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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  TOO MANY DEFECTS IN 1ST YEAR - 2014 Acura MDX
  By rmc71 - January 21 - 4:13 am

  14k miles on AWD Tech pkg. Have had in shop a total of 26 days. Brake warning comes on with no traffic in front (Acura says to just turn it off !!). Has occurred when at stoplight, door chime doesnt work, steering column had to be replaced. Now waiting for new electrical module to see if it will solve issues. Navigation system not user friendly when trying to set up. Way too many defects for a $50k car. This car has fallen into lemon territory and will be hard-pressed to get another one.

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  stay away from RLX - 2015 Acura RLX
  By b2cmu1 - January 16 - 6:47 pm

  Purchased new RLX in 2014, what a mistake. It has had three recalls and now an engine noise has developed which Acura mechanics can not figure out. Audio tapes have been sent to Acura Engineering and they are stumped. I intend to get rid of it as soon as it comes back from shop (two weeks) Bad news trade in value is now $35,000 for a one year old car with 12,000 miles for which I paid $52,000. Go with Lexus or Infinity and save yourself trouble

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  Better with age - 2010 Acura TL
  By bmorekid - January 13 - 11:31 pm

  2010 Acura TL with 83,000 miles. Bought it two years old and was immediately impressed with the interior design, a work of art! There arent but a few 2015 sedans that can compete with design of the 2010 TL. I would complements on its looks even when the car was really dirty? Powerful engine that will snap your neck if you give it too much gas. Negatives: the jerkiness and vibrations of the automatic transmission when it downshifts problematic Bluetooth audio and no detailed audio display screen when using Bluetooth.

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  My last Acura - 2015 Acura MDX
  By bhuddle - January 12 - 11:56 pm

  I have owned several Acura products over the years. I traded a 2011 MDX for this new model. I cant believe how much they have cheapened up the new model. The seats are very uncomfortable, covered with low grade leather. The HD screen of the previous model has been replaced with two sub par displays. The infotainment offering is horrible, unintuitive, hard to navigate. It doesnt even have tailpipes, replaced with faux lookalikes. I have to take the key fob out of my pocket and hold it up to the handle to unlock. Overall, a very unsatisfactory vehicle.

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  beware the Blown Head Gasket of Death - 1994 Acura Legend
  By mannydantyla - January 8 - 10:14 pm

  First off, this is a good car. Great styling, very powerful V6 engine, fun to drive, and (99% of the time) mechanically reliable. I never had to do any major repairs except the CV shafts and a thermostat. That was until THE HEAD GASKET WENT OUT. And, on these cars, that means the entire engine must be pulled out of the engine bay to get the heads off and replace the gaskets. NOT WORTH IT. The speedometer was broken, muffler was shot, door jam was not working, telescoping steering wheel was stuck in the most upright position, seats where worn to shreds, rust was forming, etc. And all of that at ~140k miles. Good car but didnt last long. Beware if buying.

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  Poor visibility in rear - 2015 Acura MDX
  By mdx514 - January 2 - 10:44 am

  Overall, I have been very pleased with my 2015 MDX AWD with tech package. After driving the car for a couple of months, I have become familiar with programming the nav and radio. My biggest concern with the model is the rear visibility. When crossing a four lane highway, stopping in the median to continue a left-hand turn, visibility is completely blocked by the rear window brace. I have experienced this a few times when the car is sitting at an angle and look to the right, you cannot see anything--very scary and dangerous.

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  Its great, but... - 2015 Acura RDX
  By ak07 - January 2 - 1:35 am

  After driving the 2015 RDX AWD for 5 months, I am happy about the car, but not thrilled for sure. It has excellent space compared to competitors and my family loves the leg space in rear seat. Great looking interior and decent mileage for a 3.5L V6 AWD. I was confused whether to take the tech option or not and at the end I decided to save 3.5K, which Acura was charging for the package. But now I feel I should have taken it, as the basic model miss some basic features that we expect in a luxury car. Like the power tailgate, halogen lamps and fog lamps. Acura should not be selling any car without these. Its a little annoying when Honda sells Accord with more features that Acura RDX..!

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  Overall a strong segment competitor with some significant gripes - 2015 Acura RDX
  By gator00si - December 31 - 10:38 am

  Besides missing a few basic features its a great vehicle. Reliability and build quality are top notch for this segment. The design is more subjective but I like think its sporty.

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  2015 MDX with Tech - 2015 Acura MDX
  By aparichithan - December 18 - 11:04 am

  I recently purchased a brand new MDX-Tech. Its a good car in many respect for a middle class family like me who can at most shell some 45k towards a 7 seater. But ACURA being a so called luxury brand, I would expect them to use some reasonably good plastic inside. My car seat hinge cover broke apart in one pull... that did not speak about the quality.

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  Just Be Cautious - 2001 Acura CL
  By cdabs3 - December 16 - 7:56 pm

  My uncle got the car new in 2001. He gave it to me 3 years ago with 93,000mi on it (nothing for a Honda) within the first 3 months of having it at 96,000mi the transmission died. This was the first of my problems. The side motor mount as well as front, were worn out so much they were not holding the engine in place anymore. At 123,867mi when I HAD to give it up because of the enormity of problems it was having Acura quoted me at $4,895 for all the repairs. List of items that needed replacement: All four rotors, brake pads(normal), All four struts with the coils because they were "weak", both front CV axels, and the front passenger brake caliper. Maybe I just had bad luck but just be weary.