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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  A Great Value for a Used Car - 1999 Acura CL
  By joe gonzo - March 25 - 6:10 pm

  We love the interior design of this car. It handles great on the open road and the Vtech has plenty of punch when you need it. This is our second Acura and the reason is their reliability. My Integra is ready to turn the odometer again and it still runs like a top. I do my own maintenence and these cars are easy to work on. The only problem with both cars is the radiator going bad but they are easy and cheap to replace. It doesnt cost 300 bucks to change the plugs either. By the way, the CL was designed and built in Ohio for those who think its an import and women really dig it.

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  Love my TL!! - 2008 Acura TL
  By HarleyTX - March 25 - 4:37 pm

  I was apprehensive about buying a car that would soon be redesigned, but from what spy-photos Ive seen, the 09 will not be nearly as handsome. After 15,000 miles, Im am utterly in love with this car. Faster and more comfortable than my 05 TSX, Ive never regretted buying this car. It still looks good, has a great performance/luxury compromise, and is built like a tank. Theres is no better car for the money!

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  Fun car to own and drive - 2002 Acura TL
  By Dave - March 25 - 10:17 am

  Our car is primarly driven by my wife. She loves it - in fact this is the first car weve owned that she truly loves. She always found fault with any of the other cars weve owned in 45 years of marriage. I rarely drive it except for long trips. It is a remarkable vehicle to drive on the highway.

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  first 90 days - 2006 Acura TL
  By WP Smith - March 25 - 6:50 am

  Mine is The A Spec setup, So far it has been a remarkable ride, The Looks with the A-Spec kit gets nothing but envious looks it is NightHawk Black Pearl, With dark tinted windows, the ride the performance are near perfect, Mileage is close to 25 mpg. No complaints greta value for the Dollars spent

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  Bargain Performance - 2006 Acura TL
  By mark - March 24 - 9:58 pm

  Wanted something that looked good, and performed well. This is my 2nd TL, had a 2000 and this one is much better. Looked at Maxima, BMW 325, G35 and this was the best value.

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  Best car Ive had up to date - 2007 Acura TL
  By Odilia - March 24 - 7:20 pm

  Best car up to date. Good driving experiences, great leg room.

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  Awesome Sporty Machine - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Scorpion18 - March 24 - 5:41 pm

  I drove a Camry V6 for 3 years and was just enough happy with it but wanted a sporty drive, tried X3, BMW 3 series, Lexus IS 350, CX-7 and a few more before finalizing on this one and I am glad I went to see it. It is a awesome combo or class, features, acceleration and I love the ELS system with 10 speakers making it better sounding than any other vehicle I tried.

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  First Acura - 2007 Acura TSX
  By QSolution - March 24 - 9:24 am

  Nice interior feel and appointments. Bluetooth is great and side cornering signals on side view mirrors a great idea. Nice entry model. Always wanted the TL and was happy to be able to get into an Acura at this price point. Gas mileage is horrific for a 4 cylindar & the high octane requirement is just obsured. Had a heavier Honda Accord 6 cyl. before this and it got 8 miles more to a gal. of 87 octane gas.

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  So Happy - 2006 Acura TL
  By Extremley Happy - March 23 - 8:26 pm

  I bought my 2006 TL in Nov 2005. I was at the Orlando car show and had thought about a lexus. I even went and test drove the lexus. After that test ride I felt the lexus looked too conservative for me. I was then off to the Acura dealership. 1 test drive is all it took & could not be happier!! Its sporty and rides great. I get compliments on the car all the time. I am anal about being clean so I even wipe the car down before it comes out of the garage to keep it with a new look. My love of music sounds great in the car also. Great sound system as well! Acura fan always in Orlando:)

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  LOVE THIS - 2008 Acura TL
  By bala0509 - March 23 - 6:35 pm

  Sent my husband to test drive a regular TL. Well after he drove the Type S and the MDx sport and ent packg we had to get both. This is my second Acura. i also have an integra.. (1996) and it works just fine as well. Love how responsive this car is. Love the sporty pedals and love that all the options were included. I look for excuses to go out now.