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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  Just Keeps Going - 1999 Acura TL
  By lsmac - October 25 - 2:02 pm

  Bought this car new. It now has 197,000 miles. 28mpg all the time. Have stuck to the manual for maintenance. Some dash lights dont work and door lock relay needs replacing. Only non-maintenance item was to clean the EGR valve at 80k. I do this myself now. Takes two hours. Engine has never been opened. Ditch the Michelin Tires. Get Toyo Proxes TPT for less than $500 and last 50k.

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  Built in Canada - 2003 Acura CL
  By HiOSlvrCL - October 25 - 10:00 am

  After drooling over the new CLs for over a year and waiting until I could find a good preowned vehicle that Acura is known for, I ended up with what has so far been a lemon. I had terrible vibration in the brakes had to have them resurfaced and pads replaced with 29K miles on the car. Two weeks later the transmission went out. Being replaced with a remanufactured one and although all of this is done under warranty its a big letdown for what was a $30K + luxury vehicle. My 1994 Integra is much more reliable than my new certified preowned Lemon. :-(

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  Very Very Nice - 2005 Acura TSX
  By TT - October 25 - 12:00 am

  Pro 1) The MT is just a dream to drive. 2) Seats that fit just right. 3) Honda/Acuras safety and quality reliability. Cons 1) The engine needs more torque, but if I wanted that, I should of got a TL. 2) When the car was purchased, the rear seat fold down did not work for right side, when using the key. Though the pull string works from the trunk.

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  Not what I expected - 1999 Acura TL
  By Ric - October 24 - 11:52 am

  My first Acura and possibly my last. Performance with the four speed is reasonable but nothing great. Gas milage only so-so. Interior design is certainly above average. Nice car to sit in for the most part. Seats showing wear earlier than suspected. Tranny had to be replaced at about 50000mi. Left me stranded on a hwy. Now having trouble starting the car when it has been raining for afew days. Dealer cant seem to find the reason. Overall I am disappointed. Have had better experiences with a Maxima in the past. Not much better than my old Taurus SHO and that is not saying much!

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  Very reliable car - 2006 Acura MDX
  By Alex - October 24 - 3:28 am

  I have my MDX for one week. I already owned an MDX before that was excellent. Drives great, silent engine and good navigation system. the Rear entertainment system is a life saver with small kids. Since I bought the new MDX I hear the wind noise in the car when driving at 70 mph. Unusual, specially that I owned one before. The navigation system is improved however seems less accurate than in the 2004 model. Fuel consumption is moderate at 14 mpg.

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  one time Acura owner - 2003 Acura TL
  By Not A Fan - October 23 - 5:01 pm

  The engine power is good, even if it is too high in the rev band. The transmission takes awhile to downwhift far enough to reach the power band when you step on it. You need to manually downshift first if you know you are going to need it. Fit and finish is nowhere near what I expected, considering what is written about these vehicles. The dash is warped, the rear passenger door is coming apart. This was purchased with low miles, and there is no reason for this. Ergonomically, it lacks. The moonroof controls may as well be in the trunk. If you turn the head lights on before it is pitch black outside, the numbers on the tach and speedometer literally disappear.

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  The Type S is the bomb! - 2006 Acura RSX
  By typesmike - October 23 - 4:59 pm

  i orginally was going to buy the non typeS but once I test drove it there was absolutly no going back. So you guys dont try the typeS if you plan on getting the 160hp. The 2005 typeS is one of the best front wheel drive Honda cars I have ever had straight out of the box and I driven almost of the Honda models. The TypeS is so good that this is the first time I thought I had to leave my opinion on a website for everyone to know!

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  Not disappointed - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Tay - October 21 - 5:16 pm

  For 1 whole year, I researched and test drove SUVS from Lexus, Infiniti, Jeep, BMW, Volkswagon, and a few others as well as the MDX. I loved the MDX from the moment I drove it, and now that I own one, I love it even more. The MDX is fun to drive, loaded with many luxuries and comforts, has great power (Awesome pickup), great sound system, and in my opinion the best Navigation system of any car I drove. Add to that, this is dollar for dollar one of the best deals out there, and its also one of the most dependable Mid-SUVs out there, this is one really amazing vehicle.

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  Performance, at a price! - 1996 Acura TL
  By Comfortable, zippy - October 21 - 10:57 am

  Fell in love with this car, a local trade-in, at Toyota dealership. Had 90K miles, but had been maintained by Acura as a leased car. Soon learned that parts were VERY expensive, as was service by Acura dealership. I love its style and features. Tight quality, firm shift, responsive handling. Handles extremely well - has saved my grace a couple of times with its quick response in heavy traffic.

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  Great Car for the price - 2003 Acura TL
  By Ambuj - October 21 - 10:00 am

  I was contemplating BMW 3 Series, Audi Q, Lexus, Infinity G35 and Acura. You cant go wrong with an Acura. Absolutely awesome for its price. You have the reliability of Honda and all luxury features are standard. It has a personality,its plush and makes you feel good. most of the non-Acura folks that have driven it have loved it. And on top, its depreciation rate is lower than its peers mentioned above.