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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  Best bang for your buck! - 2006 Acura TSX
  By KAM - June 11 - 11:15 am

  Car comes standard with many bells and whistles. Convenient seat memory buttons for two different settings. Bought car new in 2006 and paint seems to be cheap...deeply pitted on front bumper and hood, as well as chipped on back of car. Seems to get decent gas mileage and comfortable drive. Not great in the snow. Very poor voice recognition with the hands free. People Ive tried to talk to using hands free say it sounds like someones banging cans in the background. More aggravation than its worth and may as well not even have the function.

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  Reliable - 1999 Acura TL
  By bsprings - June 9 - 6:11 pm

  Bought my 99 used via eBay for $11,000. Had about 80k miles. Ive put nearly 50k miles on it. On highway, I routinely get 25 mpg. Other than routine maintenance (timing belt, oil, brakes, etc.) have had no significant problems. One ignition switch issue was covered under warranty. I am planning to run it til it hits 200k. Only complaints: radio reception is mediocre. Seats could be a bit firmer. I rode in a 2002 TL-S and liked those much better. Great car for the money -- particularly used.

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  75% Perfect - 2007 Acura TL
  By AlmostPerfect - June 9 - 1:36 pm

  Oh, our beloved TL. Your misgivings are few, but substantial. Weve owned the car for 28mos/24k now. Designed and destined for success in a "North America-Only" market, I feel its a moderate success. Unlike some competitors, the cup holders really work The seats and driving position are magnificent for those of larger proportions The stereo is phenomenal Fuel economy is above average the value equation is substantial. The shortfalls, however, drive us insane. The 45-series tires seem to have temper tantrums with the suspension tuning. The steering is incredibly vague and twitchy off-center. The transmission is clunky and crude. Low-end power is absent. Wouldnt buy another.

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  Mixed Bag - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Aaron - June 3 - 5:05 pm

  After looking at a ton of Suvs I finally decided to go with a 2002(55k) MDX. Everything was great with the car until strange noises started to occur. Mainly between 35-40mph. It sounded like running over rumble strips. The problems just got worse from there. Rough shifting, clunking, etc. I went and tried to find an answer for this problem and discovered that transmission problems in these vehicles are pretty common. I love this car but the transmission is a HUGE issue for me. I am very disappointed with this vehicle and I will not be buying another Acura product.

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  Rattle Trap - 2007 Acura TL
  By Rattle Trap - June 2 - 12:18 pm

  For a luxury car, the TL performs well, but is under-powered compared to others in the same class like the Infiniti G35 and the BMW 3 series. The suspension and handling is impressive at the expense of a smooth ride and a very poor turning radius. The 07 automatic transmission is less responsive than what I would expect from a luxury car Trim and paint quality is no better than the paint used on Honda cars while paint on the Infiniti is better. Road noise and rattles are the biggest issues with this model and Acura and Honda in general. There are known rattles in the 2007 TL many coming from the window sills front and back. Most do not happen all the time thus hard to trouble shoot

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  Great purchase choice - 2004 Acura TL
  By Ha-may-mee - May 29 - 2:00 am

  An excellent alternative to the GS300. Car is not as smooth as the GS300, but sportier. BMW 3 & 5 series are much smaller and clostrophobic when compared. The TL gets it done cheeper than both and is head and shoulders above the G35 & Maxmia. Try internet sales. Walking in the dealership, full MSRP and told no discounts. 30 minutes online and got one for $33,750 OUT THE DOOR! Talk to Hiedi at Pasadena Acura to view, but buy it from Nelson (internet sales guy). She knows the car better than most and Nelson knows the numbers!

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  Below my expectations - 2002 Acura RSX
  By tweet - May 28 - 10:00 am

  Car is alot of fun but my passengers side window started rattling when it is part way down. This started around 8k miles. Around 10k miles, the drivers side started also. Its very annoying. I owned a Honda previously and after 8 years, no such problems. I would have expected better build quality than this. Also, some interior parts do not fit as nicely as I would expect from an Acura. I would think twice about buying this car again.

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  Left wondering about Acura - 2009 Acura TSX
  By TJ - May 26 - 4:13 pm

  Had my new 2009 TSX for two just weeks when I heard a crackling noise coming from the rear shelf area. The dealer said it was known issue Acura had issued a service bulletin to address this problem. The dealer kept the car to carry out the fix. Picked up the car but the noise returned shortly before I arrived home. Very disappointed in Acura for producing a defective product then selling it with a known problem. The Navi system has also been acting up. Generally the car has a spirited feel to it with a responsive engine. However the on-center feel at highway speeds is very poor-one needs to constantly correct steering. The seats are too firm and leave you sore after a road trip.

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  The Sweet Spot of Price to Performance - 2009 Acura TSX
  By peterb - May 26 - 3:52 pm

  I "fell up" to a TSX when considering a loaded Jetta TDI. For about $3k more, I got a car with much more polish that is as fun to drive. I like both the exterior and interior styling, although some people hate it. Ive always driven manuals, but the auto TSX is plenty of fun, and I enjoyed it more than the 6-speed. The car is nimble, extremely comfortable, and is a bargain. Some complain that its not as muscular as a BMW 3 series or an Infiniti G37. This is true. Its also many thousands of dollars less expensive. For me, this was the sweet spot of price/performance. I have only owned the TSX for a month, so my "reliability" score is at this point more of a hope than a rating.

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  Love my RDX - 2007 Acura RDX
  By rcizme - May 25 - 3:01 pm

  Although some call it an SUV its not. I dont drive it off road and dont plan to but on snow covered mountain roads it out handles my 4x4 Explorer in every way. The SH-AWD is one of the best Ive ever driven. On performance, I didnt buy it as a race car but I drive over a mountain pass to work every day and this car doesnt work very hard climbing the grade AND with just over 50K miles, Im averaging 24 MPG. Im confused as to why so many complain about poor fuel economy. Im guessing that mileage figures vary with driving habits? Its not a race car... dont drive it like one.