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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  Always loved Acura - 2005 Acura TL
  By paul heemskerk - May 27 - 9:16 am

  Everything is awesome about this car. My favorite Acura out of the six I have so far owned in the past. The only complaint where those horrible Bridgestone Tires. Flat spots terrible vibration. Once replaced with Michelin Pilots driving the car was totally different and smooth and quiet no vibration or flat spots. I love the growl of my exhaust and enjoy my XM satelite Radio too. Blue tootrh is so cool and with the power and smoothness of the V6 I am happier there then in my sleepnumber bed. Get a TL you wont regret it.

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  Great car! - 1999 Acura TL
  By Dodie - May 27 - 2:00 am

  Great car fun to drive. Quiet, powerful, smooth. Excellent reliability and quality.

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  quality honda product - 1993 Acura Integra
  By dearnold - May 26 - 2:00 am

  As 1993 was the last year of this integras body style, I have always had a place in my heart for my RS model. 9 years removed, it continues to be a reliable, fun-to-drive, good looking machine. I often campare to much younger vehicles, that cost more, look worse and are far less reliable.

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  Approaching perfection... - 1992 Acura Integra
  By nurbles - May 25 - 2:00 am

  The most solidly reliable car Ive ever owned, my GS-R has always made me happy. Even though Im 64" and my head tends to rub the roof, Ive not seen anything that makes me want to give her up! After ten years (mostly in Florida), the OEM speakers had rotted away, the power antenna died and the moonroof rattles a bit, but shes otherwise a perfect speciman. A new stereo (I wanted anyway), a wash and wax -- like new! The biggest drawback is that the large amount of glass makes the car a greehouse, that can mean temps in the 150F range at the end of the workday here (Ive measured). But the AC is powerful enough to cool it down quickly.

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  excellent - 1996 Acura TL
  By josuesmith - May 25 - 2:00 am

  this is the most wonderful car I have owned...am a senior widow...going to part with it as my daughter is giving me a car...Have been widowed for over two years & have not had any problems..Change the oil every 3000 miles & this car purrs right along, wheather on a long road trip or in the city..I am the only one who has driven this car & someone is going to get one special, outstanding, used car...Acura,,,they are the very best!!

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  wild - 2004 Acura TL
  By Richard Snyder - May 25 - 2:00 am

  This car has a bang for the duck.

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  AWESOME CAR - 2004 Acura TL
  By D&P - May 25 - 2:00 am

  The 2004 Acura TL is loaded with great standard features that other vehicles only provide as options for a lot more money. The surround sound stereo with XM satellite radio is the best sounding system you can get in a car-- fantastic!!! The interior is very functional--I especially like the large numbers and easy to use controls. Has lots of room in both front and rear. Looking forward to getting a bluetooth phone to use with Handsfree Link. Believe me, I looked and drove several cars and the 2004 Acura TL is definitely the BEST car for the money and fun driving factor.

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  Want a car that keeps you smiling? - 2004 Acura TL
  By boss1876 - May 25 - 2:00 am

  I Just purchased this car. Its the first 6 spd the dealer received. The cars performance is Awesome!!! I will get tickets in this thing. I love the interior and the ELS sound system is incredible.

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  >BMW in the same price category - 2004 Acura TL
  By srpko - May 25 - 2:00 am

  Power and internal look

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  Ooh La La! - 2004 Acura TL
  By Senator007 - May 25 - 2:00 am

  This car is fun to drive! Almost as good as my BMW 530 and the BMW 325 we just got rid of (LOTS of mechanical problems, hence, the move back to Japanese for one car). The sound system is awesome. Build quality and ergonomics excellent (although thigh support needs work). An incredible value..got it for $1,000 under MSRP in Princeton, NJ