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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  You Cant Go Wrong With A TSX - 2004 Acura TSX
  By Donald Jones - April 10 - 10:00 am

  I COULD NOT BE MORE PLEASED. WHAT A GREAT CAR! I TRADED IN MY 2003 ACCORD EX FOR THE TSX. IT HANDELS MUCH BETTER THAN THE ACCORD. GREAT BUILD QUALITY, FUN TO DRIVE, GOOD GAS MPG. I WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS CAR.

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  Reality Check - 2004 Acura TSX
  By Orangeville Steve - April 10 - 10:00 am

  I am a true owner of the TSX, not one who just test drove the car. I dont sell cars so no bias involved. I own several vehicles, all 2004 models including an MDX, and an ES300. The TSX is my commuter car, therefore no NAVI reqd. If you could just drive the car not knowing its cost. Just compare its driveability, comfort and features. This is a stunning car to drive that mixes an excellent dose of comfort, power, and manuverability in a very affordable package. For shear driving enjoyment the TSX is my favorite.

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  10 Month Review - 2004 Acura TL
  By kells - April 10 - 10:00 am

  Bought the car 3 days after its introduction. Reading reviews for 8 months now and agree with 95% of them. Its a good car and I am very pleased. Here are some things to watch out for: Paint peeling from bumper at the seem where it meets rear tail light. Dealer said that most peeling has been reported in the front of car, so keep an eye there too. From heavy rains, water leaking onto front-right dash speaker. Dont know if its from door seal or windshield seal. Careful grabbing for hood release, mistakenly ripped fuse box cover off and now have to tape it in place. Glove box door rattles.

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  1999 Acura 3.2TL - 1999 Acura TL
  By Augusta Richards - April 10 - 8:50 am

  I bought this car new. This car has been wonderfully reliable. I have never had it in service for a mechanical problem. As a female driver, this is very important to me. I use premium gas as recommended but with todays prices, I am going to try mid- grade again although I tried that once and noticed a negative difference. My mileage in the city is about 20 and on the highway 27-28. I feel very safe in this car and have learned to appreciate the styling although after having an Infiniti J30, I thought this car could use more pizazz in the exterior styling. What can I say - I love this car.

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  Sorry I bought it - 2000 Acura TL
  By FoSho69 - April 7 - 9:34 pm

  This is the 2nd Tl Ive owned in the past 3 years. My first one had the navigation system. The car ran pretty good, except for the navigation performance. It wouldnt hold the GPS position if its life depended on it, although it was very user friendly. I currently have a 2000 TL and I dread the day I bought it. First off, The transmission. It was sticking, then gave out altogether, stranding me along the road. Ive taken it to acura numerous times for service and I get the run-around. I was furious when it finally broke. It also has the worse cup holders. Also, playing burnt CDs from home is impossible. When I get another car very soon, I will buy another Lexus.

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  my04tl - 2004 Acura TL
  By Ed - April 7 - 9:03 pm

  When I initially looked at this car, I fell in love with it. The exterior design was much nicer than Lexus 330. The price I got was about $1200.00 less than Lexus 330. I experienced few problems with this vehicle. The stainless steel side panels got easily scratched and dented. And also the leather seats did not hold well. overall, it is a nice car but not for $38,000.00 (incl. Navi)this car should be priced in low $30,000.00 range.

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  NOT an Integra - 2003 Acura RSX
  By 62" - April 7 - 2:00 am

  After owning an Integra for a while I can tell you that this car misses the mark.The shifter clunks into second gear (all others are good)the seats are fair at best and the ride/road noise/sound system are all poor.There is a HUGE gap in power between 3000 and 5000 RPM. I should have bought another Integra.

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  2003 TLS Great Auto - 2003 Acura TL
  By Yankee Joe - April 7 - 2:00 am

  I have a 2003 TLS with Nav and OnStar it is a great car to own and have fun with. Rides like a dream and has enoung power (260 HP) to get you where you want to go QUICKLY. The Nav. system is really fun to use and a great help to have when you lost. For the price I think it is one of the best cars around. Joseph

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  Acura should be ashamed... - 2005 Acura TL
  By Mike - April 6 - 7:38 pm

  Owner of 1 Honda & 1 Acura, used to love their products, but now, not so much. Heres a list of the problems I had with a Brand New 2005 Acura TL, the car has 9000 miles right now: -Replaced Heat Shield, Intermediate Shaft,Audio Unit, Rear Deck -Seized Calipers, Warped Rotors -Transmission Problems since the car had 1000 miles on it, had to have that replaced. -Rattles all over the place inside the car, really annoying to have to listen to while driving. -Acura Customer Service Is Pretty PATHETIC!! They dont help at all. OVERALL: BEST LOOKING CAR ON THE ROAD RIDE QUALITY OK BUILD QUALITY HORRIBLE TRANSMISSIONS STILL HAVE PROBLEMS TOO MANY RATTLES CUSTOMER SERVICE HORRIBLE

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  Cant beat it! - 2005 Acura RSX
  By jammin05s - April 6 - 3:41 pm

  I love this car. You will truly appreciate the power out of a stock 4 cylinder engine. More than 50 horse power per cylinder!! Performance you cant imagine from a company that did.