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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  Best Car ever - 1999 Acura RL
  By timevans - February 24 - 11:05 pm

  I have 236,000 miles and climbing on my RL. It stills looks and drives like new. Original engine and trans! This car is awesome and has everything. Very reliable, and stylish. Japanese cars are enginered the best! This car proves it!!!

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  Fun car, but... - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Jimbo - February 24 - 3:30 pm

  Very smooth ride in comparison to my two prior Ford Explorers. Enjoy the nav system however still learning commands and touch screen can be hard to not make mistakes. A heating problem has developed in our car, and the same issue with a neighbor who has the same car. The local dealer is stumped. Not a good feature in the winter. Other than this the car is great.

• 

  Rare Find - 1999 Acura SLX
  By Lidio - February 23 - 10:04 pm

  Great first SUV great interior perfect size engine awesome off-road, little wobbly at highway speeds though loves to drink gas, but big tank phenomenal cargo space never got the chance to use the heated seats, but of course a good feature wood grain looked a bit fake, but nice touch for a rebadged Trooper those rear doors are the best design EVER primo stereo love the foot room in the back and front, as well as the ride height seemed to be a decent amount of undercarriage rust, but I suppose to be expected from an older truck rear drive horrid on ice as I learned from experience lost my SLX to a winter-related accident, the thing saved my life! This beast is as safe as a tank!

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  Reliable - 2003 Acura TL
  By Mike Z - February 23 - 8:10 pm

  I drive 18000 miles/yr and have had no (none) problems aside from routine maintenance.

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  Waste of money - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Tom - February 23 - 8:01 pm

  Definitely not worth 33,000 dollars. No leg room for back seats. No auto turn on/off of headlights. Rough riding. Opening the driver door after a drive will not open the back door. You have to use either the remote or the door button to open the back doors. Bad fuel economy. Wish there was atleast a beep sound when you back up to walls or curb (expect that for cars over 30000). Tom

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  I love it - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Quiltdiva - February 23 - 7:12 pm

  I have been looking at the 2009 Nissan Murano, Mazda CX-7 & 9, Subaru Tribeca and 2008 Nissan Rogue. The RDX is just right for me. All those wonderful luxury features plus not so huge. It drives really stiff, more like a sports car and the seats are wonderful. I made the right decision for me.

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  Rock Solid - 1997 Acura RL
  By Rob - February 22 - 11:26 pm

  Bought the car as a lease return. The car has a great ride along with good road feel. Didnt have a repair until it had over 140k. I now have 169K. The leather interior still has no cracks. I use 87 octane gas. No problem. I cant find a good reason to buy another car. The 3.5 RL has lousy resale making it the best value in used car value.

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  08 Type S - 2008 Acura TL
  By Jeff - February 22 - 6:21 pm

  This little car really goes! Great 6m gearbox, super handling and good mileage for the package. My average is 25-28.The downside, lousy interior panels. My unit arrived "new" with a huge U shaped scratch on the dash in front of the steering wheel. Dealer is still fooling with resolution. Ive since scuffed the door getting in & out and the wife put another one across the passenger side dash with her purse, yes a leather purse, while getting in. Beware pulling on hard acceleration, the TL can get a little hairy there. The interior is cramped and the tilt wheel stinks but if you are 6ft./215lb. and want 25 MPG this is one of the best deals going.

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  Excellent Car for Entry Luxury Vehicles - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Tim Johnson - February 22 - 4:18 pm

  The TLX is a well complimented car. The technology, safety and audio packages are outstanding. The 3.5 liter V6 can be a rocket ship when needed.

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  So-so - 2006 Acura TSX
  By roadster - February 22 - 1:36 pm

  Good, solid car. Yet you can feel the heaviness of it when making turns. Look at the exterior design from a distance. It doesnt look sporty. The car does go though. Its no joke, but it just seems kind of ho-hum.