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 for money - 2000 Acura RL
  By jayglynn65 - September 22 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car three years ago with 110K on it. At the 200K mark I am just now starting to have issues: small leak at tranny, fuel relay just went, and a rear sway bar (?) makes a bang sound but is not a safety issue. So for $8500 I got 90,000 trouble free miles out of it. Rides great, very reliable, and quite comfortable for a 6 4" guy. A seatbelt switch went at about 150K. All in all minimal expense ($1000-ish) on top of purchase price to get 90,000 miles of luxury ride. I will be buying an 05 or 06 RL to replace this one. Lots of bang for the buck.

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  1 month down - 2010 Acura TSX
  By easyeman - September 21 - 2:00 am

  I just purchased a 2010 TSX base, w/ 5sp. auto. LOVE the Basque Red color. Car rides well balancing the sport- luxury soft ride well. SMoother than the VW GTI I also looked at. The GTI has more bells and whistles but in the long run, VW lack of reliability swayed me to Acura. Im getting between 22-25 city and close to 30 hiway. Only disappointing issue right now is the driver seat comfort. Im not small nor am I huge, 6 225lb. The seat is not comfortable all the time but has enough movement to be ok. More than enough room. NOw that its broken in, 600 miles, Im starting to enjoy the engine and handling. Pittsburgh has tons of twisites!!!

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  No need for aspirin - 2004 Acura TL
  By ceenite - September 18 - 2:00 am

  Purchased with 30K on the clock and at 81K today. All Ive had to do to this car is put gas in it, change the oil, and put a new set of tires on (replaced crappy and fast wearing factory rubber). Solid vehicle all around.

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  A very good car - 2010 Acura TL
  By Emkay - September 15 - 2:00 am

  I have been driving this car for 8 months now. It has been a pleasant experience. Its a good value for the money and provides a very decent experience. The car picks at a good pace if engine is raved up. The car could have a higher lower end torque, that will add to the driving pleasure. The car has very good audio system with subwoofer, however when you play some music with little high bass, it feels like the rear windshield is going to break. Overall car is a fun to drive but do not expect the thrill and driving experience of Infiniti G37 or BMW 3 or 5 series cars.

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  Great for a 10 year old car. - 2000 Acura Integra
  By Aaron - September 13 - 2:00 am

  Ive owned my Integra for a little over 2 years. It was my first car and overall Im very happy with it. The seats are supportive and comfortable for daily driving, though they lack in lumbar support on long trips. Car pulls respectfully for its powertrain. The transmission is fairly easy to operate, though it tends to catch 3rd gear when power shifting. Short throw shifter is a good purchase for everyone, as it aides in smoother quicker shifts. Steering is spot on, though a bit fluttery at times. Overall great car, though it does show its age in some areas.

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  Safe bet - 2006 Acura TL
  By sasha - September 13 - 2:00 am

  This car has many plus features, very few negatives. However after going from a sport car to a sedan the handling leaves something to be desired. Plenty of power but could use more torque. A little noisy for a high end car. Nav system talks too much and looks very outdated(like something off an old Atari system). Sound system OK. Very spacious and comfortable inside. For the price of the car you certainly get a lot of great features, bluetooth, homelink etc..Have had absolutely no mechanical problems. Would def recommend this car.

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  07 TSX - 2007 Acura TSX
  By Detar24 - September 10 - 2:00 am

  Very good car with decent performance and great visibility. The fuel economy is excellent, especially for a car of its size. The styling is also a plus. Only complaint is the brakes. This is the second Honda/Acura weve owned with premature brake wear. Parents are having a similar issue with a 2006 Accord.

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  Everything is Perception - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Adrian - September 9 - 2:00 am

  This is my first Japanease Car and after owning many American and a few German cars I am profoundly dissapointed. First the headliner was coming off and had to be replaced, second the rear shock was making an annoying jingling noise and had to be repaired and now I have a thumping noise everytime I step on the brakes and evertime I takeoff. This car feels like its falling apart and it only has 3500 miles on it. The interior is very well appointed but the side dash cover plates do not seem to be well installed. The car has good power for a four cylinder and great fuel economy as compared with large American SUV that I drove before. However just dont see this quality every raves.

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  Rear end thump/squeak noise - 2008 Acura MDX
  By mac - September 5 - 1:37 pm

  I love the handling of this SUV. I had my rear end noise fixed as per TSB 09-002. Problem came back after few months went to the dealer to fixed it again. I hope the parts replaced the second time will last.

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  Good Value for the money - 2010 Acura MDX
  By Tien - September 3 - 7:35 pm

  Owned 2003 MDX and was very pleased with the reliability. Did not want another MDX but ended up getting this one instead of the RX350 due to Value for the money. RX350 is actually more expensive than the MDX and does not offer 3rd row seat. Vehicle drives great so far. A couple of things. a) It required premium fuel. Wife did not know and put in plus instead. This caused the vehicle to jerk when transitioned from first to second gear. One premium fuel is used, problem went away. b) Leather seat is fairly easy to get dirty. Interior is compatible with RX350. Lexus used to has much better interior in the past but 2010 RX350 has similar leather grade as MDX 2010.