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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  Great Car! - 2002 Acura MDX
  By jbirken - May 14 - 9:55 pm

  I bought my 02 MDX new from the dealer. I have had it now for 10 years and have over 235K miles on it. No major repairs at all. I read about transmissions, struts repairs, etc but I have seen none of it. A great family car. Very reliable. Never failed me. The transmission finally went recently (no complaints after 235K miles) and I want to get another one. I do get worried from what I am reading here at times but for me the car was well worth the $$$ spent.

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  Nice car bad torque steer - 2004 Acura TL
  By steve741 - May 10 - 12:50 pm

  The Acura TL is a nice car but with the 6 speed transmission the torque-steer can be annoying. The car felt uncomfortable in the wet due to this issue. I thought the interior was great and bluetooth worked well. Rust was a huge issue on the rear wheel well and just behind the door. This set in fairly early in the cars life. Even making efforts to keep this at bay failed... anywhere there was a spot weld in the fender lip.

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  Greatest car i ever owned. - 1998 Acura Integra
  By jwoods4290 - May 6 - 2:06 pm

  Ive owned about 5 cars now, and this car is beyond amazement. i bought my integra with 128K miles on it, and i drive it 150 miles a day (not by choice) and it holds firm and nothing ever wrong with it. simple oil changes and maintenance and she will last you. Also, car is cheap to hook up and do things with so thats a +. but at the end of the day, this is the greatest car i ever owned and i refuse to leave acura just due to this integra. If you want stylish yet reliability AND GAS mileage, this is for you. Would recommend to everyone.

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  17 years after it rolled off the assembly line... - 1997 Acura Integra
  By ecidloc - April 30 - 1:54 am

  I have never been much into cars. True, I owned an Acura before and I have heard of the name Integra, but it did not attach any meaning to me until recently when I bought a 17-yr old used one as a second car for the family. From styling, handling, dynamics, ride comfort and practicality, this car surprises me in every single way. It has simply and functional designs, it has a peppy and efficient engine, it has no fancy equipment, it has a styling that can stand in time, and it has 17 years on the road and still running in a typical Honda fashion. This is a car built for driving, and it was built to last. We need more cars like this in todays car industry.

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  Amazing car for the price. - 2013 Acura TL
  By dcstriker25 - April 26 - 2:57 pm

  I have had this car for a couple months after trading in a S5 for a more family orented sedan. I looked into the A6, and Lexuss but felt they were to pricey, when a collegue told me to look into the TL. I was shocked when I looked into the price on the fully loaded TL AWD compared to the the comparible lexus(Power wise) and A6 (size and power), A4 was to weak of an engine. The sticker might have been 46k but I was offered the car for 40,650 + 1,500 cash for trading in the car. The car was great inside and outside styling was much improved over the 2009-2011. The car drives smooth, tech features are great, and AWD works extreamly well in the NE winter.

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  Switched from a Volvo xc60 for the sake of comfort - 2012 Acura MDX
  By nelsoncm - April 23 - 5:46 pm

  I had an awesome 2012 XC60 T6 R type that was a thing of precision and style. Sadly it was also wretchedly uncomfortable.....rock hard seats, rock hard suspsension. Im a mom with a bad hip and back who loves to drive fast but I just couldnt take it. So I went for my gently used MDX. My husband has a TL that is still running great at 70K, so now were a two Acura family. I agree that build quality is certainly not up to some of the European standards. But this should be fine for a suburban mommy mobile that might see light off road duty on easy dirt roads on scout campout weekends.

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  Love my ZDX - 2012 Acura ZDX
  By goddard6 - April 22 - 4:29 pm

  Just bought my 2012 ZDX w/Advanced Package. This car is great!! Bought it brand new from the Acura Dealer, no one wanted to buy it, which made it good for me!

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  best deal in town if you do your homework - 2013 Acura ILX
  By sethwas - April 22 - 9:52 am

  How to sum this car up - there are no other vehicles in this size that have this many features at this price. That could be good or bad. There are larger vehicles that have this many features at this price (with no gas mileage penalty) and there are plenty of vehicles that are this size that are less expensive and have less features. So if you could lease a Civic EX-L or a premium package ILX (same monthly payment after you factor in gas and insurance) which would you choose? If you could buy a loaded Accord or Mazda6 for the same price which would you choose? Does the badge or dealer experience matter? All are amazing vehicles - you just need to decide where you want to be.

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  After searching many I chose TL - 2013 Acura TL
  By damonpod - April 19 - 10:59 am

  I test drove BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Acura, volvo, Audi, Cadillac, Hyundai and a few others before making my final decision. I honestly didnt consider Acura a luxury brand until I drove one! I narrowed it down to Lexus ES and Acura as both offered the best deal for the money. I am tall so BMW, mercedes and audi were cramped. After test driving the Acura TL several times I was hooked. The acceleration, interior styling and cabin room were second to none. The sound system is tremendous, and the Technology package works with ease. My dealership experience at Mungenast was the best dealership experience I have ever had when buying a car. Had the car for 3 months and no problems to report so far.

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  Not Luxury Car Quality - 2012 Acura MDX
  By bayman48 - April 16 - 12:01 am

  Its an ok car, but maybe I set my standards too high, the quality and craftsmanship compared to the germans or to even lexus is sorely lacking. I am downright shocked, I can see carpet staples, the carpeting stops in odd places so it looks cheap, the fake wood is horrible...some hard to touch interior parts. The service is horrible, at two dealers, one makes excuses, I point out issues and he shows me new models that have the same issues...such as a sticking glove box handle, squeaking at the b-pillar, hood plastic cushions that fall off, etc. Outside of the relatively poor build quality and craftsmanship (clearly not built in japan mind you) its an ok car, but acura needs to improve. Update: Its been four years with the car...my initial review has not changed, as time wears on the car runs rougher...it revs higher and hold its too long...dealer says its normal. Cannot wait to move on to my next vehicle, this one has been a bust.