acura cl. The contact stated the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed the front driver air bag needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been diagnosed nor repaired. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 20v027000 (air bags). The contact stated that keyes woodland hills honda (6111 topanga canyon blvd, woodland hills, ca 91367), exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The part was not available for the repair. Parts distribution disconnect. The failure mileage was 260,878.
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 acura cl. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 20v027000 (air bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount time for the recall repair. The contact stated that the air bag warning light illuminated intermittently. The vehicle was taken to gettle acura located at (4891 clark rd, sarasota, fl 34233, (941) 343-5700) where it was confirmed that the part was not available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact was informed that remedy part would be available in a year. The approximate failure mileage was 150,455. Vin tool confirms parts unavailable.
I noticed an SRS light on every time after I start the engine and the engine mounting are broken and lose..
Acura says they guarantee all parts of the safety belt for the use of a lifetime of the car. Car has 120000 miles on it. I have intermittent buckling issues and SRS airbag switch is bad inside a sealed safety belt. Could easily be remedied if it wasn't a sealed unit. They say they won't fix it because it's a canadian car even though it's spent 100% of its owned life in the united states. They want an excessive amount of money, over $400 to fix it. I feel my safety is being held hostage by this excessive amount and I can't even do it myself because my electric seats won't work if I try, only factory software can reset them so they work. I know this is a known problem but I don't understand why I'm being discriminated against because I have a canadian made car. I know they have to pass all the same production regulations for safety to enter the united states whether they're made in canada or here. What I'm really hoping for is that the government would try to put a stop to this corporate greed of engineering products poorly and not following through with a fix and trying to profit off of people that don't have that much money. I would be willing to pay for this fix if they would provide it at a fair price. The safety belt probably cost them no more than $20 but by the time everyone makes their profit and it comes to me and then add the labor together we're over $400 to have my safety back when they say that they guarantee their safety belts for life in the united states. It is in my owner's manual, and you can find this information online. I was hoping that they would be issued a major fine to make it so they don't treat other customers this way as well. I know there are probably reasons to seal a safety belt so that it is not tampered with but they used to make specialty tools so we could be accessed easily for cleaning and changing of these inexpensive switches.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 acura cl. When the vehicle was started, the "SRS" warning indicator illuminated and remained lit all day. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing, but an appointment was scheduled with goodson acura of dallas (4801 lemmon ave, dallas, tx 75219) for september 11, 2019. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.
The SRS light came on due to a faulty passenger seat belt buckle switch which will render the airbags in operable in a crash. Looks like I'm not the only one with this same problem and you guys haven't done anything. The dealer wants to charge my $300 to get it fixed.
Car passed inspection in january, SRS came on
The air bag light keeps coming on for no reason. Go to the dealer to get it checked and there is no code for the airbag. The light will stay off until I hit any bump in road. I was on the interstate when it comes on and in town when it has come on for no reason.
Related recalls
Air bags: frontal: driver side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2001-2002 Acura 3.2CL, 2000-2003 Acura 3.5RL, 2000-2001 Acura 3.2TL, Honda CR-V and Honda Odyssey, 2001-2002 Acura MDX and 2000 Accord Coupe, Accord Sedan, Civic Coupe, and Civic Sedan vehicles. These vehicles may have received a replacement driver frontal air bag module as part of a vehicle repair. Due to a manufacturing issue, the replacement NADI inflator may absorb moisture, causing the inflator to rupture or the air bag cushion to underinflate.
- Risk
- In the event of a crash necessitating air bag deployment, an inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants. An underinflated air bag cushion may not properly protect the occupant. These scenarios increase the risk of serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the air bags in the vehicles, replacing the driver frontal air bag inflator with an inflator of a different design, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began October 1, 2020. Owners may contact American Honda's Customer Support & Campaign Center at 1‑888‑234‑2138.
Recall number 20V027000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: driver side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 1998 Acura 2.2CL, 1998-1999 Acura 2.3CL, 1998-1999 Acura 3.0CL, 2001 Acura 3.2CL and Acura MDX, 1998-2000 Honda Accord Coupe, Accord Sedan, Civic Sedan, Odyssey and Acura 3.5RL, 1999-2000 Acura 3.2TL, 1996-2000 Civic Coupe, 1997-2000 CR-V, 1997-1998 EV Plus, and 1998-1999 Isuzu Oasis vehicles. These vehicles were equipped with Non-Azide Driver air bag Inflators (NADI) and do not contain phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. Due to a manufacturing issue, the NADI inflators may absorb moisture, causing the inflators to rupture or the air bag cushion to underinflate.
- Risk
- In the event of a crash necessitating air bag deployment, an inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants. An underinflated air bag cushion may not properly protect the occupant. These scenarios increase the risk of serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the driver frontal air bag inflator, and replace it if necessary, with an inflator of a different design, free of charge. The recall began October 1, 2020. Owners may contact American Honda's Customer Support & Campaign Center at 1‑888‑234‑2138 or Isuzu customer service at 1‑800‑255‑6727.
Recall number 20V026000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: driver side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2002-2003 3.2TL, 2003-2006 MDX, 2001-2007 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot and 2006 Ridgeline vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with driver frontal air bag inflators assembled as a recall remedy part or replacement service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
- Risk
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- 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. Honda's numbers for this recall are Q5A and Y58.
Recall number 19V499000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: driver side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling specific 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2013-2016 ILX, 2013-2014 ILX Hybrid, 2003-2006 MDX, 2007-2016 RDX, 2002-2003 3.2TL, 2004-2006, and 2009-2014 TL, 2010-2013 ZDX and 2001-2007 and 2009 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2007 and 2010-2011 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2007 Fit, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, and 2006-2014 Ridgeline vehicles. The affected vehicles received a replacement driver air bag inflator as part of a previous Takata inflator recall remedy or a replacement driver air bag module containing the same inflator type as a service part. Due to a manufacturing error, in the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver frontal air bag, these inflators may explode.
- Risk
- An explosion of an inflator within the driver frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver, front seat passenger or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began April 10, 2019. Honda owners may contact customer service at 1‑888‑234‑2138. Honda's number for this recall is O41. Acura owners may contact customer service at 1‑888‑234‑2138. Acura's number for this recall is U40.
Recall number 19V182000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: driver side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2001-2007 Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2001-2004 Honda Civic GX, 2003-2005 Honda Civic Hybrid, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, 2006 Ridgeline, 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2003-2006 Acura MDX, and 2002-2003 Acura 3.2TL vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion and other factors, including manufacturing variability that, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.
- Risk
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on July 1, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1‑888‑234‑2138. Owners may contact Acura customer service at 1‑800‑382‑2238, select option 4. Note: Vehicles that have had their driver frontal air bag replaced previously as part of a recall remedy prior to September 12, 2014 need to have their air bag replaced under this recall as well. Vehicles that, on or after September 12, 2014, received a remedy for a prior driver frontal air bag inflator recall already received an inflator of a different design, and therefore are not included in this recall and do not require additional servicing. Note: This recall fully supersedes recalls 08V‑593, 09V‑259, 10V‑041, 11V‑260, 14V‑351 and 15V‑153. Honda's numbers for this recall are JQ9, JR0, JR1, JR2, JR3, JR4, JR5, JR6, JR7, and JR8.
Recall number 15V320000 · Recall details
Questions about the Acura CL airbag light
Why does the airbag light come on in the Acura CL?
Owners who report it most often also describe seat belt won't latch or retract, complete transmission failure and transmission slipping.
Which Acura CL years have airbag warning light problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2001 (16 complaints), 1997 (5 complaints) and 2003 (3 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix airbag warning light on the Acura CL?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $500 (median of 7 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used Acura CL?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history