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:

• 

  GREAT CAR!! - 2003 Acura TL
  By REE - October 10 - 4:32 pm

  I owned at 1993 Acura Vigor GS with 260k miles and had it for 13 yrs before I decided to get a new one. I kept it for awhile after purchasing this TL 3.2S type w/navi sys. I am very happy with this car and have no regrets. The only cons I have is the middle front armrest is not secure and keeps opening up. I use unleaded plus and have never had a problem in either car by doing this.

• 

  You dont need the bling for luxury - 1999 Acura CL
  By dmitzah - October 8 - 2:13 am

  I bought this car private party from the second owner. Continually maintained by specialist shop. Low miles for a 9 year old car (87k). This car is pretty awesome. It has loads of power to spare, its super comfortable, takes the bumps pretty well, and its fairly quiet. If you drive a lot, this car will take a lot of road wear off YOUR body. I drive a lot on the freeway, and I dont even feel the effects. Its a pleasure to drive and has a lot of support in the leather seats. Im 6ft tall too, and the backseats arent too shabby. Really, if you want luxury or a comfy ride, this car is it and its priced well. BMWs, Benz and VWs are good, but you cant beat this price.

• 

  A great SUV - fun to drive - 2007 Acura RDX
  By rdxster - October 7 - 10:03 pm

  We picked it up this weekend and so far its been all fun. This is a great SUV and drives like a sports car. We had a Maxima GLE but this has way more zip and is great in cornering and feel.

• 

  Best car Ive ever owned - 2003 Acura TL
  By johnwilliams - October 7 - 1:54 pm

  I bought my TL-S with 60K miles on it 2 years ago and love everything about it. Great power, really good handling, exterior style is head turning, very comfortable ride, decent gas mileage (if you can keep your foot of the fantastic accelerator), and while the interior style is simple all you have to do is put a little leather conditioner on the seats and it stays perfect. My seat heater (driver side) and light for the clock did break as did the radio control on the steering wheel but this is minor stuff. If maintained this thing will run for 250K miles + no question.

• 

  Awesome Reliability - 1996 Acura Integra
  By Kriss - October 7 - 11:29 am

  Excellent car. It is reliable, fun to drive. I have 150k on it and only had to perform minor maintenance - wheel bearing, AC motor, and cooling fan motor.

• 

  I love this car! - 1998 Acura TL
  By Acura32tl - October 7 - 9:26 am

  I have been the proud owner of my 3.2 TL for nearly 10 years now and its been amazing. Wonderful, well rounded vehicle thats attractive and engineered like a dream. My TL has 162000 miles and has seen less than $2000 in non maintenance repairs to date! Thats pretty remarkable in my opinion. The service has been solid, but I must admit that I perform most maintenance personally (mobil 1 only). As much as I love this car, I will probably go to Lexus next as Acura styling has degraded over the years.

• 

  Big Bang for the Buck - 2001 Acura CL
  By t_dub - October 7 - 2:00 am

  Offers more car for the money. So many standard features make this car a bargain. The 260hp engine is supreme. Punch the accelerator and the car responds with a rush. Hard cornering and braking are less impressive...BMW 330ci holds the trophy. Not a bad car to look at, but appears bland when next to the Bimmer. Excellent car for driving around town and on the open road! Ive had some problems with rattles that cant seem to be fixed. The wheels are prone to be easily scratched.

• 

  Well rounded - 2002 Acura RSX
  By jeffRT - October 7 - 1:30 am

  I bought the base RSX manual last month and have been very satsified with the car. The RSX is a well rounded machine. It has good acceleratoin, agile handling and smooth feel from the engine. The RSX may not stand out with it appearnce but it has a sharp look to it. The inside combines a sporty look with a refined feel. The only negatives are the few blind spots and the back seat has limited head room.

• 

  Better than my A4 - 2016 Acura ILX
  By Im sold on Acura - October 6 - 5:10 pm

  Was talked into buying a 2016 ILX certified pre-owned with 2,000 miles and it was the best life decision I have made. Premium (leather pwr pass /drvr seats, etc.) Acura Watch Plus fully loaded (not A Spec) with 100,000 bumper to bumper, free roadside assistance, those expensive rubber trunk/floor mats,and 7 complimentary oil changes /tire rotations for $27,000 and 0% financing. It handles like my old 1997 A4 Quattro 6 speed and not like the over priced, poorly designed, bastard-driving Audis-BMWs-Mercs of this generation. I used the paddle shifters to easily drive through icy conditions and felt incredibly safe. It corners as well as my old A4, looks great, and with the Acura Watch Plus, I feel safer than I did in my large SUV. Use your turn signal and the car tells you everything around you. Forget about the turn signal light on the side mirrors, you dont need it. Rear camera, lane departure, adaptive cruise, brake warning, BLIS, all standard with the Acura Watch Plus. The best part is the driver can not only manually enable and disable, but also modify the settings for almost each feature. Couldnt do that with the Volvo, Audi, BMW or Merc I test drove. Got a job in LA and drove this car I-40 from NC to CA and at one point on cruise control, I looked down and the meter registered 500 miles before empty. Normal city driving is usually closer to 350 miles per tank. Cruising at 90+ felt like 55...so watch the speedometer. The nav system takes about 20 seconds to register once you start the car, but it got me through 2500 miles and not one wrong turn. It even automatically reset the time zones for me. I knew exactly where I was all the time. The complaints about its awkwardness is probably from some professional reviewer who was paid by Volvo. The bluetooth is clean and clear and Siri sync works 99.5% of the time if only Apple would update software more often. If I had to complain, the pass through is right at the wheel house, so it narrows and you lose about 12 inches of space where the seat drops. But I was still able to load the trunk with two 40" LED TVs with oops I forget to pack this in the moving van room to spare. People are really impressed with its comfort and style. I drove 2500 miles in 3 days and the seat was incredibly comfortable. Best part is I laugh when I pull up to get gas and all the PREMIUM UNLEADED people watch their $$$ pour right into their tank. My 1997 Audi was great, but when it needed repairs $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and $$. Ive owned American muscle cars and European sport sedans and a crappy Nissan Maxima swearing I would NEVER buy a Japanese car again. This Acura is the best car Ive EVER owned and I know I will easily and safely get over 100,000 or miles out of it. Shhhh... dont let the secret get out.

• 

  Great, but not perfect... - 2007 Acura MDX
  By alain - October 6 - 2:45 pm

  Bought this a year ago new and its 13k later. Dont let the 300hp engine fool you. This SUV has much less pick up than my 01 V8 Grand Cherokee which it replaced (I leave on hills and the car cant stay 60mph on 5th and takes a long time to shift to 4th which is way too high rpm) - but slightly better gas mileage for a larger car (the onboard mile computer is off by the way). Rear camera takes 10 sec when backing up (making it much less useful). Also mismatching color bumper is tacky IMO for $45k car (I picked silver body which blends the best). Instrument cockpit is WAY too busy with DVD/nav system (and Im a techy).