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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  Not bad for price - 2003 Acura CL
  By Daniel - March 14 - 11:07 pm

  Ive owned this car for about 4 months and am enjoying. I use to own a 01 Altima so I consider this a real upgrade. Although I love this car I have had quite a few problems with it in just these 4 months of ownership. I have already had to replace the transmission and starter. I have an exhaust leak so my check engine light is always on. Acura says it will take time to find the leak ($105 an hour just to diagnose and see where the leak is coming from). The 2003 automatic CLs are also known for transmission problems. Luckily mine was 2 months away from the warranty expiring so I did not have to pay a cent. Other then those things I am pleased with this car and would recommend for the price.

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  service - 2006 Acura TL
  By lgs - March 13 - 6:42 pm

  A good car. but dont get it serviced by the dealer, Acura will call you over and over to question you about the service, I called the local dealer and they could not get me off the call list. Well, if you go local dont give your phone number. Otherwise a great car, but the trunk could have better lighting, awesome sound system though.

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  Second Trans Bites the Dust - 2001 Acura MDX
  By Disgusted with Honda - March 8 - 4:00 pm

  I just sold my MDX to a dealer for $4,000.00 after buying it for $24,000.00 just 5 years ago. After two transmissions, one computer, and a couple of sensors, I must admit I am through with Honda! I bought it for reliability thinking I would get the regular 200,000+ miles experience and barely got 100,000. This would have been my second transmission in 2 years if not for selling it off. This is disgraceful for an auto manufacturer that boasts quality and charges exorbitantly for it but doesnt deliver. I basically enjoyed the car. It was reliable. Ill miss it. But not the sorry crappy transmission problems. I hope Acura/Honda corrected this problem.

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  Fun to Drive, but poor MPG city - 2007 Acura TSX
  By G - March 6 - 11:40 pm

  Now on year 3 of owning this car, Just a great car. Fun to drive, quick acceleration, especially at highway speed. Very ergonomic. Super reliable. BUT...like previous reviews, it is true city MPG is poor. Average consistently 19 MPG in city, there is an on board cpu that monitors it. Highway is great, 30+. Cant figure out the wide discrepancy between city and highway. I have also experienced steering wheel vibrations.

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  Nice little car - 2006 Acura TSX
  By John - March 4 - 1:42 pm

  I recently purchased a used 2006 TSX, trading in my 2005 Nissan Altima. My initial impressions are that the build quality is very good, Im actually getting better gas mileage than the 4cyl Nissan engine, and the car is fun to drive. There are a few convenience features that the Altima had that the TSX strangely are lacking. Kinda weird you cant view total mileage and outside temp at the same time. Have to hit the unlock button to open drivers side door, and the sunroof controls are in a crazy place. I still find myself reaching up to open the sunroof only to realize the button is down on the bottom side of the dash. No auto headlights?

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  Transmission issue - 2006 Acura MDX
  By blondie - February 24 - 5:41 pm

  I bought my vehicle in the end of 2007. I have loved my vehicle to date. Recently I started experiencing a shaking, shuddering when I let off the gas and then go to accelerate again. It appears to happen at about 40 mph. I have found out that it means I am going to have to have the torque and transmission replaced. Apparently this is common on the 2006 and earlier MDX. I am not at all happy and am now looking for a new vehicle, since this is a $7000 repair and I have no warranty. Apparently there is a recall on vehicles 2005 and earlier for the converter torque. Very disappointed since I bought this vehicle to keep long term.

• 

  Solid Car - 1998 Acura CL
  By Steve - February 23 - 2:34 pm

  I purchased the car with about 40k and have run it up to 150k. It has been mostly trouble free. The only major expense was a new alternator. Its a really solid car, now 12 years old the muffler is still the original. The interior has held up well, a few cracks in the drivers seat leather. At this point in time if you are reading this you would be considering a used car purchase, I would suggest it. My 98 has at least another 3 or 4 years of good strong life left in it. If you need a nice, solid two door coupe this would be a very good choice.

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  transmission failure - 2003 Acura TL
  By emmett gonzalez - February 20 - 10:03 pm

  Bought the 2003 TL brand new. Comfortable and smooth ride. Interior features adequate and functioned well since driven off the lot. The transmission failed at 81,000 miles. We never got a notice that the transmission was under recall but the dealer still required me to pay $1,000 out of the $3,000 cost for a new transmission. Previous to the transmission failure they try a "fix," that did not work. Some kind of deal.

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  Nothing better for the money - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Dan - February 19 - 2:29 pm

  When looking for a practical yet sport sedan for under $30k there is simply nothing better. You cant beat Acura reliability not to mention this car is a lot of fun on the highway. Couple this with the almost 30mpg I am averaging and this makes for the best car for under $30k. Also, I currently have 70k miles on this car and havent spent a penny on it, aside from routine maintenance (oil changes, etc)

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  My Most Reliable Car Ever - 2004 Acura TSX
  By Sean - February 18 - 11:52 am

  What can I say, 117,000kms and most expensive maintenance/repair was replacing the brakes. This has definitely been the most reliable car Ive ever owned as well as the most fuel efficient for a peppy little sports sedan.