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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  Nice car for ages 26-32 with kids - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Chad - December 27 - 8:30 am

  After a long search for a new car that would give me what I wanted for the right price. I choose TSX in Feb, at $26,200 out of 29,600 thanks to Edmunds. The only problems I have had so far is the transmission. Other then that the car has been great. The people at Lynnwood Wash treated me and my family with respect and GREAT service. Something you dont see anymore. Ohh I bought the car out right which made it easier to find a great rate.

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  Good car - 2000 Acura TL
  By mamakell - December 24 - 2:00 am

  I love this vehicle...but, for its mileage, it seems to need an awful lot of maintenance. A/c drips, break discs, power seats are starting to go out. In light of those flaws I still feel any Honda product is worth buying.

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  Donnas rating - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Donna Middleton - December 24 - 2:00 am

  There need to be improvements for better gas mileage. Also, the tires need to be improved for safety and over all performance.

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  AWESOME car, and Acura supports it! - 2000 Acura TL
  By susanc - December 22 - 2:00 am

  I have been in love with this car since the miunte I got it! It is FAST (though be careful, I got two tickets and never had one before). Its comfortable, controls designed well, and I have never had a problem that Acura didnt cover. Having said that, I did have repeated front brake problems, a seatbelt problem, and the transmission blew at 66k. But Acura had already extended the waranty and covered the problems.

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  Cheap Inside - 2005 Acura TL
  By Brooke - December 20 - 8:36 am

  This car is a rattle trap. If you dont mind all the rattles you will be fine however there are many problems with the newer TLs. Wouldnt buy another Acura and this is my 2nd TL - love my 99.

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  needs better transmission - 2002 Acura RSX
  By videokideo - December 17 - 2:00 am

  manual transmission is not smooth shifting. going in/out of gear positions is sticky feeling with synchro gears not performing well

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  Would buy another one in a heartbeat... - 2001 Acura CL
  By Trepond - December 7 - 2:00 am

  The beauty of this car is that it spacious, luxurious, and sporty at the same time. The wood grain on the inside could use some work, its the only thing that disappoints me on the car. The nice thing about Acura is every Type S comes with a sunroof, 6 disc changer, heated seats, and more. Would recommend this car to anyone looking for a dependable, fun car to drive.

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  1997 Acura Integra GSR - 1997 Acura Integra
  By KWW - December 5 - 2:00 am

  Overall, this is a good car. A very RELIABLE car!! While it is no longer in production, there are a few things that could have been better. Comfort is lacking as the seats feel like you are sitting on cardboard. This is a real problem as we do alot of long distance driving 250+ miles at any given time. Only had two repairs during the warranty period...the CD player and the radiator. Finally, I think the factory tire choice could also have been better, the Michellin tires were a bit hard, loud and horrible in the wet.

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  Fun to drive! - 2003 Acura CL
  By kkvasnicka - December 4 - 2:00 am

  Ive found the CL-Type S a joy to drive. I test drove the G35 also. The CL is a smoother ride. Even though is doesnt have as much horsepower, it has plenty. Bang for the buck, the CL is a much better buy.

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  transmission problem - 2002 Acura TL
  By steve bar - December 4 - 2:00 am

  In my case the transmission died every 20,000 miles, the dealler has the car now they are changing the transmission the second time. There are lots of posting on the net about this, somehow consumer report and yourself ignor it. I wonder why???