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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  Think Again! - 2003 Acura CL
  By MadHorse - August 2 - 2:00 am

  The Car is fun to drive, But there are too many problems. I bought this used at 23,000 miles and drove it for about half year, initially the parking brake did not work, then the wheel bearing went back, then the battery cable went loose and I was stuck at a fast food restaurant after lunch for two hours, then the brakes went back and the rear rotors were damaged and brake pads only had 5% (highly unusal). Then the expenses tires needs replacement and I am up for a wheel alignment, the cupholder keeps making noise and the rear window defroster does not work... thought I bought an Acura but this thing is not reliable at all.

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  Try something else - 2004 Acura MDX
  By rowemowe - July 31 - 2:00 am

  Dont make the same mistake I did. Research this vehicle before you buy. Do a search on Google or Yahoo for "MDX Noise" and youll see that there is a cronic problem with brake and gas tank noise that is called "normal" by the manufacturer. When you test drive the vehicle, make sure you keep the radio off and have a nearly full tank of gas. Let the car idle forward and hit the brake. If you can live with the sounds of gas sloshing around and the back brake thud, then you wont mind spending 35K - 40K. Also, take a look at all of the Technical Service Bulletins issued by Acura on this vehicle. You can find them at the NHTSA website.

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  Awesome design bad build quality - 2005 Acura TL
  By ak2001 - July 14 - 12:26 am

  This car is a rattle box. I love it when I look at it, but when it comes to driving, you hear rattle noise coming from everywhere. At 4000 miles, Navigation, airbag and door frame trims replaced. The footprint of airbag showed up on the dashboard. Japanese designed an awesome car but executives chose the cheapest suppliers for parts in US or where ever parts come from. It is a fantastic looking car, especially with 18 inch graphite color Acura rims, it is a shame that it was so cheaply built.

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  Still has some serious shortcomings - 2005 Acura TL
  By Dave - July 10 - 7:43 am

  Although the car has a great engine and sound system it does have some serious shortcomings.... there are many rattles and the tires still are not fixed like Honda has told the dealers.

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  Clutch problem - 2003 Acura CL
  By INUD - June 24 - 2:00 am

  This car was a great car for 30,000 miles, until the clutch went out. I babied this car. I had no warning of a clutch failure, no slippage at all. Riding on a flat raod and went to shift and the clutch pedal stuck to the floor. Thats all she wrote. cloast me $800+. Have had lots of manual shifts and this was a first for me. Also have had trouble with the home link.

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  Cant hear the music - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Michael - June 22 - 10:52 pm

  Loved the RDX and followed with the MDX. Mistake. From cold start the car takes a few seconds to download (or open) its software and the initial start is "jerky". The transmission/pick-up is initially slow. But the one awful feature is the radio- It has been to the dealer to check all connections-claims to have found none which I believe since the radio still cannot hold a station. Every station wanders/gets static. Think this is the worst car radio Ive had since I was a kid in my fathers 1958 Dodge.

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  Worst car Ive bought - 2004 Acura RSX
  By turboGSRChick - May 31 - 2:00 am

  I bought my RSX Type-S thinking that it would be a newer version of my 92 Acura Integra GS-R. I was sorely dissapointed. Despite having a bigger engine (2.0L vs the 1.7 in my GS-R) this car feels slow and sluggish. Between 3000 and 6000RPM the car falls flat on its @ss. The suspension isnt as tight and the car has a lot of body lean if you push it in corners. The gas mileage is HORRIBLE, 20-25mpg. My moms Mitsu Outlander does better than that. Oh, and my 6-speed manual has been grinding 2nd and 3rd gears since I bought it. I had it rebuilt once already to no avail. DO NOT BUY ONE!!!!!

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  This SUV almost got us hurt - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Carlos - May 25 - 9:16 pm

  We got a new 2016 MDX and before it hitting 3 months, our new MDX almost got my whole family hurt (or could have been worst). While driving on the freeway it just suddenly stop while I was changing lane. Luckily the car behind us managed to stop and avoid hitting us. I tried to restart the engine and when it did, it move very slow and roughly to the shoulder of the freeway. After restarting the engine, ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS came ON including Break System Failure or Malfunction. It scared my whole family and it was the most horrible UNSAFE DRIVE HOME for hours worrying if we still have break system working. Dropped of the MDX at our local dealership and until now (about 9 days now) still trying to figure things out.. We feel like this vehicle is just so UNSAFE now and it basically traumatized my whole family being in this MDX. Will review lemon law and make sure we dont become the CRASH TEST DUMMIES for this. And I hate hearing them say "Oh it must be because of the computers and technology"!.... We got this vehicle because of the SAFETY AND TECHNOLOGY advertised by Acura.

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  Very Dissapointing for $40K! - 2002 Acura MDX
  By RedMDX - May 19 - 2:00 am

  For $40K this has been a dissapointment to say the least...even if it cost $30K wed be dissapointed....its spent way too much time in the shop and there are still many things that the dealership says are normal, but they sure are annoying. Weve had to have the entire VTM (4 wheel drive system) replaced..now the tranny is being recalled! 2 other minor recalls as well. Tires are shot at 30K! gas mileage at 16/18 vs. window of 18/23...and we are easy drivers. Used to get 16/18 out of full sized V-8 Chevy Tahoe and on regular gas!!

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  Transmission problems - 2016 Acura MDX
  By MDXINTX - March 22 - 4:59 pm

  After 1000 miles the new 9 speed transmission cant figure out what gear to use at low speed (< 40 MPH). The ride is jerky or the car surges. The dealership is aware of the problem, but solution not available. Also the memory seat/steering doesnt always return to the set drivers position and the navigation system worked correctly 1 out of 4 attempts. Knowing what I know now, I would not get this car.