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 Car -loaded - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Rob - September 23 - 11:05 am

  I also have not had any problems with the transmission . I am totally happy with my purchase . I did decided to upgrade the rims and tires and also added the body molding and trunk wing. Car look awesome with the upgrades from Acura

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  Still going strong at over 100K mi - 2007 Acura TSX
  By cmi - September 21 - 1:15 pm

  I bought my 07 TSX new 8 years ago, 110K, and still really enjoy driving it. It has also held up well in the looks dept. After a few rough winters was thinking of trading it for something with AWD, but there is much to be said for no car payments. Aside from basic maintenance, the car has been trouble-free. Mechanic said I am nuts to get rid of it as it will easily hit 200K+. If you want reliability and value, let the Germans keep the snoot factor while they sit at the dealership service dept all day.

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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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  Most Reliable Luxury with out breaking the bank - 2011 Acura MDX
  By KingofKings - September 20 - 7:31 pm

  Try and get the CPO with an extended warranty just for a clear mind, but you might not need it, vehicle is highly reliable in my opinion. Interior could have been made more attractive looking in comparison to other luxury vehicles but than again the MDX cost a little less. Audi Q7 interior is someone better but the car is less reliable, and cost more to maintain. I will highly recommend this vehicle, there may be others with more luxurious options but they would cost more to maintain. Just Be aware of some dealerships service personal creating a residual customer out of you.

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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.

• 

  Upgrade from 2013 ILX - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Eddie - September 12 - 10:12 pm

  I have experienced NO, that is, ZERO transmission problems with my V6 TLX. I get 25MPG city/highway combined at a minimum. Personally the 2013 ILX was a disappointing replacement for my Acura 2003 RSX my 2003 RSX had better performance in my daily driving and did not have the annoying dash noise of the 2013 ILX. The dash rattle combined with poor performance led me to trade up. Im glad that I did. The TLX is quiet and performs extremely well on my daily commutes. I have had no problems using the dual screen controls. From my personal experience Acura service is excellent for both my 2013 ILX and 2003 RSX and my wifes 2003 TLX and new 2016 RDX.

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  LOVE MY TLX!!! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Jay - September 4 - 10:02 pm

  I LOVE my TLX with Tech Package. The only 2 things Ive noticed is the slight lag in the transmission and the shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. Im under 23 and I actually enjoy the transmission shifting kind of hard, especially when in sport modes it makes the drive really fun. The car is VERY stylish and I always get compliments. Gas mileage is GREAT, AVG 34 MPG on the highway doing 80 mph in ECO mode with 4 passengers in the car. Safety features are a plus and helps out on insurance premiums. I would HIGHLY recommend this car to anyone.

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  Yes , the transmission is a problem - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Kevin M - September 4 - 1:47 pm

  Very good Suv. Love the AWD. Felt safe going down the road, it feels like driving a tank. But, the transmission failed at 160000 and we were left stranded on the side of the road. Also, some other little issues. Used regular gas. It did a good job towing. We finally did trade it in at 200000 miles and Lindsay Acura Cols. Gave us 5000 for it. It had a lot of bumps and bruises on it from towing and parking lots. Overall a good suv if Honda would solve the transmission problems that the MDX has.

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  Acura has gone back to their roots!! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Andre Dunlap II - September 4 - 12:58 am

  Purchased a 2015 TLX last week. Originally was looking at the ILX but decided to also test drive the TLX. I loved how well the car drove. It doesnt feel like youre driving a midsize at all! The acceleration is very good (Sport and Sport+ are AWESOME!!). I love the interior and all of the little touches (ambient lighting in the rear seats is a nice touch). The car really does feel luxurious yet sporty. Sat in the car today on my lunch break and didnt realize how much there is to customize. I def think Acura/Honda is in the right direction with their new sedans. I would recommend getting the Tech Package, its def worth it!

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  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?