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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  A true sports sedan - 2005 Acura TSX
  By tom - September 22 - 2:06 am

  This car puts you in harmony with the road. Unlike to focus of many cars that seek to place the driver and the road as far apart as possible the TSX lets you decide. You feel the road; the twists and turns, the need to be alert to conditions, and the fun driving can be. I am an older driver who remembers the sports cars of his youth and can still enjoy the road.

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  Great Car - 1997 Acura RL
  By LStone - September 21 - 2:00 am

  I purchased mine last year with 30K miles (now it has 40). Its a fantastic vehicle. Its my 2nd Acura and I have loved them both. The guy giving the poor rating may need to check recalls -- if he meant upper control arms, they are typically replaced with the ball joints (covered by a recall for 1997 RLs). I had mine replaced at no charge, and since then, its been great.

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  CL 2.2 - 1997 Acura CL
  By 2.2 Cl - September 21 - 2:00 am

  I own a 97 Acura CL premium. The car currently has 100k. Ive had no problems until about 95k. Even then - nothing major: replaced a hose and a starter. Very reliable, great all- around car.

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  Great Car - 2005 Acura RL
  By TB - September 20 - 7:46 am

  Very good sedan. For the money there is no better value. The DVD audio XM radio navigation system etc make this car the best value in its class.

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  Great car! - 1993 Acura Legend
  By its_me - September 20 - 2:00 am

  Purchased this car new. Mechanically has never had a down day. 220 HP is quite fast Leather seats are very comfortable Excellent visibility Dual airbags Lots of legroom This is a lot of luxury car for <$10K in todays used car market

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  Legend #2 - 1993 Acura Legend
  By sailor2 - September 20 - 2:00 am

  Now I have 2 Legend coupes in my driveway. The first, an 87 with 196,000 miles is still going strong and is as much fun to drive as when it was new. This 93 however has so much more pep with 235hp instead of 161. That combined with the 6 speed transmission instead of 5 makes this car flat-out haul! I have never driven a car that combines luxury and performance the way the manual transmission Legend coupes do. What was Acura thinking when they dropped the line? At least theyre bringing back the 6 speed stick. My wife will never understand the joy I get from just aimlessly driving around.

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  No other car comes close - 1998 Acura Integra
  By DCogs - September 20 - 2:00 am

  Ive owned my 98 GS-R for nearly 5 years now and have had no problems. The only maintenance I do is oil, filters and tires. I still have the original clutch and brakes even after 98,000 miles! As far as performance goes...no other car comes close. Sure a turbo Eclipse or mustang GT might be faster but, at least the Acura is not a rattle box (in sound and feel) after a couple of years. Mitsubishi has a lot to learn from Honda and Ford will never come close to build quality.

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  Great ride with great amenities! - 2017 Acura RDX
  By June Solanes - September 19 - 8:10 pm

  Love, love, love it! I buy and keep cars forever. My RDX AWD is a great pick. It is comfortable (given that I have RA) and very classy. It is quick and great in town and on road trips. The interior space is perfect with adequate storage space. Did I mention it is comfortable. The dealer Crown Acura in Clearwater, Fl was excellent to work with. Chris Duncanson made me very happy during the purchase process. Buy it! Youll love it!

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  Better than our Lexus - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Bootstau - September 19 - 10:00 am

  The MDX has surpased my expectations. The ride is quite and extemely comfortable. We had a Lexus RX 300 and it was smaller and did not have the same power. It handles great and has surprising excelleration.The interior is set up great. Plenty of room even in the third row seats.

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  Boring but great care - 1996 Acura RL
  By nicke1 - September 19 - 2:00 am

  It looks kinda boring to me (mines a 96) but the performance and reliability are outstanding. I have become an Acura person. Now the car has 95,000 and looks and runs like new. Really, most people think its a year or two old.