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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  Very Happy - 2010 Acura MDX
  By Happy Owner - August 30 - 1:32 pm

  Just bought my MDX last week. So far I am VERY impressed. Bought it for my wife, she had owned an 03 and loved it. I finally talked her into buying the new one so I would enjoy driving it around with the kids and her on the weekend. I have an 05 TL and this car is just as fun, if not MORE fun, as my TL. Handles great, lots of tricks and toys and looks fantastic. My only gripe is the gas mileage.

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  I feel betrayed - 2002 Acura MDX
  By no more acuras - August 28 - 10:44 am

  Let me start off by saying I loved my Acuras. Had an RL that was the best i owned. It failed on me and traded for the MDX. Loved the MDX, best in class, dream car. Then the probs w the tranny started. Thank God I bought it certified. 100 mi before expiration they replaced it free, but right at 12 mos later its crapping again. I feel like my spouse cheated on me. For something I love to cause me this much pain, Ill never buy another Acura. To fix it will cost more than I owe it. They may have gotten better, but they lost me for good this time. The RL was bad enough when I replaced the window motor on 3 windows and at 105k the engine died. Can you tell Im bitter? Sorry, i dont want to be.

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  Not much to not like - 2010 Acura RDX
  By scallaha - August 25 - 1:13 pm

  I read plenty of Edmunds reviews for plenty of different cars before deciding on the RDX so now, Im giving back. I needed something large enough for my small family (wife and kid), but also something I could look forward to driving. RDX fits the bill. Im averaging 21 mpg which really isnt bad for a CUV/SUV size car even with upgrading tires to Bridgestone Alenzas (had to swap the hazardous OE tires with something that has traction). Really happy with the handling and performance balance with mpg. For a CUV, this is quite a fun car to drive. The interior is nice and the stereo in the tech package is way better than I expected. All in all, Im quite happy with the purchase.

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  The best car money can buy - 1998 Acura TL
  By Jeff - August 23 - 10:05 pm

  We bought a 97 with about 68k on it i 95. It seemed very expensive at the time. Other than 2 starters (a persistent problem with these cars (requiring the axle to be removed - $-) along with the terrible window operations), and the recommended timing belt change with water pump, I have performed all maintenance which consists only of fluids, filters and brakes (do my own work). This car now has 260k on it, drives as if it were new, with no smoke or leaks from the engine. It does need a power-steering pump but the kids drive it now and they need the exercise. I now have a collection of 3 of the 3.2TLs ranging from 96 to 98 and have my eye on another. If taken care of, they always run.

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  A Pretty Good Car - 1990 Acura Integra
  By David - August 23 - 1:27 am

  Its had fewer problems than other cars weve owned. Ive done most of the work on it myself. One major problem was that it wouldnt start when hot. After checking on the Internet for a while, I fixed it at no cost by re-soldering a cracked solder joint in the main relay. Another problem was that one couldnt immediately remove the ignition key after starting the car. Again, the Internet came to the rescue and I had to clean the transmission lever electrical contacts (a lot of screws to remove to get to it). The ignition switch failed but got fixed by cleaning and lubing the contacts. A lot of work getting to it. Other problems were mostly like this, little cost but some work needed.

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  Good family car - 2002 Acura TL
  By killerisme - August 21 - 10:36 am

  Our first Acura has been a long distance trooper for the family, and despite three transmissions, overall reliability has been outstanding. Only one of the transmissions actually failed, and it gave plenty of warning. Harper Acura in Knoxville, TN has been great in helping take care of maintenance and the trans issues. 140k miles and it is still a nicer ride than new Accords and Camrys.

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  Perfect 7 seats SUV except some issues - 2010 Acura MDX
  By jrdonta - August 11 - 5:38 pm

  The SUV is perfect so far except the following issues 1. Car pulled the the right (dealer fixed and said it is steering not wheel alignment) 2. After dealer claimed fixing pulling to the right issue, the car still pulls to to right or left depends on different roads. 3. When I reset trip A mileage average, the trip B mileage average is reset also. 4. Accidentally, I turn of VSA then the car does not pull right or left any more ( VSA system issue? ) 5. The plastic bolt holding cooling pad under the hood are losing after 1 week.

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  Nice car, terrible transmission - 2002 Acura TL
  By Ralow - August 9 - 2:41 pm

  All the transmission issues you hear about the TLs are very real. I bought mine as a 1 owner trade with 109K. I did all the research and found that the transmission had the recall done and it was serviced at the local Acura dealer. So I went ahead and bought it thinking it might be OK. WRONG. Had to replace the transmission 3 weeks after I bought it & Acura wasnt willing to help out AT ALL even though it was only a few miles over the recall warranty. Needless to say, I ended up paying $4000 extra for a new tranny. The replacement is under warranty for 3 yrs/36,000 but I will likely never buy another used Acura again. Too much hassle and no reliability. Acuras reputation is tarnished IMO.

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  Great Car but - 2010 Acura TL
  By KC - August 5 - 3:15 pm

  This is my third review. Now I have over 10k miles. Im always on the road as always and i love driving this car. Sound system is awesome. I wish I was able to watch DVD on navigation screen when Im sitting somewhere, like other cars do. One problem I have right now. My Third gear. sometimes when I shift into third gear, it feels like it has shifted into third, but when I tried to release the clutch, it makes grinding noise, like the gears have not engaged and the shifter comes back to neutral. Does this happen to others? I wonder. Besides this, I love this car.

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  Too noisy, never an Acura again - 2006 Acura MDX
  By Rr - August 4 - 10:31 pm

  Typical Honda noise. Cannot have conversation at highway speeds. Engine whistling noise during highway speeds while accelerating. Brake drum rolling noise while backing up and during braking at low speeds. Terrible Bluetooth integration. Only good for incoming calls. Backup camera never good when needed most, too dim and is not useful when backing out from garage.