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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  My 97 Acura - 1997 Acura CL
  By James Strosnider - October 31 - 2:00 pm

  Great car. I have had many years of enjoyment with this car. It has been fairly inexpensive to maintain and extremely dependable. It,s looks have held up fine, as the vehicle did not change that much over the years. Overall, a very good buy for the price.

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  Best in Class and for the Money, reliabl - 2004 Acura TL
  By nemavezee - October 30 - 4:25 pm

  My 4th Acura so far, and will keep buying them Ive had no problems with this car at all, currently at 76,000 miles. Minor issue was clutch master cylinder wasnt smooth after a while. Still worked fine, but dealer replaced under ext warranty at 72,000 miles. Brembo brakes are awesome on the 6- speed, only issue is brake dust, but not too bad. Heated seats are great, could use cooled seats. Amazing reliability - havent had to replace HIDs yet, or any other light bulb. Handling is awesome, nav system is perfect, bluetooth works great. DVD audio system awesome, but not enough dvda discs out there. Lacks MP3 capability and iPod/aux jacks. Best car purchase ever!

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  Another great Acura - 2008 Acura MDX
  By nemavezee - October 30 - 4:08 pm

  Traded in 04 Pilot which was an extremely great vehicle - but this is sooooo much better. This handles like a sports car, when in sport mode. There is no wind or road noise. No rattles. OK fuel economy, considering its an suv. SH-AWD is truly amazing combined with Dynamic Ride Control in sport mode. My other car is an 04TL 6MT/nav - no issues, love the car. Looked at Audi Q7 before MDX and I liked it, but MDX felt better during test drive, and handling is better on MDX. Acceleration seems smoother with MDX, and feels more powerful at any speed. Transmission (too bad only 5 speed) is very smooth This is my 4th Acura so far - and so far very pleased with all of them.

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  Perfect car - 2008 Acura TL
  By Average comsumer - October 30 - 10:10 am

  Actually the TL is my wifes car but I can tell when she is in love. For her, it is just the right size, has just the right equipment, has just the right amount of power, and behaves/feels like it is part of her. It is a nice looking car without being too flashy.

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  GREAT - 2005 Acura TL
  By Edwin Lappi - October 30 - 12:06 am

  This car handles and drives like a sport car. The interior room is ample for a tall person. The car looks like a streamline machine, and in black, it looks menecing on the highway.

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  The best!!!! - 2003 Acura TL
  By LovinLife - October 29 - 6:00 am

  I love my new car!! It was just a bit more expensive than its cousin the Accord V6, but what a difference. Bose 6 cd sound system, peppy sport shift, and it is stunning. Beautiful car with beautiful lines and dual chrome exhaust.

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  I love my new Acura TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By Robert Assile - October 28 - 2:00 am

  I loved my TL Type S and I couldnt wait to get the new 2004 TL. I love this car even more. From the beauty of the design inside and out to the way it drives. I cant wait to get a bluetooth cell phone to hook up with it. I highly recomend this car and thank Paragon Acura for keeping my payments low.

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  The new TL rocks! - 2004 Acura TL
  By Carysr - October 28 - 2:00 am

  Acura has done a great job of improving on an excellent value. This car rocks. Great audio system. Navi is a bit more complicated than a few years ago and the voice command system leaves something to be desired (understanding commands). But the car handles great and is faster than ever. Feels much sportier than previous models. The lines are classy and the price isnt much more than before.

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  A Car Way B4 Its Time - 1995 Acura Legend
  By Pdiddy - October 27 - 1:14 am

  I bought this car 3 years ago,it had 75,000 miles on it and now i have 95,000 and it still not broken in. And Im so sad I have to sell because of my son. Car seats will not fit in the back seats. Otherwise I love this car.

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  Good for your money - 2008 Acura RL
  By Acuraman - October 26 - 2:33 am

  I got my RL (top of the line) by the end of Nov. 2007. So far its fine. It drives well with very good highway mileage considering AWD. The average mileage rate was over 30 mi/gal in long distance driving. Before I purchased it, I searched the market well. For about $50K Mercedes/BMW/Audi were some offering their stripped versions. If you own the top of the line luxury car, your dealer treats you like a king for maintenance calls (your loaner there if need be). One thing was bad about these sports cars, they are so low. Even cement divider on parking lots touches your fender if you are not careful. Tires are so expensive (PAX system). If you damage it, prepare to pay $500 per tire change.