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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  Failed Transmission at 138,000 Miles - 2001 Acura CL
  By adamsbauer - June 4 - 11:37 pm

  The car looks great and I really like the way it runs but I expect more than 138,000 miles from an Acura transmission. I wish Acura would have done more to help me but I am stuck with a car that has a lot of miles and will have a new transmission soon and I am out several thousand dollars. If I buy from the same company I will buy an Accord. No need to pay extra if they dont take care of you and their cars dont last.

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  Worst new car experience Ive ever had! - 2008 Acura MDX
  By UNHAPPY CAMPER - June 4 - 9:27 pm

  Bought car 2/29/08. Nightmare begins. 3/17- A/C blows hot - dealer replaces incorrectly installed refrigerant line steering wheel shimmys during braking - dealer turns rotors radio wont hold presets - dealer reprograms key fobs 4/7- steering wheel still shimmys under braking - dealer replaces rotors and pads radio still not working - dealer states "it works now" 4/15 - radio presets disappear again - dealer replaces radio tuner 5/22 - radio still wont hold presets Acura regional rep states "theres no remedy" problem is under investigation by Acura engineering 6/4 - Acura customer svc rep states they know about the problem but theres no known date when problem will be resolved

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  Pinger - 2007 Acura TL
  By Fares - June 3 - 2:12 pm

  This is my first TL and unfortunately will be my last. The engine pings and Ive used nothing but 93 octane fuel.

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  Just a Honda - 2008 Acura TL
  By NeverAgain - June 3 - 10:44 am

  Complete "rattle box" - and as my wife notes, style is already very outdated. We drove the C350, 335 and GS350 over the weekend, all I can say is that all of these are nicer, have much better interiors. Dont let the "reliability" sales pitch sway you - we had more problems with a new TL than we did with our two other MBs. In hindsight, interior is very bland. Handling is average - feels like a box on wheels, and corners poorly (never expected so much squealing). This car is meant for 40- 50 yr olds.

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  Not So Great MDX - 2003 Acura MDX
  By JoeMDX - June 2 - 2:00 am

  This SUV has been nothing more than a major disappointment. Since purchasing the vehicle in Septemebr, the MDX has been back to the dealer four times for electrical problems, a battery problem and finally a brake problem. The dealer has been supportive and understanding but this MDX is a waste of money. We may have the one bad apple but this should never happen.

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  Turbo is design flaw - 2007 Acura RDX
  By sad rdx - May 31 - 8:26 am

  Be very careful of the RDX: the front end has a problem that will need to be addressed - it feels a little like the shocks but it isnt. The turbo has a major problem - my car has been in the shop for over a week they are tearing it down and do not have any idea what is wrong no warning indicators it may have cracked the head but the dealership isnt talking. They do not know why the turbo is malfunctioning but it appears at the 50,000 mile mark you can look for major issues of course that is when the warranty expires. Powertrain is 70,000. Everytime I have had to deal with warranty issues (3 dealerships) they try not to fix. Good luck sorry you have this car and sorry I have this car.

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  Better than average crossover suv - 2005 Acura MDX
  By jsa - May 6 - 4:10 am

  We looked at the all-too-vanilla Honda Pilot for while, but we decided that it was so Honda that we couldnt bring ourselves to buy one. The MDX is a good compromise between blah and full-blown luxury. The ext. styling leaves something to be desired,but the versatility of the interior is what sold us over the Lexus RX330. We carry anything and everything in the MDX. Acura could do much better by adding the basic $38k items like daytime lights, seat memory and auto wipers. Ride is ultra smooth and quiet. Plenty of power and nicely appointed inside. A bit pricey for what it is though. Add auto-locking doors and power pass. seat to up the sense of value!

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  In the shop three times already - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Very Very Unhappy - May 4 - 10:57 pm

  In the last Month my RDX has been in the shop three times and the last time it didnt even last a week before the emission light went on again and when it goes on it seem to shift down and have less power it has been in the shop this time for a week and they dont know whats wrong with it they are in contact with Japan now and still have no idea whats wrong. Im probably going to trade it in once the find the problem. I can not trust this car. I thought Acura was a trusted car that had no problems I guess I was wrong.

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  No Fun To Drive - 2008 Acura TL
  By Dee - April 22 - 11:59 pm

  There is no joy driving my TL because upon acceleration at 2000 RPMs, it feels very rough like a grinding under the floor. After 2000 RPMs the rough feeling under the floor clears up. I have owned a lot of cars and our two other older vehicles (one of them is a truck and the other a small car) outperform this one. Other annoyances: when It rains and you open the trunk, water jumps the gasket and pours into the trunk space - debris too. There is excess noise when the moonroof is closed and the ceiling partition open when Im on the freeway. I would like my 2005 TSX back. This is our fourth Acura and probably our last. I should not have to write a review like this.

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  Poor Fuel economy - 2006 Acura MDX
  By Acura MDX - April 22 - 2:45 pm

  This car is barely breaking 13 MPG thats combined city/hwy. Called Customer Service to see if they can do anything about it because the dealer couldnt. The worst customer service ever, they said "There is no issue for us to address". WOW! Thats after they put me on hold for 40 minutes.