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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  Horrible Steering Wheel Vibration - 2007 Acura TSX
  By Alexis - April 20 - 8:01 am

  When I first bought the Acura, I loved it, except for a minor vibration in the steering wheel. I brought it in a while later and the dealership fixed something else. They messed with the brakes. The wheel vibration is now worse and I have vibration in the brakes now as a result. I have been told that this is a problem with the TSXs and cant be fixed. I guess Im stuck with it. The car does drive very nicely on the highway, though.

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  Surge on - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Don Thomas - April 14 - 12:15 pm

  This transmission is awful! Take your foot off the gas going down a hill and the car surges rather than slow down. Have to step on the brakes hard to slow it down. Same issue when downshifting with the paddles. Also stutters when going into drive. Voice commands are a joke. I say find nearest ATM. She says turn air conditioner up. And so it goes. This is my third MDX but it is my last.

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  Headlights a problem - 2003 Acura TL
  By johngalt - April 8 - 2:00 am

  Be careful before you buy this car -- the headlights go for $800 each and get stolen very often. At the mall, in the driveway, parked while working, etc. It has happened twice to me and I am dumping this car -- I cant take the expense anymore.

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  Car for age 25 and below - 2005 Acura TL
  By Navaid - April 4 - 8:23 pm

  I just bought a TL 2005 with nav on April 19, just to trade it in within 15 days. Probably because I am not 25 years old but 36. The TLs sporty ride was probably not my kind. I like the ride of the lexus ES and the new Toyota Avalon. No doubt that the TL interior is absolutely gorgeous. I had a black with camel interior. I was so worried to keep it clean that I would tell my 2 daughters to sit tight in the car, which I felt was inappropriate. What fun is a car if you have to put taboos on your kids. The seats are hard and uncomfortable. The gas mileage seemed horrible. I bought a Honda Pilot LX with leather for my wife on April 02. I am very happy to trade in the TL for another Honda Pilot.

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  Not a cushy Buick - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Margaret Neal - March 28 - 1:53 pm

  Great car to drive. Adaptive Cruise, lane change warning and other safety features are just awesome. Brakes are terrific. Compared to our Lucerne, road noise is much worse, but tolerable; interior is not par w/price. Ride is pretty good for suv. Acura cheaps out on some features that will annoy you every time you drive it. For the RDX, only one of the two key remotes w/the applicable pkg will start the car. With the MDX, both remotes will do it. Guess Acura saved a couple bucks to hack off customers. Bad design is driver seat position. Our Buick had it right..seat went all the way back when ignition turned off, making getting out really easy, after getting in, push driver 1 or 2 and seat, outside mirror, and interior mirror repositioned. With the RDX, using the driver 1 or 2 setting, the seat positioned PRIOR to getting in. For us short people, that made getting in difficult. The inside mirror also was not among the setting. We had to disable the seat positioning setting. A really bad design. Door panels are sorta cheap also. Overall, a nice car, fun to drive but some cheap outs. Not worth the price..but close.

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  It is what it is - 1996 Acura Integra
  By acura lover - March 26 - 1:04 pm

  Ive had my car now for about 6 years now. I think for what the car is worth, its a very reliable and good car. Since buying the car ive not come across any problem... as long as you keep up with your regular maint. youre good. At 138K still goes up to 110mph not so bad!

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  Could Have Been Much Better - 1999 Acura TL
  By John - March 6 - 7:25 pm

  I bought this car from an auction at 102,000 miles. The transmission died at 116,000 miles, and I mean it. The car left me on the highway. Figures most 1999 models had some kind of transmission problem. Besides the trans, I had various issues ranging from cat to the sensors and some other stuff costing me around $6000 including the trans. Overall do not buy it as a second owner. And the seats make annoying sounds and so does the dashboard and the sunroof. It is annoying, really. However I am sure that these problems are fixed on the 2004 tls so when i can afford one i will definitely buy it.

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  Gas Guzzler 11 mpg in city - 2003 Acura TL
  By Joycie - February 14 - 10:00 am

  This car takes premium gasoline; a fact which was not disclosed to this purchaser. I get 11 mpg in the city and am filing a lawsuit again Acura and Rick Case. The car rides well, but head room is insufficient. I am down 1/4 of a tank on 50 miles driving. Buyers Beware.

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  Terrible Tech! - 2007 Acura MDX
  By What Happened? - February 7 - 11:28 am

  Unlike the previous model MDX I owned, the new design has lost many extras and the bluetooth is extremely poor sounding! The sound is ported through the AM radio and its extremely poor in the 07 and 08 models. I really miss the rain sensing wipers, the day/night mirror which is now finally included and the open bottom of the steering wheel to rest my hand on long trips. The ultimate insult is that darn Bluetooth. Company in the car just laugh at how bad it is when you cant understand people while driving over 40mph. So much for the "technology leader".

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  Thought it would be better - 2006 Acura TL
  By seca - February 2 - 2:28 pm

  06 TL, auto, nav, only 13k miles. I expected so much more from this car. Many random noises, rattles. Very annoying. Window creaking - dealer wouldnt fix. Build quality not great. Interior materials / plastics are low end, as is leather. Best part would be engine and nav. I can honestly say that my old Saab is more solid w/higher quality materials, and our CLK is built like a tank and has not had a problem in 5 yrs, unlike multiple problems with the TL. Ill be selling the TL for a GS 350 or 335, which are both much better built. Given build quality issues, I cannot recemmend the TL.