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:

• 

  ehhhh - 2003 Acura RSX
  By GokoolRSX - May 4 - 10:00 am

  After owning the car for a year, I am not as happy as when I first owned the car. First thing, the ride is harsh, noisy, its not a great car to drive on long trips. The leather is cracking especially on the driver seats even after taking care of the leather. The door panels have a cheap feel to it, reminds me of other makes. No arm rest, not impressive sound system, lack of mid-range power, major problem with blind spots, stiff steering, and notchy shift gates, uncomfortable seats, cheap feel leather, dashboard rattling, and just about the worst tires you can put on a high performance car

• 

  Technology is fun - 2007 Acura RDX
  By NYC=Fun - May 3 - 8:00 pm

  Its not often that I take the time to write about anything, however this crossover with the Tech. Package is a must. I have a Lexus RX and it doesnt hold a candle to the RDX. If you are looking for a sport car/suv you must test drive this one. You will be sold.

• 

  Grows on me like a good wine - 2009 Acura TL
  By Bob A - May 3 - 7:41 pm

  I purchased a pearl white 2009 TL with the Tech package. I owned 3 Audi A4s previously and loved them but felt the 2009 price for the A4 and BMW 335 was becoming an issue. This car is very well built and has very good road manners. It grows on me every day and I have no regrets about my decision to buy a TL. I was taken back by the size of the car at first, but now it is second nature and I appreciate the room. It may not be completely as crisp to drive as a BMW or Audi, but in many ways it feels better and is very solid. It is a pleasure to drive and to own! I upgraded to the stock SHAWD 18" wheels and highly suggest you do the same..really enhances road handling and appearance.

• 

  Frost - 1997 Acura Integra LS - 1997 Acura Integra
  By Louis - May 3 - 5:15 pm

  I bought Frost when he was 1 year old with 9,000 miles on him. Hes been a driven all over the Houston area, with a trip to Florida and another to Missouri. With 152,000+ miles later, he is still reliable and gets great gas mileage. He still has a lot of zip. I admit that the interior has some drawbacks. The inside door rest is both hard and has torn leaving a hole within the arm rest. The hatchback, however, allows me to haul many large items as long as they are not too tall. In town mileage 30-31 still. With 161,000+ miles Im going to get a new paint job and replace some worn out fabric seats and a new door panel.

• 

  Excellent Car, will only buy an MDX - 2001 Acura MDX
  By SS - May 3 - 10:12 am

  A friend had a new 2001 MDX and loved it so I bought a pre-owned 2001 in 2005 with 44K miles. I loved this car! I had almost 72K miles and someone t-boned us going about 40 mph. The car was amazing how it protected us. The airbags went off but other than that, no damage in the interior. Unfortunately our MDX was totaled. We are replacing it with another MDX. We are not even considering anything else. In the 4 years I had the car, we have had absolutely no service calls or problems. Love the smooth ride and security it brings while driving.

• 

  Is this really what I waited for? - 2009 Acura TSX
  By myfirstacura - May 2 - 9:20 pm

  Prior to owning my current Acura TSX I owned an 04 Mazda 3 Sport. I wish I had simply kept that car! The TSX is seemingly slower (much heavier than the MZ3) and has a terrible engine rattle, which is widely reported. Dealers are stating this is a "normal" sound. I would probably be happier with the car overall if it had more power and the engine didnt sound like my 1993 Saturn with 180,000 miles on it. There are also tons of rattles in the cabin, which the dealer (of course) can not duplicate.

• 

  150K and still lovin it - 1991 Acura Legend
  By Craig - May 2 - 4:55 pm

  I bought this car brand new in 1991 and cant imagine replacing it. It was hard to find because I wanted a stick, but the performance difference is well worth it. I still love it after all these years. This model year was magic. Classic looks, stellar quality, sedan convenience with sports car handling (almost). Ive got 150K on it and my mechanic tells me I can expect to double that before Im through. They just dont make em like this anymore. The only thing that could make me sell it is if I start having trouble finding parts, which happened to me recently with a piece of rubber trim that just decomposed with age in the L.A. smog.

• 

  Great traveler - 2002 Acura TL
  By wenoh appy - May 2 - 1:08 pm

  We bought ours new, we own 4 other cars but drive the Acura when we travel, sometimes because of the gps system other times for the comfort and dependability it has given us, however we will not buy another acura because the dealer service was terrible, the car was in several times for a noise that they kept insisting it was brakes, it was transmission. When we picked up our car from the transmission exchange, the radio (BOSE system) showed an error code, they kept the car and reset the code then the CD player showed an error code and they wanted us to buy a new system, never having any prior stereo issues we took it to Bose - Acura didnt remove the cds prior setting code this JAMS the cd deck!!

• 

  Overall, a good car - 2009 Acura TL
  By carreviewman - May 2 - 12:09 pm

  I bought a new 2009 Acura TL w/Tech Package. We were either going buy the TL or a Mercedes Benz E350. We chose the TL because the Technology was way more advanced. However, it is not the perfect car. But out of all the cars I have owned, this the best so far.

• 

  Love this car! - 2003 Acura MDX
  By muymajo99 - May 1 - 3:58 pm

  Purchased this car used in 2006 and have had an excellent experience. I had had an Acura Legend earlier and had absolutely no problems. I need to say that this car has been a dream. I am looking forward to keeping it at least two more years. Currently I have 84,000 miles and still love it.