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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  Not as good as past TLs - 2004 Acura TL
  By Chasgreenberg - April 30 - 10:00 am

  The car handles well in city driving. On the highway the car can wander if careful attention isnt paid. The site lines are not good and the seats are not as comfortable as the 2003 TL. The Navigation system is outstanding. The sound system is good and the brakes are excellent.

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  Great Attributes But - 2004 Acura TL
  By RWDJR - April 25 - 10:00 am

  Sharp interior and exterior design. The car really gets the looks. I had many people ask what kind of car I was driving. Even the BMW folks where commenting on how neat the car looked.

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  Drive of rdx - 2017 Acura RDX
  By Dhan Persaud - April 21 - 4:03 am

  Car is great overall the only thing I didnt like were the lights in cargo area and trunk space could be a little bigger but besides that car is fun to drive and also changing the gas from 91 to either 93 or 89 octane because I dont see 91 everywhere I go car has great features and very comfortable to drive through and weather good car over all and I do love the way it drives

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  Noise - 2003 Acura RSX
  By P Bart - April 17 - 10:00 am

  Very happy with vehicle. One problem, at 140km/hr(85mph)a low frequency noise eminates from somewhere on the drivers side of vehicle. It is not a constant noise but intermitent. The dealer thinks its wind noise, but it sure doesnt sound like it because it is not high pitched. Has anyone had this problem. Thanks

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  Covers The Bases - 2003 Acura RSX
  By pdean - April 17 - 10:00 am

  I love the car. It combines the practicality of the hatchback, good gas milage and moderate price with the prestige of the Acura Name and a great ride to the office.

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  TL Review - 2005 Acura TL
  By JR - April 16 - 8:06 pm

  This is a beautiful car both inside and outside. It has excellent acceleration. It is very smooth and quiet at high speeds. However, the car does not feel stable in hard cornering. The workmanship on the headliner is very poor. Mine started to come apart after only 1500 miles. Was originally attached with double side sticky tape until the dealer installed screws to keep it from falling. Car wonders from left to right even on fairly level pavement. Dealer blames the problem on el42 tires. They changed to another set of el42 but the problem continued. The clutch took a little getting used to, initially. The top of the dash began to fade real bad. Originally, I thought it was dust but it isnt

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  Great Car but lots of little problems - 2004 Acura TL
  By USCGMoose - March 30 - 2:00 am

  This car is usually awesome. It has great styling, is comfortable, & very respectable performance numbers. Plus its loaded w/ features for a great price. A couple things buyers should note: early build cars have lots of problems. Memory seats dont always work, check engine lights come on, & some people experience annoying vibrations.

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  Best value for the price - 2005 Acura TSX
  By NJ_TSX - March 14 - 1:43 pm

  Having driven 1500 miles in less than a month since purchase, Ive enjoyed every minute of it. Buying experience was easy and without hassle. I particularly chose the TSX because of all the standard features at a fixed price. Driving experience is almost excellent, with a smooth engine combined with a buttery gearbox, but FWD dynamics and slightly harsh suspension. There could be some improvements (see below), but for the price, it cant be beat. Although it does not feel as solid as a VW, build quality if very high. Since its new, cannot fairly rate reliability. Fuel economy for the 4-cyl could be a bit higher. Overall, a solid sedan with important features at a low price.

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  Upgrade from older TL worth it - 2005 Acura TL
  By Terry - March 9 - 5:03 pm

  Although the styling and ride took a while to brag about, owning the car for more than a month has definitely brought me around. The car is quick, quiet, handles like a go-cart, and has enough electronic goodies to please the biggest geeks. If you own a pre-2004 and are considering the 2005, you wont be disappointed.

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  Maybe not a German killer but one heck of a value - 2016 Acura ILX
  By jrasero - March 4 - 11:51 pm

  Just traded my 2016 RDX Base for the 2016 ILX Premium. Obviously I am loosing the utility and AWD of a RDX but gaining more features, slightly lower payment, better gas millage, and a car easier to park. Compared to the 1st gen the 2016 ILX is a huge improvement in every category. Looks while subjective are much better with a more pronounced front end and a less frump tail end. The amount of tech and features you get are way up from the 1st gen and the performance of the 2.4 direct injection 8 speed DCT is awesome. While the performance is much improved the car might be a tad racer boyish for some with its loud exhaust for those who prefer quiet luxury. The ILX isnt as luxurious and doesnt perform as well as the Lexus IS 200T, BMW 320i, Mercedes CLA250, Audi A3 but it costs thousands less (up to $10,000 less). I am leasing my ILX for 24 months but I negotiated my premium edition with a MSRP of $30k to $26,260. Furthermore the highest trim Tech with A-Spec only adds up to $35k, so is True* luxury really worth thousands of dollars? For me the ILX has just the right amount of luxury, tech, and value that I can ignore not having AWD, real wood accents, or a German branding. What I cant ignore is the back seats being a 1 piece fold down and not a 60/40 split and not having a pass through. Nor am I huge fan of the car requiring premium and the fact that AcuraLink only supports iOS! Also, while Acura would love to capture a young audience the base and base with AcuraWatch are pointless because the Civic Touring features and price beats those models. Acura you cant have you cake and eat it too, just sell the Premium and Tech Versions which still are reasonably priced at $30k-35k Msrp. The Premium with Blind Spot, cross traffic alert, real Milano leather, and the two tier screen system are worth every penny.