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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  Buy a TSX Again? - 2004 Acura TSX
  By pete9797 - December 18 - 11:18 am

  Ive had my TSX for a little over a year now with absolutely no problems. I love this car. Fun to Drive, 30mpg, Navi is great, excellent sound system, very comfortable on long drives. Will definitely stay with Acura the only difference is whether I step up to the TL or RL when Im ready to buy again........

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  The ultimate automobile - 2006 Acura RL
  By doug preston - December 18 - 1:29 am

  I researched all of the luxury cars and found that none of them measured up. In order to come close to the features and performance of the RL, the others jumped to V8 engines and rear wheel drive and sacrificed any semblance of fuel economy. Every detail of this Automobile has been thoroughly considered and skillfully executed. Anyone who chooses to spend more than the cost of an RL is striving for ego satisfaction and not function.

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  Very satisfied - 2003 Acura MDX
  By JimDee - December 17 - 1:15 pm

  Has been an excellent vehicle. No problems in three years. Excellent highway vehicle. Mileage 22 to 24 mpg. City 16 mpg. Some road noise. Excellent service by two dealers, one in Ga and one in FL.

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  Best SUV in its class! - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Dr.A - December 17 - 10:56 am

  In love with this car! Gorgeous interior, heavy tech features without the heavy price! Did a 7 hour road trip with family. Wife was in back seat reclined back enjoying a movie with our son while I was listening to ESPN XM radio up front. We had their temp set to 78 as they are always cold and I was feeling good around 72 degrees since I am always warm... very nice!! Excellent acceleration and handling. Previous review said they had heavy steering. I do not have this problem at all. This vehicle has surpassed our expectations and I would be very suprised if it doesnt win a lot of awards!!

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  A lot of car, harsh ride - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Tom F - December 17 - 10:02 am

  Nice alternate to other cars in its class for the price. I expected better milaege frm a 4 cylinder ... I have been ranging 22 city 28 highway. The ride in this car is harsh on the highway. With highly recommend the care for city driving and short trips, its not a comfortable care to take a 2-3 trip in. All the options and ammedities ar worthy of the Acura nameplate. The trunk is huge, and despite what some reviews have stated, the styling is clean.

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  Excellent Used Car! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Mike A. - December 16 - 12:40 am

  I just purchased a used RSX from a local dealership and I love it. It is an 02 with 40,000 mi, silver w/ black leather. I originaly had my heart set on the Type S, however, they are hard to find thus they demand top dollar. This car is such a good value. The car looks and drives like new. Plus I got a great deal, $13,200 + tax.

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  MDX - 2006 Acura MDX
  By richard nelson - December 15 - 6:53 pm

  this is our 14th acura and they just keep getting better

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  Expected More - 2006 Acura TL
  By B Smith - December 15 - 2:40 pm

  The TL is a good buy for the money and should prove to be a reliable car. However, its not as an exciting car to drive as I had hoped. Seat adjustments are not quite suited for a 62" frame, exterior body construction is not as substantial as it first appears, XM signal quality is poor on most channels (I probably will not subscribe because of that when the free trial priod is up), Bluetooth is subpar. I had narrowed my choices down between the G35 and the TL and the TL won out on interior build quality. In the end, the G35 would likely have been a better choice all around.

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  Great car - 2006 Acura TL
  By Paul - December 15 - 12:33 am

  Have had this car for over a week now, has been really fun to drive, has tons of features and engine performance is great.

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  More repairs than expected - 1997 Acura CL
  By JBruce - December 14 - 11:30 pm

  We bought this CL with 62,000 miles on it and it was 7 years old. It is premium coupe with spoiler, leather seats, sunroof and climate control with CD player. At 80,000 miles, the clutch went out. While in the shop, they found the rear main seal leaking, the plastic radiator leaking, the front CV joints shot and several other smaller problems. Cost about $1,800 to fix. At 105,000 miles, the starter went out and they found the ring gear on the flywheel was shot and loose. Another $400. The security system quit working. We have had 4 other Honda cars, and none of them needed this kind of expensive repairs, even when they were over 100,000 miles. Don think we recommend a used CL.