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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  Transmission failed at 45000 miles - 2010 Acura MDX
  By John Ta - July 10 - 10:51 am

  I am the original owner and bought it in April 2010. The car was awesome to drive at beginning. It had pulling issue and grinding noise at low speed when turning the car right after leaving dealer. Both these issues got TSB from Acura later on. The grinding noise was not fixed since TSB came after warranty expired. After 2 years, the MPG went bad from 1 tank for 300 miles down to 200 miles locally and we need to down shift to passed another car. At 45000 miles or 5 1/2 years, the transmission failed. MPG went back to 300 miles for 1 tank of gas but the transmission is shifting so slow now. I bought it since I love its performance and handling. My next SUV will be Lexus RX 350 since I bought lexus gs 350 and it changed me. I have been honda acura brand fan for 15 years and it is over now except Formula 1 Honda LoL

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  My expectations were higher - 2012 Acura MDX
  By Celestina Madera - March 18 - 10:29 am

  I had a 2009 Acura TL previously, and I really miss it. It was GORGEOUS, Sleek, Quick, very comfortable, easy to keep clean, and had terrific technology, including a great NAV system. By contrast, the 2012 MDX was a boat of an SUV. Quick is NOT in the vocabulary underpowered comes to mind. Its comfortable enough, and functional, but no WOW. The steering is fine but not agile. The interior was light, which I like, but all I remember is monotone. I felt like a Soccer Mom, and I dont have kids.

• 

  Noisy Car for the money - 2012 Acura MDX
  By Dissatisfied - January 4 - 11:37 pm

  I have taken my MDX 2012 to the dealership several times to complain of a terrible grinding sound during low speeds and when coming off the highway. Several times have been told by dealership this car is fine and it sounds terrible. When turning at low speeds it sometimes makes a loud thud and clunk mostly after rain or bad weather when in reverse or parking the car.

• 

  Significantly Less Value Than Expected - 2015 Acura RDX
  By Nick - December 16 - 4:39 pm

  First off the technology package is a waste of money and a sad trick Acura has played on buyers. The NAV system is near worthless when programming at a standstill, it is completely worthless once you are moving down the road and the "Technology Package" takes you into voice mode. The voice mode makes you spell out destinations one letter at a time and then, for each letter, goes through a long (10 second) dialog on how to choose the next letter (?). This is really a poor joke on the consumer. The voice recognition system operates with about a 50% accuracy and by the time you get the address entered, you have spent your entire trip arguing with the "Technology Package". Simple fix purchase a $100 Garmin and put it in front of the useless NAV screen. The road noise, harshness, and vibration is horrible the Honda CR-V has a much improved ride over the more expensive Acura. Handling the body roll is annoying and feels downright unstable on twisty roads. Fuel economy, throttle response, and acceleration are dismal on the "Multi-Point/Low Pressure Fuel Injection" compared to "Direct Injection" engines found on other similar and lower priced vehicles of the same vintage and category. The controls and displays are awkward at best and are not at all intuitive. Compared to earlier model Acura vehicles, these "technology" systems have taken a huge step backward. Oh, unlike the cheap Honda CR-V base model, this Acura does not include a rear cargo area floor mat. Imagine that! What can I say about the car that I like... it looks good, the leather feels nice, everything works (albeit its a new car). Ive been a Honda customer over the past 10 years, Honda makes a solid no-frills, trouble free, turn key vehicle. This was my first Acura and this will be my last Acura unless Acura gets serious about building a car to help a driver get from one place to another efficiently, easily, and with minimal frustration. Thank God I only took out a 3 year lease on this buggy Ill be happy to hand the keys back and tell the dealer they can find another Acura customer. Make sure to test drive this vehicle thoroughly (like for several hours and over bumpy twisty roads) before signing on the dotted line.

• 

  RLX - no 4 x X - 2015 Acura RLX
  By KV - December 12 - 10:22 am

  One of my requirements was 4 Wheel or All Wheel Drive capability in a luxury sedan. This car was wonderful but didnt have either although, as I understand it, prior models did.

• 

  Just Dumped it - 2014 Acura MDX
  By Smokejumper - November 22 - 5:22 pm

  This was our third MDX, and the last. Unfortunately, they got progressively worse. We had a 2004 that was great for nearly 10 years. We bought a second in 2007 which was different, but fine. An accident with the 2007 left it with electrical issues that the Acura dealership couldnt fix after a dozen trips in so we got rid of it. I immediately bought a 2014 without really looking around - what a mistake. -The transmission and breaking are horrible. -The navigation system performs less reliably than my iPhone maps app. -The voice command system is completely worthless. -The seats are among the least comfortable Ive been in. Overall, the 2014 MDX would be a disappointment at a price point 10K under what it sells for. I dumped it after 20K miles. Goodbye, Acura.

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  Its Not a Thrill - 2015 Acura TLX
  By David D - October 24 - 12:01 pm

  Acura advertises that the TLX is "Some kind of Thrill." A better descriptor is "Some kind of Numb." My previous Acura was a TSX V6. The TLX is also a V6. Nothing about the TLXs performance connotes sportiness or performance. At worst, its a souped up Accord or its the best Oldsmobile ever made. It has no feeling of connectivity to the road. This is due to the poor steering, suspension, and tire combination. Rubbery describes it best. All wheel steer creates an odd feeling and a feature to coverup engineering design flaws. The brakes are average. The pushbutton 9 speed transmission is silly, slow to engage, and has lots of travel when placed into park. The touch screen infotainment is abysmal. Its a design copout. The engine is Honda quality. Strong and gets great gas mileage on the highway. Its quiet. The headlights work well. Acura took 6 years to release the TLX. Its supposed to be smaller than the prior TL except it sits on the same wheel base. Park next to an Accord and its hard to distinguish the two. Thats why the TLX suffers. Nothing about it makes it a distinctive sports sedan ready to fight the German competition. If you want a fancier Accord at Honda value, this is the car for you. Otherwise, look carefully at the alternatives.

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  Transmission blew at 170K. - 2002 Acura MDX
  By David Kirchhoff - September 21 - 11:49 am

  At the purchase price (could have bought a houseboat for the price), it should go 300K miles, IMHO! Apparently Honda had trouble with the hydraulics on automatic transmissions at the time they did this one. If they had not, this review would not be clouded by a transmission failure.

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  The car is not worth leasing or buying - 2014 Acura MDX
  By VP - September 15 - 10:37 am

  I leased new Acura MDX in 2014 after talking to a dealer and reading a brochure. I was assured that Acura MDX was the highest rated luxury SUV built by company that cares about its reputation. After driving an Acura MDX for 18 month, I am extremely unsatisfied with the car’s performance. The engine is lacking in power, the car jumps at 20mph and 40mph points and stoles and shakes, so speed changes are very palpable inside the car. It also lacks in performance as it’s almost impossible to get the speed to 80mph. There are noises from the front and sides of the car every time the speed is over 40mph and they increase with speed. Break safety feature works at its own whim and beeps at any time, no matter if there are cars in front or if road is completely deserted. Lane departure feature is unusable, when its on, it beeps all the time and distracts from driving. Multi-view rear camera does not have all necessary angles to maneuver safely in a tight spot, it is too high and not a wide angle. However, absolutely unacceptable is the way audio system and navigations system work, or more accurately – don’t work. It’s a shame that car that costs more than some homes do has such a poorly designed and obviously malfunctioning navigation and audio systems. Navigation gps, if able to find an address at all, which happens 5 out of 10 times, will show you the longest route, if to the correct place at all. The directions end about 400 ft away from the address and you are left guessing about your final destination all the time. The gps screen is very user unfriendly and when you enter the city it “helps” you by showing you cities that start with the same letters you typed all over the US. Many times it cannot find the street or the house number on the street. Gps cannot be updated without spending additional $200 every year and it is about 10 years behind even on a new car, so any road or development built after 2005 will not be found by this gps. The good navigation system in the car was one of my main requirements when I was signing a new lease, because I use it for work, and I was assured by dealer that this is the car with best gps in the marketplace. I am ashamed every day to use it in front of clients because in most cases it will either take me to a different address, cannot find address at all, or directs me to drive 16 miles in a roundabout way when my destination is located 2-3 miles away. The features to find a place by name or by category usually show places that are on the other side of the country. If I am searching for closest coffee shop or gas station, it will usually direct me to KY or NJ, and I am in FL. You cannot find an airport by name or address or any other popular venue by name at all. Audio system does not work with blackberry phone, it does not transfer contracts, interferes with audio and navigation when linked to a phone, and changes settings automatically without me re-setting the system. There were so many times when after a phone call I was not able to disconnect, or not able to pick up a call at all, or the panel screen would freeze on the phone disconnect screen and would not switch back to navigation. Many other features do no work at all, but I have no use for them anyway. When talking on the phone, navigation sound increase so that you do not hear the person you are talking to. The voice recognition does not work, the voice dial does not work, I stopped using Bluetooth function completely because it interferes more than it was ever useful. So the second main feature why I leased this car is also not working, and creates a danger on the road when I have to hold the phone instead of being able to use a Bluetooth. Overall, I am completely dissatisfied with the car functionality and features. I asked the dealer to help, but if system does not work, it does not work, there is not much the dealer can do. I went to a dealer and asked him to exchange my car before expiration of the lease because it makes no sense to be paying over $550 a month for a car with features that don’t work and create problems for me. I wanted to get out of this lease and switch to Acura RDX without the crazy navigation and audio systems, just a basic car that drives (hopefully). But I was told that there is no way I can change the car until the end of the lease term. So my understanding of the situation is that car does not hold value and it makes no sense for company to buy it back. I send a letter to the Acura headquarters, and after a long conversation was told that they cannot help because every dealership is doing their own thing and the dealership only can make a decision to exchange the car. I advised both the headquarters and the dealership that I will use all available social media to share my experience with Acura.

• 

  BUY A LEXUS INSTEAD! - 2013 Acura RDX
  By Sandy Robins - September 1 - 3:22 pm

  I have owned this car for 1 1/2 years. Soon after purchasing had to have the back shocks replaced (under warranty). The dealer claimed to know nothing about shock problems but the other 4 people that I personally know that have this car have had to have their shocks replaced as well, some more than once. Recently my A/C quit working without incidence or warning. When I called the dealer where I purchased the car I was told "maybe a pebble jumped up and put a hole in your condenser". I dismissed this as very unlikely as I had never heard of such a thing in my 40 years of driving nor did I hear, see or run over anything. Well he was right and since caused by road debris would not honor the warranty. Repair $750. I researched this issue and found that Honda/ Acura had a previous class action suit settled in 2010 for 38.5 Million FOR THE EXACT SAME PROBLEMS!!!!!! Suit claimed placed where road debris can hit it easily and thin metal was used. Said "Parts that fail and they know it". My husband called Acura Customer Service which is apparently a joke. Explained we owned a Honda Pilot and CRV previously and purchased the RDX and TSX to upgrade to a premium car. Again a joke. They refused to fix under warranty or even discount the repair at all. Apparently no concern that we have purchased 4 vehicles. NOT ANYMORE!!!! They apparently are still having A/C condenser failing issues. Any of you Attorneys want a class action?