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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  Fun to Drive, but... - 2010 Acura RDX
  By sea_level - November 28 - 9:30 pm

  I love how it handles and it is a blast to drive. It is a pleasure to drive on long road trips. The GPS, XM and Bluetooth work well, especially for handsfree phone calls. It has plenty of power and the AWD makes corners fun. However, it has a firm to rough ride and lots of engine noise especially at low speeds. The tone of the engine sound reminds me of a very low-end econo car, not something that costs in the high $30s. The leather used on the seats seems sort of low quality, along with the carpet. The seats are extremely comfortable though. Overall, I do think it is a very good little SUV and will probably be very reliable for many year. It just has a couple of drawbacks.

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  A lot of car for price tag it sells for - 2005 Acura TL
  By FSU Nole - November 28 - 8:23 pm

  A great car for the price it sells for. Looked at other cars in same category, G35, IS, and others. No other car compares with the features and cost benefit of the TL. A fun car to drive that has some power behind it as well. Inside design is great and very comfortable, XM satellite makes long trips feel short.

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  Gotta Have It!! - 2006 Acura TL
  By CHOOSEY - November 28 - 4:30 pm

  If you are looking for a fun 4dr sporty vehicle, the Acura 3.2 TL is It. Ive been looking at this vehicle for a few years now. I love Honda vehicles because of their reliability. I am very happy with my purchase. 17inch wheels are a nice touch too.

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  Fabulous - 1998 Acura CL
  By cammi450 - November 27 - 11:59 pm

  I bought this car in 2/08. I figured it would get me through a few years until I could buy something "better". But I absolutely LOVE this car. It is beautiful (people think it is only a few years old) and extremely reliable (over 150,000 miles). I have only had to replace brakes and the alternator. I will not sell it anytime soon.

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  Great Vehicle - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Bill - November 27 - 4:43 pm

  I got a SUV for reasonas associated with a bad back. It has proved to be much more. The MDX is a very comfortable smooth ride with great handling.

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  Italian Styling + Japanese Reliability - 2008 Acura TL
  By CarAddict - November 26 - 4:11 pm

  In addition to Hondas reliability, the other main reason why I bought this car is that I think Honda really did a great job styling the exterior of the TL. I really like the beautiful styling touches such as the character lines that run across the sides of the car. The 2008 TL styling is elegant and understated, unlike the new 2009 TL which I thought is too loud for my taste with the oversized grill in the front and chrome strip on the trunk. However, the sleek styling does result in poor rearward visibility for the TL. Having driven a Acura Integra for the last 20 years, this is probably the biggest thing I have to adopt in my new TL. Both the B and the C pillars on the TL are very wide!

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  Questionable reliability - 2009 Acura MDX
  By Sri - November 25 - 1:21 pm

  2009 MDX with less than 4000 miles developed an issue with timing belt and timing belt pulleys. Got it towed to dealer. Dealer told us the front part of engine also got damaged. So they are trying to repair. Filed a complaint with Acura.So far as there was no action from their side as well. I did not pay 46K to get such trouble prone vehicle. People buy acura vehicles because their reliability. It looks like Reliability is getting questionable now.

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  Love it - 2010 Acura RDX
  By Pleased - November 25 - 11:26 am

  I love Honda Motor Company. Had an MDX before...which loved. Opted for 2wd b/c I dont need SH-AWD in TX. Better mpg...but just barely. Only complaint on RDX is that any 4 cyl. should get 20 MPG at least. Im no lead-foot, but I only average 17 MPG in city. The tech package is great. Very similar to my MDXs, but also controls my ipod and weather forecast. Love hands-free talk features and the feel of steering. I dont use paddle-shifters. Ride is sportier and quicker than MDX, but just slightly bumpier. Road noise is great...not an issue. Plenty of room for us, but we dont regularly haul anything other than groceries. I dont tow anything and dont plan to.

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  No problems - 2001 Acura TL
  By paul - November 25 - 10:19 am

  Ive driven my TL daily and put on 140,000 miles and have never had a problem with this car. I drove GM vehicles primarily prior to this and had more issues than I care to remember. Since owning this car, Im sold on Honda quality.

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  Loved this car, getting another one - 2008 Acura TSX
  By kcleebs - November 25 - 7:07 am

  We had our TSX for about a year and a half. Loved most everything about it. Our only issues were little things like the fact that the front doors dont stay open well when one is getting in and out out the car. And I didnt like the position of the door lock on the sill where one might rest their arm. The safety features are what I liked best as my wife was able to walk away with a bruised knee from an accident where someone hit her head-on at 40 mph while she was stationary. We are replacing our now totaled TSX with an exact duplicate. We looked at the 09s but they keep making things bigger and it would be too tight a fit in our tiny garage.