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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  My last Acura - 2015 Acura MDX
  By bhuddle - January 12 - 11:56 pm

  I have owned several Acura products over the years. I traded a 2011 MDX for this new model. I cant believe how much they have cheapened up the new model. The seats are very uncomfortable, covered with low grade leather. The HD screen of the previous model has been replaced with two sub par displays. The infotainment offering is horrible, unintuitive, hard to navigate. It doesnt even have tailpipes, replaced with faux lookalikes. I have to take the key fob out of my pocket and hold it up to the handle to unlock. Overall, a very unsatisfactory vehicle.

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  beware the Blown Head Gasket of Death - 1994 Acura Legend
  By mannydantyla - January 8 - 10:14 pm

  First off, this is a good car. Great styling, very powerful V6 engine, fun to drive, and (99% of the time) mechanically reliable. I never had to do any major repairs except the CV shafts and a thermostat. That was until THE HEAD GASKET WENT OUT. And, on these cars, that means the entire engine must be pulled out of the engine bay to get the heads off and replace the gaskets. NOT WORTH IT. The speedometer was broken, muffler was shot, door jam was not working, telescoping steering wheel was stuck in the most upright position, seats where worn to shreds, rust was forming, etc. And all of that at ~140k miles. Good car but didnt last long. Beware if buying.

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  Dont Buy until drivers Window Noise Fixed - 2014 Acura MDX
  By djr0302 - January 5 - 12:58 pm

  After a few months an irritating wind noise developed in the drivers window, right next to my ear. Gets loud at >50mph. I took it in, dealer says it is a known problem for which Acura hasnt put a fix out for. They didnt want to try putting in rubber tape, etc and start messing with the window fit perhaps making things worse. Recommended I wait and see if Acura puts out a fix. Are you kidding me.. $55K for a loud noise in your ear. Not a sign of quality to compete with rivals. Stay away.

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  Poor visibility in rear - 2015 Acura MDX
  By mdx514 - January 2 - 10:44 am

  Overall, I have been very pleased with my 2015 MDX AWD with tech package. After driving the car for a couple of months, I have become familiar with programming the nav and radio. My biggest concern with the model is the rear visibility. When crossing a four lane highway, stopping in the median to continue a left-hand turn, visibility is completely blocked by the rear window brace. I have experienced this a few times when the car is sitting at an angle and look to the right, you cannot see anything--very scary and dangerous.

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  Its great, but... - 2015 Acura RDX
  By ak07 - January 2 - 1:35 am

  After driving the 2015 RDX AWD for 5 months, I am happy about the car, but not thrilled for sure. It has excellent space compared to competitors and my family loves the leg space in rear seat. Great looking interior and decent mileage for a 3.5L V6 AWD. I was confused whether to take the tech option or not and at the end I decided to save 3.5K, which Acura was charging for the package. But now I feel I should have taken it, as the basic model miss some basic features that we expect in a luxury car. Like the power tailgate, halogen lamps and fog lamps. Acura should not be selling any car without these. Its a little annoying when Honda sells Accord with more features that Acura RDX..!

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  Overall a strong segment competitor with some significant gripes - 2015 Acura RDX
  By gator00si - December 31 - 10:38 am

  Besides missing a few basic features its a great vehicle. Reliability and build quality are top notch for this segment. The design is more subjective but I like think its sporty.

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  Very Pleased with my Choice! - 2015 Acura MDX
  By tspring1 - December 30 - 1:24 pm

  After being an American car guy for years, I bought my first Honda ten years ago and have since owned three. Hondas are rock solid and other that gas and routine maintenance, Ive never had any other problems. I am at a point in my life where I am looking to move to the next level and considered Lexus and Infinity, but given my history with Honda I looked at the Acuras. I bought a black on black MDX with all the bells and whistles and while I have only had my new MDX for a few days, I am in love. For being an SUV it drives more like a sedan and its very agile. The interior is top notch and the car rides extremely quiet. Its still very early but I am very pleased with the quality.

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  Awesome car! 2015 TLX SH-AWD - 2015 Acura TLX
  By theslash - December 24 - 9:32 am

  This car is amazing. If you you can afford a car at this price point, this is the best that money can buy. It drives like luxury limo in a fuel economy mode and converts to sport agile performance sedan in a sport and sport + mode. Fuel economy is even better than advertised. There is a lot of technology and a learning curve but eventually you get a good use of most of the features. Interior is super quiet while driving and it has a buttery smooth transmission. However, when you push it hard, it gives you roaring sound. I-4 was also impressive, but feels peppy and sporty without that luxury feel of V6. AWD is awesome too. Highly recommended. Awesome build quality.

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  Honda disappoints! - 2012 Acura MDX
  By tx_mdx - December 23 - 5:59 am

  the MDX is not a luxury SUV. Honda, please go and try a german, or even a Lexus and try to learn from them! Noisy on the road at 70mph Poor quality audio Bad ergonomics Steering is too light with no feel. All kinds of rattles after 2 yrs and 26k miles. Mileage: a joke compared to similar size SUVs On the plus side: Engine ok Handling ok Will happily get rid of it when the lease is over. Will return to germans without hesitation.

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  2015 MDX with Tech - 2015 Acura MDX
  By aparichithan - December 18 - 11:04 am

  I recently purchased a brand new MDX-Tech. Its a good car in many respect for a middle class family like me who can at most shell some 45k towards a 7 seater. But ACURA being a so called luxury brand, I would expect them to use some reasonably good plastic inside. My car seat hinge cover broke apart in one pull... that did not speak about the quality.