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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  Never Again - 2005 Acura TL
  By #8Fan - July 26 - 8:33 am

  If you buy on looks go ahead--if you buy for a nice comfortable ride--keep looking. I bought my TL about a year ago and have approx. 18K miles on the car and am planning to dump it. I liked the car the first couple of months, but realized it was nothing compared to my previous Infiniti I30 and I never really loved this car. Although the handling is nice and taut, the comfort of the "luxury" ride does not even come close to the I30 or other cars in this class. The TL has terrible blind spots and the ride is very uncomfortable. You feel every bump in town & interstate. The transmission and shifting is very jerky, not at all smooth. Also very noisy and no auto headlights--very disappointing

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  A Civic w/an Acura label - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Doug - June 20 - 8:03 pm

  I have had this car for almost one year. In conservative driving I have received as much as 32 mpg on highway but as low as 22 mpg city, so it depends. Acceleration is OK, although I find 1st gear to be just about useless. This car needs more torque. The "premium" sound system is anything but that. The right door has a rattle and one of the speakers has an annoying buzz. The dash makes creaking sounds as the car goes over rough spots on the road. I find this lack of quality not fit for a luxury vehicle label. 2nd gear occassionally grinds eventhough I have fully clutched. Acura is to Honda as Toyota is to Scion. This is NOT a luxury car equivalent to the Lexus or BMW.

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  Wind noise warrior - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Paul SR - May 29 - 10:00 am

  I have driven the MDX for over 1400 miles. I traded in a 2000 Lexus RX 300. The comparison is shark: Lexus quiet----Acura very noisy Lexus comfort---Acura hard and rough Lexus fit and finish outstanding----Acura not close Lexus engine okay----Acura great Lexus adequate room---Acura huge Overall---Lexus a better vehicle, sorry I bought the Acura

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  Buy the Maxima - 2006 Acura TL
  By golfinwi - May 9 - 6:16 am

  I guess Im the one to throw cold water on the rest... I purchased my Acura for "something different", having owned 2 Maximas (04 & 01). I want my Nissan back! Call it nit pickin, but heres my list... tires (everyone knows 25,000mi max)... lights that dont automatically come on... and dont go off when car is off... no ability to change CDs via wheel controls... terrible gas mileage... no ability to lock car while running (I live in WI for Gods sakes!).. headlights are weak.... pass through is a joke.. my Maxima could accommodate 2x4s as the seats went down vs cubbyhole opening.. no compass in mirror.. cheap!.. finger pinching glove box opening.. no power st.wheel adjuster. Save $4000-Maxima!

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  Last Acura for Me - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Former Acura Lover - January 11 - 3:57 pm

  First of all, I had little choice in leasing a new TLX as i was not allowed to purchase my 2013 TL. Because of the Takata airbag recall, and the lack of supply of airbags, I wasnt allowed to purchase the TL at the end of the lease. The only way out was to lease a new TLX. Anyways, this call is anything but exciting to drive. From a dead start it is clear that there is too much HP for a front end drive. The driving of the car is anything less than thrilling. I love the interior, and the stereo system. Excellent sound. The interior is very nice as well. No complaints. There is an issue, however, when starting the call and placing it into drive (or sport mode, etc), upon pressing the gas pedal the car literally does not move for a few seconds...almost as if there is no gas getting to the engine. I discussed this with my local Acura dealer (where I purchased the car) and they are aware of these complaints. There is nothing they can do as it is said to be a computer flaw. All in all, this will definitely be my last Acura. This is my 3rd Acura. Loved my 2004 TL. 2013 TL was OK. This car, never again. Im moving onto Lexus. Sad, but Acura has really done everything in their power to destroy their brand. They know, and everyone else knows it. Just read about it online.

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  vibration - 2017 Acura TLX
  By Changmin - January 6 - 11:01 am

  We bought a TLX AWD V6 with tech package at end of August, 2016, the car vibrates around 75 MPH from day one. We sent it back to dealer 4 times, they did balance, changed four tires. Yesterday, they changed many parts according to the instruction from Acura. The car still vibrates around 75 MPH, but less intensively. Just improve a little bit. I have driven four TLX V6 AWD from dealer, every of them vibrates. My neighbor has a TLX AWD V6 with tech package too, his car vibrates around 75 MPH too. This time Acura made very bad car. Acura client relation is terrible. They dont care about this issue at all. We made phone, they told me they would call me back but they never called me.