Acura NSX Reliability by Year

Based on 2M+ real complaints filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

20 NHTSA complaints (1991–2021).Complaint rate: 40.2 per 1,000 vehicles.

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Should I buy a Acura NSX?

Quick answer from 20 NHTSA complaints · 1991–2021

Acura NSX shows elevated crash or fire rates — buy with caution. 20.0% of reported complaints involved a crash — above the ~4% mainstream average. Most complaints relate to service brakes, hydraulic:antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip. Inspect carefully or consider a different model in the same class.

Best years to buy
Most common Acura NSX problem: Service Brakes, Hydraulic:Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip3 complaints (0.0% crash-involvement rate).

Keep scrolling for year-by-year complaint trends, recall campaigns, and component breakdowns — or click any year above for a full report.

Severity Score
642.6
Complaints
20
Crash Rate
20.0%
Fire Rate
0.0%
Injuries
0
Fatalities

Which Years to Buy & Avoid

Years auto-clustered by complaint volume relative to this model's median.

Rankings based on raw NHTSA complaint counts. Sales volume data not yet available for this model.

Bottom line: Avoid the 2017 Acura NSX. The 2001 models had significantly fewer reported issues. Most common issue across all years: Service Brakes, Hydraulic:antilock/traction Control/electronic Limited Slip.

Avoid These Years

2017
~9/yr complaints · 2 crashes

Average

1991
~4/yr complaints

Better Years

2001
~2/yr complaints
1992
~2/yr complaints
Looking at a specific Acura NSX?

A model's reputation is just the start.

Even within the “good” years, individual cars can have hidden accidents, title issues, or odometer rollbacks. Check the actual VIN before you buy — full history report for $4.99 (vs. Carfax $44.99).

Complaints by Model Year

NHTSA complaint count per model year

Common Acura NSX Problems

Most reported component complaints to NHTSA. Bar length = volume; color = crash-involvement rate.

Show full table
ComponentComplaintsCrash %
Service Brakes, Hydraulic:Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip30.0%
Fuel System20.0%
Brakes20.0%
Data Sources & Methodology

Complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation consumer complaint database (20 records for this model). Public domain data, updated monthly.

Sales data: Not yet available for this model. Complaint counts are shown as raw numbers.

Rate calculation: Complaints per 10,000 vehicles sold = (complaint count / US annual sales) x 10,000. This normalizes for sales volume so high-volume models like Civic or Camry aren't unfairly penalized.

Year classifications: AVOID = 1.5x+ the model's median complaint count. GOOD = 0.6x or below. Years less than 3 years old are marked TOO NEW (insufficient data).

See also: Acura NSXaccident & safety statistics from our vehicle history database.

Buying a Acura NSX?

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