Owners have filed 17 complaints on the Acura Vigor, covering 1992–1994. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (4 reports). Worst years by volume: 1992, 1993, 1994; cleanest: 1994, 1993, 1992. 4 reports describe a crash, 3 a fire. On average the car was 6.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Acura Vigor
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 17 Vigor complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 4 Read
Cambearing failed, causing camshaft to break, also camshaft made of cast aluminum instead of steel
Camshaft seized, snaping the timing belt
Engine seized and vehicle came to a standstill while driving on turnpike
Air Bags 3 Read
No deployment of driver's side air bag during a head-on collision, resulting injury
Accident occurred, no deployment of air bag
Vehicle air bag working; 1 month later, air bag warning light came on; cruise control & horn don't work, elec. Short; dealer won't repair problems after 30 days. Mechanic informed cable rail/frame broken from previous accident & no air bag
Visibility 2 Read
Driver's power window control shorted, causing fire
Electrical short in the drivers door caused fire
Service Brakes 2 Read
1992 acura vigor gs we are filing this complaint with you, so that you may add it to any others that may have already been filed. Our daughter has been driving this vehicle since we bought it for her in the fall of 2002. She has experienced problems with her brakes for all those years. This problem may have…
While driving 15 to 20 mph and with no prior warning brake pedal went to floor. When trying to stop vehicle, had to use emergency brakes. Contacted dealer. *ak
Back Over Prevention 1 Read
Consumer car was stolen from under her window the car alarm did not go off car was being chase by police and hit wall the air bag didn't deploy. Tt
Structure 1 Read
During vehicle operation the arm rest on the driver's side caught on fire. The power windows were up at the time.*ak electrical short in driver's door, consumer received second degree burns on three fingers
Wheels 1 Read
Wheel material is "delaminating" on all wheels causing tire seal to fail
Steering 1 Read
While driving over any kind of bumpy surface/uneven pavement/ left turn or right turn, the steering wheel shakes and rattles. Manufacturer has diagnosed the problem as a steering rack rattle. The problem has not been corrected
Vigor years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Steering | — | — | |
| 1993 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1992 | Air Bags | 4 | 3 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 14 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.2 |
| Worst single series | 3 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.1 years |
A model average of 1.2 hides a worst series at 3. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Vigor?
By complaint volume, 1992, 1993, 1994 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Vigor years are the cleanest?
1994, 1993, 1992 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Acura Vigor have?
17 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1992–1994. Of those, 4 describe a crash and 3 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.