There are 5 owner-reported electrical system complaints for the 2004 Acura RLin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
I TRIED STARTING MY CAR AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, MY BATTERY WENT DEAD. ALL THE GADGETS ON MY DASH AND NOT ONE COULD TELL ME MY BATTERY WAS DYING OR LOW ON CHARGE. SO I CALL AAA AND THEY REPLACE THE BATTERY AND ALL OF A SUDDEN MY CAR IS WORKING BETTER AND MY AC IS WORKING BETTER. ALL THE TIMES I COMPLAINED TO THE ACURA DEALERSHIP THAT MY AC WAS NOT COOLING PROPERLY IN THIS FLORIDA HEAT AND THEY CHECK IT AND THEY TELL ME IT'S WORKING JUST FINE. ALL OF A SUDDEN, I GET A NEW BATTERY AND MY AC IS WORKING MUCH BETTER AND NOW MY CAR IS REALLY COOLING DOWN. NO WARNING LIGHT CAME ON TELLING ME LOW BATTERY. A CAR WITH ALL THESE ELECTRONICS AND NO WARNING AND THE ACURA DEALERSHIP IN DELRAY BEACH CHECKED IT OUT NUMEROUS TIME AND DID NOT KNOW THAT THE AC WAS NOT FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY BECAUSE THE CAR NEEDED A NEW BATTERY. SHAME ON ACURA. *TR
I PARKED THE CAR AND TURNED OFF THE IGNITION. THE LIGHTS ON THE DASH BLINKED RIGHT AFTER TURNING OFF THE CAR. I KNEW I HAD A PROBLEM BECAUSE THE DOOR LOCKS WOULDN'T WORK. I TRIED TO RE-ENGAGE THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM TO OPEN THE DOOR LOCKS, BUT THE CAR WAS TOTALLY ELECTRICALLY DEAD. I TRIED A COUPLE MORE TIMES TO START THE CAR, BUT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I SAT IN THE CAR A COUPLE MINUTES WITHOUT TOUCHING ANYTHING. I TRIED ONCE AGAIN TO START THE CAR AND IT WORKED. ALL THE RADIO AND NAV SYSTEM NEEDED TO BE RESET. THIS HAS OCCURRED 3 MORE TIMES OVER 3 MONTHS. EACH THE SAME WAY. AS I PARKED AND TURNED OFF THE IGNITION, IT BLINKED AND ELECTRICALLY FAILED. LAST TWO TIMES BEING ONLY 5 DAYS APART. SO IT'S HAPPENING MORE FREQUENTLY AND CLOSER TOGETHER. I HAD MY MECHANIC LOOK AT THE CAR. HE'D NEVER HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM AND HAD NO CLUE AS TO HOW OR WHY IT HAPPENED. HE EXAMINED THE WHOLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM AND FOUND NADA. SO FAR, IT HAS NOT RE-OCCURRED 3 WEEKS AFTER BEING LOOKED AT. FRUSTRATING, CONCERNING. *TR
THE DVD NAVIGATION SYSTEM IN THE RL IS BURNING OUT THE DVD DISK AND CAUSING THE NAVIGATION TO STOP WORKING. THE GPS LOCATOR ON THE SCREEN HAD MY VEHICLE NOWHERE NEAR THE ACTUAL LOCATION. THE NAVIGATION VOICE WOULD GIVE COMMAND TO MAKE A TURN WHERE NO ROAD EXISTED. I HAVE COME TO FIND OUT THAT THE FAILURE OF THE DVD DRIVE IN THE CAR IS A MORE COMMON EVENT AS I READ THE ACURA FORUMS. HTTP://TSX.ACURAZINE.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=676588. *TR
(10/18/12 APPROXIMATELY) THE ALARM SYSTEM WENT OFF RANDOMLY AND THE REMOTE FOB FAILED TO OPERATE. THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WAS CYCLING ON AND OFF AND THE DASHBOARD DISPLAY WOULD REMAIN LIT. IT WAS A STORMY NIGHT WHEN THIS HAPPENED SO I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST THE ALARM SENSOR BEING OVER SENSITIVE. THE FOLLOWING DAY THE VEHICLE RETURNED TO NORMAL. ON 1/29/13 THE VEHICLE ALARM ACTIVATED AGAIN RANDOMLY AND WAS ABLE TO BE RESET WITH THE KEYLESS FOB. ON THE MORNING OF 1/30/13 THE VEHICLE FOB FAILED TO LOCK OR UNLOCK THE VEHICLE. THE DASHBOARD DISPLAY LIGHTS WERE ON WITH NO KEY IN THE IGNITION. THE VEHICLE STARTED AND AFTER A 20 MINUTE DRIVE AND TURNING OFF THE ENGINE THE DASHBOARD LIGHT WENT OFF AS THE SHOULD. ON THE EVENING OF 1/30/13 THE VEHICLE KEYLESS ENTRY OPERATED CORRECTLY HAVING NOT FUNCTIONED EARLIER IN THE DAY. LATER ON THAT SAME EVENING (1/30/13) THE ALARM ACTIVATED. IT COULD NOT BE RESET BY THE KEYLESS FOB AND THE KEY NEEDED TO BE USED IN THE DOOR TO UNLOCK THE VEHICLE WHICH DEACTIVATED THE ALARM. THE VEHICLE WAS RE-LOCKED WITH THE KEY AND APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES LATER I WENT OUT AND THE HEADLIGHTS WERE ON AND THE ALARM WAS NOT SOUNDING. THE HEADLIGHTS WERE NOT FLASHING BUT REMAINED ON CONTINUOUSLY. I TURNED THE HEADLIGHT CONTROL FROM 'AUTO' TO 'OFF AND THE LIGHT TURN OFF BUT THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS REMAINED LIT. I ATTEMPTED TO START THE VEHICLE AND GOT NO RESPONSE. UPON INSPECTION OF THE FUSE BOX IN THE DRIVER WELL I FOUND WATER IN THE FUSE BOX AND A DRIP COMING FROM SATURATED INSULATION ABOVE. PRESSING ON THE INSULATION RESULT IN A FLOW OF WATER. A SIMILAR SITUATION DOCUMENTED IN THE ACURA SERVICE BULLETIN 98-028 MAY BED A SIMILAR PROBLEM NOW OCCURRING IN THE 2004 MODEL. ELECTRICAL FAILURES COULD CAUSE THE VEHICLE SYSTEMS TO SHUT DOWN OR MALFUNCTION DURING OPERATION RESULTING IN SERIOUS IF NOT FATAL INJURIES. *TR
NO SUMMARY. *AK
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026