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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  Best car ever - 2003 Acura RSX
  By tchoughs - January 3 - 9:21 pm

  I bought this car a few months ago, and ever since I first test drove it I have been in love with it. If you are looking to buy an rsx, understand that it takes a certain kind of person to live with this car, as it is rough, bouncy, harsh and generally unforgiving. My rsx has many modifications, but I would love a stock one just as much. I have never experienced any problems that have not been caused directly by me. This car handles beautifully despite the fact that it is fwd. I had a huge bias against fwd but this car changed my mind. It can even drift!(sort of, this has just been an experiment by me) I highly recommend this car. Also VTEC!

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  Great value and fun to drive - 2014 Acura TL
  By baymate - January 3 - 5:39 pm

  Unassuming, low-key upscale sedan. Fun to drive. Highly responsive acceleration. Great cornering ability. Pleasant interior and exterior. A performance sedan that can serve as a secondary family car. One of the best value.

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  great bang for your buck - 2014 Acura MDX
  By stegrin - December 28 - 9:22 am

  love the MDX..i do a lot of hwy driving..only thing i am disappointed with is that i am averaging apprx 24.8 mpg on hwy..a little less than advertised..but not terrible...i looked at many of its competitors, i.e mercedes, infiniti, bmw to name a few..mdx is def cheaper than its competitors for a comparably equipped vehicle...

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  Best kept secret in Japanese comfort and reliability - 1995 Acura TL
  By samson17 - December 27 - 5:59 am

  I purchased our 95 Acura TL 2.5 with 165,000 miles on it from a little old lady and she had just had the timing belt and water pump replaced. It now has 171,000 and this car runs perfect, pwr steering is better than our new challenger,brakes perfectly with its 4wdb, interior is comfortable, engineering wise its rock solid. It really is a pleasure to drive this car long or short distances. I wouldnt hesitate to buy another wel taken care of TL. The 2.5 engine is very smooth, starts right up, has pretty good power and is very quiet, what more would you want out of a old Japanese VIP car? So far its been a very good buy, and even if the engine does blow up ill put another 1 in and keep on .

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  2013 TL SH-AWD Tech package (Black on Black) - 2013 Acura TL
  By defielding - December 6 - 2:15 pm

  Incredible value for the money and also exhilarating performance. The car is beautiful inside and out. I waited until October and got the AWD and Tech package TL for the same price as a base model! I tend to keep my cars for many years (buying, not leasing). Down the road, the maintenance and repair costs of Acuras competitors would prove prohibitive in comparison. Order all the features this car includes with the tech package and the TLs competitors price goes way out of this ball park.

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  Super reliable - 2004 Acura RSX
  By maluchf1 - November 28 - 1:16 pm

  Owned a base 2004 RSX for 167k and had minimal problems with it. Ownership has been painless and low cost. At 167k the engine is still strong, the transmission (auto) is slowly showing signs of wear but I think it has another 30-40k in it. Just great engineering.

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  Outstanding, Reliable Luxury - 1999 Acura RL
  By collincolbym - November 27 - 5:16 pm

  I have owned my 1999 Acura RL for 6 years. I bought it used at 158,000 miles. It now has 212,000 miles. It has been very reliable, very comfortable, and is a solid vehicle. Honda engineering with Acura comfort. Definitely worth every penny!

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  Excellent car! Excellent deal! Best $1000 I ever spent! - 1991 Acura Integra
  By domcuch94 - November 24 - 3:25 pm

  Bought this car for $1000 off of a girl who lived down the road from me. Had 126K when I bought it, has 145K now and has been ultra reliable! Outside of normal maintenance like brakes, rotors, calipers, tires, exhaust, hatch supports, and oil changes. This thing has been fantastic! Only let me down once when the alternator went and I was stuck on the side of the highway. I had to get that replaced. But since then, has not left me stranded and it takes me everywhere so thats why I gave it a 5 for reliability. Very awesome car. Doesnt burn any oil, runs great, and hardly any rust on it! Will drive this car until the doors fall off!!

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  14 RLX from 11 RL - 2014 Acura RLX
  By rfw3 - November 11 - 8:42 am

  RL coming off lease. Dealer initiated a special offer which was very attractive and quite a bit less expensive that the RL lease. Both vehicles have many pluses and a few minuses. The critical reviews of the RLX in Consumer Reports and Edmunds made me focus in on the suspension and seat comfort. The RLX is our six Acura. Acura reliability is definitely above average. We did experience transmission problems with the RL which took a couple months to sort out. We have had three of four recent AWD vehicles with transmission problems. There is a message there I believe.

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  Review update - 2013 Acura RDX
  By vegasmurano - November 10 - 2:52 pm

  After 8 months or so with my RDX AWD tech these are my thoughts. My gas mileage stinks, I am averaging about 19 all around . But to be fair I live and work on Las Vegas BLVD and the traffic and amount of traffic lights are insane. No storage for my jumper cables or any cubbies to hide stuff. Gas tank way too small, needs another 2 or 3 gallons in size. Navi works good but it takes 5 minutes to tell the navi what to do, and it does not understand street names and you need to repeat it 5 or 6 times quite often. Cornering is no BMW but it is much smoother riding but still competent. Acceleration is amazing, but it will empty your tank fast if you enjoy it.