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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  great car...except for the tires - 2004 Acura TL
  By ed b - December 3 - 2:00 am

  i love the car, except for the problem with the tires and the memory setings constant failure

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  Thanks Acura - 2004 Acura TL
  By bsavoy - December 3 - 2:00 am

  I tested the TL against the BMW 330, G35, A4, X-Type, S60, and IS. TL beat them all with its performance, luxury, and technology. The only one that came close was the G35, but I thought the TLs interior and technology advantages were much better. I felt like this was the first time that Acura made a true "Style" statement inside and out. I love this car!

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  Fog Lamps - 2004 Acura TL
  By millyt - December 3 - 2:00 am

  Just to let everyone know.........all 2004 TLs come with integrated fog lamps in the head lights. Take a look if you drive one, there is a fog lamp control on the right of the head lamp control. The front wheel drive does very well in the snow. Yep.

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  TL Rocks - 2004 Acura TL
  By Skin - December 3 - 2:00 am

  Awesome, fun, car to drive. Nearly all "options" come "standard" with the car. Other manufacturers have a lower base price, but once you add on the options, the Acura TL is a "no brainer."

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  Best performance in class! - 2009 Acura RDX
  By erik Jensen - December 2 - 3:54 pm

  Just purchased - compared to BMW x3 and Mazda C7. I just garaged my 600 hp track Vette, my Prius produced a distinct adrenaline deficiency. Looked at Subaru WRX, WRX STI for fun factor in winter but too small for family. The Acura is loaded with options, well built (solid), comfortable enough. Make no mistake this mini-SUV is a BLAST to drive. I am surprised they dont market this differently. Turbo 4 banger, SH-AWD Michelin Pilot rubber - snow is good! I can also fit kids, wife, dog, etc. Very happy with performance, technology is overdone - voice recognition nav system rivals BMW iDrive as far as frustration level

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  Great value, cheap to keep - 2000 Acura TL
  By Bill - December 2 - 8:28 am

  I purchased my 2000 TL new and have owned 8 1/2 yrs as of this writing. Its a terrific car overall. Solidly built, a great value, rock-solid reliability and just plain cheap to keep. I have 54,000 miles on the car and have replaced the tires twice, the front brakes once and have had all maintenance performed at Acura dealerships. Minor service intervals (every 3,500 miles) run less than $100 and majors run less than $200. My only real complaint concerns the rear door interior panels. A gap between the vinyl and the plastic part that contains the window up/down button has appeared at different times on both panels. One panel was replaced free of charge, but not the second one.

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  Acura TL -The Best Value On The Road - 2005 Acura TL
  By pjk - December 2 - 7:16 am

  Terrific performance for the money - this is the best value car on the road today. Navigation system knocks spots off the one in our 2001 BMW 540i and the Acura is 100% more reliable than its garage mate. Acura could improve the turn radius and make the steering wheel telescope but otherwise theyve thought of everything. The Bridgestone performance tires were a big disappointment and wore out after 12,000 miles - with no hot-rodding to hasten their demise. We replaced them with Pirellis and are much happier. This is my 3rd Acura (1995 Legend, 2000 TL) and I love the brand. The availability of a manual transmission in the 2004 TL was a key selling point for this family.

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  ACURA aint what it used to be ... ! - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Jersey Girl - December 2 - 12:10 am

  I should not have leased it without test-driving it first. But I did so, sight unseen, because this is my third Acura. I buy them for safety. My first Acura (2009 TSX) was T-boned by a truck into my drivers door: my passengers all walked away and for me, only a few ribs and sternum were cracked from the airbag. The car was a total write-off so I immediately replaced it with a 2014 Acura TSX and leased that for 3 years. Earlier this month, I had to lease a new 2016 Acura TLX because they stopped making the TSX, And I say "TskTsk" to that as the TSX is a far superior car vs the TLX. I no longer have the confidence to accelerate out of a situation. The car literally "lugs" before it gets going with a noticeable pause and delay. Once its at highway speed, all is good and the gas mileage is terrific at 35 mpg hwy. The technology package safety features for lane-keep assist, braking, warning of cars in blind spots, etc are all very good. I love the smart wipers which sense moisture and automatically adjust wiping frequency. Im disappointed in the navigation as you now have to be parked in order to set a destination or change en route. The touch-screen is awkward with a significant time delay and requires an unnecessary number of double-clicks on "OK" to advance to the next field when inputting a direction, phone number or song look-up, etc. The drivers seat feels like a cockpit. Very cramped. Im not that tall (59") yet I have no head room and my legs are cramped. The cup holders are less than 4" deep and tall coffee thermos or take-out sodas flop around in there. The drivers side mirror has a "bonus" feature of a split mirror to show more - all it does is distract and make it difficult to use. All of the mirrors need the warning "objects are much, much, much closer than they appear" because the mirrors reflect a significantly greater distance than other cars seem to and this requires some spatial learning and driving practice to adjust to. They removed the tiny storage pockets on both sides of the center dashboard console - too bad! Those were handy for eye glasses, pens and that sort of thing. The engine is much noisier versus the TSX. In fact, in my TSX, people crossing in front of me in parking lots or on the road would not hear my car idling. In contrast, the TLX announces its presence from half a block away ... inside, while driving, you hear this noise too. In the first week of leasing it, I drove my car 1,700 miles on a road trip. My tire was shredded and I had to be towed because Acura no longer includes a spare tire or even a donut. Instead, they provide an emergency repair kit with a sealant (which I blew out trying to fix my tire and each canister costs $65 to replace). Overall, Im disappointed. Sure, the technology is cool but at what cost? So quality, comfort and ride performance are compromised for some cheap electronics? This is my last Acura!

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  Great car. Worth every buck - 2008 Acura TL
  By Sid - December 1 - 1:17 pm

  I bought this car in Sep 08 and I love this car. It is worth every buck for all the features that come standard with the car. Gas mileage is great for a 3.2L V6. I get 33 mpg highway and 19-24 mpg city. The sound system is really good. Interiors are well crafted. The only con would be slight rattle at low speeds, but no biggie, I can live with it for everything else it offers.

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  Great Extension!!! - 2001 Acura CL
  By DOL - December 1 - 10:00 am

  The navigation is worth the extra $. Drives great, feels good, good for racing.