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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  great vaue solid reliability - 2002 Acura TL
  By east end - July 2 - 2:00 am

  The TL is a great value ,but lacks the handling and style of competiters .My wife picked out the TL based on our prior ownership of Acuras.

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  2003 3.2 CL Issues - 2003 Acura CL
  By Byana - July 1 - 3:37 pm

  Several recalls in short time frame (transmission, camshaft, fuel tank). Continually losing power steering fluid for 2 years before dealer figured out the rack & pinion unit was the source. CD player/changer operates sporadically - 90% of the time you get an error code on the display, but never when you take to the shop! Enigine has good power, but the curve flattens out to quickly (peaks around 4600rpm). Torque steer is more pronounced than in other cars in its class.

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  My Acura is my love - 2003 Acura TL
  By 8motor8pheen8 - June 30 - 1:55 pm

  I love this car but with every car their is downsides but this vehicle i have found the least down side with execpt for the center console position and the windows. I think that the windows could have a factory shade of tint put in a little darker and the felt on the roof is very delicate unlike the new ones which it feels very durable.

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  Best Value for the Performance - 2005 Acura TL
  By Pamela Tzakis - June 27 - 8:50 pm

  This is one of the most attractive cars on the road. Its not the tight drive of the German made cars, but for the money it is amazing. We do have an issue with the volume level of the stereo - have to max it with a window open. Also, we have beige leather interior and it is wearing VERY badly. Looks like a 10 year old car and we only have 6000 miles on it. Also, we loved how it looked, and the price point was great, but it is a bit small. Navi is hard to read during the day, especially on a sunny day. Overall, the complaints are few. The leather is a costly disappointment however.

• 

  Very Good, Close to Great - 2006 Acura RL
  By TGN - June 25 - 9:31 am

  I had two reqs. when looking for a car AWD and reliability. The RL seemed to be the best of a few options (M35,A6,Passat,500,Benz). The RL is expensive, but is a reasonable value. I moved to the RL from an Avalon and miss the rear-seat/trunk room. Many comments about lack of low-end torque/need for V8 I disagree, the RL has acceptable power but lack of road noise and handling give the impression you are traveling slower than you actually are. Easy to be going 80 mph and not realize it. The RL controls are confusing. The RL feels heavy (which it is) making the vehicle feel sluggish but solid. I fill the tank 75% to reduce veh weight which helps performance and MPG.

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  Third Acura - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Geo - June 20 - 7:58 pm

  This is my 3 Acura product. Ill have to admit I was less than happy with the 8 speed transmission when I first purchased this car approx. 1 1/2 years ago. It would bang and was very abrupt in shifting in the lower gears. After taking it back to the dealer, I found there was a fix, a software download for the transmission. Since then it is so much nicer to drive. My only other complaint would be the steering doesnt have the feel like my Tl did. Other than that it is a very good car. Its extremely quiet on the highway and very comfortable.

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  Who needs a Benz ? - 2004 Acura TL
  By Dave - June 10 - 12:59 pm

  I have been a Benz guy for a long time but my last one gave me alot of pain. so I said Ill try some else. little did I know that I would fall in love with a Acura TL, it is a little small but you get use to it. It handles like a dream.

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  tl gotta love - 2005 Acura TL
  By lexing1 - June 7 - 7:37 pm

  Great vehicle but some have reliablity problems. just had an electrical problem that shut down my throttle completely.

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  Perhaps the first year had more lemons - 2001 Acura MDX
  By Jen Tow - June 7 - 12:02 am

  Excellent vehicle for city drivers who need a large car. Runs smoothly and has huge carrying capacity. It is not a good 4x4. My previous car, a jeep grand cherokee, was far superior off- road. The Acura transmission overheated on one trip (luckily it has a light on the dash that warns you). On another the power steering failed (luckily the new steering rack was under warranty). The huge coil spring on one of the wheels even broke going over a regular pothole. It is rather delicate, not rugged. But if you keep it on paved roads you will enjoy the smooth ride, quiet engine, easy to use rear seats and cargo room.

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  I actually dont mind making my payments - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Tom - June 5 - 2:19 am

  Im not particularly a car person, but I have to say I really like this SUV. Its my first Acura and my 5th SUV. Its very quiet, spacious, comfortable, and the navigation is fantastic once you learn commands. (At first I didnt think the voice rec. worked well but it was mostly my lack of understanding it. Fine now.) Body style is least favorate but added wheel flares, side molding, and running boards that help make it less bulbous.