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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  2010 MDX Tech - 2010 Acura MDX
  By Joe Dimitrius - April 26 - 10:46 am

  Bought the 10 MDX Tech a month ago. Looks great in black. Love the ride. Compared against the Q5 (smaller), Q7( much more expensive), Lexus RX (very girly) and the X5 (more expensive to own). Zeroed in on the MDX. 45 out of the door. Yes, wait till the end of the month.

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  solid car - 2009 Acura MDX
  By MS - April 25 - 11:39 pm

  great all-around mid-sise SUV. Exterior styling wears well, looks striking in black, with the red/brick leather. amazing sound system, has to be heard to be believed. As an enthusiast, amazed at how well the car responds when pushed hard. Car seems to prefer being pushed hard rather than cruising. Can at least chase my brother in his STI. Ride is a bit firm on long trips, active damping with a comfort mode needs to be standard. Needs better quality interior materials and leather. Simplified button arrangement on dash. Car is very sporty, maybe adding Brembos, and 50bhp would fulfill its potential.

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  cant seem to stop buying another? - 1997 Acura Integra
  By sonz - April 24 - 11:44 am

  ive never been a fan of these "tuner" cars until i bought my first one in 08. Since 08 i have owned 3, being on my 4th one now. The current one i have invested over 7k into aftermarket parts that include a fully built high compression all motor setup and a $3k paintjob. Looks brand new now and wouldnt hesitate to drive it across country! Sadly, i am getting a little older and have had my first son. Im not going to get what i want from the sale, but hopefully shell go to good hands. I love the styling. I thought id be sad after financial reasons and having to get rid of my 545i, but the only thing i miss about the 545 is the comfort. Ran the gsr at the track and ran a 12.4 all motor on slicks

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  Affordable luxury SUV - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Joe C. - April 23 - 3:19 pm

  Driven over 112k in less than 6 years. No mechanical problems. Drives very smooth and still handles/feels like a new vehicle after so long. Some cosmetic problems here and there. Sales person pressured to buy extended warranty, but it is waste of money. Overall a reliable and affordable luxury SUV.

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  leak that cant be fixed - 2010 Acura TL
  By lemon - April 23 - 3:00 pm

  Car has leaked water from day 1 into trunk. After 5 times in shop and no correction. I am filing a lemon law.Only leaks when car is parked on a upgrade. leak is severe. Hoping that honda tries to make it right

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  Big disappointment - 2003 Acura TL
  By cwms97 - April 23 - 2:33 pm

  I bought my 2003 Acura TL-S in 2006 with about 64,000 miles on it. The car would have been perfect except for the bad transmission. Within 3 months of purchasing the car, I had to get my transmission replaced. A year later the transmission failed again. Leith Acura replaced it the 1st two times. Then 2yrs later, the transmission went out again. Acura wouldnt replace it because of the mileage on my car so I had to get another company to fix my car. Then 1 year later, I am having transmission failure again. I am so dissapointed. Such a nice car with a horrible transmission. I will never buy another Acura again!!!!!!!!!!

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  Nice Car - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Lazo - April 22 - 3:30 am

  You will not enjoy this car unless you really have patience and read the guide. I purchased this car for my wife and we are happy with it. This is a strong stable car you can rely on. Many features you will discover as you read the guide. Thanks to Reviews in this site I took the decision to buy this car.

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  Solid car - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Ernie T - April 18 - 9:26 pm

  The car is solid and has a predictable feel and control. At first the ride seemed stiff and rough, either I have become used to the feel or the car has softened up just a hair. Audio is good but not outstanding. Driving is fun and quite.

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  Love This Car! - 2010 Acura TL
  By jimmyt_2 - April 18 - 2:44 pm

  This is my 2nd TL (2005). Had this car for 7 weeks & 2500 miles. I love everything about it except the grill, but everything else is so perfect I dont notice the grill any longer. This car is a beast. Performance and handling are amazing. The car accelerates so well without getting hard into the gas, it feels like a turbo kicks in at about 40mph and launches you to 60. The SH-AWD is really fun once you figure out how to use it (when to accelerate during a turn, etc.). The car corners like its on rails. It was too easy to chirp the tire in my 05 if I accelerated from a stop. Not this car. Cant wait to try it in the show.

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  Be aware of rattle noises - 2010 Acura TSX
  By NL3 - April 16 - 9:26 pm

  Like the car but has lot of rattle noises from various places (research around on the internet - you will know what I mean). For me its from the passenger seat door - brand new car with 2900 miles and I have noises. If that doesnt bother you then its a perfect car. Otherwise be aware before what you are buying.