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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  6,000 miles, what havent I had to replace?? - 1993 Acura Legend
  By pnwluvin - May 7 - 8:04 pm

  I bought a 1993 4 door sedan automatic 3.2liter legend. I got it with 90,000 miles. It now has 96,500 miles on it 9 months later and I couldnt be more disappointed. Having only been able to drive the car 6,000miles I have replaced the entire engine,radiator,power steering pump,master cylinder, brakes, fuel pump, fuel pump relay. Now I needs new cv axel and it dies every time I come to a stop. BUYERS BEWARE. It has so few miles only because it breaks ever 300 miles! Now I have to scrap together money to buy a new car, which is hard when my car breaks down so much. Maybe if I replace everything in the car it will work for more than a month.

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  Bad designn or bad quality? - 2014 Acura RLX
  By s_sc - May 7 - 6:15 pm

  I bought of my RLX-ADV about 4 months ago and only put on about 1500 miles so far. I have already took it back three times for repair. There were iPhone 4S issue (automatic dial out and hang out), low battery and charging system warning sign(happened in less than first 50 miles), and camera too hot/LDW, LKAS shut down (90 degree outside) during driving. Dealer recharged the battery, but no action to other issues. Dealer and Acura insisted the shut down is the proper action by design. SF Bay Area is known for good climate. The LDW, LKAS shut-down happened multiple times in April. I really wonder what the car would do in Summer!

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  Do not buy this car - 2014 Acura MDX
  By jsoregon - April 26 - 7:10 pm

  Noisy fuel pump is normal according to Acura. My local Dealer swapped fuel pumps from a loaner and it was quiet for a week. I made a mistake in buying this car.

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  RLX Rattles down the road since purchase- no solution - 2014 Acura RLX
  By rlxregrets - March 10 - 9:08 pm

  I noticed rattles coming from front suspension after 500 miles. Brought it to the dealership and they couldnt find anything wrong with it. Dealership reported service rep had the same problem but worse after 7k miles. After another 2k miles the rattles increased in frequency and loudness from all 4 wheels. Dealership replaced front struts which resolved a majority of the rattle but the rear rattle persisted. After another visit, the replaced the rear rattle. The rear is better but now the front is ever present over every bump. When I had a 2014RLX loaner the vehicle had the same issue as both mine and the service reps car. Cant believe engineering isnt all over this issue. Beware of RLX.

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  I too wish I could return - 2010 Acura RDX
  By sad_owner1 - January 28 - 7:27 pm

  The 2010 RDX drives like a dream. Handles very well especially in the snow. I loved this car until Ive had to make the following warranty replaced repairs... 4 new batteries, Replaced auto start, Replaced Air compressor relay switch, Alternator, Windshield wiper switch and still have issues with windshield wipers. This sadly, will be my last Acura

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  Windshield Washer Fluid - 2014 Acura MDX
  By doc1975 - January 24 - 9:02 am

  Just a warning for everyone, my wife who is six months pregnant was driving the car, the windshield washer fluid froze and she was unable to see the windshield for an hour. It didnt warm up while she was driving. The car is 3 months old. I drive a BMW and this has never happened, not once. We live in Chicago and I was really upset. The dealership didnt provide an explanation, they blamed the washer fluid not the car. There is a fault with the tank and the nozzle. If you live in cold climate, please avoid this purchase. Look into a Toyota or if you can afford it, step up to a German car. You can get good deals on CPO BMW and Mercedes.

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  Buyer Beware... - 2012 Acura MDX
  By pwr1 - January 11 - 8:39 am

  I spent over $50,000 on an SUV that is all talk and no walk. Everything about this vehicle exudes quality and detail - until you try to go up a steep hill like your driveway. WTF. The vehicle shifts up immediately, then slows down almost to a stall, then shifts down hard, goes 20ft then shifts up again. I was embarrassed as hell, and as soon as I can dump it Im going to. Dont waste your time or money. Im headed straight toward a real SUV like the new Yukon Denali etc... this was a wast of time and money and reputation on Acuras part. The dealers know about the shift problem, but they wont discuss it with you (I know an out of town dealer srvc rep that confirms this). Angry now.

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  someone will sue Acura - 2005 Acura MDX
  By unhappykris - January 2 - 9:35 am

  second MDX, 7th Honda vehicle, last one had tranny issues, this one had the tranny noise slightly. 2012 I get a letter saying transmission software upgrade, so I took it in. Especially in case I had tranny issues in future they would say that I had not done this upgrade they suggested. The upgrade made the 5th gear come on at 45 MPH instead of the original 40 MPH. This removed the noise, but, the gas consumption is terrible now as 90% of my city driving is below 45 MPH! The should fix bad designs, not make us pay for it. Also, I cannot prove this yet, but another "recall software upgrade" has disabled my Vehicle Stability Assist". This is NOT how a luxury make should do things!

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  Bean counter had too much to say - 2014 Acura RDX
  By rgf99 - December 2 - 9:08 am

  The rdx is a great car as far as it goes. It simply does not go far enough. Besides a few design flaws, weak A/C, poor interface to the iPhone, the rdx lacks many key features/options of luxury SUV. Parking sensors are offered, nor is adaptive cruise control, ... To add insult to injury many features that should be standard are only available on the tech model - fog lamps, power lift gate, .... Great potential but fails to deliver in the end

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  Unacceptable noises - 2014 Acura MDX
  By buchem - November 9 - 4:43 pm

  Soon after delivery we took a long road trip. Would have been enjoyable with great comfort but trip was ruined by dashboard rattles and intermittent grating noise under light acceleration. After three trips to dealer the dash noises are less but not eliminated and are judged to be "normal". Not in $50K car. Worse is the grating noise. Dealer says it is a "known issue" with no known cause or solution. I know the 2014 model is a total redesign butt his is just unacceptable. All I can say to potential buyers is avoid this car. Acura is selling cars with a known issue and not currently able to fix them. We are very unhappy customers.