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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  Excellet Commuter Car - 2013 Acura ILX
  By bybchucky - September 13 - 6:04 pm

  I recently purchased a 2013 ILX with the Tech pkg, and I am very pleased with it. I had a 2008 Acura TL prior to purchasing this car, and I thought I would miss the V6 acceleration, but I honestly dont. A lot of the reviews say the 150 hp is underpowered, but I find the car to be adequate. In fact, it picks up quite nicely on the highway and I dont have trouble passing cars. The interior is nice, well built, and feels a lot wider than what the outside appearance would make you believe. The rear leg room is also excellent considering this is a compact car. As stated above, this is an excellent commuter car.

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  Acura Cutomer Service is unacceptable - 2007 Acura TL
  By exacura1 - September 11 - 10:17 am

  We bought our 2007 Acura TL type S a year ago for $20,000. We paid that much for a used car because we thought we were getting a quality product from a great company. Boy were we wrong. This summer the dashboard started to crack in two places. I has gotten larger throughout the summer. We found online that this is a very common issue for Acura TLs from 04 to 08. We called Acura to try to resolve the issue. It is obviously a design flaw on their part but they were not willing to help out at all. They told us that there was nothing they could do because we are not a loyal acura customer. This is the 3rd Acura I have owned. I am not a loyal Acura customer. Dont buy an Acura!

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  Bitter Sweet - 2009 Acura TSX
  By bstern92 - September 10 - 3:39 pm

  The exterior design is very sporty and clean. The chunky 5 spoke rims are hideous. The drivers seat is very comfortable and I love the lumbar adjustment, but I dont get why they dont have it on the passenger seat. The passenger seat is almost unbearable to sit in, compared to the drivers seat. The rear seats have absolutely no leg room and your foot gets caught under the front seat, when getting out of the car. Leather is cheap. The drivers seat is already cracking. The steering wheel has a very cozy feel to it. The cars steering is responsive and the 2.4l provides adequate power. The car is amazing on the highway. I would probably not get another. Im considering a 2013 nissan Maxima

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  A great little car - 2003 Acura RSX
  By mjl73187 - September 7 - 11:11 pm

  This is truly a little gem of a car. Ive had mine for over four years, put almost 50,000 miles on it, driven it three times round-trip from Connecticut to Arkansas, driven it around the mean streets of Brooklyn. It never lets me down. Ive driven it at 80+ mph with all my worldly possessions (including an antique desk) crammed in the back and STILL gotten 34 mpg. Ill drive it until the wheels fall off, unless I need something with four doors.

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  Very Happy - 2013 Acura RDX
  By flipmank - September 5 - 9:33 pm

  Ive been driving my Acura RDX AWD for about 5 months and Im really happy with the car. Performance and comfort aside its generally the best looking car in any crowded parking lot. Looks matter and the RDX (post 2012) looks better than most luxury SUVs.

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  20 Years Later She is still Cruising - 1993 Acura Legend
  By dtuura - September 4 - 11:09 pm

  I have had 7 cars in the past 5 years ( all used ) and ive got to say this car takes the Cake. Got a 93 legend for $900 with 152k and i cant regret it. The design and performance of the car is Great and for once i have no Engine lights on. The car doesnt overheat, the tranny doesnt slip and it always starts right up. The one down side is deffinately the suspension but Whatever! the car is 20 years old, that should be expected. also the gas Mileage isnt that Great but i think ill survive

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  Great except..... - 2014 Acura MDX
  By bohlson - September 4 - 10:41 am

  After driving a Chevy Suburban for 18 years I am loving the smaller car with its handling and better gas mileage. I purchased the MDX over the competitors because of the reputation for reliability and because I found it more comfortable than the other cross overs. My one complaint though is that when I open the sunroof I get the smell of burnt rubber or something that immediately comes in the car. At first I thought it was sucking in exhaust but I think the smell is coming up the windshield and into the car. The dealership said it is the smell of the new engine and that after 4-5K miles it will go away but I am not sure. 2k miles and it still does it. Anyone else experiencing this smell???

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  Bad trans in 99 dont buy - 1999 Acura CL
  By dontuy22 - September 3 - 11:17 am

  I own a 99 CL 3.0, all of the transmissions go bad in this car, Ive talked to many people and eventually the trans will go bad way before it should. Do not buy one unless youre prepared to sink 3 grand into at any given time. Could have been a great car, I replaced my trans at 80k miles and now it works good. A friend of mine is an excelllent mechanic with a wealth of knowledge on all cars, and he says it should be good for another 100k miles, but it will definetely go out again eventually and theres nothing that can be done besides replacing it again.

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  Great luxury midsize SUV - 2012 Acura MDX
  By mike828 - August 28 - 3:26 pm

  After researches on most of the luxury midsize SUVs and driving tests on new Lexus RX350, Mercedes-Benz ML350 and Acura MDX, I decided to go with MDX Elite, mainly based on its performance, comfort, handling, safety features and value. I have no regrets with my purchase of this fantastic crossover since I drive it for almost two years.

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  Traded Porsche - 2014 Acura RDX
  By jadrie2 - August 28 - 10:29 am

  Believe it or not, the 2014 RDX rides and drives better than my Porsche. I downsized, traded and got 2014 RDX with Tech pkg and walked away with over $15k check to me. Some things are just a name and status symbol....