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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  Buyer Beware - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Post Captain - February 15 - 9:45 pm

  Bought this car brand new and have always maintained it properly, including the replacement of the timing belt at 105K. Since that time it has been a money guzzling machine. Left rear mirror fell out with motor assembly to the tune of $329. Drivers side seat moulding broken along with loose drivers seat. Now Ive been told that the power steering is shot, a motor mount is broke, the seal around the left headlight needs to be replaced, among other things. Total anticipated cost $3-5,000. For all Acura says about quality, I dont know that I will buy another one.

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  Three transmissions! - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Ken - February 15 - 5:28 pm

  My wife really liked the Acuras size and features. When we first got it, it certainly was smooth and quiet much more refined than the 1996 Grand Cherokee we had before. It was a good size and she loved the touchscreen navigation. It was a little disappointing that the MDX didnt have some luxury features that the six-year old Jeep did, like automatic headlights and day/night outside mirrors. Overall she and I liked the car. The trouble started at 37000 miles when the first transmission went out. It was replaced. It broke again and was replaced at 87000 miles and we discovered this is a well-known and chronic problem with Acuras transmissions. I cannot recommend early decade MDXs.

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  Great car but needs more quality control - 2005 Acura RL
  By Fritz - February 15 - 9:34 am

  The SH-AWD is very fun to use around turns, but I doubt most people will ever push this car hard enough to experience it. When you go into turns you really just have to push it and let the computers take over which is a bit unnerving at first, but you can really feel it pivot as the car overdrives the outside wheels. The dash is controls are very easy to use and pretty intuitive and I love that everything can be done through the Navigation screen which is large, easy to read and sits high in the dashboard. My biggest complaint with this car are the rattles and creaks. That is a deal breaker for me, but fortunately it doesnt bother my wife who drives it.

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  Overall, a great vehicle - 2009 Acura MDX
  By Yoshodeep - February 14 - 9:58 am

  Having driven the car around town as well as some long trips, I am satisfied with the vehicle. 3rd row seating works fine, albeit not for tall people by any means. Nice pick up. More spacious than I thought from the outside. SH-AWD works great in slick snowy condition. I bought the base pkg, and the sound quality is plenty good. Leather seats are not at par with BMW standards. Bluetooth is somewhat cumbersome (voice recognition only). Cant say enough about the leg and shoulder rooms enough. It is fun to drive, from the SUV perspective. At this price, expected scheduled free maintenance though. Overall one of the best buys in the segment.

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  Ultimately regretful - 2001 Acura MDX
  By AJ - February 12 - 10:03 pm

  I did a lot of research on various models before deciding to buy my MDX. I was fortunate enough to find a one owner trade in with very low miles, with regular service. I thought despite a couple of annoying short comings of the first model year, that Id have it for years to come, but no longer. AC hose replacement at 60K miles/ $1K. Power steering 83K mi/ $600. Transmission 84K mi/ $6000. Nav system & CD multi disc changer both broken. People still think it looks like a new car. I got several good years out of it, but for a Honda, this last years reliability has been horrible. It should have lasted longer before the cost to repair was higher than the value. I may never go back.

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  Its all youll ever need - 1997 Acura CL
  By DJR - February 12 - 1:40 pm

  I bought my CL 3.0 with around 70,000 miles on it...it currently has 160,000 miles now, and is just as strong as its ever been. Ive seen many reports of 97 models still running great in the 300k+ range. Its been as trouble free as our 2002 Accord. Replaced window motor, and brakes once. It has the reliability of any typical Honda, the luxury of a Lexus, the comfort of a lazy-boy and plenty of power, which we all like. The seats are roomy, and 2 adults can sit in the back without being too cramped. The Bose sound system has a decent quality sound. The 200 HP Vtech is fast and fun to drive but stepping on the pedal comes at a price. Unlike the Accords and Civics, it doesnt have the best MPG.

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  Excellant Mid size lexuary SUV - 2010 Acura MDX
  By Harilal - February 11 - 11:06 pm

  I purchased Acura 2010 MDX a week ago. So far it is a great SUV, fun to drive, sporty but very comfortable handling,good stability on the road, luxurious and spacious. Got it for 2.9% promotional APR, so a great deal. Absolutely love this car and very happy with professional dealeship. Wish it had a better MPG.

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  Great car overall - 2006 Acura RSX
  By Honda Guy - February 9 - 4:57 pm

  Great car overall. A few minor set backs. Water would leak into the rear taillights before update was performed. The sunroof is extremely loud and sends hurricane winds into the car when open since it opens outward and not into the body. Your rear passengers will hate that Special feature but its funny. Due to these cars stiff sport suspension they do rattle a lot since they are rough over bumps, small bumps are the worst. Now for the good stuff. By far the most fun car Ive ever owned. Always fun, always exciting from day 1 to day 1275. The ride feels very stable and secure. Power: your friends wont believe its only a 4 cylinder. As a Honda employee for over 9 years this is a great car.

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  STAY AWAY - 2005 Acura TL
  By KingTMO - February 6 - 6:41 pm

  I purchased this car used with 79000 miles which i did not see as a problem as the time because I owned a 00 Honda Accord that I purchased with high miles. 1 month after the purchase everything went down hill..rattling through the car - power seats stop working - calipers going bad and grinding the rotors. I have really lost respect for Honda I am just waiting to be done with Honda and get a Fusion.

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  CANT WAIT TO GET RID OF - 2009 Acura RDX
  By Double L - February 5 - 11:12 am

  The dealer would NOT allow us to take on highway now I know why. The ride is so bumpy that you feel sick to your stomach. We cant get the sports suspension changed because it will cause the warranty to be invalid. I should have walked away after being jacked around by the dealership with agreeing to match printed price of others and then hemm & ha for 5 hours trying to figure out how to get out of that one. I should of, could of, and didnt so now Im stuck with a vehicle that makes me throw up on bumpy highways or gets us dizzy.