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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  30k Review - 2006 Acura TL
  By Bernard - October 16 - 10:16 pm

  Good car overall. Reliable. Good gas mileage for power. Power is good but not good enough. Horrible in snow!! Squeaking noises from interior once in a while. Good build overall.

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  Im LUVIN it, this ones a keeper! - 2004 Acura TSX
  By 4 NIQUES - October 15 - 8:07 pm

  This is my 4th Honda vehicle and what can I say? I love it. Driven a honda civic, honda accord and an acura RSX. Was going to buy a BMW or G35 but decided to stick with Honda quality and I am so glad I did. Bought the pearl white 2004 TSX, fog lights, tint and spoiler... what a beauty. All heads turn. I have had a recall on the headlamps, but I absolutely love the car (most of all its made in Japan). The paint chips easily but I think Acura did a great job for a 4 cyl. luxury entry level sedan. Buy one, you wont regret it!

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  Best Car I Ever Bought.....!! - 2006 Acura TL
  By Bill B. - October 15 - 2:35 pm

  Previous to owning the TL I had a purchased new Jaguar XK8. While I miss the "sizzle" of the Jag, the Acura has it beat by a long shot in terms of comfort, style, performance, reliabililty, quality of workmanship, etc. The car does not break!

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  a real sports car - 2003 Acura RSX
  By armo - October 15 - 10:00 am

  I love my type-S. This car is not for everybody. Its engine is buzzy, the suspension is stiff, and the gear ratios are very close. This is a real sports car. The Bose system sounds great, I dont know why there are so many negative reviews about it. Interior controls are high quality, and it get great fuel economy (I get 28mpg combined). The best thing about my car is the engine and transmission combo. Cant beat the beautiful engine sound teamed with such a smooth and sporty 6 spd.

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  tl-s with navi is a great car - 2003 Acura TL
  By ed2321 - October 15 - 10:00 am

  GREAT CAR!!!

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  Excellent Car - few nits - 2003 Acura TL
  By Old Joe - October 15 - 10:00 am

  This car has every option I can think of, good power and handling, and the price was very good. Resale is very good (from what I understand) as demand is high for Honda products - so I wont have to break my neck to sell it one day. Yes - I have a few nits with it but for the price, I dont think you can beat it. The Accord is close - especially the new one but the price is very close too if you opt for a loaded Accord EX vs the base TL (which is already loaded). I also find our area Acura dealer a lot better to work with than the Honda dealers in our area (better respect for customers, better treatment overall).

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  Satisfied Owner - 2008 Acura TSX
  By Larryken - October 14 - 1:25 pm

  I dont agree with posters who arent satisfied with the engines power. Im getting up to 35mpg on highway and never less than 31 mpg on a mixed driving tank. The car has plenty of zip for me (pleasant surprise) and handles very well. The technology provided is useful (bluetooth, homelink). The stereo is ok but not great, seats are most adjustable and comfortable. Agree with some that looks are mundane but I dont see the outside of the car when Im driving. The cost to features ratio is very high. Ive driven the car three months and 2500 miles. No problems and the interior is big enough, Im 6 feet.

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  Great car - 1994 Acura Legend
  By Joey Bobboly - October 14 - 7:03 am

  Car has a lot of power and comfortable to ride.

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  I love this car!!! - 2005 Acura TL
  By Jon R - October 13 - 11:03 am

  After about a year the only matinence on the car is oil changes and with a little disappointment tires. It seems the bridgestones that they use on the Navigation cars use a softer compound that wears faster though they do handle incrediblely well. Be it snow or rain the car sticks. With the tires wearing there has only been a slight loss in traction. The performance is top notch and the car is loads of fun to drive. Great for that long road trip too.

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  Rattles and squeaks - 2007 Acura TSX
  By disappointed_cust - October 12 - 4:46 pm

  This is the 2nd new acura Ive owned. I had my previous acura for 9 years. Ive had this 06 TSX for 13 months and it is a disappointent compared with my first. Performance, looks, and features are good. The issues are with the multitude of rattles and squeaks that developed within 6 months in the interior and the ineffectual wiper system on the driver side which the dealer cant seem to address (fluid dribbles onto the windshield and wipers - new and old - only smudge and smear, they do not clear very well at all). These quality issues are surprising. The visual and auditory annoyances distract greatly from the driving experience.