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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  I love my 3.5!!! - 2004 Acura RL
  By lindawa - March 2 - 2:00 am

  Of all the new vehicles I have owned the Acura 3.5 RL is the most exquisite! The car turns heads! The ride is exceptional and I drive long distance quite often. I will forever be an ACURA owner. Once you drive one - youre hooked for life.

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  2004 Acura RL - 2004 Acura RL
  By raddad - March 2 - 2:00 am

  This is my 3rd RL and they just keep getting better! My only complaints are that the body style is somewhat sedate and a little boring. However, for the money I dont think one can buy a better luxury sedan at any price. Reliability and dealer service are outstanding.

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  Excellent Value!!! - 2004 Acura RL
  By mansam - March 2 - 2:00 am

  This is my 3rd Acura & No Problems at all. Everything is Standard except the GPS system. Better Value than Autos priced $10,000 more.

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  Great Car - 2004 Acura RL
  By jzieg - March 2 - 2:00 am

  I would buy the Acura 3.5RL again without blinking an eye. I have driven 145,000 without having a problem and its still running perfectly. I do a lot of freeway driving and it is such a dependable, safe, and comfortable car. It still doesnt have the "status" of a Mercedes or BMW within its price range but I would put it up against either of these cars anytime.

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  RL - 2004 Acura RL
  By bstooge1979 - March 2 - 2:00 am

  its a great car good gas milage and very nice styleing. normal honda quality.low maintence and never had one problem with this vehicle.

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  edmunds does not drive with a family - 2004 Acura RL
  By monie516 - March 2 - 2:00 am

  Consider buying a lease turnin, less than 36,000 miles and mid to high 20s and it will outlast many other makes with 0 miles. Comfortable for male & female drivers. Not as fun to drive as BMW, but far more comfortable. And it continues to rate in the top five in reliability. It depends on what you are looking for. It is time for a redesign however and the repeat buyers will be a the dealerships waiting.

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  Great car !! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Rsxtypes916 - March 2 - 2:00 am

  Great car all around !!!

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  MDX nut - 2003 Acura MDX
  By fritzthecat - March 2 - 2:00 am

  High quality all the way around.

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  Get an RDX, Cant Lose - 2017 Acura RDX
  By New Car Owner - March 1 - 1:26 pm

  Using the navigation system is not intuitive and can be a bit clunky. Everything else is quite good. The ony downside so far has been the factory installed car alarm. When loud cars pass by the alarm keeps going off. I took it to the dealer to try to get the settings adjusted but when they said I had to leave the car there for the day just to adjust it, I just left. Its gone off at least a hundred times so it is a bit if a nuisance.

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  AWESOME CAR - 1991 Acura Legend
  By TANK - March 1 - 2:00 am

  FUN TO DRIVE VERY FAST FOR THE PRICE