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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  old friend - 1990 Acura Legend
  By brycerdd - March 8 - 8:27 pm

  I purchased the 1990 Acura Legend coupe new service has exceeded manufacturers recommendations. This has been the most durable auto I have owned (and that includes some nice cars: Alfa Romeo,BMW, Porsche). One significant repair in 133k (slave cylinder on clutch), even after fairly spirited driving. Strongest points: durability, comfort, quality of design and materials. Weakpoints: acceleration, weight/powerratio, cornering, dealer service costs. Those weaknesses, IMO, do not keep the car from being one I can highly recommend. For what its worth--.

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  I Made A Mistake - 2003 Acura RSX
  By whipsaw - March 8 - 2:00 am

  I thought I had bought a very good performance car for a nice price, but about 3 weeks after I bought the Type S my buddy bought a Subaru WRX and he let me drive it. I have not been able to enjoy my car since. Ugh! The WRX is so much quicker, so much more fun to drive, and its AWD. And its the same price! Also, he had the wagon model WRX and you can haul a ton of stuff in it, as well as haul a$$. Dont get me wrong, I still "like" my car, and the interior of the acura is better than WRX. But ultimately Id give up the leather seats, for the extra horsepower, quickness, and safety features and comfort of the AWD.

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  An Almost Perfect Compromise - 2003 Acura TL
  By Samphire - March 8 - 2:00 am

  Lots of companies make first rate cars as long as they have a clear single function in mind: sports, people mover, luxury. The beauty of the TL and TL type S is that while some other make can do any single thing better, this car is the most well rounded vehicle in its price class, and the price is just about the lowest. It offers just about all the features youre likely to want, with a comfortable rear seat, and the ability to drive country roads without sitting on the brake pedal at every curve. Again, there are plenty of cars that are better at something, but this is about the best overall package on the market.

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  Another Great Honda - 2003 Acura TL
  By daimler560 - March 8 - 2:00 am

  Great car. I had a top line Accord from a few years back, and the Acura goes one step higher--not much, but its just a little better. More power in the motor, but smooth as usual. Awesome car for the price!

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  Remarkable 2003 TL Type S - 2003 Acura TL
  By fletch2645 - March 8 - 2:00 am

  I just took delivery on my new 2003 TL Type S W/Navigation 2 weeks ago and couldnt be happier. This is one fine automobile. The ride is a little firmer than the 1998 Camry LE V-6 that I owned, but I cant believe the overall quality of the car. I made an initial 400 mile trip in it upon delivery and got 27 MPG. Ohhh the power and acceleration!!!!!! Best value on the market. I purchased gold emblem package, nose bra, tinted windows, trunk tray, splash guards, and wheel locks and still paid $3000 under MSRP (before taxes and license) with 2.9% financing. I did have to pay a $195 dealer doc fee which was non- negeotiable, but the final price was $30,900.

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  Awesome car - 1997 Acura CL
  By dude - March 7 - 10:24 am

  Fun to drive, I bought it used and it has been handling great. I read the review here before I bought it and it helped. It still turns heads. People say it is hard to believe it is a 97. Mine is in great condition, great paint and my new fuzoni racing speed rated tires makes it looks great. Very fast, with the V-6. If you like power, get the V-6. Else if you like a honda accord lx power then get the regular coupe.

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  Awesome car - 1997 Acura CL
  By dude - March 7 - 10:24 am

  Fun to drive, I bought it used and it has been handling great. I read the review here before I bought it and it helped. It still turns head. People say it is hard to believe it is a 97. Mine is in great condition, great paint and my new fuzoni racing speed rated tires makes it looks great. Very fast, with the V-6. If you like power, get the V-6. Else if you like a honda accord lx power then get the regular coupe.

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  Had high hopes - 2018 Acura RDX
  By Greg - March 4 - 8:11 am

  With the glowing Edmunds review I thought this was the one. Then we took it on a test drive. The road noise was so bad that while on the highway you could not hear the person siting next to you with a normal speaking voice. And, you had to almost scream to hear or be heard from the back seat. Yes, the technology is great and with it being a Honda, the reliability would probably be excellent as well, but the interior noise just kills the deal. Also, the rear seats are rather hard and not very comfortable.

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  Type-S is a FANTASTIC RIDE!! - 2008 Acura TL
  By vegasrph - March 4 - 3:20 am

  Wow. Where do I begin? Well, coming from a BMW 325i all I can say is wow! What a difference!! The Acura is actually more fun to drive, has more room, you get the "all-inclusive" package when you get the Type-S vs BMW everything is "a la carte". So far I have only 300 miles on my Type-S, but I LOVE IT!! My first, second and third test drives were all very fun. I was able to "push" the test cars very hard and every time I left the dealer, I had a huge smile. The Acuralink NAV is amazing, seriously. This car can do it all! Very impressed with road noise suppression and overall ride. This car is FAST and NIMBLE without loosening your tooth fillings :)

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  Love my car - 2010 Acura TL
  By Becky74 - March 3 - 3:00 pm

  I bought this used - it was 5 years old with 50,000 miles and one owner and I got lucky because she took such good care of it that it was like buying a new car - it even smells new. I love everything about it, especially since my prior car was a Prius - this is much "zippier" :-) As one other reviewer said, the only annoying things are somewhat rough downshifting and no detailed info on the Bluetooth - all you see is a tiny number in the odometer area. But it is a 6 year old car with 6 year old technology, so I guess thats to be expected. Other drawback is the gas mileage (I average about 22 mpg overall) and the need for premium unleaded - but I knew this going into the purchase.