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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  Acura knows it transmissions so dont buy them to support their mistakes - 2001 Acura MDX
  By fetters - August 25 - 5:36 pm

  I love this vehicle and it broke my heart when in two days the transmission was gone. I love this vehicle yet after paying thousands of dollars and servicing transmission-nothing. I called Acura and they were useless. I had a recall at 40,000 to LOOK at transmission just to save them from when it does go out and it will!! Serveral shops do them and make a living from them when we called around. I thought Chrysler had issues but you DONt get what you pay for here!! Will never buy again to not get any support from them.

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  My 2007 Acura TL 10 mpg - 2007 Acura TL
  By myacuratl2007 - July 14 - 8:57 pm

  I purchased a 2007 Acura TL with Navigation from John Eagle Honda May 13 2011. I took the car into Goodson Acura dealer on May 17, 2011, 41,190 miles. I wanted to get the car checked out, also update my service adviser Richard Furcht on my newer TL. This 2007 Acura TL started out getting 10 mpg and is now only getting 14-15 mpg, the only way this car could get 31.13 mpg as stated Richard Furcht from Goodson Acura is if you carry it! 2007 Acura TL are junk, cheaply made.

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  Nice car, inconsiderate customer treatment - 2007 Acura TL
  By glenviewjeff - June 7 - 11:08 am

  This is now my second TL I should have learned my lesson from my first experience. On my first TL, I bought the extended warranty from the Acura dealer who promised it was a "bumper to bumper" warranty. Acura would not stand behind the interior trim that was falling off the door handle when the car was about four years old. This time around, I had a problem with the air conditioner that likely occurred while the warranty was in effect, but was not detectable until the first warm day, which occurred about 30 days after the warranty expired, when I brought it to the dealer. I wont be buying Acura refused to consider honoring the warranty until I paid the dealer a $100 diagnostic.

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  MDX quality and reliability - 2011 Acura MDX
  By xfbai - April 29 - 9:27 pm

  Was so happy after bought a 2011 MDX Base model on Saturday, however discovered a problem the very next day that it would jerk when decelerating from 35~40MPH to around 15MPH without breaking. The jerk is 100% reproducible and getting worse and worse. Brought back to dealer twice and finally convinced them it is problem that need to be fixed. Eventually they figured out that a secondary valve on the transmission is faulty! How could this happen on a brand new car? After replacing $200+ part, the problem is fixed. My new car has to stay in the shop for 3 days in the very first week. Really worry about the build quality. It will be my last and final MDX.

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  Worst car ownership experience - 2011 Acura MDX
  By acuraleak - April 26 - 5:14 pm

  Within two weeks after purchasing the MDX, with 300 miles only, transmission fluid leaking was found. It took 2 days for the dealership to fix the problem. Its a nightmare owning this car. This will be my first and last Acura.

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  Transmission Cycling will cause performance delays - 2010 Acura MDX
  By er405 - February 24 - 12:46 pm

  I traded my new 2010 MDX after months of working with Acura Client Services and the Dealer. The MDXs progressive transmission, in my opinion, is poorly designed. Although, the driver is pressing the gas pedal, the MDX will have long delays during gear cycles. This could be dangerous if attempting to make a quck turn in on-coming traffic. You want to go, but the MDX moves very slowly or not at all. Second, the cabin lets in so much air that during the winter, the heat must be set to keep the cabin warm, especially at the feet. Last, the MDX looses lots of horsepower as it cycles through the gears. A sluggish ride at best. For the money, find something else.

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  Heating and a/c system - 2008 Acura TL
  By b927 - January 6 - 5:16 pm

  My heating and a/c system continues to fail. After running for 30 minutes the actual cabin temperature goes to about 65 in the winter and 84 in the summer. It doesnt matter where I set the temperature or what mode I shift into, the temperature stays the same. Ive taken it to the dealer 5 times and left it there for days, with no fix. Finally I went to Acura Corp client relations for help. A totalwaste of time. Im still under warranty> The biggest surprise to me has been the lack of concern or sense of urgency from Acura. I bought this car based on Acuras reputation. My experience makes me think they are resting on their laurels

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  never again!!! - 2006 Acura MDX
  By mumbless89 - December 1 - 2:00 am

  comfortable car and roomy but the problems that you get with this $40k car are unreal. Torque converters, transmissions, water leaks, cheap broken plastics, leather seats ripped after 4 years......gaskets around the doors are torn already!! unreal. Never again will i buy another acura product.

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  bad experience with this car - 2010 Acura TL
  By phan - November 3 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car 2 months ago, I was so disappoint,after a month the engine soound so lound and 7 weeks later the oil lead from the engine .they have to replace the transmission.I would never buy this car again.this is my first acura.I been drived BMW for 12 year.I can not wait to get back to my 535 bmw.

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  Cracked dashboard- - 2004 Acura TL
  By ww - October 28 - 2:00 am

  By doing a little research found that their is a problem with 04-05 TLs dashboard cracking around the passenger AIRBAG. You can do a internet search to see the details. So car re-sale value will tank.