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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  Excellent Idea Horrible Execution - 2006 Acura TL
  By Ed - March 16 - 2:13 am

  Review: Fell in love with this car when I bought it now I CANNOT STAND IT, all within less than 6 months! Why? Rattles, Rattles, and more Rattles Misaligned body parts, especially trunk that rubs and has paint chipped off and rust on it! Very poor water based paint used. Chips started on drive home from dealer and havent stopped. Paint mottling (swirling on doors) uneven paint application at factory! Looks like an army camouflage vehicle under certain lights! Cheap leather on seats that has more wrinkles than a 120 year old ladys face. Wrinkle in seat within first 500 miles and it only gets worse. If you get black its gets even better! DASHBOARD FADES TO A MILKY WHITE COLOR! ALL TLs DO IT

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  2017 TLX is an embarrassment for a luxury car - 2017 Acura TLX
  By Yardi - October 27 - 9:25 pm

  I am the owner of a 2006 Acura TL, and I must say that it is the best car I have ever owner for $27k, but it is getting old. So I went to Acura to look at the new 2017 TLX, which is the TL replacement. What an embarrassment to quality for a $40k car. Interior is cheap plastic instead the softer leather/vinyl found in my TL. Headroom in the back seat will only accommodate a person 58" tall or shorter. I am 6 tall and I had to tilt my head and sink down in the seat to fit. Seats are leather trim instead of all leather which usually means that 80% of the seat is vinyl with a little bit of leather to fool people. Front dash with speedometer and odometer looks very cheap. Bottom line, this car looks comparable to a Honda Civic, which is what the ILX is suppose to do. Now for the safety part. THIS CAR DOESNT COME STANDARD WITH A SPARE TIRE IN THE TRUNK. Acura gives you a can of sealant which more than likely WILL NOT fix your flat tire so that you can get off the highway and drive to a safe area. So get AAA. But what the sealant will do is wreck your TPMS sensor inside the tire which will cost a couple hundred dollars to replace. Electronic assisted steering means that at any time you are driving your car, the steering will fail and take you into the woods or down an embankment. Scary, isnt it. If you are driving down the highway and you are in danger of hitting a car or deer that is in front of you, your natural instinct is to brake and veer onto the shoulder of the road to avoid a collision. Acuras new Lane Keeping Assist system will sense that you are going off the paved road and pull you back onto the highway so that you smash into whatever you were trying to avoid. The bottom line is that Acura has no replacement for the TL. Now I know what you are going to say, "What about the RLX?" Well, the RLX is an old person sedan that my dad would drive and costs twice the amount that I paid for my TL for roughly the same quality of car. Personally I think that Acura needs a new CEO who can bring back luxury and quality to the low-end Acura line without costing the consumer over $60k.

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  Dont Buy This Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By Dissatisfied - October 14 - 10:03 am

  Owning this car was a nightmare! The interior quality was poor, parts and materials did not wear well. It had all kinds of interior rattles that the dealer could not fix. The car was in the service dept for a total of 18 days out of the 3.5 months I owned the car for many warranty issues. The final straw came after I picked it up from the dealership and the 6 disc CD changer jammed. I traded it in for a Saab 95 and have never looked back since. More power and better handling. Dont let the Acura name fool you. It did not stand for quality craftsmanship in this case.

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  Very disappointed - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Driving a Cayenne S - September 27 - 10:33 am

  Extremely disappointed in the product. Expected more pickup and much better gasoline economy due to 6 cylinders.

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  Oh Those Bridgestone Tires - 2004 Acura TL
  By Brewster - September 13 - 7:16 pm

  The harsh ride is partly the fault of the poor Bridgestone OEM tires. Acura Client Services reports to me that they are being buried with calls from Acura owners about these tires. The 2005 TL with NAV comes now with Michelins, but Acura has refused to allow its dealers to swap them out. They report Honda will have to make a policy decision before the dealers can replace them.

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  Nroke down at 1200 miles sensor replaced - 2005 Acura RL
  By ron - September 7 - 7:29 pm

  Cannot see the fenders for parking, hard handling, feels like I am steering a truck. Doors in front much to heavy. Mileage is way off. Too many bells and whistles. This is my third Acura.

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  I hate this Car - 2008 Acura TL
  By fleurnj - August 8 - 6:30 am

  Leased the TL with Nav (White/Taupe) in Dec 07. (24 month lease). After drooling over more expensive cars like the ES350 and Passat 3.6, I finally decided to save some money and go for this outgoing Acura model. I traded in my 04 EX V6 top-of-the-line Accord. I am very disaapointed with the TL. The navigation system in my 04 Accord was far superior than the one in this 08 TL. The TL Nav does not offer a male voice anymore, nor does it have the Trip Computer graphs, or A/C controls on the Nav screen anymore. The ride quality is awful. I HATE the stiff suspension and the extremely bumpy ride. I can feel every little bump and pothole on the road. I wish I could sell this car right away!

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  Transmission Jerk!! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By geosh10@gmail.com - August 5 - 3:17 am

  First, let me say, we love the way our TLX V6 Advance looks! The exterior is prefect, love the rims also. The interior is very attractive, minus the so-so navigation system and controls. If your looking for a roomy car, this isnt it. Remember this is a compact entry-lever luxury car. Currently, we have have 7,000 miles on ours, just developed a rattle coming from the inside the front of the cabin. The front seats are very comfortable and I love the frame-less rear view mirror. Now, heres why you shouldnt buy this car! THE TRANSMISSION is horrible! Believe the reviews! From 1st to 2nd gear it hesitates and lags badly! Doesnt matter what mode you put it in either. Our Acura dealership has done two updates so far and they both havent helped! Looking to trade soon for maybe a Genesiss or something else. Oh, one awesome thing about the car is the fuel economy! I have gotten up to 44 mpgs on the highway at 55 mph.

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  A Real Disappointment - 2003 Acura TL
  By DCBrake - July 30 - 2:24 pm

  Transmission is poor - Had wheels lock up while traveling on interstate at 60 mph. Acura did replace my tranny, but it has not been right since - shifts awkwardly, and I have taken it back to them 2 times since - they tell me the tranny is working properly - But I continue to experience a shudder between 3rd and 4th gears on acceleration as well as uneasy shifting. This is definitely the worst car decision I have ever made - If you want reliability - shop for something else.

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  worst...transmission....EVER - 2004 Acura RSX
  By B17A1girl - June 28 - 3:37 pm

  As a the Internet Sales Manager and a salesperson at a car dealership, I drive different cars every day. My Acura RSX type-S, which is supposed to be one of the most reliable cars available, has the worst manual transmission I have ever experienced on a new car. Ever since I bought it, 2nd and 3rd gear have been grinding. Its been back to 3 different Acura dealers 4 times for the same problem. Only one of them was willing to fix it and found that the synchros are bad from the factory. They supposedly replaced them but the problem continues. NEVER buying a Honda product again.