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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  2012 TSX w/ Technology 4 cyl. - 2012 Acura TSX
  By Jack - November 1 - 8:46 pm

  Traded in my Honda Accord at 199,000 miles. Liked the reliability and fuel efficiency of the 4 cyl. Accord and found a TSX for about the same price. I am not sure if it is a sporty, economical car or a economical, sporty car. It is a bit smaller than the Accord, comparable to the BMW 3 series in size and appointments. The engine performance is not near the BMW, maybe the 6 cyl. would be better. The "Technology" package is great, a lot of stuff I dont use, but it has a Rockin Stereo! Look forward to taking it up to 199,000 miles too.

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  Drives Great "IF" You Can Get it to Start! - 2014 Acura RLX
  By Jacqueline Scott - October 24 - 1:45 am

  Purchased my 2014 RLX in May 2014. Other than the fact that the engine was kind of loud, and the car did not come with a spare tire of any kind, I was in love with my RLX the first time I drove it. My favorite feature is the All Wheel Steering I love the way the car handles. What I dont love is that something keeps draining the battery. The first time my car failed to start was in Jan 2015, eight months after I purchased it. This happened again in Sep 2015. The car was completely dead both times wouldnt make a sound. I had to call Acura roadside assistance to jumpstart the car each time. The car was taken to the dealership after each incident and they could not find what was causing the battery to drain, or any other problem with the vehicle. I have also had problems with the touch screen going blank, Forward Collision Warning activating for no reason, the Bluetooth/phone screen not responding, and voice activation not working properly. The Navigation system doesnt work very well either, once you "finally" figure out how to use it. I have had several problems trying to get the system to find addresses. The search feature doesnt do a good job of keying in on your current area for requested searches, not to mention, maps are outdated. As much as I like the Acura RLX, It is unreliable, so I would not recommend it to a friend or anyone else for that matter.

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  Dont think twice just buy it! - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Mark Wilmes - October 22 - 7:31 pm

  I bought my TSX used in early 2014. My company moved from the suburbs to downtown so my commute changed from an easy 10 minutes on a turnpike to 20-30 minutes of Indy 500 with crack-ups and rescue vehicles included, and Im so glad I bought the TSX instead of some larger sedans or SUVs I was looking at. My wife has a 2011 Pilot EXL so the need for another SUV really wasnt there anyway. Weve had or still have six Hondas and two Acuras plus Mazdas and Nissans and some Fords. Im getting over 25 MPG even with all the stops and starts and racing that Im doing. I use the paddle shifters ALL THE TIME and its so cool to pass or get around someone and then to accelerate and just get away from them (even within the speed limit, the acceleration is awesome). I did read the reviews about geting the 6 cylinder if you can find one, and I did test drive a 4 cylinder and then a 6 cylinder, back to back and the 6 is spectacular. I wasnt quite ready to pull the trigger, and the color of the 6 cylinder was white and I prefer black. The paddle shifters make the 4 cylinder a blast. This car is very fun to drive. Its easy to find a 4 cylinder in the color combination you want, and when you do, just buy it! I got mine with 64,000 miles on it and Im at 104,000 after 20 months. Ill probably take it to 135,000 miles and then sell it and get a 2013 or 2014. This car is great for getting around in the parking garage, and my 17-year old son and his buddies think its pretty slick!

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  Best car for the $$$ - 2015 Acura TLX
  By PJ - October 19 - 11:59 am

  Before making the purchase, Ive been comparing cars within the $40k to $50k range that are not necessarily in the same class, like the BMW 335xi, 435GC xi, Lexus ES 350, Audi A4, and the Acura TLX. Taking into consideration the included tech and the SH AWD system, the TLX was the clear winner. With regards to the 9 speed ZF transmission I think its hit or miss. I test drove three cars at the dealership and one car had a very jerky 1-2 and 2-3 shifts along with moderate in-cabin vibration between 60mph to 80mph and the other two did not. The jerkiness feels almost like letting go of the clutch too quickly while shifting a manual tranny car. I ended up purchasing the TLX V6 SH AWD with Advance package for 41780 OTD and I have no issues with transmission and it shifts like butter. The only gripe I have is the gas mileage in city. I drive in sport mode all the time and my commute is only 4 miles in the city. I only get about 16 mpg on the trip computer and I get about 250 miles per gas tank. On the highway it does great I was able to get 33mpg in sport mode easily.

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  More Luxury than sport - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Kelly - October 19 - 9:11 am

  Have put on about 1k miles in about a month. Came out of a 2013 Honda Accord Ex. First of all I would say the car is more on the luxury car that feels a liitle sporty, but not an overall sport sedan. SO her are my pro/cons. ...PROS: Very quiet they did a good job on sound islolation, excellent fit and finish feels like a tank very solid, good smooth power from engine, tranny shifts very smoothly ( for the most part--some fumbling sometimes, BTW i personally like the electronic shifter), very good fuel economy for V6, suspension feels premium, great truning radius due to PAWS, LED lights are excellent. ....CONS: too much cost cutting no spare tire, sterero is poor, Leatherette seats instead of leather no advanced saftely feature without higher trim pacakage ( even the civic has lane watch), no new technology ( the accord and new civic both have google auto and apple auto...why doesnt this 36k car????), screen inferface is a bit slow, back up camera has low resolution at night. Overall good not great... might be as happy with a accord V6 for purchasing for 5K less but good lease car due to good programs. On the fence on recommend, hope this helps!

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  Worth the Money - 2015 Acura RDX
  By Jonradus - October 2 - 3:46 pm

  This car gets mpg as advertised. I do mostly highway/suburbia driving and Im at 26 mpg. You can get 30 mpg with all highway if youre light on the gas. I read some suspension complaints, and I understand why theyre here. The back axle is pretty rigid and clunks over rough bumps. Its the only real problem with the car Ive seen so far, but its tolerable. The car handles great and has a smooth, linear power delivery with more than adequate acceleration. The transmission also shifts smoothly. The steering is a bit loose at slow speeds, but picks up heft with speed. Overall, this is a great car for the money.

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  A decent price, but you get what you pay for. - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Alex Boculon - September 25 - 2:46 pm

  Ill start by saying this car is the lowest priced luxury mid-size on the market, compared to BMW, Lexus, Infinity, Mercedes, and Audi. And thats fair, because this car lacks the style, power, or luxury of those brands. Still, it does have style, power, and luxury, just in more modest amounts. My priorities that led me to buying this car were that I wanted something: ~fairly luxurious, but not extravagant in cost ~good MPG, and good reliability, to keep the cost-per-mile on my long commute low ~modern tech, advanced features Having owned it a year, Id say it succeeded on the first two points, and failed on the 3rd. My car is indeed about as nice as youd expect for $35k, it is indeed getting 32-38 mpg depending on the situation, and it is indeed a Honda with rock-solid reliability. I drive a 60 mile round trip daily, and the car does a great job of rolling along with a quiet ride, and a feeling of confidence that it wont break down (like my BMW used to do all the time!). It has a nice amount of pep, the 8 speed tranny can get a lot of power out of those ~206 horses. My complaints are mostly with the tech: ~dual screens are confusing, and its frustrating having to push several touch-screen options in a row to do things as simple as adjust the A/C fan speed. ~VERY SLOW on-board computer. Inputting basic commands into the Nav or audio system is maddening. Its sort of a similar feeling to using a first-generation iPhone which is overloaded with too much software. The CPU is too weak to cant handle the demands put on it, so it can take as long as 10 seconds to even react to button presses. 10 seconds is the worst-case, most often it takes more like 1-2 whole seconds to respond, but that is pretty terrible in comparison to the .05 seconds most smartphones take these days. Attempting actions like scrolling the Nav map image often lead to the system nearly crashing, or getting stuck and scrolling way farther than you wanted. ~cell phone integration is very weak. It can sync with Pandora on my phone, but it requires several confirmation screens each time you use it, so its not really worth the trouble. Siri hands free is a joke, you may as well just push the button on your phone and use that instead. ~The tech package supposedly has high-end speakers, but Ive found them to be very mediocre, and lacking in bass. The single 8" open air "subwoofer" is not impressive. Id agree with Edmunds overall rating of the car as a "B." That is to say, its basically what you expect, a low end luxury car. So long as you arent expecting it to handle like a BMW or ride like a Mercedes, you should be fine. Id have even given it an A, except for my disappointments with the outdated tech.

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  Most Reliable Luxury with out breaking the bank - 2011 Acura MDX
  By KingofKings - September 20 - 7:31 pm

  Try and get the CPO with an extended warranty just for a clear mind, but you might not need it, vehicle is highly reliable in my opinion. Interior could have been made more attractive looking in comparison to other luxury vehicles but than again the MDX cost a little less. Audi Q7 interior is someone better but the car is less reliable, and cost more to maintain. I will highly recommend this vehicle, there may be others with more luxurious options but they would cost more to maintain. Just Be aware of some dealerships service personal creating a residual customer out of you.

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  LOVE MY TLX!!! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Jay - September 4 - 10:02 pm

  I LOVE my TLX with Tech Package. The only 2 things Ive noticed is the slight lag in the transmission and the shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. Im under 23 and I actually enjoy the transmission shifting kind of hard, especially when in sport modes it makes the drive really fun. The car is VERY stylish and I always get compliments. Gas mileage is GREAT, AVG 34 MPG on the highway doing 80 mph in ECO mode with 4 passengers in the car. Safety features are a plus and helps out on insurance premiums. I would HIGHLY recommend this car to anyone.

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  Yes , the transmission is a problem - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Kevin M - September 4 - 1:47 pm

  Very good Suv. Love the AWD. Felt safe going down the road, it feels like driving a tank. But, the transmission failed at 160000 and we were left stranded on the side of the road. Also, some other little issues. Used regular gas. It did a good job towing. We finally did trade it in at 200000 miles and Lindsay Acura Cols. Gave us 5000 for it. It had a lot of bumps and bruises on it from towing and parking lots. Overall a good suv if Honda would solve the transmission problems that the MDX has.