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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  My First SUV - 2006 Acura MDX
  By holly - April 17 - 9:58 pm

  I test drove all the SUV crossovers out there before deciding on the MDX. I love the width of the car. Much wider than a Chev. Tahoe and the like. It is a smooth ride and handles very well. I love navigation which is something that I wasnt even interested in in the beginning, but after I test drove one with navigation, my mind changed. Now Im spoiled and will always have to have Navigation. After driving a Chrysler 300M for several years, I am surprised at many features that my Chrysler had that the Acura doesnt. Being a luxury car you would think it would have everything. See below under "suggested improvements". Other cars like the Lexus 330 had much softer/plusher seats too.

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  Best car ever made - 1991 Acura Legend
  By David - April 17 - 7:54 pm

  Bought the car as the second owner and have never regretted it! Car has power and style. Never fails to get me where I need to go. Now has over 175k miles on it and still going very strong!

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  Nice car, but not perfect..... - 2006 Acura RL
  By braindrain - April 16 - 3:14 pm

  Traded an Audi A8L for this. Had Mercedes, Audi, Saab, etc, and decided to shop wide due to insane pricing on german cars, lousy residuals on nice american car leases. Ended up between the RL and Infiniti M35. The RL most certainly has the most features of anything in its class, although Im not sure what class it is. Sold as a full size Honda in Japan, thats sort of what it is. Nice materials, but whacky electronics, including the dumb keyless ignition that has stranded me 5 times. Bad gas mileage too, my Durango does better. VERY loud tires too, gnaws on my eardrums on concrete highways. Acura had a good 42 month lease, that I now regret. A nice 24 month car, but no more......

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  Acura 04 - 2004 Acura MDX
  By ACSInc. - April 16 - 10:00 am

  We took this vehicle from Coatesville, PA to Portland Maine right out of the box. It performed perfectly. The Nav. system came in real handy when our sons flight was cancelled and we went from Portland ME to Boston to pick him up.$41500 including 6% PA. sales tax. Not cheap but worth it. You sit higher than the mini van but the ride is stiffer.

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  One of the worst - 2004 Acura TL
  By Omad - April 16 - 10:00 am

  Prob the worst rattling cars I have ever owned. Very poor interior quality. The car is basically held together with double sided tape. Even the dealer admits to all of the build issues. Very dissappointed in a 35$k car. Needless to say my car is for sale with 4000 miles on it. If you are looking to buy a new TL, wait till 05 if at all.

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  DO NOT BUY THIS CAR!!! Read Reviews - 2004 Acura TL
  By Omadinc - April 16 - 10:00 am

  Prob the worst rattling cars I have ever owned. Very poor interior quality. Steering wheel rattles,headliner falls down, glove box fell out twice. The car is basically held together with double sided tape. Even the dealer admits to all of the build issues. Very dissappointed in a 35$k car. Needless to say my car is for sale with 4000 miles on it. If you are looking to buy a new TL, wait till 05 if at all.

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  2004 Acura TL A-Spec - 2004 Acura TL
  By ArielAir - April 16 - 10:00 am

  The addition of the A-Spec really tightens up this vehicle. Installing stiffer springs and struts lowers the auto approximately 1 inch, and thus the center of gravity is also redistrubuted (lower). This makes for outstanding cornering capability and a much more "solid" ride. There is not a significant difference in ride "feel" from the standard TL when traveling on straight and level surfaces, but the modified vehicle really shines in the corners and during acceleration. The fit and trim is outstanding and rear passengers report the ride and seating is ultra comfortable. Acura has a winner with this car!

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  Terrific Car! - 2004 Acura TL
  By PTJ - April 16 - 10:00 am

  I have only about 500 miles on the car, but Im thrilled with it. Looked at the G35, Audi A4, and a few others not worth mentioning. But I love that the car is fully loaded; the design is refined, its a blast to drive. Get the 6-speed manual! If its reliable, Ill never go back to Audis and VWs.

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  decent car...Terrible transmission - 2002 Acura MDX
  By JohnA.Feer - April 15 - 2:41 pm

  This car is a good car short term. After my second year owning this car a bunch of lights came up on the dashboard. After getting it checked, weeks later the transmission starting to fail. acura has honda products including the transmission, and honda is known for the worst transmission. The car starting bucking and did not get into gear, and would have trouble reversing. Very comfy, nice options, but just bad transmission, and sunroof.

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  Happy Acura Driver - 2017 Acura RDX
  By Happy Driver - April 15 - 9:17 am

  I was looking for a vehicle to replace my 2011 Lexus that had high mileage, and wanted a change. The new Lexus is bigger than my previous Lexus and I did not want that large a vehicle. I had test driven an Acura previously and went to the Acura dealer to check them out. I love the design, I bought the RDX Advance, it is larger than the Acura I test drove 5 years ago, it is a great size for me. It has a lot of bells and whistles that is, technology features. It is taking me a while to master them. But, I love the lane assist and blind spot warning, which takes no tech knowledge to operate. I have only had the car 3 weeks, but so far, love it. It drives so smoothly, with no noise. The seats are very comfortable, great lumbar support. I look forward to several years of great driving with this Acura RDX.