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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  looking for another newer one. - 2005 Acura MDX
  By bill bbbb - June 13 - 1:19 pm

  This car is good looking not trendy, dependable, strong and luxurious. What else could you want.

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  Overall -Best car Ive owned - 2011 Acura MDX
  By John N. - May 23 - 10:58 am

  In 5 years and 80k miles the repair bills have been $0, outside of routine maintenance. New tires & brakes last month, 79,000miles each and still had wear to go ( not much). Terrible nav system, Acura is UN-responsive and so is the supplier. Gets lost-cant even find the local hospital. Entertainment system is good but not worth the money. the Tech Package is a rip off. HVAC has some quirks but OK. Backup lights are weak - buy some LED "reflector" type bulbs from Amazon $20. gas milage is poor 18-20. ACC - adaptive cruise control is FANTASTIC. cant wait for lane holding etc. Super luxury it is not -but a nice car that always runs (so far) and doesnt break you wallet.

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  A little old ladies darling - 2002 Acura MDX
  By WALTER BRINEY - May 9 - 12:24 pm

  I wouldnt even consider selling it accept for wanting all the new safety equipment that is now available. No issues with repairs other than scheduled maintenance. We liked it so much that we purchased a second one just like it accept it is a 2005 model. I dont like that you must use premium fuel in it.

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  246 K - 1999 Acura CL
  By Dan Boek - April 13 - 3:56 am

  After 246K oil leak so I found a low miles motor rebuilt trans now good for 150 K more I am not the best at maintenance. This car has guts and classy too.

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  Long Live the Acura CL - 1998 Acura CL
  By theffin@hotmail.com - April 11 - 11:47 pm

  Absolutely loved this car. The way it drove, handled, the comfort, and everything! Strongly reliable and its so quiet in the cab. For a small car it also had some kick. Also this car still has some style if kept in good condition. Would definitely recommend this vehicle for anybody. I had to sell mine due to an expanding family and Im still wishing I kept it!

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  You wont be disappointed! Great handling SUV! - 2009 Acura MDX
  By Gerald Kershner - April 4 - 6:09 pm

  Best SUV Ive ever driven and owned. Take a test drive and see for yourself. Bought it used with noisy directional tread tires, replaced them with Acura OEM tires ... wow, what a difference.

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  Noisy as heck ! - 2015 Acura ILX
  By Seth L - March 29 - 9:30 pm

  Transmission hums all the time. Acura claims, "its a normal characteristic of the car."

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  Love this car! Best $600 I ever spent! - 1994 Acura Legend
  By David Johnson - March 28 - 8:22 am

  I bought my 4DR Legend LS from its original owner on Craigslist. It had 196K miles on it and needed head gaskets, which the owner was honest about, and the paint was a little faded. So I spent 2 weekends taking the heads off, and while I was in there I put in new belts, hoses, and a rebuilt alternator and starter from Napa. Contrary to other reviews, the engine does *not* need to come out of the car to do this. That was 4 years and 40K miles ago. To celebrate the fact that Ill probably own this car another 10 years, I had it painted for $1000 by another guy I found on Craigslist a few month ago and it looks like new again! Ive driven it from Colorado to California, all over Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, in all kinds of weather, including ski trips to the mountains. It has never let me down and the performance is amazing for such an old car. Even my girlfriend loves it!

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  Another great Acura MDX - 2014 Acura MDX
  By L J - March 27 - 2:44 pm

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  2013 Acura ILX Hybrid w/ Tech Package - 2013 Acura ILX
  By Kerry Olson - March 26 - 10:26 am

  In April of 2015 we were in need of another car. Initially I looked at a BMW 335 and a Infintity G37 coupe, both of which I loved being a man. However I knew my wife wanted a good gas mileage that also had navigation, a CD player, heated seats, etc. I ended up choosing the ILX as it was below the book value at the time, was fully loaded, and though a hybrid it was sporty looking compared to other hybrids on the market. I also liked the option of shutting off the hybrid mode, which gives the car more umph when getting into traffic in the DFW area. On average with city and highway driving we average 39.3 MPG with the car not in hybrid mode. We have kept up with oil changes, etc and I dont know if there is a correlation or not but the car does get better mpg within the first 20% of a new oil change. The front seats are comfortable especially considering that the basis for this car is the Honda Civic. The only flaws I see are limited storage, and no leg room for an adult in the back seats. However the interior dash layout is great, the hands free is one of the best I have used, and though it takes premium gas I have never paid more than $24.00 to fill it and my wife can drive 4-6 weeks before filling. It also looks like a higher dollar car. We will always be an Acura fan due to this car.