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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  sorry i purchased an acura mdx - 2015 Acura MDX
  By tom kowalick - August 20 - 2:59 pm

  very noisy cabin,very poor electronics,etc.radio,stereo,navigation,overall all electronics is very poor.very,very poor suspension,when you hit the smallest pot hole at a very low speed it sound like the tire is coming in the cabin to join you.very loud road noise.no sound barriers or noise insulation installed in vehicle.for the price of these vehicles you should have a much quietier ride.i owned o cadilac srx before purchasing the acura and my butt is so sore from kicking it for buying this over priced,over rated vehicle.beware buyers do not buy an acura mdx. I am very honest

• 

  A few gremlins to prepare for..... - 2008 Acura TL
  By first used acura for me - August 19 - 11:02 am

  Nice sized city car with ample power, high quality interior and attractive looks. Relatively quiet and comfortable. Bought used from Acura w/ 64k miles. Subsequent repairs/replacement that are endemic to this car as youll learn on the internet. Purge value in the evap system, easy fix. O-rings on the hydraulic steering system (loud sound on cold mornings that goes away as engine warms, an easy fix). Hydraulic shocks/struts for the hood, easy fix. O2 sensors, a bit trickier fix. Check Youtube for demos on replacing these items and save big, big bucks over expensive Acura dealers. The nav system is not intuitive and if it has the original DVD, youll pay like $170 for an upgrade that is, unfortunately, probably worth it. The upgrade has all U.S. major roads and city streets. The original only had 72 cities and was filled with irrelevant stuff like reviews of restaurants. Big diff. Do not tint the rear window or the nav wont be accurate............as it isnt in mine. Grrrr. Car holds value well, it appears, and I think that is because it is one of the best looking of the TL series plus Hondas reliability record which is best with their 4 cylinder jobs, not six cylinders. Mostly satisfied but would be happier if some of the components were more durable and the Acura dealers only charged an arm instead of an arm and a leg.

• 

  This Car Eats Oil - 2010 Acura MDX
  By BMart - August 18 - 11:28 am

  This engine is a oil eater. I got the car used form the dealer with a fresh oil change - at 4k miles later the check engine light comes on - I check the oil and it does not even register on the dip stick. I thought OK -it was not a Acura/Honda dealer I got it from (Mercedes) so they put the wrong oil in or something. I made sure it had synthetic the next time. Same thing happens. The other problem is Acura has set the maintenance interval to 7500 miles - way to long for this oil eater. I recommend 3k miles for sure and check the oil every 1k miles. The bummer is my old cars have oil that looks fine after 5k miles but this car just chews it up. I now make sure I have quarts of synthetic available, and I went and bought a funnel to add oil to this car every 1k miles. I have to treat it like a vintage automobile. Other than that it runs fine - it has a solid feel that reminds me of a BMW.

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  Huge disappointment! - 2015 Acura MDX
  By CORunner - August 13 - 10:16 am

  I have owned my 2015 MDX for about 8 months so far. I have tried to love it, or even like it, but I cannot. I traded in my 2008 MDX after six years of loyal service to “upgrade” to the new model. That was a big mistake. The 2008 MDX was a great car and I loved it from the day that I bought it. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good at almost everything. The 2015 was a hassle starting on the day I drove it home. It was raining really hard outside, so we did most of the deal looking at the showroom floor model. My mistake. The salesman informed me that all models had parking sensors, fog lights, and Michelin tires and I assumed that he was correct. In fact, he had lied about all three… I got the dealership to agree to swap my tires to Michelins for free (they only come on the top of the line model now). The fog lights and parking sensors were something I should have checked, so I decided to pay for the upgrades myself. Buyer beware. The fog lights went in without issue, but the parking sensors were a joke. When you upgrade, you can only get rear sensors, not front, and they are not the same sensors that are used on the top model. My installed sensors were not flush with the bumper and they did not work. I had to back almost completely into a brick wall to make them start beeping. So a 50% success rate for dealer installed options. Not impressed. Why Acura would dream of building a $50,000 CUV, make it longer, and not include parking sensors as standard is beyond me! The changes from the 2008 to the 2015, or rather the 2nd generation MDX to the 3rd, were largely not improvements. The power to weight ratio is better on the new car, but acceleration feels anemic in comparison. The suspension is absolutely awful. I had the electromagnetic dampers on my 2008 and it was impressive in the corners! The new model feels far less confident when pushed and my front dampers have developed a constant squeak that causes pedestrians to watch my car as I drive past. The stereo in the old MDX was one of my favorite features and somehow they managed to ruin that on the new model as well. The bass response is weak at best. The touch screen controls are simply awful and make things like adjusting the fan speed for the climate control dangerous while driving. The safety features, like lane departure warning was such a nuisance that I had to disable it. The forward collision warning is dangerous. Mine would go off randomly when I wasn’t near another car! The last thing I want is for my car to slam on the brakes and cause an accident that otherwise would not happen. I spoke with the dealership about the function and was informed that sometimes metal manhole covers or expansion joints will cause the system to produce a false positive. Another safety feature that I had to disable. The materials used inside look and feel cheap. I have a black interior and much of the plastic actually appears to be dark brown. I have had people ask me about it as soon as they get into the car for the first time, so it is noticeable. Finally, the redesign has lowered the height of the vehicle, so while there is a slight increase in cargo space, I’m finding it to be less useable. Oh, I just received my first recall notice… Acura North America has been useless. To be fair, there are a few minor improvements. The cabin is generally much quieter, the LED headlights are great, and the gas mileage is better. I was previously getting 14-16 mpg city / 20-22 mpg highway and I am now seeing 19-21 city and 26-28 highway. If I could go back and undo this deal, I would! My 2008 MDX was superior in almost every way. Build quality has seriously gone downhill. Im not sure if its just with the introduction of the 3rd gen MDX or if its also the assembly line moving from Canada to Alabama. If you are seriously considering a new MDX, I suggest that you take your money elsewhere. I wish I had.

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  Nice Comfortable Turbo Crossover - 2011 Acura RDX
  By Carguy - August 12 - 11:09 am

  We have a 2011 RDX base FWD...as a driver,very comfortable seats,easy to read gauges nice panoramic view with low dashboard... easy to get in and out.. a blast to drive when you spool the Turbo,lots of torque but beware if you keep spinning the tires (burnouts) front driver side axles might go out easily, you would notice a vibration on low speed acceleration,will go away when coasting... this problem is only on FWD models between 50-70k miles when ABUSED(easyfix) You NEED to use synthetic engine oil religiously on schedule for the turbo bearings and seals to last long (all turbo engines) ..otherwise you will start to have leaks from your turbo. You just have to be mindful of your scheduled maintenance and not to abuse its power otherwise with over 90k miles now we love our RDX no problem whatsoever.....with a small growing family moving to the burbs we sold our Lancer EVO and Subaru WRX for an RDX and an RX.... I would recommend the RDX to my family and friends....you get a lot of car for your money. This is the ONLY Acura that the Shield front grill is actually functional as an air intake hood scoop for your top mount intercooler. If you are buying a used RDX make sure you check its history,all original stock meaning no modification has been done,if buying from a private party it is worth to pay a 3rd party to inspect the mechanical condition of the car,if buying from a dealer make sure you can get an extended warranty.. Since the Turbo RDX is no longer in production and if you do not want a used vehicle the KIA Sportage SX (SX ONLY) would be a good car to consider ....... Thanks for reading... Happy Motoring!

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  Stop reading online and go buy an Acura TLX! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Doug L. - August 12 - 10:19 am

  We cross shopped against just about every other mid-size sedan. Almost bought a 16 Maxima, but glad we didnt. This is seriously the nicest car my wife and I have ever owned, and weve owned some very nice fully loaded vehicles, we just love it! We got the 2.4l powertrain with 8 speed automatic and Tech Pkg in Blue Pearl and Cashmere interior. Beautiful color combo IMO. This thing is really surprisingly fun to drive with just a little 4 banger engine. Pop it into Sport+ and hang on! Lots of fun factor with this car. I was initially overwhelmed and blown away with the Tech Pkg, just too many features to play with and learn about. The two screens up front was a great idea and perfectly executed by Acura, extremely functional and pleasing to the eye. ILS sound system rocks! This car is just about perfect in every way, we love it. Do yourself a favor and go test drive one, youll want to buy it. I would definitely recommend opting for the Tech Pkg. Dont feel like you need the V6, the 2.4l engine has plenty of pep in normal driving mode. Sport+ mode is crazy fun. Also, after reading other negative reviews about the 9 speed ZF trans V6 powertrain Im glad we got the little 4 cylinder 8 speed!

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  05 Nighthawk Pearl TSX - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Sophia - August 12 - 2:01 am

  I bought my car exactly two years ago. It is a very small and super comfortable car. It definitely is a comuter car. My 05 has comfortable tan leather seats. I love my LED lights!! I tinted my windows so the car looks even better. I had to eventually get new brakes and 3 of my cylinders blew up which was provoked by the previous owner who used the wrong material the first time! My battery eventually gave out so i replaced it. I just replaced my thermostat which was constantly fluctuating in temp in a span of 2 minutes. The costs were low and the parts were cheap. Unfortunately the car does not come with an aux so i bought a cheap mp3-radio converter. I used to be able to hit 350 mpt but now i barely get bg 330 miles (depends on traffic!!!!!!!!) Cheapest i paid was $32 for gas without any safeway discounts and the most i have paid was 65-70$ (cant remember exactly). My tank holds 14 gallons. I have seen really nice bumper body kits that make the car look nice! This is not a race car!!!!! I despise seeing tsxs and hondas built completely when in reality theyre not rally cars!!!! (I have seen a dope built tsx though. It only looks good if the owner knows what theyre doing to their car except for Honda fanatics! Stay away from those!!!) I do not suggest putting an exhaust because it will sound horrible and everyone will laugh at you. V techs produce farting sounds! You cant escape that noise..ever. Acuras and hondas are not rally cars! They shouldnt be built especially stanced.... Overall, it is a fun and cute car! Still my first car but definitely was/is a great learning experience and comuter car. Parks easily. The costs are reasonable. I

• 

  Garbage that Acura doesnt stand behind - 2007 Acura TL
  By Greg - August 11 - 1:41 pm

  Dashboard will explode with cracks and Acura will pretend like nothing is wrong. I dont care about anything else with this car besides the fact that Acura doesnt stand behind their products when there is a MASSIVE problem happening to LOTS OF THEIR CARS!. Toyota extended their dashboard warranty for 10 years because the dash gets sticky but Acura (supposed to be a luxury car..HA!) turns a blind eye! SAVE YOURSELF DO NOT BUY ACURA!

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  Transmission! Transmission! Transmission! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By richteg927@gmail.com - August 11 - 9:08 am

  Hate the 9 speed transmission!!! As others have reported, the car shifts rough. I could manually shift better than this car. 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd gears terrible jerking. At 40 MPH coasting down hill the transmission starts searching for a gear causing it to shift into neutral and when a gear is found the car surges forward. This also happens in stop and go traffic where the shifting can cause unexpected acceleration. (Several near accidents) Despite a recall the "Parking" gear doesnt always hold. You need to use the emergency brake to be safe. Ive had the car into the shop 5 times in the past 10 months. Their answer to the problem, "We are working on it." Really? This is supposed to be a high-end luxury car? It wont be long before we start to hear about serious accidents caused by the uncontrolled shifting and acceleration.

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  i would buy it all over again - 2007 Acura RDX
  By george - August 9 - 1:46 pm

  the first thing i have to say is "quick". there is a slight turbo lag but when it kicks in...youre gone. and if you use the paddle shifters, forget about it. with the 4WD even on wet surface you get great acceleration. the ride is very comfortable and you feel youre on top of the world sitting in the back seats. i have 2 gripes with the car. premium gas for the turbocharger and the rear windows dont go all the way down.