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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  GREAT - 1999 Acura TL
  By Kyle - March 25 - 11:38 am

  I have had no problems with the car. Except I have worn a hole where my leg rests.

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  Superb and Classy car - 2010 Acura TL
  By Awesome car - March 24 - 5:15 pm

  I purchased this car for my wife and she absolutely loves to drive it. This car is superior to all the Acuras that we have owned before (96. 99,03 TLs). Getting around 26 MPG on the highway and around 21 in the city. Drives and rides so smooth, it is a pleasure to take off in it. The exterior design is unique and the contours give it that luxury look that does make your head turn!! Everything inside is fabulous, the controls, the GPS, the stereo system. Absolutely built to last with no flaws and hiccups requiring dealers service. This is a quality product from Honda and it performs and conforms to the highest standards of reliability and safety. Test drive one!

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  Never will regret it! - 2010 Acura TL
  By Jake - March 23 - 5:34 pm

  This car is amazing. I had a 2003 TL Type- S before this and Acura never lets me down. The styling is so unique and eye catching that everywhere I go I get a compliment! The 3.7 L engine is so powerful and I love to hear it scream when I push it hard. It is probably the best investment I have ever made.

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  The wonder car - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Elizabeth - March 22 - 2:21 pm

  Our family was in an accident on the freeway, where we lost control of the car due to slick road surface and were hit 2 times by other cars as we spun toward the fast lane. When we took stock of each one of us in the car, we were all okay. One of the airbags went off and the car was totaled. The next day, we found another Acura MDX and are very glad to drive such a safe and reliable car. We are certain many other cars would not have protected us in that situation.

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  200 miles and counting - 2010 Acura TSX
  By sargondizzo - March 22 - 9:51 am

  I just picked up my new 2010 TSX w/Tech, Black on Black 03/18/10. So far I am extremely happy with it. I love the tech features and wouldnt have even purchased this car w/o them being an option. I am a serious tech junkie when it comes to cars and this fit was more than I expected and with a lower price tag than the rest in its class.

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  Noise between 35 and 40 mph - 2006 Acura MDX
  By blondie21dj - March 21 - 9:27 pm

  I am having a shuddering noise between 35 and 40 mph. It is usually when I lift my foot off the gas pedal and then go to accelerate. I took it to the dealership and they couldnt figure out what was wrong and I couldnt get the noise to duplicate. After reading several reviews on here, I figured out that it was the torque converter. I called Acura Client Services and reported the issue. They said they have not had a single person report this issue. Everyone needs to call and report this issue, so they can place a recall on this issue. They have recalls on 2005 and earlier but not 2006 as of yet. It appears to occur between 70k and 90k miles.

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  Great Purchase - 2010 Acura RDX
  By Will - March 21 - 12:55 pm

  Bought this instead of the CR-V and GLAD we did. My wife and I have a small family and wanted something bigger than our Accord but with decent gas mileage but still fun to drive. This fits the ticket. Averages 22 mpg w/ mixed driving and got 28 on a road trip. Ride is a little rough but not bad and is more than likely the quality roads we have in Louisiana. Love the ability to play my mp3s. Very happy with purchase.

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  Never die - 1990 Acura Integra
  By joe ponce - March 20 - 4:59 pm

  With over 250,000 miles on it i drove it from California to Texas with no problems. didnt think i would buy a car and have it forever.

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  Fantastic Car - 2007 Acura TSX
  By parksguy - March 20 - 12:51 pm

  Would purchase again. No problems with this beauty after 3 years of ownership. It looks best with the Rear Spoiler Option, which was well worth the addition.

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  Fun SUV - 2010 Acura RDX
  By Jeanie - March 20 - 11:02 am

  What a fun SUV! Ive owned my RDX for 2 weeks now. Got it to replace my Toyota Sienna minivan in order to downsize with one of three kids now off to college. Its a smaller car for me, and I havent traveled in yet yet with luggage, but so far I love it. VERY fun to drive. Unbelievable pick- up and handling. Comfortable. Easy to learn controls on the dash. My one negative is the stiff bumpy ride. Im used to a carlike ride, so learning to tolerate the bumps will be a challenge. Also, when using the bluetooth and ipod on my iphone, the ipod sound will not work. Ive got to figure that one out soon!