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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  Rattle Box with Features - 2005 Acura TL
  By Czarcrab - November 25 - 12:23 am

  Havent you all heard lately about the bad built quality of the Acura Body. My car is pretty much a rattlebox with tons of features. It queeks and squeeks at every nick and bump on the road. There is rattling noise from front glove box, wing mirrors, rear seat center etc etc. And very loud irritating noises. Just a RATTLEBOX with loads of features IMHO.

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  My Advice: Stay away from Honda/Acura - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Bad Decision - November 24 - 2:49 pm

  I bought this car new in 2006, I have had it in the shop 2 times every year for the brakes!! They are terrible! Also it has been in 3 times so far for rust repair! Very cheap build quality! My friend got a Chevrolet Cobalt LT a year before I got an Acura and my Acura has had more problems and has been in the shop more than her Cobalt!!!! This really is not a Premium quality car!!

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  Bad Transmissions - 2001 Acura CL
  By hate bad trannys - November 24 - 7:13 am

  This has been one of the best cars Ive ever driven. Quiet, fast, great stereo. I would go out and buy another one except for one fact. I am on my 3rd transmission and Acura will not stand by their product. They replaced one at 65,000, another at 80,000, and now at 136,000 they want to charge me $5,000 (the first 2 were warrantied) for a new one. I still own the car but bought another brand because of this experience.

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  Nice Car but less seating room - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Raj Patel - November 23 - 3:45 pm

  Nice Car to drive but less room for seating if tall driver or passenger riding this car.

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  Amazing Car - 2010 Acura TL
  By Patrick - November 22 - 5:10 am

  Just spent the last 3 weeks researching cars, looking at cars, test driving etc. I stumbled on this one at a carshow and immediately was sold. Great exterior looks, great interior, plenty of room in both front and back (63" Driver). Quiet inside and very smooth drive. Black exterior with Ebony leather inside has lots of people walking by and taking a look.

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  I love my MDX - 2004 Acura MDX
  By shannon williams - November 22 - 2:00 am

  The MDX is an excellent SUV. The rear view camera is great for me when parking and the Navigation system is so easy to understand and use. The MDX gives you a comfortable ride, with seating capacity of seven adults, thanks to third row seat. The sound system is very enjoyable. My only regret now is that I did not get the DVD Entertainment System.

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  6-month review - 2003 Acura TL
  By Red Dog - November 22 - 2:00 am

  Great car so far. I was disappointed that it had a pretty serious water leak in the trunk when I got it, but of course they fixed that right away. Service has been good so far. Engine is strong throughout the powerband. Transmissions shifts kind of hard sometimes when accelerating slowly. Handling is very nice for a large FWD sedan. Seats are very comfortable. Would like to see a telescopic steering wheel since it seems a little far away (maybe I have short arms). Stereo sounds great. Overall, great car and very happy with it so far.

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  WOW MOM WOW - 2004 Acura TL
  By salut - November 22 - 2:00 am

  I searched long and hard for this car... One year, going through the Germans, the Japanese, and the Swedes... My top four were: TL, 93aero, 330i, and G35... Infinity hated the seats. Beemer 3k more and that red light under the rear view (ugh). Saab was also 2k more before any options. Acura winner best bang for the buck... Great car...

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  Great car at grea pric - 2004 Acura TL
  By hobster - November 22 - 2:00 am

  I have never had this much fun owning a new car. Performance is incredible. Sound system is incredible, ready for DVD-A discs. 5.1 sound is incredible in the car. Bluetooth cell phone technology is so cool. Interior layout is top notch and all materials are incredible. Drove 3-series, G35, and LS and I know I bought the best car (and is the lowest price!)

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  Good SUV design Possibly a bad year - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Max - November 20 - 2:37 pm

  At around 75000, my transmission went out and Ive pampered this car since purchase. Luckily still under warranty at the time. Acura says this is highly unusual, though judging from other comments here not exactly so. Have had to replace air vent controls as they keep popping off. I asked Acura as often as this was happening, was this a manufacturer/materials defect or just a poor design (2-piece clip-on). I suspect both. I would expect more from Acura particularly in parts design. All in all a great SUV in general. MPG is about average for SUVs.