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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  Great Car - 1999 Acura TL
  By davidbrown1 - November 30 - 10:38 pm

  I am the second generation owner of this vehicle bought new by my parents. I was given ownership of this car at 90K miles, now at 150K, and I still love it. I drove this car very hard, across the country, through the country and into a few things. It has proven very durable, even among the the most adverse conditions. Always faithfully maintained, the car has had no major mechanical issues. The handling is not what it once was, but still above average. Excellent braking, impressive acceleration, and comfortable, quiet, confident at high speed. My only complaint is the Premium fuel requirement which drives the fuel cost up substantially.

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  Serious safety defect - 2012 Acura TL
  By acuradefect - November 27 - 3:00 pm

  Whenever my wife 125# or son 200# sit in passenger seat the Air bag alarm sounds announcing thgere airbag is off Aftger 4 unsuccessful attmepts at fixing the dealer spoke with Acura and was told we were sitting wrong..Same reply at Acura central This suggests that cura is aware of defect cannot fix and is awaiting recall NB I have had the same acura model before without problem and ahve ridden in loaner model without this problem

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  BEST low-maintenance sports compact. - 1998 Acura Integra
  By thedirtybird - November 23 - 2:05 am

  Writing this review is almost as difficult a decision as selling my Integra was. The car was brilliant! People constantly trying to steal it was not. Having worked as a valet and driven virtually every commonly available car on the road, the Integra turned out to be the best balance of sporty, economical, and affordable, especially for a college student on a budget (and not wanting to "settle" for a Geo or Cavalier). To be honest, the non-VTEC LS trim has enough bang for your buck... and when will you -really- be needing VTEC?

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  This is my second TSX - 2012 Acura TSX
  By drtangalanga - November 2 - 1:32 pm

  My 2006 TSX was a great car, six models later the 2012 is still unbeatable when it comes to value, luxury and sportiness. I considered the usual subjects: Mercedes C250, the BMW 3, and Audi A4. For me the TSX still provides more bang for the buck than any of them, with the vaulted Acura reliability I am used to. My only complaint is about the tech package. You get a lot more features but simple tasks become much more cumbersome and take many more steps to complete.

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  Great Car!!! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By tonyanytime - October 11 - 9:15 pm

  To all those who had bad experiences, suck it up! Ive owned over 20 different vehicles in the last 10 years, all used from Lexus, Audi A4, BMW 325i, 528i, Infiniti Q45, two F-150s, Oldsmobile, Acura 2.5 TL, 2 preludes, a civic with motor swap, dodge ram, and the list goes on. All had varying degrees of reliability BASED on previous care. All had maintenance concerns arise some more costly than others but you must accept that when purchasing a car. It makes me sick to see someone bashing this Acura. I havent driven mercedes yet, so until then THIS IS THE BEST HANDLING, SOLID DRIVING CAR OF ALL IVE OWNED AND DRIVEN. Im eager to drive it everywhere and i bought it with 129k. Its getting a turbo

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  The Hard Ride... - 2013 Acura TSX
  By tomsjay - October 11 - 5:21 pm

  Boguht this car for it looks and size. Its a perfect size and proportions for a sedan for personal use. Good balance of quality and premium materials. spirited drive train, precice steering. Overall Quality feeling. Fun to drive However the big draw back is the jittery tough ride. car trembles when hit on seams and breaks on the highway. you have to drive some diatance to feel it then you feel like get out of the car. Its not a compliant drive. slightly lost on the well balance of stiffer suspension and comfort. its too stiff or what causes this is unknown less leg room. low roof. slighly lower car.

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  Rdx, Your almost perfect - 2013 Acura RDX
  By gby - September 22 - 10:36 pm

  Acura hit a triple with this one. Not a home run yet. I think this might have been a careful move on ACURAs design team. I really cant blame them.I own my 2013 rdx close to two weeks now and I must say its been a delight. I wish it just had a bit more luxury touches like the MDX, But you cant have it all. If you want to have it all then I guess buy the MDX. When I made my purchase there were alot to consider and the main one was reliability. Honda motor company consistently manufactures reliable vehicles. I have tried other brands and have found out time and time again there is nothing like a honda product, no matter what level of vehicle you want to drive.

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  7 year total repairs low - 2005 Acura TL
  By gary171 - September 12 - 8:06 am

  My wife purchased the TL new with the 7 year/100,000 extended warranty. The warranty just expired. Total regular maintenance for 7 years are $3600--all done at Acura dealership. Total repairs on my 2005 Infinity purchased the same day with same warranty are $9300. I love my Infinity, but regular maintenance is expensive. Acura repair bills very low over 7 years.

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  Acura ILX Impressions after first month - 2013 Acura ILX
  By hondafan30 - September 7 - 8:14 pm

  The Ilx is a great car. I am a Honda/Acura fan which is a big part of why I purchased this car. You can get more car for the money with Toyota, Honda or Nissan any day, but if you want the Acura badge and build quality you pay the premium. The car handles extremely well, road noise is pretty low and the interior is one of the most comfortable and aesthetically appealing of any car I have owned. The interior isnt large but its done very well. I really enjoy driving this car and it gets its fair share of looks. Dont judge this car by pictures, I went to the dealer to buy a tsx and left with this because when I saw it the body styling really hooked me in. It is definitely not a rebadged civic

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  Safe car! Reliable - 2009 Acura TSX
  By mwqnj - September 7 - 4:20 pm

  I love the tsx. I have had a lot of items worn but replaced by the warranty. Faulty window switch, bad speakers, worn bushings and cv boots. I had only had it maintained at the dealer, otherwise I would have been in serious debt. Brakes replaced all around and trans flush which were my choice to replace. Service excellent. Back is tight but overall this car is fast, fun and comfortable to drive !! It has 38,000 on it and I plan to run it to the ground. Tires are next, not terrible to maintain oil change n tires only big service besides the warranty replacements.