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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  Too many problems with this car. - 2004 Acura RSX
  By ThisCarSucksIHateIt - September 15 - 10:00 am

  I had a Mitsubishi before this car, and this car is so much worse. It is constantly in the shop. Transmission problems, rattles, squeeks, noises, the stereo was incorrectly wired. Just recently, my engine went out. I started looking to see if others had similar problems on the net, and its worse. I found about 300 other owners also having engine failures, some people claim there are thousands more. Then I saw a video of a guy on FOX News talking about how his engine went out and his car is a LEMON. Its a nightmare. Today I found out that they are not warrantying my engine and my parents have to pay 10,000 dollars to fix it!

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  Smooth like a weedwacker - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Joey - May 2 - 7:31 pm

  What happened to Acura? It used to be a luxury brand! The 9 speed transmission cannot figure out what gear to be in. And the ride is very bouncy! Lot of vibrations when driving on the highway. If you plan on spending $50k, I would look elsewhere.

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  2016 RDX Died in just 22 Days - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Tom - April 19 - 9:15 am

  Had my new RDX for 22 days and the instrument cluster blew out. Was driving at night and the dash just went dark. Got home but once I turned the car off it would not restart. Just cranked. No instrument lights, doors would not lock and the rear view camera display would not turn off. Had vehicle towed to the dealer on July 15 and there it still sits as of July 29. They replaced the cluster and that did not fix it. Now they traced it to a wiring harness. The dash of my new car has been disassembled and will never be the same nor will I ever be able to trust it. I can already hear all the rattles. I have owned Honda vehicles for 23 years and never had to have one towed. Huge disappointment.

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  DO NOT BUY THIS CAR - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Steven Schwartz - February 23 - 7:26 am

  I am an attorney and have purchased four Acuras over the years. The first three were fine. However, this car, which has a dual clutch transmission, is terrible. It jerks and lunges when you brake at stop lights or stop signs. The transmission also shifts gears roughly when downshifting. I have brought the car back to where I purchased it, Acura Carland in Duluth, Georgia, several times. They admit there have been problems with these transmissions, but deny there is a problem with my car. Employee who went on test drive with me said he did not know why they switched to this transmission. Service tech said Acura is working on a computer program to "try to smooth out" transmissions in these cars. However, so far, no luck. I am going to arbitration about this in March, 2016. Based on thousands and thousands of reviews by subscribers, Consumer Reports found that this car is 92% less reliable than the average new car. There is also a federal class action lawsuit, Kornfein v American Honda Motor Co., Inc., 15-cv-1295, pending because of transmission problems in this car. My advice is, under no circumstances should you buy this car!

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  Stuck on a Hwy.. Engine Check - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Mr Singapore - December 24 - 10:00 am

  How can a new MDX like my just stuck on a Hwy.. The engine just let go while I am driving around 130km/hr.. The engine check light is on and I just got enough time to direct my car to the ramp.. This is not fun and a major safty issue.. I WONT buy ANY ACURA anymore ! The roadside assistance and dealership services is nothing compare to Infinit provide..

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  Vibrations! - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Not Happy - November 6 - 1:37 pm

  I had also recently purchased the MDX and had the same vibrations as the previous post. The story is the same - changed wheels, changed rotors, then balanced the tires. They also decided to deflate the tires to mask the vibrations. But I immediately caught them doing this and asked the dealer to inflate the tires back to 35psi. Acura is no help either. Both Acura and dealership say this is normal variation of the MDX, and the lemon law does not apply since "there is nothing wrong with the car". Seeing the prior post, this seems like a fraud or cover up. Anyone else having this issue? Finally the transmission is scary. It doesnt always shift to the correct gear.

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  6,800 miles, new transmission required?! - 2016 Acura MDX
  By frustrated - September 19 - 11:22 am

  The transmission on this car is just crap. I bought it brand new and didnt notice shifting problems on the test drive. I obviously should have test driven the same vehicle multiple times before purchasing it because after about three days I noticed the occasional awkward shifting. I just told myself its a brand new car and needs to adjust on its own. I feel like it did get better after a few months - or I just got used to the awkwardness. Sport mode was not even an option as it was super jerky and completely annoying. At 6,800 miles it suddenly started making a high-pitched chirping noise when shifting into second gear, almost like the sound of tires screeching when peeling out. I immediately drove it to the dealership and the technician confirmed the issue. The next day they called and said the transmission needed to be replaced. What!? Ive owned several Hondas over the years and never had major issues. I thought I could trust Acura for their reliability record, but apparently not. The 2016 Touring/Elite models of the Pilot have the same crappy transmission and complaints are well documented. I hope Honda/Acura will take some responsibility for the defect and offer a recall. If not, I will be pursuing a lemon law buy back.

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  Horrible Car - 2003 Acura TL
  By Much Wiser Now - August 15 - 2:00 am

  All about Acura is total hype. Terrible car inside & out Seat is hard on back during trips. Just found out about transmission recall when it malfunctioned. Acura didnt contact me (Im at same address as when purchased) found out by researching NHTSA when tranny broke. NHTSA says this car (& other Acura models 2001 - 2003) may lock up & result in a crash. Experience w/Acura has been a rude awakening. Service in past has also been sub-standard. No more Acuras or Hondas for me. Worst performance of a new vehicle ever. No wonder it is priced well below competition -- it cant compete in its class.

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  Do not buy this car...Scary transmission problems - 2016 Acura TLX
  By J Ashton - January 8 - 12:31 am

  I bought a new 2016 TLX 2.4 in August 2016. My fifth Acura. I was assured by the dealer that, even though Id read that the 2015 cars were experiencing transmission issues, the problem had been resolved in the 2016 models. Right away I began experiencing transmission hiccups in lower gears as speed increased. The car would hesitate significantly, then lurch forward as I increased speed. Really scary, especially when leaving a rest area or going onto a highway from an on ramp. Worse, as I braked and then almost came to a stop, the car sometimes jerked forward. This situation was truly dangerous. There is a class action filed in California concerning this precise issue. You should also know that the tech package is really worthless at best and another safety issue at worst. The brake warning beep and signal as well as the rear assist signal operate completely without regard to whether a car, person, or object is nearby. The dealer tried to fix these problems twice, once in October and once during the MONTH they had the car in December. I got it back in January and drove it 45 miles. During that period, I experienced no fewer than eight of the transmission incidents described above. I have read that even when the transmission is replaced, the problem hasnt resolved. I finally refused to drive the car any more, fearing for my life or that of a pedestrian. Please do NOT buy this car. It is not safe.

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  watch the tranny its a KILLER!!!!!!!!!! - 2001 Acura MDX
  By killer tranny!!!!!!! - December 4 - 2:00 am

  Driving home today, my Acura MDX down shifted from 70 MPH to second gear causing the car to decellerate to 55 mph rapidly and almost cost me my life. I quit!!!! I have read there is Chrysler like Tranny probs with this and other Acura models. I have 100,000 miles on mine. Theres danger in your future. Dealer in VA tells me its common! Acura, does someone have to die before you recall this?????????