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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  Never Again - 2009 Acura RDX
  By Mark from Sacramento - October 21 - 10:22 pm

  My wife got the car and she seems happy with it, but I think the lack of visibility out the back is dangerous. The rear window is very small and then further blocked by the drivers headrest. Visibility out the drivers side is also bad because of the frame between driver and passenger windows. The real problem is the delay in acceleration which is maddening. Delay is usually 1 second but if you really need to pull in front of a car to make an exit you need to know it may the sequence which is engine revs, wait a second, wait a second, and then car accelerates, but not quickly. I cant believe this is supposed to be a premium car. Also high hood blocks forward view a little.

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  Great Car...but not "perfect" - 2006 Acura TL
  By Melissa - October 21 - 7:58 pm

  I have owned my Acura TL for 1 1/2 yrs. It has everything you can imagine as far as options, but it doesnt have auto lights or an aux jack. Another very annoying thing is that the car is very LOUD on the road- makes you feel like youre NOT in a luxury car. Other: leather is cheap. My center console has gotten so thin that it looks pushed down all the time. Just not what youd expect from a car that costs around $40k brand new. In some light, the instrument gauges have such a bad glare that I cant see them. The navigation is great, the build quality is decent, and the car gets a lot of looks on the road. Definitely looks great when cleaned up.

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  110,000 miles and still going strong - 2003 Acura MDX
  By extremus669 - October 21 - 2:10 pm

  I bought my MDX in 2005 with ~62K miles on it. It was a certified pre-owned vehicle. Ive put almost 50K additional miles on it since and the past four years have been trouble-free. Maintenance includes the occasional fluid changes (oil, VTM, transmission fluids, etc.). The timing belt was also replaced at ~107K per the maintenance schedule. Rides and handles great for a vehicle its size (and age).

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  2000 Acura TL-Best car I have ever owned - 2000 Acura TL
  By Mountan - October 21 - 6:33 am

  I have owned this car for over 9 years and put 106,000 miles on it. I have replaced the tires once, the brakes once and an oxygen sensor once. That is it! I ordered new OEM floor mats to keep it feeling new, and have loved the car. Most miles are highway, but the dealer was amazed that I had 100,000 miles on the brakes! Excellent reliability and very comfortable. Like that I can listen to tapes and CDs.

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  Extremely happy with my purchase - 2009 Acura MDX
  By bayarea - October 20 - 10:09 pm

  Ive had my car for a week, so I cant really comment on the reliability. Ill update it later. I originally went out looking to buy a Toyota Highlander, thinking that was the only SUV that was in my price range, but the deals on the MDX have been crazy so I could easily justify the $5 more I spent on the MDX. This car has everything I wanted. The SH-AWD is awesome, the luxurious interior is really comfortable and has a ton of features and tech (I got the tech package). The voice recognition is way better than my BMW I used to have and it drives much more like a sports car than the RX. I ordered all my accessories off of bernardi acura for way cheaper.

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  Legend Lover - 1995 Acura Legend
  By 95legnd - October 20 - 8:23 pm

  Luxury performance power. I bought mine used @ 174,000. Always dreamed of owning one since I worked at acura dealer when they first came out but they were 40,000+ and I just worked in the parts dept.

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  Surprisingly Economical - 2003 Acura TL
  By george255 - October 20 - 10:40 am

  I bought this car used with 61000 miles on it about 9 mos. ago. I have to say, what surprised me the most was the fuel economy. All around driving I have seen approx 24 MPG. On the highway on a long trip - I saw 33-34 mpg! For an intermediate size car - that is amazing. My son has an Acura RSX and that is about what he see on his compact 4 cyl car. So far, I have had no problems with the car. Comfortable and handles reasonably well. Acceleration isnt all that great. Interior is very comfortable - audio system is good. What bugs me - is on a luxury car - you would think it would have sensors to turn the headlights on at dusk! Even my old Malibu had that!

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  Acura MDX Tech. Package w/DVD on Headsets - 2009 Acura MDX
  By jenny - October 19 - 11:58 am

  Our brand-new MDX was broken into and the window was destroyed and two DVD players on the headrest were cut and stolen after within one hour of purchase. We think the DVD headrest design was inferior, and can not be pulled out at all and no accessory to cover the two DVD sets. We think this is fail design and vulnerable to be stolen.

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  Fun to Drive but Noisy - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Martin - October 18 - 5:41 pm

  Vehicle is fun to drive and the fuel economy is awesome. Averaged 26 miles in stop and go traffic, and about 31 on the hwy. First three fill-ups averaged 550 miles. Last fill-up averaged 600 miles on a full tank of gas. Having some problems with a rattling noise coming from the steering column. Noise goes away when you downward or upward pressure on the steering wheel.

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  Absolutely LOVE It! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By SoCalGirl - October 18 - 2:31 am

  I never knew I could love a car so much! I bought my RSX new in Aug. 2001 with 50 miles on it. I now have 112,000 miles on it and am nearly in tears of the thought that I have to give it up for a more family friendly car (this car wasnt really made to haul car seats around in). Ive had absolutely no problems with this car. I use regular octane in it and take it in for regular service to an Acura dealer. It handles like a sports car and hugs the curves. The hatchback provides so much room for hauling stuff in! Gas mileage is fantastic at 31/36 MPG. Even though my car is 7 years old, it does not feel old when I get into it. I will be SO sad when I have to eventually say goodbye to it.