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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  To many Noises. - 2002 Acura TL
  By branson - April 6 - 3:00 am

  Many squeaks and rattles that the dealership cannot fix.

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  Worst Acura - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Rome 8 - April 2 - 8:01 am

  The transmission is so unpredictable especially at lower speeds. The fuel economy is not anywhere the sticker stated and I use the recommended fuel. They say they cant do. Anything with the trans. Thats what they call normal. I have had 3 previous Acuras and never a problem.

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  My love / hate relationship - 1997 Acura CL
  By RC30126 - March 19 - 2:00 am

  Bought the car new when it came out in 96 as a 97 model. Since day 1, it has been plagued by squeeks and rattles. Dealership still couldnt fix these after 6 attempts. I enjoy driving the car (when it runs properly), but has been the most aggravating car (and least reliable) I have ever owned. Aside from a ridiculous amount of rattles in the dash, the driver side window motor was replaced, radiator fan, oxygen sensor, transmission.... Will probably never buy another Acura.... and I previously owned 3 other Honda products which NEVER gave me such grief.

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  Minor Problems - 2000 Acura TL
  By PoorAcuraService - March 17 - 2:00 am

  Overall the 3.2TL has performed OK but I have some nagging problems that the dealer will not fix. The windows rattle when it is cold, the transmission clunks when it downshifts, the speedometer/odmeter reads 7% high (The dealer says that is within spec). So when it says you are going 75MPH you are actually only going 70MPH and the gas mileage is only fair (20MPG overall). The other problem is the heater, it gets hotter and hotter in the car even when it is set on 65.

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  Not a lot of bells and whistles for a luxury brand - 2017 Acura RDX
  By Albert Zack - March 10 - 4:52 pm

  Even though we got the base RDX model, I was really surprised that to see the CRV from Honda (Acuras sister company) had some features the RDX did not. From my perspective, the base RDX should have more features than the highest-end CRV considering the Acura higher end positioning. Overall, we like the car, but just disappointed on how Acura cut corners.

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  Fun to Drive, but Poor Reliability - 2003 Acura CL
  By Fastkar - March 8 - 2:00 am

  The car was fun to drive however, it was in the shop at least five times with under 20,000 miles. I had to get a new transmission, new rotors, seats got stuck many times, and my sunroof rattles like it was put in after market. They were never able to really fix it. Their fix was special tape made by Acura. This was my first and last Acura.

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  Unreliable Disappointment - 1997 Acura CL
  By Brian DC - January 22 - 2:00 am

  My CL 3.0 has 77K miles on it, and has had numerous repairs since the warranty expired including bad alternator ($300+), bad transmission (remanufactured $2500+), check engine emissions($250). Parts are expensive for this car. What has happenned to Acura reliability? This will be my last Acura. I will purchase a long extended warranty if I ever were to get a Honda/Acura product again. Also this car has developed a LOT of noisiness and squeaks in the last few years. The CL is great for highway drives, comfortable and fast on the highway. Has a nice set of standard options and great V6 engine.

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  2017 RDX with technology pkg - 2017 Acura RDX
  By Sharat Patro - January 15 - 2:00 pm

  It turned out to be just an OK SUV. The fit and finish is not in par with other luxury vehicles of the same category. There seems to be some rattling and squeak issues. So far I have put about 2500 miles mostly highway. Gives decent mileage for a V6 engine.

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  Faulty trans.... - 2001 Acura TL
  By Somewhere in TX - January 15 - 2:00 am

  After two replacements, they should get it right. They havent. Im sad to say that I wont buy another. Im also sad b/c I love EVERYTHING else about this car. But, I also like it when my transmission doesnt drop when Im getting on freeways.

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  I had the firday night special - 1996 Acura Integra
  By BrianV - January 7 - 2:00 am

  This 96 GSR was fast. For some reason it was faster then all other GSRs, faster then the type-rs, and faster then most other cars. It ran mid 14 seconds stock. The car was bone stock and just moved like Ive never seen a GSR move. At any rate, this car was fast but had some fluke problem that no one could fix. It would blow radiators every 1k-3k mi, and ten mechanics including acura could never fix it. Had to sell car because of this. It will be my last Honda, the interior quality and maintenece on Hondas are disappointing. Nissan and Toyota is more reliable and less money for regular maint.