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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  A nice car from Acura - 2008 Acura MDX
  By Gunn - December 13 - 2:28 am

  Before to buy this car, I have looked at Lexus 350, ML350 and CX9 finally choose this one because of its price, equipment and 7 passengers capacity. I have owned this car for three months. It works great with no problems at all. Just enjoy the fun when drive it. This is my first Acura, some of my opinions are: Gas mileage is quite low (13 mpg) in local roads. When slowing down speed, transmission gear shift is noticeable. Comparing to X5 3.0 (my other car) acceleration and handling is inferior even MDX has more powerful engine. Cabin noise level can be lower.

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  Most other cars dont even come close! - 1995 Acura Integra
  By Jeremy - December 12 - 1:43 pm

  Ever since I owned this, Ive had nothing but fun and no problems as in other cars. Its 13 years old and people all the time ask me about it and looks brand new. This is built solid as far as the engine goes. As long as you maintain it, change oil, timing belt and keep up on rust when it happens, they last forever it seems. I cant even look at new cars today to buy since nothing even attracts me. This thing drives like new and has pickup that is awesome. Im not a racer by any means but this car is fast, fun and problem-free if you do work yourself and keep it maintained. For 166k on it and looking and driving like a new car, I have no need to buy anything else.

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  Happy Buyer - 2008 Acura MDX
  By JamesT - December 11 - 10:29 pm

  I purchase my MDX with the tech pkg a week before a taking a long thanksgiving trip out of town. I must say that this vehicle is truly amazing. I traded in my BMW for this vehicle and this vehicle is every bit as good. I drove the BMW X5 and Infiniti FX series and the MDX proved to be the better value and overall better vehicle. I would recommend this vehicle to anyone.

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  Great car but too many rattles - 2006 Acura RL
  By tony - December 11 - 4:20 pm

  I bought this vehicle used with 6800 miles. Very comfortable, very quiet (with exception of some minor rattles) and decent gas mileage for AWD. Im waiting for snow to see how well the SH-AWD performs.

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  2008 TL w/ Navi - 2008 Acura TL
  By JerseyGal - December 10 - 1:07 pm

  Ive had the car for about 2 months now and so far so good. Overall, Im very impressed. The ride is smooth, it handles curves well, and the tech package is extremely fun. I am having a problem getting my garage door opener connected to the rear view mirror. Additionally, the moment it gets cold my tire pressure lights come on.

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  This Car does NOT dissapoint - 2006 Acura TSX
  By jungmt - December 9 - 11:00 pm

  I have looked at this car for 2 years until I was ready to buy and believe me it was worth the wait. I also drove the Accord V6 6 speed and it was nice, but the TSX is a better looking car, comes with a beter warranty and much nicer interior and better transmission. If you want speed only, buy the Accord. I didnt bother with the BMW 3 series because of reliability - ditto for the Audi. The Lexus IS is nice, but more expensive. If I want more power, I will get the ECU reflash, header, cold air intake ect. This is a great car - the best combination of reliability, style, performance and value out there.

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  08 TSX Drivers Delight - 2008 Acura TSX
  By TRB - December 9 - 7:52 pm

  I found this to be a joy to drive from the moment I test drove it in crisp Alaska October. The handling has been great even on snowy roads. All I hope for now is just a tad bit more thrust, say an additional 75 horses would be nice. I have had a few issues with the hands free but over all love the car, and the deal I got made me felt I stole it.

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  Been a Great Car - 1997 Acura SLX
  By Paul - December 9 - 2:27 pm

  We bought this used 3 years ago. It already had 120000 miles on it. We now have over 150000 and have never had to do any maintenance. Its a dressed up Trooper, and Ive heard about the Isuzu engine burning oil, but this thing with 150K miles still does not burn anything. It had synthetic in it when we bought it, and have kept with that. The oil still looks pretty fresh at its 3500 mile changes. Maybe we just got a really good one, but this car has been great, especially for what used ones run. Our only complaint is its poor gas mileage for a smaller SUV. It gets about the same as a Suburban and is about half the size. It also rides a little to "truck like".

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  Good Car - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Amun Re - December 9 - 2:00 am

  Well built. Only have 1100 miles but they have bee a fun 1100. Can feel the engine getting stronger as it loosens up. Very quick for a 4 cyl.

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  WOW MOM WOW!!! - 2004 Acura TL
  By ME NOT YOU - December 9 - 2:00 am

  I searched for 1 yr before purchasing this car. Started with the germans, looked into the japanese, perused the Sweeds. I got down to 4 finalists. Saab 93 Aero, Acura TL, BMW 330i, and Infiniti G35. I hate the G35 seats horrible bolsters, and whats up with the switches on the inside,the tranny was too gruff. The 330 was great as expected but 3k more + everybody has one here in LA. The worst thing about the 330 was the sensor under the rearview obtrusive and ugly. Saab or Acura... 6sp, good engines and euro feeling... When you consider the Saab is 2k more than Acura before any options it seemed like a no Brainer... It was the Acura TL 6sp for me. Best Bang for the Buck...