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 SUV Bang for your buck! - 2008 Acura MDX
  By Judith Temple - March 31 - 9:36 am

  After having owned the BMW X3, the MDX is a pleasure to drive. Reliability is great for 25,000 miles. Only things wrong are Bluetooth rings and cannot hear whose on the other end and many viable addresses do not show up on Navigation system. Dealer service excellent. A few miss-steps in design no lights for A/C controls at night rear view pic doesnt come on in reverse for 10 seconds, some wind noise, transmission can be rough and erratic. No ipod plug which I didnt realize until after I purchased. Front end design could be improved, very masculine. Sounds like a lot but I do really like this car. Also test drove BMW X5 and Lexus 400.

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  Anyone else had problems? - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Me - March 28 - 2:00 am

  I just bought my car new last weekend. First time it rained (only five days after I bought it)my sunroof leaked bigtime into my car. The car pulls to the right when driving and also the carpet looks terrible. The carpet is all wavy throughout the vehicle. I am very dissappointed with my purchase. No one else seems to have any complaints. The carpet looks old and all the RSXs seem to be like that. Anyone else having problems?

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  Never again - 1995 Acura Legend
  By Drive4Pleasure - March 23 - 12:07 pm

  I bought this GS with a 6-speed manual from a school teacher who had put 28K miles on the car in 5 years. It had minor cosmetic flaws then. They worsened and were joined by a slew of other system failures. The paint cancer started early. The Bose stereo was total garbage. The windows failed. The power locks failed. The leather (which a leather shop told me was generally awful on Acuras) began cracking. A short developed that caused the battery to drain. One thing after another after another. A disaster. Prior to this I had owned a Prelude that I drove for 14 years with no issues. The Acura was a nightmare, and expensive to drive, insure, and maintain. Never again.

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  RDX after 27,000 miles - 2008 Acura RDX
  By JJayB - March 19 - 11:36 pm

  I test drove every car in its class before I decided to buy the RDX. I wanted something smaller than the gas guzzling Cayenne Turbo I was driving. I wanted good visibility, good handling and reasonable fuel mileage and a vehicle I can put my golf clubs without folding down the back seats, which the Porsche, Audi, MB Ml all fail. The RDX has good acceleration and if you use the paddle shifter it beats just about any Suv at the stop light grand prix. The handling leaves the X3 for dead. Only negatives is the brakes. Several high speed stops in succession will cause the pads to vibrate. Dealer has replaced rotors and pads for free and admits it a problem. Also, nav screen is not bright

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  Disappointed - 2009 Acura MDX
  By mend - March 18 - 1:07 pm

  Vehicle is daily driver for my wife and she seems to like the car but this is the roughest riding vehicle I have ever driven. All small bumps and holes in the road are felt in the steering and suspension. Make sure that you drive the vehicle on a long test drive on all conditions of pavement as this was the mistake that I made. Have tried running the vehicle with the bare min. air pressure in the tires but not much helps. Hopefully the suspension will loosen up with time as I try not to ride in or drive this car which is quite a let down.

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  2007 RDX with Tech Pkg. - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Eric - March 16 - 10:26 pm

  An exceptionally fun to drive small suv with technology that will make you grin. Abundant power that is enjoyable but takes some getting used to. The turbo feels well tuned and is mild at first then spools up to deliver smooth, lag free acceleration. Its Nav system and voice recognition software really work well. The stereo is so good youll be the envy of not just audiophiles but anyone with ears! Its better than the several thousand dollar aftermarket set up I have in my other vehicle. Basically, consider it an impressive blend of MDX utilty, TSX performance and RL luxury.

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  Very Reliable - 1999 Acura CL
  By acuraowner - March 15 - 1:22 pm

  Purchased this car new in 99 and has been the most reliable car Ive owned. I get it serviced at scheduled intervals. Drivers side auto window feature has failed. Brakes and rotors seem to need replacing more often than normal. Currently have 95K miles. Repairs so far: brakes and rotors - twice, auto window control, brake caliper leak, brake & headlights, timing belt... Not too bad in 10 years.

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  Look elsewhere - 2009 Acura RL
  By Jimbob - March 15 - 8:58 am

  For someone who has never owned a decent car, I imagine that they would think the RL is great. But I have had so many reliability problems with it, I will NEVER buy an Acura again. The handling is pretty good, the car is fun to drive, even though it is slow. Overall, I would rate it a 7 out of 10.

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  Sea to ski - 2009 Acura RDX
  By Grant - March 10 - 7:16 pm

  My lease had come up on my 05 Infiniti FX35...a beautifully designed and performing vehicle. I looked at the BMW X3, the Infiniti FX35 and the Acura RDX. The obvious question was, what was I going to have to give up to move to a less expensive vehicle. Surprisingly... not much. Negatives on the RDX no automatic headlights strange... almost awkward styling, poor mileage, no compass, very basic rims, rough ride for some, strange cargo cover. Big Positves! Sports car handling and acceleration awesome, AWD system, look at it this way... if money wasnt an object, Id be deciding between the BMW X6 or the FX50. Saving some money and not giving up the farm feels pretty good.

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  The rattles and the jerking finally won. - 2006 Acura TL
  By samsam - March 8 - 10:28 pm

  I was so excited when I bought my 2006 TL. It was and still is one of the best looking cars on the road. However, after just one week the rattles began. I should have listened to other reviews. I tried for 2 years to pretend they didnt bother me because the car is beautiful and reliable. The real problem is the ride to the TLs prior to 2007 suspension upgrade was just too rough and it shakes everything loose. You cant even enjoy the DVD audio because ALL the speakers rattle and no one at my Acura dealership could fix them. I had a 2007 loaner once and noticed they finally fixed the suspension-that car was quiet. I finally gave up and traded it in this month (not for another Acura).