Overview & Reviews

Acura is an upscale automaker known for offering cars with impressive levels of luxury, features and performance. It's come a long way in a short time, however, as the history of Acura is relatively brief. Parent company Honda introduced the Acura brand to the U.S. market in 1986 in an effort to create a separate luxury division for its products. At first, it was just a two-car show: the Legend sedan, which was the first true Japanese luxury car sold in America, and the Integra sport coupe and sedan.

Though essentially a marketing creation for the North American market, the Acura brand was immediately successful. Consumers liked the features, performance and upscale image of Acura cars, along with the fact that Acuras were backed by Honda's reputation for reliability and low ownership costs. In 1991, Acura introduced its crown jewel: the all-aluminum NSX sports car, which offered performance close to that of other exotic cars while undercutting them in price.

As Acura's product line grew in the 1990s, however, the company struggled a bit. Some of its products were duds, and it risked alienating loyal customers when it replaced the Legend and Integra names with alphanumeric designations. The company jumped on the hot luxury SUV bandwagon in the mid-'90s with the SLX. Unfortunately, the SLX was just a rebadged version of an Isuzu SUV, and its quality did not match customers' expectations.

For the new millennium, Acura revamped its product range. An all-new SUV called the MDX debuted, sporting numerous family-friendly features, including a third-row seat. The Integra was replaced with the RSX sport coupe, and an all-new entry-level sport sedan called the TSX was introduced after that. A complete redesign of its most popular model, the midsize TL sedan, followed, as did a redesign of its flagship RL luxury sedan.

By mid-decade the NSX was gone, but Acura filled out its model lineup with the street-performance-oriented RDX compact crossover, the TSX wagon and the ZDX, a fastback-styled crossover that placed unique styling over practicality. Today Acura is still trying to find its ideal niche but there's no denying the quality of Acura's vehicles, nor their appealing mix of performance, technology and value.

User Reviews:

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  Good choice for a used vehicle - 2008 Acura MDX
  By David Johnson - July 13 - 2:30 pm

  This car has a lot of nice features that are not normally considered when looking for a new vehicle: handle grips for getting in and out, sunglasses holder above the mirror, hidden storage area inside the shifter console. I bought mine used, have had it for four years, and am very pleased with its comfort and performance. Dealership maintenance can be expensive but a good local shop can keep it running at an affordable cost. Head turning quotient is excellent.

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  Title? ? GARBAGE - 2002 Acura TL
  By Willie Hopkins - November 15 - 7:25 pm

  Do not buy this car, dont even think about it, if you want something sporty and luxurious go for Lexus Honda/Acura will never have my business again, this car is on its 5th transmission and I refuse to get it replaced again the car is known for its transmission problems and recalls the car has been wrecked once due to the cars bad transmission at 75mph it dropped into 1st gear and all the tires locked I spun off the road and had to get towed that was when I was told Id need my 5th transmission 5 thousand miles in and its already sliiping and locking. Save yourself some trouble and never buy an Acura or a Honda this is dangerous and outrageous especially the fact that the company will only replace your transmission with one that has previously failed after usually giving you the run-a-round this is the worst purchase I have ever made and I advise any buyer to do research on this car before you buy it. Its awesome if you want to replace a transmission every 40-40k miles cheap interior,boring styling but to each his own I suppose have fun. You might get more use out of it as a yard ornimant because it probably wont leave your driveway one day!

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  Great Car if you like 65,000 mile transmissions - 2002 Acura TL
  By P. Gerald - August 31 - 9:08 pm

  Just dont buy one unless you like buying a transmission from Honda for $2500 every 65, 000 miles. No kidding. Honda set up a plant and sell you one for $2500 when the transmission goes out every 65,000 miles instead of fixing the design problems. Otherwise its a great drivers car.

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  Tech package does not work in Arizona heat - 2014 Acura MDX
  By Sam Masri - August 25 - 1:58 pm

  Brakes disks get damaged from heat, car vibrates when you brake, radiator leak after 30000 miles and Acura refused to fix under warranty saying it was damaged by a small stone hit from the road. I have news for you, Acura, Arizona is hot, cars radiator should be protected by design, and brake disks should not heat up and bend from normal driving.

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  Stay far far away from the V6 models - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Kenneth - August 25 - 2:29 am

  It was my mistake that I didnt look thoroughly online before purchasing my SH-AWD in July. The 2-3 gear shift is truly awful, Ive brought it in twice to the dealer to try and fix and they say it is normal and there is no fix. It is so unpleasant that it removes any and all fun from driving the car. Im still coming to terms that I might be stuck with this car for the near future. Acura, how can you sleep at night? The V6 models are a disaster. They clearly hand picked a non-defective one to lend to car review sites and now that weve bought them Acura doesnt care at all. Surprised there isnt a class action lawsuit for the V6 models yet. Going to try to take it in a couple more times to get it fixed and then see if it can qualify for the lemon law. Youve been warned, stay far far away from the V6 models. I dont even care if this hurts my own resale value, no more people should be tricked into buying this $40k lemon. Buying a luxury car shouldnt be a gamble that you get a good transmission. Shame on you Acura.

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  these cars are junk - 2006 Acura TL
  By pissed owner - August 23 - 8:18 pm

  Blue tooth stopped working. Water would leak by drivers feet. Transmission failed at only 75,000 miles with a cost of repair of $6,000. Acura would not pay anything for repair.

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  sorry i purchased an acura mdx - 2015 Acura MDX
  By tom kowalick - August 20 - 2:59 pm

  very noisy cabin,very poor electronics,etc.radio,stereo,navigation,overall all electronics is very poor.very,very poor suspension,when you hit the smallest pot hole at a very low speed it sound like the tire is coming in the cabin to join you.very loud road noise.no sound barriers or noise insulation installed in vehicle.for the price of these vehicles you should have a much quietier ride.i owned o cadilac srx before purchasing the acura and my butt is so sore from kicking it for buying this over priced,over rated vehicle.beware buyers do not buy an acura mdx. I am very honest

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  The 9 Speed ZF Transmission RUINS this car! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Wes Beard - July 22 - 8:18 pm

  If you are considering this vehicle, please test drive the car. Make sure you drive it in stop and go traffic. I test drove one, and my transmission issues started a week after. The transmission is TERRIBLE in this otherwise beautiful car. Shame on Acura for doing this to this TLX. The transmission jerk horribly when shifting in lower gears. Stop and go traffic makes me so angry, because the car shifts like it has a washing machine full of bricks under the hood.

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  Do Not Buy Until Acura Fixes Transmission Issue - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Chris Rayala - July 22 - 8:09 pm

  Before you buy this car, head on to the Acurazine website and search "TLX transmission". You will learn from a 9-page thread that a lot of owners are very upset about the TLX shifting hard between the 2nd to 3rd gear. The problem seems to be with the new ZF 9-speed transmission. It doesnt seem like Acura has a solution to the problem yet. [HTML removed]

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  Buyer beware - horrible suspension - 2015 Acura RDX
  By Car guy - July 19 - 10:03 am

  I had a 2015 RDX AWD (non-tech package) for a year. Bottom the rear suspension on the RDX is horrible. Whenever you drive over the smallest bump on the road the rear suspension "clunks" and transmits the impact directly to the occupants. Theres nothing wrong with the car (I had the dealer check) basically its just poor suspension design. Unfortunately when I test drove the car it was on smooth recently paved roads - big mistake. Search any of the Acura owner/community sites and youll see plenty of similar comments about the 2013 to present RDX and the same issue with 2014 - present MDX and TLX. There are other quality issues/non-user friendly quirks with the RDX but the horrible suspension was a deal breaker (and ridiculous for a $36K "luxury vehicle"). Ive now sold the RDX - my first and last Honda/Acura product. Very happy with a German SUV now.