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 Reliable but not cushy for luxury sedan - 2002 Acura RL
  By JDM - April 12 - 12:12 am

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  Excellent for its price & quality - 2016 Acura ILX
  By Gagan - April 5 - 11:16 pm

  Have own the fully loaded Tech plus A-SPEC ILX with the bigger 18" wheels, GPS and all. First what it lacks: 1. A HUD, which I feel is a must for all luxury cars 2. Lack of lumbar support 3. Poor entertainment system. Other brands offer a Bose or a bang and olufsen system. This cars audio is WEAK! It is sort of OK at its highest settings. 4. Complicated command system. The voice command is OK, but messes up most of the time. Rerouting the GPS is a pain. Not very intuitive at all. 5. The car takes a good half-one second to catch up if you suddenly floor the gas pedal - then it is sheer pleasure, with the engine roar and sudden burst of speed! The Good parts: 1. The interiors dont feel cheap, very well done. A true luxury car! 2. Low center of gravity, and very good handling. Very smooth start due to the 8 speed gear box. 3. The looks ! With the 5 LED headlights, to the complicated body lines! This car is a looker, and people keep staring at it. 4. Cost & maintenance. I also own an Audi A4. The windshield wipers on an Audi are $250 Bosch. They are $18 on the Acura!!! You can drive into a honda dealership and get parts, servicing, tune-ups. The german cars will bleed you dry, these wont! The german cars are quieter inside. But they cost $15,000 more to own, and are horribly expensive to maintain. Ive started to spend about a $1000 annually on my Audi - the other germans are very similar. 5. The seats are quite alright. I am about 6, Ive tested the BMW 3 series and the Merc C-300s. The head room is the same, maybe slightly better on the ILX. The problems Ive faced with mine: 1. The cars dont come with a spare tire. BIG PROBLEM. I blew mine in one month, ended up buying a donut. The boot wont fit a full sized spare. Not ideal, but I can live with that. 2. The lane correction system on all these cars is a pain in the neck. I now drive with it turned off. 3. A problem with the transmission handle shifting to gear mode without the release /safety button being pressed. Has happened once. Will have it checked out at the next servicing. And oh, the servicing, including oil change, carwash & tire rotation was $100 only !!!!! I would love for Honda / Acura to improve the negatives that ive listed, and this will be a really 5 star worth car!

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  Better than... - 2005 Acura TL
  By RKent - April 3 - 10:43 pm

  We bought the TL as a family car, but it generally logs only 5miles/day. Currently at 2400 miles after 4 months. Recently took it to New England (from NJ) and loved it. FWD, yes, but unless you make sharp, accelerating turns youre OK. Plenty of rear leg room for teens and normal adults, and firm, comfortable seats made the 235 trip easy for everyone. 80mph is a quiet and safe as 60, and while you could feel the bumps of the Cross Bronx Expy, the car steered straight and there were no surprizes.

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  Sport and Luxury on a budget - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Wes G - April 3 - 2:12 pm

  I thought for a long time that this car was an overpriced Civic, but it appears that Acura put the money in all the right places. It takes an econobox, gives it a beautiful interior, and puts in Hondas best features- the high-rev VTEC 4-cylinder and the 6-speed manual. I have 8K miles on mine with no problems other than a loose piece of weatherstrip on the passenger door.The car would handle better with more aggressive rubber, and I find myself needing to get out to stretch my legs on trips longer than about 90 minutes, because I cant quite fully extend my leg while seated no matter how hard I try. Im 64".

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  Pocket Rocket - 2005 Acura RSX
  By Alex - April 1 - 10:53 pm

  Just purchased my first car out of college and I decided on the RSX type S Magnessium Gray with Titanium interior. I recieved the car with only 2 miles and no one touched it or drove it I am picky with my cars. So far I am very happy with me purchase and look forward to many miles taken it to the redline. If you are in a budget and want a decent and fun car this is it the competition to this car is not worth mentioning since for me it is in its own class. Try one and really get on it and see what you think then drive the not so good contenders.

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  Acura 3.2 TL Type S - 2003 Acura TL
  By banksign - March 31 - 10:00 am

  Truly a fine automobile. Quiet, comfortable interior. It has power to spare; step on the accelerator and the engine jumps to life. Fun to drive, Bose music system is always a plus. Lots of standard features for a reasonable price.

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  4 years and still great - 2001 Acura TL
  By AcuraDon - March 26 - 9:39 pm

  I have had this car for over 4 years. I have had warped brakes, a bad CD player and a bad blower fan. Other than that I have had no issues with this car at all. I have loved every minute of driving it. My lease expires in June (54 month lease. I would recommend this car to anyone. I am considering keeping it, but I will likely buy a new 2005 TL. It has been a great ownership experience. I have had other good reliable cars (Toyotas) but none were as fun as this TL.

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  Japanese Reliability & Fun - 2002 Acura TL
  By Mike - March 25 - 9:03 pm

  I purchased my car as a Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle from an Acura dealership and have no real complaints. The car is responsive, fast, and gets around 32 miles per gallon (not bad for 260 HP). It cruises down the interstate barely turning over 2000 RPMs at 75 MPH and red lines at 6900 RPMs. She has a lot of juice, especially off the line. The front seats, however, are not very comfortable and your rear gets sore on long rides. The buckets simply arent deep enough and there isnt enough padding. As far as reliability, I live where it is -40 below in the winter, no plug-in, and no garage, and the car fires right up. Too bad they ruined TLs with the new 2004 design (yuk!).

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  One Year Later - 2004 TSX - 2004 Acura TSX
  By mrsingh1 - March 24 - 12:23 am

  A good compromise for an entry level luxury sport sedan for under $30K. No problems after one year to date, minor recall on the back tail lights/trunk. Love the interior design and gauges at night. If you are use to American V-8s or V-6s, you will miss the torque of those engines, especially if moving from an American/Chevy V-8 as I did to this inline 4 cylinder. For the price performance is adequate, not great, especially if you are use to driving V-8s in the past. Power/Torque does not kick in until over 4000 RPM. Great car overall, first Acura I have bought, likely not the last, next time it will be the TL.

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  Great quality and functionality - 1998 Acura SLX
  By Raliegh SLX - March 22 - 10:29 pm

  5 years and almost no troubles to speak of. Very good quality. I wish I could say the same for my newer Volvo. Great space in the back, nice interior, huge sunroof. All and all, I recommend highly. A used one is surely a great value.