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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  Awesome - 1993 Acura Legend
  By luxocruiser - November 22 - 2:00 am

  It is sooo loaded, and is the most comfortable car Ive ever owned. The only car I Like more is the nsx, but dont have 85k. I will keep this car forever. I have only put in a 85 dollar motar mount since owning it, and the regular stuff like tires etc.I will definately by another legend if I could find one with under 100k miles, mine has 194,000 miles and my mechanic doesnt foresee any problems for at least 60k more miles.

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  MDXcellent - 2002 Acura MDX
  By 2002 Black MDX - November 22 - 2:00 am

  Were very pleased with the MDX, it it spacious, well designed and extremely comfortable to drive. The 240 hp engine provides excellent fuel economy and enough power to handle any driving conditions. Cant wait to try it in the mountains this coming winter.

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  Still crazy after all these years - 1994 Acura Integra
  By OneHappyGSROwner - November 21 - 2:00 am

  I bought my 94 4-door GSR in 96 after extensive research. I figured it would be reliable and looked pretty good. What a surprise! Even after 6 years and 60K miles, I cannot believe what a wonderful experience I have driving this car. Its quicker than you can imagine, and corners like a dream. I have had no major repairs, and look forward to driving it for a long time. Whee!

• 

  Good Car - 1990 Acura Integra
  By Mary Watson - November 18 - 2:00 am

  I liked it a lot and enjoy driving it all the time.

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  Great Car - 2002 Acura CL
  By Mary Watson - November 18 - 2:00 am

  I thought that this car was good on gas and has many different features that I beleive everyone would enjoy.

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  Highly Recommended - 1997 Acura Integra
  By Persson, Roy - November 16 - 2:00 am

  The car combines luxury, reliability, efficiency, sensibility, and cost managment into a car built for just about anyone. Young people will enjoy all the cool toys and performance mods. Older people can appreciate the car for its mechanical prowess. I have owned this used car for over 1 year... I have replaced.... NOTHING!... No lie.

• 

  My first Legend, best ride ever - 1993 Acura Legend
  By Stebo63 - November 16 - 2:00 am

  I purchased my 93 Legend L in July 2002 with only 74,000 miles from the original owner in Long Island, NY. This car was maintained very well, garage kept and spent its winters in Florida via Amtrack Car Train. Extremely reliable, comfortable... Wonderful design, Acura should re-development the Legend !!

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  Great Car - 1990 Acura Legend
  By Great Car - November 16 - 2:00 am

  This is such a great car. Its finally gone after 175,000 miles. I have a friend who same year Acura is pushing over 200,000. Very reliable. Isnt very expensive to fix. GREAT JOB HONDA

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  The Best Car you will ever own - 2000 Acura RL
  By FelipeAcuralover - November 16 - 2:00 am

  After 30 years of driving cars from every make an model, Lexus, Porsche, GM, Ford, Cadillac, Mercedes, BMW, etc. there is no better car I have ever driven for price vs value, handling, steering (unbelieveable), responsiveness, reliability (never needs anything but routine maintenance). It is the best kept secret in the world for those that have not owned one,

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  Great RL! - 1997 Acura RL
  By wxluvus - November 14 - 2:00 am

  This is the best sedan I ever own!