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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  Nice Car - 2006 Acura MDX
  By SoccaMomma23542 - November 2 - 12:35 am

  I received this car last month because my husband received a promotion and wanted to give me something new. Mine is the fully loaded Touring model. Decent car.

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  Too many rattles - 2004 Acura TL
  By Steve - October 31 - 12:46 am

  The 2004 TL was the first car purchase that truly excited me. I actually had to order one and wait 6 weeks. 1 1/2 years later, the leather seats look horrible. The car rattles everywhere! The rims are scared because of poor design. The dealer doesnt seem to care about any of these problems dismissing them as simple wear. This is not the build quality I expect from Acura. My Accord has better leather and a better build. Perhaps Im a victim of an early production model, but Acura really blew it. Im now looking to sell the car.

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  First try with a luxury brand--2017 Acura RDX AWD - 2017 Acura RDX
  By tabjaxx - October 28 - 3:37 pm

  My wife wanted a small, luxury SUV and we settled on a 2017 Acura RDX AWD base model. It is a solid SUV with nice features for a base model. No squeaks or rattles. Initial gas mileage was 25 mpg before the cold weather settled in, dropping it to a still respectable 23 mpg. I like the variable cylinder management that shuts off 3 cylinders during low output conditions. It is such a smooth process you dont know when it is happening. The technology interfaces are kind of old fashioned for an upper end vehicle. No touch screens or fancy graphics. Buttons and knobs are nicely laid out, but I wish fan speed was controlled by a knob instead of buttons. Radio does not stay on after car shuts off. Seats are comfy, but leatherette surfaces are more like plastic than leather. Heated seats warm up fast, but I miss a heated steering wheel. Elevated rear seats are nice with plenty of legroom. Great visibility out rear and side windows. The 19.5 gallon gas tank could be larger. The AWD version comes with a spare tire instead of a tire repair kit. Headlights look and function great. Overall, happy with the vehicle. It doesnt necessarily have the feel of a luxury vehicle, but we dont feel we paid a luxury price for it either.

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  Not too bad - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Weno2 - October 26 - 11:03 pm

  This is my third Acura, and the TSX isnt bad. TSX was best for the buck. I havent taken it on a road trip, and I cant wait. Car handles well, and I love the interior. The exterior looks better and better every day. I love the gas mileage Im getting, and I get looks b/c of the pin-striping. The ride isnt too bad. Firm, but not rough. Plenty of room in the trunk. The car emits more outside (wind) noise than I thought. There is a blind spot when Im in reverse, and its a bother. Know more about the car when the snow flies.

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  Fun Car - 1992 Acura Integra
  By DA9 - October 26 - 9:05 pm

  This was my second car, my first Acura. The build quality is great on the car. I bought it from a dealership with only 55,000 miles in 2004. Great reliability as long as you keep up with regular maintenence schedule. Unfortunately mine wasnt so I am playing catch up although it has never left me stranded. Lots of mods available and classic Honda looks.

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  Built in Canada - 2003 Acura CL
  By HiOSlvrCL - October 25 - 10:00 am

  After drooling over the new CLs for over a year and waiting until I could find a good preowned vehicle that Acura is known for, I ended up with what has so far been a lemon. I had terrible vibration in the brakes had to have them resurfaced and pads replaced with 29K miles on the car. Two weeks later the transmission went out. Being replaced with a remanufactured one and although all of this is done under warranty its a big letdown for what was a $30K + luxury vehicle. My 1994 Integra is much more reliable than my new certified preowned Lemon. :-(

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  Not what I expected - 1999 Acura TL
  By Ric - October 24 - 11:52 am

  My first Acura and possibly my last. Performance with the four speed is reasonable but nothing great. Gas milage only so-so. Interior design is certainly above average. Nice car to sit in for the most part. Seats showing wear earlier than suspected. Tranny had to be replaced at about 50000mi. Left me stranded on a hwy. Now having trouble starting the car when it has been raining for afew days. Dealer cant seem to find the reason. Overall I am disappointed. Have had better experiences with a Maxima in the past. Not much better than my old Taurus SHO and that is not saying much!

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  one time Acura owner - 2003 Acura TL
  By Not A Fan - October 23 - 5:01 pm

  The engine power is good, even if it is too high in the rev band. The transmission takes awhile to downwhift far enough to reach the power band when you step on it. You need to manually downshift first if you know you are going to need it. Fit and finish is nowhere near what I expected, considering what is written about these vehicles. The dash is warped, the rear passenger door is coming apart. This was purchased with low miles, and there is no reason for this. Ergonomically, it lacks. The moonroof controls may as well be in the trunk. If you turn the head lights on before it is pitch black outside, the numbers on the tach and speedometer literally disappear.

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  Bad Transmission by Darius Erby - 2001 Acura TL
  By Darius Erby - October 19 - 9:15 pm

  I love this vehicle, but the only issue I have with this vehicle is that it has transmission issues. I knew that the Acuras and Hondas from year 98 to 04 had transmission issues, but they extended the warrany out to 100000 miles. My trans went out at 90000 miles. It had 50000 on it when I bought it. I bought it in Atlanta. My trans went out on me in the mountains in Tennessee. I was frightened because my rpms just started going crazy, I was driving about 70 mph and then my car just stopped accelerating and it started rolling backwards down the mountain, as it was rolling back I was able to roll into the emergency lane, and I almost got hit by a few 18 wheelers.

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  1992 NSX - 1992 Acura NSX
  By walsh - October 17 - 2:18 am

  I have owned this car for one year this month. I have driven the car in all weather conditions except for snow, which I plan to do this winter. The car is great in any condition of driving and gets attention everywhere. It could use a little more power especially when shifting to the next gear up. There are plenty of aftermarket items available to remedy this small setback. My car has 68,000 miles on it and still looks brand new with the exception of a few rock chips and slight wear on the drivers seat and it is needing rear tires. I got about 7,000 miles out of them.