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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  Truly Legendary - 1990 Acura Legend
  By My Legend - January 2 - 12:52 am

  I love my car, the performance and handling are superb. Rear leather seats are very cracked, but I dont sit in the back! Had 183000 miles on it when I purchased it 4 years ago, and now theres 210000! Im buying another one with 300000 miles. I love this car.

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  Great car - 1990 Acura Integra
  By carjunkie - January 1 - 6:21 pm

  I read some of these reviews had to add mine. Had an 88 Integra LS and it was like a tank. Was broadsided by a semi on I-40 in an ice storm. Drove it from AR to KY for the holidays and then down to AL where I relocated. Finally had it fixed. Best car I ever had and only sold it at 137000 miles because 2d child arrived. Too much to pack 2 kids and an 80 lb dog for the trips to see the grandparents. Now Im looking for another for those kids as they start to drive.

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  12 month 25Kmiles update - 2009 Acura TSX
  By highmiles - January 1 - 1:36 pm

  Have owned the car for a year, 25K miles. Average MPG 28 (mostly Hiway, with local thrown in.) Reliability is great, maintenance costs about $400, all oil changes at 5K intervals. Dealer and manual says I can go longer. Have occasional problems with bluetooth. Either phone or car, not sure which. Have gotten used to sharp cutoff headlight pattern, though it is still disconcerting on hilly roads. Car is very comfortable on long drives.

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  Great Car - 2006 Acura TSX
  By SuperSpy - December 31 - 3:36 am

  I just got the new TSX and I love it. It is a smooth ride and is fairly quiet inside.

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  Old car for Young driver - 1990 Acura Legend
  By bensterk - December 30 - 8:00 pm

  My grandmother purchased this car used When I got my license she gave it to me. It currently has 171,000 miles. We have had some problems with it. For example, the starter went out and left me stranded at taco bell. Head seal broken which leaks oil on the engine which smokes= embarrassing. We had to get the Alarm system deactivated because it kept going off. Also, the ABS breaks are completely broken. But, this car can be so fun to drive, light steering and great throttle response. Seats are comfortable. The ride is very comfortable over normal conditions yet it can still be sporty. All in all a very fun car full of vigor and character.

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  Love it! - 2007 Acura MDX
  By AB - December 30 - 7:30 am

  I leased Acura MDX in February 2007. Loved it from day 1. It is stylish, sporty, and everything I could have asked for. I can drive alone, or load family and friends and still enjoy the ride. The one thing I dont like in Acura MDX are the front wipers. They stink! The wipers started jumping within few months of my buying the MDX and Acura could not fix it. So I am living with it. My transmission failed once and they fixed it because it was under warranty. Anyway, I think MDX is a great car. I love every bit of it.

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  Great used car - 2003 Acura CL
  By rjuarez - December 29 - 2:25 pm

  Ive had my 2003 Acura CL Type-S (around 81k miles now) for about 2 years now and Ive loved it. The torque is great, its a smooth ride on a good looking car, and with an Acura you know youre getting a reliable ride. The only problem Ive had so far was with the front left ballast (part of the headlight unit) which was decently expensive to replace, but I bought the part off of ebay and did it myself. Other than that, car has been a dream to maintain.

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  Definitely love it!!! - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Geene Rosado - December 29 - 7:02 am

  Very comfortable ride, VERY roomy, safety features are excellent, technology pretty good, will definitely stay in the Acura family, they have yet to disappoint me!! Also would like to inform buyers that I had the best experience ever @ Acura in Gainesville☺

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  Awesome car - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Mike Dr - December 29 - 2:00 am

  Very good car. Amazing handling, very good acceleration for the price and very nice design. Visibility is a bit limited as with most sport coupes. BAD sound system. Horrible radio reception and not very good sound quality overall even with CDs.

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  love this vehicle - 2004 Acura MDX
  By kronedog - December 29 - 2:00 am

  hav ing owned a jeep cherokeee, and gone to this it is night and day. This SUV drives like a car, is comfortable, quiet, and fast. I absolutely love this vehicle.