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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  60K and still loving it! - 2008 Acura MDX
  By Chrissy - August 27 - 8:57 pm

  3 years and 60 k and I still love this car. It has been the most reliable car Ive owned. Before my MDX I was averaging a new car every year. Two Infiniti SUVs and one Escalade later I bought this. I LOVE IT! It has all the luxuries for a fair price with a beautiful fit and finish. Its definitely a keeper! Its comfortable, fun, safe, and easy to drive. I put a lot of miles on my cars and this one has been the best of them all. No problems whatsoever. Before buying my MDX I test drove every Luxury SUV on the market. This one was the best driving, one of the best interiors, great technology, and most affordable of them all.

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  07 Acura TL base review - 2007 Acura TL
  By theshawn - August 26 - 10:30 am

  Bought a CPO w/46k miles, Ive only had it two weeks but I can tell one thing, this car is the most car for the money if you want to move a bit upscale without breaking the bank. Nice handling, good mpg for a V6 and one of the best stock stereo systems Ive ever heard. Great standard features, and a firm but compliant ride. I will definitely consider this model again in a few years, plus you get Honda reliability to boot. I thought I loved the care I sold to buy this one (Nissan Maxima), but now I have a new love in my life. :)

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  Honda can not fix the problem in 8 years - 2007 Acura TL
  By Art - August 25 - 7:48 pm

  Car has same problem my other acuras This 2007, has had the same problem as my 1999 TL, which acura wrote up a service bulletin in 2003 about the poor engineering on the evp canister purge valve, which would take about 1 cent worth of S/steal to fix when making the car, or about $500 in an acura dealer. They still did not fix the problem by 2007, 4 years after service bulletin. Transmission. 6 speed manual, had same problem as my sons 2000 rxs with 3rd gear. again poor engineering same transmission. Acura does not correct their engineering problems in a timely. Neither of these problems I should have had in a 2007. Acura knew of the problems and the poor engineering since 2001

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  Not much to not like - 2010 Acura RDX
  By scallaha - August 25 - 1:13 pm

  I read plenty of Edmunds reviews for plenty of different cars before deciding on the RDX so now, Im giving back. I needed something large enough for my small family (wife and kid), but also something I could look forward to driving. RDX fits the bill. Im averaging 21 mpg which really isnt bad for a CUV/SUV size car even with upgrading tires to Bridgestone Alenzas (had to swap the hazardous OE tires with something that has traction). Really happy with the handling and performance balance with mpg. For a CUV, this is quite a fun car to drive. The interior is nice and the stereo in the tech package is way better than I expected. All in all, Im quite happy with the purchase.

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  One of the best cars ever driven! - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Vladsly - August 24 - 5:26 pm

  AMAZING CAR! This is such a good car, I never want to sell it. It handles like a charm and it looks so good. Whenever I go to someones house they all say, Nice car! No doubt that when this one breaks, I will get another one. Great features include, awesome Navigation, Back-up Camera, DVD Player and MUCH more. I would recommend this car to anyone!

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  Very Happy with Zero Regrets - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Choule01 - August 24 - 2:00 pm

  I purchased this car after having a 03 Acura TL type S. The new features in the TSX are amazing, although 60 less HP is certainly noticed. I compared the IS250 and the G37, but to equip those cars with Nav, Bluetooth and upgraded stereo would cost considerably more. This is my 5th Acura/Honda purchase. Reliability on all of them has been outstanding. Gas Mileage in mostly city driving is 26 MPG, but on a long trip I was getting 32-34 MPG. I havent heard any suspension noises, and the headlights illuminate just fine. I would never have considered a 04-08 TSX, but I really love this new design. This car has lived up to my expectations across the board.

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  Overpriced junk honda - 2010 Acura ZDX
  By boom - August 24 - 1:18 pm

  Bummer. Interior pieces falling out, center console cheap silver plastic easily scratches, after 2 months looks terrible. VERY SLOW for the looks and power.

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  Acura quality? Not in this car. - 2001 Acura TL
  By The Lark - August 24 - 11:43 am

  Its not a secret that Acura installed defective transmissions that blow anywhere from 50K to 100K miles. But weve had acid (yes, acid) leak from the electronic rear view mirror onto the shifter, melting the plastic overnight. Apart these unacceptable problems, you have a car that is underwhelming to drive. The engine has nice power, but its mated to a jerky, malfunctioning transmission (manual mode doesnt cooperated either), and insensitive accelerator feel. Body roll was mentioned in the review, but this car has an absolutely laughable turning radius. If you want to drive to the other gas pump youll end up back out in the street.

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  A good blend of everything - 2010 Acura MDX
  By db5644 - August 24 - 9:03 am

  Good upgrade from our trouble-free 2004 MDX. Honda/Acura continues to give the U.S. market what it wants in a SUV i.e. the right size, the right features, dependability, safety, resale, style (except not so much in the MDX front ends)and a choice between good value in the Honda and Luxury in the Acura. After a lot of study and considering Consumer Reports opinion, keep coming back to the MDX for the best package in a luxury SUV.

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  The best car money can buy - 1998 Acura TL
  By Jeff - August 23 - 10:05 pm

  We bought a 97 with about 68k on it i 95. It seemed very expensive at the time. Other than 2 starters (a persistent problem with these cars (requiring the axle to be removed - $-) along with the terrible window operations), and the recommended timing belt change with water pump, I have performed all maintenance which consists only of fluids, filters and brakes (do my own work). This car now has 260k on it, drives as if it were new, with no smoke or leaks from the engine. It does need a power-steering pump but the kids drive it now and they need the exercise. I now have a collection of 3 of the 3.2TLs ranging from 96 to 98 and have my eye on another. If taken care of, they always run.