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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  Super Car - 1999 Acura CL
  By Kendall - June 22 - 2:15 am

  I have had my 3.0 for 3 years now and I love it! It has 125,000 miles now and is still running great. The A/C is stuck on though and wish it didnt have digital temperature controls because there is no way of turning it off. We have only had to replace the motor in the drivers window and the timing belt (normal maintenance though for a car with more than 100k). Great commuter car and fun to drive I wouldnt change a thing! Also great sound system and the leather seats are holding up great!

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  Wouldnt trade it in for the world - 2005 Acura TL
  By Jenn - June 22 - 1:40 am

  Had the car for 9 months now and Ive put 17K miles on it... now thats love. Fun to drive, comfy, and can never go without navigation again. Only design flaws are if you dont get the window visors (rain guards, whatever you call them) you cant even crack your windows when its raining because the water pours into your car and right into your power window switches. Also, heard a lot of complaints about noise in the dash while driving. I just invested some money to add additional speakers so I dont hear anything. I guess anyone who drives around with no radio will hear some kind of noise... so turn up your radio and enjoy the ride!!!!

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  Wins in standard features and on the road - 2016 Acura TLX
  By DW - June 21 - 6:49 am

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  Great car, combines fun w/practicality - 2002 Acura RSX
  By David - June 20 - 6:57 pm

  Ive been driving my RSX since 2002, and still love it. Its been wonderfully reliable, without a single significant mechanical problem. Performance is excellent, especially the i-VTEC. Good cargo capacity, and hatchback can handle large/bulky objects better than you might expect.

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  awsome - 2004 Acura RSX
  By jthib - June 20 - 2:00 am

  love the car. cannot find anything to complain about

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  The Acura TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By fredna - June 20 - 2:00 am

  The best part of buying the Acura is the are no packages or extra to add on. The car comes fully loaded. It was great to deal with a knowledgable sales person wearing a suit and tie.

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  Acura/Honda = Quality??????? - 2002 Acura TL
  By PhiKapp33 - June 19 - 2:37 pm

  Ok, bought the car with 38000 miles on it as a certified Acura. Car has 58000 on it and the transmission COMPLETELY went out. I bought an Acura because I expected reliability and quality up through 200,000 miles. Im sorely disappointed. Might as well have bought a Ford.

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  A Girls Next Best Friend! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By WeavQueen - June 19 - 10:00 am

  I love my new classy white Acura RSX!! I never would of known the car was even on the market if I didnt go to the Philly Car Show this year! I love it! I always catch people checkig out the car... especially when Im parked in the mall parking lots!! The RSX is definitely the talk of the town!!

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  excelent car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By andu - June 19 - 10:00 am

  this is a great performance coupe under 25000. specialy if you are a honda/acura fan and you are willing to have some fun with your car.

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  Poor Mans BMW 530i - 2003 Acura TL
  By Joe - June 19 - 10:00 am

  Great value, performance near 530i at 60% the price. Con: More squeeks and rattles that I would expect from Acura.