The 1988 Acura Legend has 2 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 3,799,088 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 42 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the vehicle speed control. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
SEAT BELTS95V1030011995-05-243,700,000 affected
Defect
THE FRONT SAFETY BELT BUCKLE RELEASE BUTTONS CAN BREAK. THESE RED PLASTIC RELEASE BUTTONS ARE MARKED "PRESS." IF A BUTTON BREAKS, PIECES CAN FALL INTO THE BUCKLE ASSEMBLY CAUSING THE BUCKLE TO OPERATE IMPROPERLY.
Consequence
THE SAFETY BELTS WOULD NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION TO AN OCCUPANT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
Remedy
OWNERS SHOULD PROMPTLY CHECK THE CONDITION AND OPERATION OF BOTH FRONT SAFETY BELT BUCKLES. CAREFULLY INSPECT THE RED RELEASE BUTTON FOR ANY BREAKS OR CRACKS. CHECK THAT BOTH BUCKLES ARE OPERATING PROPERLY BY INSERTING EACH LATCH PLATE INTO ITS BUCKLE, TUG ON THE BELT TO MAKE SURE THE LATCH IS SECURELY LOCKED, THEN…
EQUIPMENT87V1710001987-10-2999,088 affected
Defect
OWNERS MANUAL INFORMATION REQUIRED BY FMVSS 210, SECTIONS 6A AND 6B WAS OMITTED FROM THE MANUAL.
Consequence
VEHICLES MANUAL INFORMATION DOES NOT COMPLY WITH FMVSS210.
Remedy
UPGRADE EXISTING MANUALS BY INSERTING ADHESIVE BACKED CORRECTION PAGES.
Complaints by component
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
12
7crashes10injuries
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
4
1crashes
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“Gingerbread factory national fedration newspaper employee. Projectory math musuem”
“Tl* the contact owns a 1988 acura legend. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse out of a parking space, the transmission was not able to be engaged in reverse. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the…”
“I experienced sudden violent full acceleration with a 1988 acura legend, which resulted in a crash into a building, and a very badly broken leg for me. I have been made aware of possibly thousands of complaints of the same problem with the 1986-1988 acura legend, and am sure there must be…”
“I experienced sudden violent full acceleration with a 1988 acura legend, which resulted in a crash into a building, and a very badly broken leg for me. I have been made aware of possibly thousands of complaints of the same problem with the 1986-1988 acura legend, and am sure there must be…”
“When the gear was shifted from park to drive, the vehicle suddenly accelerated which caused the consumer to lose control of the vehicle and hit a wall. *jb”
“On feb 3, 2003, I was backing out of driveway and put car in reverse, I could not stop the car no matter how much pressure I put on the brakes. The car back up on the sidewalk in front of my house, into my neighbors fence, which caused fence to break in several places. *jb”
“Belt webbing failed. Safety belt failure was investigated by officer elrod. Point of contact: california highway patrol, central division multidisciplinary accident investigation team, attention: officer mike sedam, [REDACTED] ext. 234 case #cl-008-00. *ak”
“Coolant was leaking out of the engine. Also, transmission oil was leaking/fuel injectors were leaking gasoline, and engine head gasket was leaking oil. *ak”
Defect investigations
InvestigationDP88005 Opened 1987-11-10 · closed 1988-03-08
SUDDEN ACCELERATION
There is no summary currently available
InvestigationEA88026 Opened 1988-03-08 · closed 1991-01-10
SUDDEN ACCELERATION
SUMMARY OF INFORMATION FROM MANUFACTURER:UNDER DP88-005 AMERICAN HONDAPROVIDED THE STATISTICS GIVEN ABOVE.HONDA ALSO VERIFIED THAT THE POWER-TRAIN INSTALLED IN THE ACCURA LEGEND IS ALSO SOLD TO AUSTIN ROVER AND USEDIN THE STERLING VEHICLE.A NUMBER OF THE COMPLAINTS REPORTED DIRECTLY TOHONDA HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATED BY…
InvestigationEA94035 Opened 1994-10-27 · closed 1995-07-31
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1988 Acura Legend as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.