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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  Terrible transmission - 1999 Acura TL
  By Sam - October 6 - 9:30 am

  Wheel bearings have been replaced 3 times, worst is transmission was replaced at 7K, 50K and 100K miles. Reliability of this vehicle is very poor. Honda should be ashamed of this car.

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  Junk Tranny - 2003 Acura RSX
  By ezputt - September 27 - 10:00 am

  Out of the door the tranmission would grind, had it back in shop within 250 miles, told that transmission needed to be broken in. 2600 miles, transmission is being replaced. Car squeaks and creaks like my 94 Ranger.

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  My first car, drove it 2 years... - 1996 Acura RL
  By Joel - September 14 - 2:32 pm

  I bought this car two years ago as my first vehicle ever. Spent $5000, and it had 150,000 miles on it (or was it 125?). Whatever the case, I now have 172,000 on it, and the AC still works. The man I bought it from had kept it immaculate - even the engine was clean. I ended up with some body damage in the rear, but drove it several thousand more miles. The only problem is in the power steering, now... theres a leak that reached a peak, and I would have to pay $600 to replace the part/ seals. That would certainly be worth it for a car with this much comfort/power and life left in it, if it werent for the $3000 body damage. Moving on to a Civic for better mpg, and less miles on it

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  RDX Worst Horrible Ride ever - 2009 Acura RDX
  By Frank G CPA - August 23 - 9:14 am

  First the RDX is NOT a luxury auto by any standards. The ride is so harsh that on a mildly bumpy road your head bounces off the restraint. On rough roads you had better hold the steering wheel very tight or you will get bounced off and lose control of the vehicle. I got over the lack of simple luxury items like seats that fold onto themselves and no power rear gate but the ride is something else. I am EXTREMELY sorry that I leased the 08 RDX. Acura has no clue that this is an issue as the response "well it is based on a truck" so I dont expect future models to address the ride.

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  TSX premiem - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Mir - July 28 - 9:01 am

  VSA light came on 3 times or more, car would not go into reverse at times, CD player is weak and sensitive had that replaced as well very disappointed in car could use a lot more horsepower, kills on gas could be better, horrible for 4 cylinder feels like, youre driving a v6 with the gas mileage.

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  Problems - 2005 Acura TL
  By nebbioloman - July 27 - 6:06 pm

  Simply put: The worst car experience I ever had. Brakes went @ 14,000 miles, tires @ 17,500, trouble shifting from 2nd to 3rd (transmission), wiper motor replaced, 3rd set of tires, 3rd set of brakes, recalls, numerous other headaches. to many to write about. I spent more time at the dealer than work. 17 mph city/ 20 mph highway

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  What a mistake you shouldnt make - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Katie - July 9 - 5:43 pm

  I got this car in 2006 and until now regret it every single day. This is the loudest car I have ever driven. The body was built very lousy that you can hear wind noise, road noise and just about everything else OUTSIDE of the car. When talking to the people in the back seat, I literally have to YELL every time. Windshield very thin, cracked and got replaced 2 times (with original Acura windshield). Watch out for the speaker, the first 2 months it sounded great but gone down so fast and I turned to hate listen to music while Im driving. The worst part is about to come, if you purchase this car, be aware that you will lose about 12K once you want to trade it in.

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  Its not a BMW - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Mudit Tandon - June 29 - 11:26 pm

  This car does everything well, and theres nothing wrong with it on paper. Unfortunately, theres nothing exciting about it in real life - a jack of all trades. I was in the market for a BMW 325, an Audi A4 1.8T and a TSX. I drove all three, and was not very impressed with the way the Audi drove. The TSX gave me everything I wanted in a car and more for 3K less. I wish I had paid that 40 bucks a month more to get a 3 series. I am looking to trade my car in in less than a year. Dont get me wrong - this is an OUTSTANDING car for the 27 odd you spend. Tremendous value - Its certainly a great alternative to a Camry. But if youre comparing it with a 325... spend the extra 3k.

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  Dont by an Acura - 1999 Acura RL
  By SHOOTER270 - June 29 - 10:23 am

  I bought mine and it was used with 110k they say they will run forever well they dont. I lost the tranny at 149k. For a rebuilt it is 3000.00 with labor. When you by an Acura you might want to check into the price of a timing belt 1200.00. If it breaks your done. All parts are expensive and you really need to have it repaired by the dealership because most of the shops do not understand how to work on them correctly. The front end pulls and I have had it aligned 3 times. Again the dealership needs to be the one doing it or your wasting your money. The valves also need adjustment at 110k that will cost 400.00. It adds up fast for a car that only gets 20 on the highway.

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  safe, but no acceleration, noisy steering - 2017 Acura MDX
  By Simon C - June 21 - 4:51 am

  I agree with previous post the transmission sometimes is jerky. Also when you turn the wheel it makes a noisy grinding sound.