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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  TRANSMISSION FLAW - 2003 Acura MDX
  By HYMAXX - August 1 - 2:00 am

  After 9 months of fun hell broke loose with only 7,000 miles. The transmission makes an unusual loud slamming noise when I shift to reverse or drive. The dealer can not and did not fix the transmission problem. MDX is an affordable luxury SUV but the interior is made of cheap materials. After all the headache that my wife and I went through with ACURA I replaced the MDX with a BMW X5, I should have bought the X5 in the first place.

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  clems review - 2004 Acura MDX
  By BigClem - August 1 - 2:00 am

  Drives well...ammenities kina cheap feeling

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  Buy something German for the same Money - 2003 Acura TL
  By Chris C - July 31 - 2:00 am

  This 2003 ACURA TL-S has the road handling of a fat lady on ice skates and the stopping power of a fully loaded school bus. WhoÂ’s idea was it to put 260 HP on a Honda Accord? The car is truly dangerous! I feel like IM in an un-guided rocket. After coming from the BMW family, the Acura TL-S is quite disappointing. I wish I didnt drive this car everyday! Only 2 more years left on the lease and IM counting down the days!

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  Like this suv - 2017 Acura RDX
  By Marv - July 30 - 2:22 pm

  We looked at other suvs, found that the Acura had a better price with more opptions. The V6 engine has plenty of power & the transmission works great. We took a long road trip through Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, Utah & Nevada back to Cal. The car ran great with no problems going over all the mountains. I would recommend an Acura to anyone wanting a mid sized suv

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  Solid Car - 2004 Acura MDX
  By djreid2 - July 30 - 2:00 am

  This is a great car that will last for a lifetime. It is cheaper than the lexus and roomier. The acceleration is very good for a SUV. The only downfalls are gas mileage and no in dash cd changer. The lexus had more options, but the Acura has more value

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  endless styling - 1999 Acura CL
  By spice - July 26 - 2:00 am

  Still looks good and turns heads after 4 years.

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  Aside from the rattly suspension..... - 2005 Acura RL
  By Raja Bhat - July 19 - 11:40 pm

  Sporty luxury sedan. Somewhat rough, choppy ride which perhaps is what it costs to get a tight, precise handling. Worrisome rattle from the suspension going over ruts and bumps, clearly audible at low speed. I have not heard of this problem from anyone else on this forum, however. Hope they can find the problem. Incredible array of electronic gadgetry; Onstars phone system wont accept incoming calls, yet to be fixed. Sound system is superb, but XM satellite radio suddenly loses its memory of its presets. Would I buy this car again...yes, but if they can fix the rattle in the suspension. It is not becoming of a $50K Acura flagship car! Id say this: always test drive car with radio off!

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  Test drive - 2017 Acura MDX
  By Oklahoma driver - July 17 - 2:06 am

  I have liked the look of the MDX for over 15 years. The MDX was in the final 2 of my selection process but in the end the technology wasnt as smooth and sleek in presentation as the vehicle I purchased. The MDX also drives like a truck and I selected a SUV that has a more sporty drive. I have teens that are now driving themselves and I dont need a third row however the middle row captain chairs make the MDX functionally a 4 person vehicle which was a negative to me. Finally, the price is high compared to the new sporty Mercedes GLC 300 which was my final selection.

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  Falling out of love with my Acura - 1997 Acura CL
  By Dr. Rich - July 14 - 2:00 am

  There were so many things to love about my 97CL: handling, performance, good looks. But alas, during the past 6 months, Ive had to replace the starter, AC condenser & evaporator and routine maintenance are costing almost $3,500. I only have 82,000 miles and I really pampered my CL. Sad to say, I dont love this car anymore. Other people will rave about its reliability, but that has not been my experience, and the cost to repair is hideous. My last 2 cars (1989 Camry 146,000 miles and 1994 Nissan Quest 163,000 miles) were not nearly as expensive to maintain. Maybe I expected too much, but I thought this car would last longer without so many repairs!

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  So far, so excellent - 2004 Acura MDX
  By phenry - July 14 - 2:00 am

  Not gone too far yet, but so far everything I could hope for. Drives like a Acura sports sedan and almost as good as my quatro Audi. A dream on the highway, especially if you are used to driving an old fashion SUV. Nav system very intuitive and impressively accurate.