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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  Excellent car - 2004 Acura TL
  By RareBear - August 4 - 10:00 am

  For the money, this is the best deal going. Fun to drive, economical, and the quality thoughout is evident. Traded in my 2001 TL for 2004 and its a whole new car- different feel and the improvements are noticable. This car is easy to drive long distances and loves the curving, winding roads as well. All-in-all, a fine choice for the near-luxury sedan driver. I dont regret my choice one bit.

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  Rough Rider - 2004 Acura TL
  By imabettor - August 4 - 10:00 am

  rides like it has 4 square wheels (obviously exaggerated) but not by much! SEATS TOO HARD. & PASSENGER DOOR TOO WIDE. WIFE CANT REACH THE HANDLE TO CLOSE THE DOOR WHEN SEATED. DIFFICULT TO ENTER& EXIT UNLESS LOEWRING SEAT.TOO MUCH BLIND AREA .

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  Great car overall - 2004 Acura TL
  By Steve1010 - August 4 - 10:00 am

  Ive had this car for a few weeks. It looks beautiful inside and out. The engine is smooth and the cabin is quiet. The materials used seem to be very high in quality...which kind of confuses me because there are so many creaking noises and rattling. This car would be perfect if not for the annoying little cracks and pops coming from different places. In my opinion, these are only minor fit and finish issues, although the noises distract me from enjoying the ride sometimes. As far as the amenities, I love the navigation system. It is extremely user-friendly, and the screen is huge! This is a great car overall.

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  Sporty and fun - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Joni - August 3 - 1:49 pm

  This was my first Acura and probably not the last. The car has awesome acceleration, great handling and is very fun to drive overall. Decent gas mileage, lots of looks, six speeds and the classic tell tale headlights (I like the 02-04 look better than the later 05-06 models). The third gear does grind from time to time. You really have to carefully place the gear to avoid it. Also this car is incredibly connected to the road. You hear and feel every little bump... a good thing if youre driving a sportier car, but tiresome if its also your daily driver. Finally the insurance on this car is outrageous.

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  I Love It - 2007 Acura TSX
  By muddboner - August 3 - 1:41 am

  This is an excellent car. I bought a store demo to save a few bucks. Its the right size with a sporty/luxury ride, very well equipped, moves well and gas mileage that wont make you mad buying premium. The nav system is great but I didnt need it and wasnt paying another 2k for the novelty.

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  Satisfied in Chicago - 2007 Acura MDX
  By inguinal hernia - August 2 - 9:31 pm

  Ive owned a new 07 MDX for a month now, and have driven it close to 2000 miles in city and suburb. Comparing it to my past ownership of a Honda Accord and my spouses BMW 5 series sedan, I think this is an excellent AWD SUV and I would, with no doubt, buy it again. The audio system quality and navi. are noticeably superior to the bmws. Easy to drive around family and friends in comfort. Easy to haul luggage and purchases from the local hardware store. Rear view camera is indispensable (IMHO, this should be standard on all SUVs for safety). Minor quibbles: "live" traffic update is not so helpful, I prefer pushing buttons or twisting dials for commands rather than voice.

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  strong smell from leather seat - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Wei Li - August 2 - 9:41 am

  I bought a 2016 MDX at Apr 2015. The car has unusual new car smell. At the beginning, I thought it will disappear soon .I am wrong. I cant stay in the car without the window open for more than one year. But unfortunately after two summers, the smell of new car just reduced a little bit and the leather seat still gives off strong chemical odor. I can confirm because if I smell closely to the leather its just too strong chemical odor. I have owned multiple cars with leather seats before. This is the first time I hit the issue. I very understand that leather products usually has "leather smell" and I actually like that. But this smell from ACURA 2016 MDX seats is not typical genuine leather smell. Its just unpleasant chemical smell. At the time I bought the 2016 MDX, I noticed it smells more strong than 2015 MDX. And it seems to be issue with all 2016 MDX at least the first batches. I was told by many people that baking the car in summer could reduced the new car smell. Now I have done it twice in the summer. Almost every sunny day I leave the car outside and open the window just a little. I have verified it doesnt work for this car. Because this time, issue is from seat. I am pretty issue besides the seat, the smell is OK. Just the leather chemical smell is too bad. One detail I noticed is there is no smell from back piece of seat. I am guessing that the back piece of the seat has different leather.

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  Exceeds my expectations every day - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Larry - August 1 - 11:02 pm

  The 2007 MDX a superb vehicle. Its truly hard to express how great this vehicle is. The navigation system is intuitive and simple to use. The voice recognition is excellent. The ride is extremely comfortable and the vehicle handles the road extremely well. I cant imagine how well the Sports Package performs. Overall, easily the best vehicle Ive owned (compared to Explorer, Jeep, BMW). Highly recommended.

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  Average Car - 2007 Acura TL
  By So So car - August 1 - 1:49 pm

  I bought Type S in Feb 2007. The cars engine is great, acceleration is superb, looks are great. However, interior material quality is one of the worst I have seen in new cars. Too much rattling. I had a rattling sound coming from behind steering wheel and even the dealer couldnt figure it out. More rattle from the middle by cup holder. If the windows are down, they rattle as if some screws are loose in the door panel. I am seriously thinking about trading it in. I have been a Acura fan for years but this TL Type S experience has left a bad taste in my mouth and probably never go back to Acura.

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  CL-S 6-Speed: Wolf in sheeps clothing - 2003 Acura CL
  By srelay - August 1 - 1:14 pm

  My wife and I both drive and enjoy this car. We bought it with 18k on the odometer and 6-speed manual because we prefer self-shifting and heard about the problems with the automatic versions. My wife especially loves the CL for its clean exterior lines and interior creature comforts with those particular appealing Acura-Honda ergonomics. I like it for its rarity factor as well! Reliable with no problems yet. Very quiet with a solid feel on the highway - cruising in 6th gear - with superb handling and road-feel on the curves. Great for long trips. Lots of power and torque for those sticky highway situations. At 260-hp its the most powerful car weve ever owned and probably ever will.