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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  Disappointed MDX Owner - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Frustrated MDX - December 29 - 2:00 am

  This car continues to spend more time at the dealership.Have had both headlights replaced due to design flaw & moisture getting inside. Lever on middle row seat broke.Finish on steering wheel cover started to come off.Recall for timing belt.Design flaw with the brake calipers & the constant clicking noise. Design flaw with the gas tank & constance sloshing sound of gas. The latest was the breaking of the power steering pulley belt that left my wife stranded on a LA freeway in the rain at night.It took Acuras roadside service 3 hours to finally get her towed.Acuras thanks to us was giving us a crappy Ford Focus for a loaner. All this for a $44k SUV.

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  Great Car - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Dave - December 28 - 9:00 pm

  Style, inside and out, is outstanding. The front seats are extremely comfortable. Gas mileage is as advertised at 21 to 22 around town. I cant wait to take an extended trip to check out that mileage. The only flaw I have found is the ride which it is somewhat jittery.

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  Love it! - 2010 Acura TL
  By Love it! - December 28 - 11:03 am

  I bought this car last week. I have owned MBenz and BMW, but this car drives and rides better. It is the most comfortable seating ever. There is, however, too much technology for me. Im too old for some of this stuff. Its a great car. Im still getting used to the styling, though.

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  2003 mdz Tranny Problems - 2003 Acura MDX
  By axelman001 - December 27 - 8:03 pm

  We love the vehicle when we can keep it on the road. Bought CPO but we keep having tranny problems. Third Transmission in two years. Had same problem with our Odyssey, told problem was fixed by Honda by 2003. Wrong. Rest of car is great.

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  Almost Perfect - 1998 Acura Integra
  By butch - December 27 - 12:59 pm

  Vehicle: 1998 GSR 4dr. Color cypress green. I purchased the car in March of 1998, and have enjoyed almost every thing about it, no problems at all. The only improvement it needs is a 6 speed transmission. Highway driving gets tiresome at 70-75 mph. Leave ratios 1-5 alone and drop in an overdrive 6th. Drop rpm down about 300 to 500.

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  Great - 2002 Acura RSX
  By TimO - December 27 - 10:00 am

  After researching similar cars in this class, I decided to go with the Acura RSX. The design is sporty and yet conservative and elegant. The automatic transmission is reponsive and gives shifts with necessary power when climbing steep hills. The sports shift mode is great, if you want to drive the engine and override the manual transmission. The sound system is clear and crisp (it doesnt have that distorted mid range bass that some cars have or ear piercing highs). So far Ive gotten excellent gas mileage though im still breaking the car in so I havent hit VTEC yet. Overall a good investment.

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  Glorified Honda...So whats your point? - 2003 Acura TL
  By Marso - December 27 - 10:00 am

  I love these reviews Ive seen that complain the 3.2TL is a "glorified Honda Accord". Acura has glorified something that is already glorious; is that supposed to be a negative? Yes, the 3.2TL is a glorified Honda. The Type S is REALLY glorified. Which is what every Honda lover aspires graduating to. Its fast, its sharp, its loaded with options, and its dependable like the Hondas. And the Navigation System is no "toy". Its fun like one, but it is very useful. Friends and family love this car. Even the kids love the look since the re- design.

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  A great segue for a Sports Car owner - 2010 Acura RDX
  By shivaswrath - December 27 - 9:45 am

  I used to drive a 05 Mitsubishi Evolution VIII. Family changes forced my hand to the RDX, but I have been continually pleasantly surprised. VERY responsive engine, love the transmission with the paddle shifters, and excellent interior comforts. I do mostly highway commuting and this car has made every stopped moment in traffic on I-95 heaven. A worthwhile, long-term investment just bear in mind maintenance isnt cheap since the turbo REQUIRES synthetic Mobil 1 ($100 a dealership).

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  Hard to Categorize - 2016 Acura ILX
  By Eric - December 26 - 11:32 am

  This is a great combination of luxury and economy. I paid $9,000 less than the dealers best offer on a comparable BMW 320i. Its pretty quick at 0-60 mph in 6.4 seconds ( .2 seconds faster than the BMW according to zeroto60times.com) but still gets 36 mpg (the same as the BMW epa estimate) on the highway. After driving the BMW 320i and the X1, the ILX interior materials seemed just slightly inferior. And the noise and handling were just a little off. I am very sensitive to squeaks and rattles. So far, not a single one. The 8 speed DCT is very smooth and precise. Driving in sport mode changes everything. The shift points are at much higher revs and the engine responds much more quickly. This is my second Acura. I drove the first one for nearly 200,000 miles and all I did was change the fluids and bulbs...not a single problem. I cant attest to the reliability of the ILX, but Im betting it will be similarly phenomenal. The expert reviews are all over the map on this one. Do you compare it with a Toyota Corolla, or a BMW 2 or 3 series? Therein lies the problem. They have to put it in a category to make sense of all the vehicles and this one doesnt fit. You have to read between the lines.

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  My daily driver for 14 years and counting - 2003 Acura TL
  By Ted - December 25 - 4:22 am

  I first purchased my TL-S back in 2002 (2003 model year). The transmission failed in 2003, and again in 2009. Both were replaced under extended warranty. The transmission that was installed in 2009 has been working fine since, with a redesign to prevent future problems. The Acura service department was excellent in remedying the transmission problem, both times. It has been 7 years and 80k miles on my current transmission. My car currently has 190k miles. My TL-S still has strong acceleration and surprisingly compliant yet firm ride quality and capable handling after all these years. The interior materials are holding up well, and the dashboard still retained its original color. The leather seats have aged much better than my 2008 Lexus ES. If not for the transmission issues early on, I wouldve given this car a perfect rating. My TL-S has held up much better than my friends BMW 323 and Mercedes C class, which they purchased around 2002, and both of which fell apart a few years ago. Asides from the transmission and a couple of broken window motors, Ive only done routine maintenance on my car. Kudos to Acura for building a mostly bulletproof car.