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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  Problems, problems! - 2009 Acura TL
  By Mark - January 27 - 2:22 am

  I think that this car is really overrated. Sorry that I bought it and I am done with Acura. Have had electrical problems and I am not happy. This is now the second Acura that has had problems. I dont know why this car company has a good rep.

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  Problems with Acura - 2008 Acura TL
  By sjb7 - January 16 - 9:03 pm

  I purchased a new (25 miles on it) 2008 Acura TL in early December. After driving the car for two weeks and 2000 miles the cam shaft seized and required 20 days of repair time. Understanding that this is not common at all I asked Acura for a replacement and they tried to get me to agree to an extended warranty and to wash their hands of liability. Acura has been terrible to work with and this is my first and last Acura solely because of how I have been treated. If you are in the market for a new car please consider all your options and keep in mind that Acura will not help you if you are sold a car with problems.

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  Why didnt I buy the Accord! - 2003 Acura TL
  By MikeNJ - December 22 - 10:00 am

  This car has a disappointing amount of squeaks and rattles. The brake system is one of a toy car. I thought because it was an Acura that it would be a better car then a plain old Honda. Boy was I ever wrong. I know a few people that own both of these cars the TL and the Accord. TL drivers share their horror stories while Accord drivers worship their cars.

• 

  Been a Great Car - 1997 Acura SLX
  By Paul - December 9 - 2:27 pm

  We bought this used 3 years ago. It already had 120000 miles on it. We now have over 150000 and have never had to do any maintenance. Its a dressed up Trooper, and Ive heard about the Isuzu engine burning oil, but this thing with 150K miles still does not burn anything. It had synthetic in it when we bought it, and have kept with that. The oil still looks pretty fresh at its 3500 mile changes. Maybe we just got a really good one, but this car has been great, especially for what used ones run. Our only complaint is its poor gas mileage for a smaller SUV. It gets about the same as a Suburban and is about half the size. It also rides a little to "truck like".

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  ACURA aint what it used to be ... ! - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Jersey Girl - December 2 - 12:10 am

  I should not have leased it without test-driving it first. But I did so, sight unseen, because this is my third Acura. I buy them for safety. My first Acura (2009 TSX) was T-boned by a truck into my drivers door: my passengers all walked away and for me, only a few ribs and sternum were cracked from the airbag. The car was a total write-off so I immediately replaced it with a 2014 Acura TSX and leased that for 3 years. Earlier this month, I had to lease a new 2016 Acura TLX because they stopped making the TSX, And I say "TskTsk" to that as the TSX is a far superior car vs the TLX. I no longer have the confidence to accelerate out of a situation. The car literally "lugs" before it gets going with a noticeable pause and delay. Once its at highway speed, all is good and the gas mileage is terrific at 35 mpg hwy. The technology package safety features for lane-keep assist, braking, warning of cars in blind spots, etc are all very good. I love the smart wipers which sense moisture and automatically adjust wiping frequency. Im disappointed in the navigation as you now have to be parked in order to set a destination or change en route. The touch-screen is awkward with a significant time delay and requires an unnecessary number of double-clicks on "OK" to advance to the next field when inputting a direction, phone number or song look-up, etc. The drivers seat feels like a cockpit. Very cramped. Im not that tall (59") yet I have no head room and my legs are cramped. The cup holders are less than 4" deep and tall coffee thermos or take-out sodas flop around in there. The drivers side mirror has a "bonus" feature of a split mirror to show more - all it does is distract and make it difficult to use. All of the mirrors need the warning "objects are much, much, much closer than they appear" because the mirrors reflect a significantly greater distance than other cars seem to and this requires some spatial learning and driving practice to adjust to. They removed the tiny storage pockets on both sides of the center dashboard console - too bad! Those were handy for eye glasses, pens and that sort of thing. The engine is much noisier versus the TSX. In fact, in my TSX, people crossing in front of me in parking lots or on the road would not hear my car idling. In contrast, the TLX announces its presence from half a block away ... inside, while driving, you hear this noise too. In the first week of leasing it, I drove my car 1,700 miles on a road trip. My tire was shredded and I had to be towed because Acura no longer includes a spare tire or even a donut. Instead, they provide an emergency repair kit with a sealant (which I blew out trying to fix my tire and each canister costs $65 to replace). Overall, Im disappointed. Sure, the technology is cool but at what cost? So quality, comfort and ride performance are compromised for some cheap electronics? This is my last Acura!

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  Cant believe Acura - 2003 Acura TL
  By Shocked!! - November 20 - 2:00 am

  Im a honda/acura guy. I bought Acura for the reliability, and the most bang for the buck. Its actually a fun car to drive but my faith in Honda/Acura has greatly diminished. Acura knew about the transmission problems that they have been having with the TL from 98- 2003. I should have done more home work. Ive had my car for a few months have 4k miles on it and my transmission is bad !!! The kicker is that they wanted to replace it with a remanufactured tranny..... No thank you. Screw the 100k extended warranty......... A major recall in the making....

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  Not sure Im doing Acura again - 2007 Acura TL
  By JP in ATL - November 8 - 11:33 am

  I got the new 2007 Acura TL Type S after my 2004 had been rear-ended twice. I loved my 2004! Wish I had kept it now vs getting this 07. Sorry Acura, this might be the last. Based on my 04, my mom, dad, and several great friends bought one too. Some have already dumped their car. It has no power, no soul, the navi is junk, live traffic is delayed 30 minutes or more, bad in Atlanta. The windows squeal. Brakes are junk. Stereo is bad. This car does nothing for me. My 04 had soul, feeling, control, power. looks like my 20 yr loyalty will end.

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  Buyers Remorse - 2009 Acura RDX
  By AJJ - October 25 - 6:18 pm

  I drove the RDX 2x before deciding to buy and I sincerely regret it. There are just too many quirks in design that make this vehicle really annoying. The gas mileage has not improved with time, only getting 13 mpg. The audio constantly dimming ANYTIME you hit another button on the dash. The drive is similar to a BMW which is fine. The fact that you cannot import an address book with the handsfree is just stupid. Other Acura models have this feature, except RDX. For a few thousand dollars more get a BMW. Yes they nickel and dime you to death on options, but they make a great driving machine. Acura, in my book, has a long way to go.

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  Buyers Remorse - 2009 Acura MDX
  By davidb - October 22 - 11:11 pm

  Ive bought at least 10 cars over my life and always been 100% satisfied. For the first time I feel I made a huge mistake. Ive got 1500 miles on a new MDX and Ive decided to get rid of the damned thing. Engine noise reminds me of a 4 cylinder Camry, the transmission is jerky, particularly when downshifting - take your foot off the gas at 60 and the engine immediately starts dragging you down, almost like no overdrive. The front seats are exhausting if you sit in them over an hour. And the steering is way too stiff and the indentations on the wheel are spaced too far apart. I took at least 4 or 5 test drives and for the life of me I dont know how I missed these details.

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  Bad Humming Noise - 2004 Acura MDX
  By tedelco - October 21 - 2:00 am

  I have owned a 2004 Acura MDX SUV for about two months. This car has caused me many problems. When I drive at an engine speed of 2000 RPMS I can hear an annoying, constant humming noise. The Acura dealer has checked it a number of times and tell me it is normal and cannot do anything about it. I have also contacted the Acura Manufacturer and they have given me the same reply. I do not know what else I can do. To all future 2004 Acura MDX SUV costumers: when you take a test drive for this car, make sure to listen for this noise when the engine speed reaches about 2000 RPMS. Thank you.