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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  No Manual = No Fun - 2015 Acura TLX
  By gt0279a - September 15 - 3:59 pm

  I owned a 2006 TSX 6spd manual with nav. Fun car and hard to beat the price with all the features. The 4 cyl was hi-revving and fun to drive, but the car was small and lacked low end power. Unfortunately, in the TLX they got the size right, but the car lacks any fun factor. Way too many buttons to push, no manual transmission option and cheesy faux wood paneling. At least with the old TL and TSX you could opt for no wood. The TSX also came standard with leather, not as nice as the TLs, but better than the fake leather used in the base TLX. I know a similar optioned BMW 3 series would come in around $5-7 grand more, but a nice used 335i seem better to me.

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  What a disappointment. - 2015 Acura MDX
  By laura81 - August 9 - 3:11 pm

  We purchased a 2015 MDX several weeks ago. The next morning, many error messages came on after starting the car - tire pressure warning, emissions system warning, transmission system warning. I was unable to drive the car. The car was towed to the dealership, we were assured it was a battery problem. We were given a new battery and left for a trip. We then drove it several hours, parked it overnight, and received the same messages the next day when we tried to start the car. Another tow, another dealership in a new state. Two weeks later, and we dont have the car back yet. Acura Client Services has been really unhelpful. I would not recommend this car to anyone.

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  Complete waste of money - this is NOT a luxury car - 2013 Acura RDX
  By wnmnm - May 24 - 12:16 am

  I bought a 2013 RDX wanting it to be a great choice for a luxury CUV. I walked away in April 2014, traded it for a BMW X3. Performance: numb steering, terrible suspension (failed, under warranty), failed engine mounts producing excessive vibration, unstable at high speed. Tech package: mediocre with Atari graphics. Sunroof: constantly malfunctioning. Build quality: Terrible cheap plastic all over, exposed sound attenuating foam where the windshield meets the dash, no rear passenger vents, the poorest quality leather ive ever seen in a car, and NO dash cover under steering column (where you can feel wiring and more sound attenuating foam), Playskool key FOB, hollow doors. Avoid this car!!

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  Beware - 2014 Acura MDX
  By mike1984 - February 22 - 7:15 am

  The 2014 Acura MDX is my third MDX and my last! The build quality and fit and finish was so bad that even after two dealer service visits, many items are still unacceptable. Based on the build quality alone, Acura is no longer a premium car manufacturer. The design and engineering of the technology package is not user friendly and certainly not intuitive. Losing the weather information is a major backward step. The noise from the injectors, the noise from the steering wheel, the noise from the lift cylinder are unacceptable. The dealer says these are "just the way it is on this vehicle." I have 3000 miles on this vehicle and I am looking to trade. I am really disappointed in Acura.

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  Disappointed - 2014 Acura MDX
  By sadmdx - February 1 - 6:43 am

  If you want a pretty vehicle that vibrates while driving, then this is your vehicle. I have now owned this vehicle for 7 months. The vehicle has been in the shop multiple times for a strong vibration in the front left of the vehicle, and it will repeat over and over at a constant speed on the highway. It feels like I am driving on a rumble strip. An Acura Rep came and saw my vehicle and told me it is a normal function when the vehicle changes from 3 to 6 cylinders. Acura is aware of it and they do not plan on fixing it. I have driven other vehicles with fuel saving systems, and you dont hear or feel it switching cylinders. I am so disappointed that they find this acceptable.

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  Complete junk! - 2014 Acura MDX
  By dantl - January 31 - 9:45 am

  My MDX has been in the shop more than I had the car since I bought it 2 months ago. A handful of owners, including myself, have had issues with the warning lights for various vehicle systems (i.e. lane departure warning, front collision warning, SH-AWD, Traction Control, etc) coming on for no reason and when that occurs, these systems do not work. The car has been to the dealer 3 times for the same issue and most recently, they only reset the computer and gave me the vehicle back so I can test it out to see if the problem happens again. This is my 4th and last Acura. My prior 3 Acura vehicles were reliable and that’s why I came back for a 4th one.

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  What a piece of heavy junk!!! - 2013 Acura TL
  By terryj5 - January 2 - 4:18 pm

  The TL is probably the worse car in the market, Acura should close their business forever! This is super super bumpy and noise ride. I can feel every bumps on the road even tiny bumps and there are rattles from center console when go over bumps. The suspensions also make thumping and popping sound when go over bumps .The engine runs rough after just 10k mils. What a horrible ownership of this car. Cant wait to get rid of this junk. What a waste of money. I should do more research before i buy this car. First and last Acura! Do not buy any Acura cars!!!

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  Overpriced so-so SUV - 2010 Acura RDX
  By ezma - September 25 - 12:56 pm

  I hoped the turbo is fun to drive. In order to get a car like this, performance is a must, but it doesnt. Use premium gas plus high priced in maintenance, this car is failed to qualify as a luxury SUV. The NAV is the worse one on market. I dont even want to use it because the lack of touch screen. To operate the NAV feel so dump. Turbo kick in is similar to the down shift gear. Bit just too slow. I would say even RAV4 V6 is way better than this junk. So this is a way overpriced with really bad performed SUV. 2010 to 2012 are the same. 2013 and later changed to V6 but no more SH-AWD. I dont see whats the position of this SUV.

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  Only 700 Miles on the 2014 RDX and Transmission Problems - 2014 Acura RDX
  By billy411 - August 6 - 1:42 pm

  Transmission was slipping badly. We had to have it towed to dealer with only 700 miles on the car. Quality was the reason I bought Acura and lack of quality will be the reason I sell my Acura.

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  Huge Step Backwards - 2014 Acura RLX
  By jimvette - June 19 - 10:13 pm

  I just traded my 2009 RL for a 2014 RLX w Navigation. I cannot get over the step backwards in features and quality. The interior could just as easily be for a Corolla. The Radio is inferior to the standard model in 2009. As best as I can tell the only additional feature on the RLX is the X! After a week, I wish I had just stayed with my 2009. I suggest that you stay away feom any of the RLX models except the Advanced package if you dont mind paying its sky high price. Honda should be ashamed of itself for calling this a luxury car. A loaded Civic would come closer.