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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  Excellent Value - 2003 Acura RSX
  By rezrsx - November 17 - 2:00 am

  Ive had this car for 4 months and I can honestly this car is a ball to drive and has amazing build quality. As a previous 99 Mustang owner I can honestly say this is own of the best coupes for the money on the market right now. The only real drawback is it uses premium gas and occasionaly I get a liitle bit of tranny grind going from 2nd to 3rd. If your looking for a 2 door of any kind at least test drive the RSX-Type-S.

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  Id buy it again - 2002 Acura RSX
  By greengopher - November 17 - 2:00 am

  I enjoy the handling, the interior is nice with the leather. I definitely like the auto with speed shift. I have not had one problem with it

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  Getcha One! - 2003 Acura MDX
  By American Tim - November 17 - 2:00 am

  I originally hail from the Detroit area and my family has always bought vehicles made by American manufacturers. After serious reliability problems with our 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, we decided to look at foreign brands. We were pleasantly surprised to discover the Acura MDX. The build quality is far superior to any midsize SUV offered by GM, Ford, or Chrysler. And, Im hoping Acuras reputation for reliability will help me keep the MDX on the road and out of the dealerships garage. The list of standard features is quite lengthy. If you are looking for a luxury vehicle with a not-so-luxury price, then the MDX is for you! Getcha one!

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  fantastic - 2003 Acura TL
  By Reginurse - November 17 - 2:00 am

  Excellent car for the money. One really good thing about this car is that you only need to have the oil changed once every 7,000 miles! Gone are the "every 3,000" mile lube jobs! The car is fun to drive and very confortable, I should know I drove it from Chicago-Seattle-San Diego!

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  Type-S?Type Yes! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By christian gani - November 16 - 2:06 pm

  This car is a dream to drive. If there was ever a car that made you feel as one with it, this is it! Taking corners and accelration is breathtaking and for the money theres not a better car out there. If I have to beat another Celica from a stoplight I might go insane!

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  A Very Reliable Car! - 1995 Acura Integra
  By alan_in_florida - November 16 - 2:00 am

  I drove my Integra off the lot in December 1994 with 5 miles on the odometer. What sold me on the car at the time was its excellent and nimble handling. The car now has over 260,000 miles and is still going strong!! My car has been like a old reliable friend. Honda reliablity and build quality is superb. Considering how many miles this car has seen (and not all highway miles either!), it has had very few problems. If you are looking for a reliable and fun to drive used car, I think the Integra is an excellent choice.

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  Need a sports car and an SUV?? - 2007 Acura MDX
  By murphys mike - November 15 - 3:20 am

  I just traded my beloved Infiniti FX for this MDX Sport. I drove the Acura just to prove to myself that my FX was still unrivaled in the world of upscale crossover vehicles. You gotta understand I loved my FX, but I loved my childhood sweetheart too and then I started meeting real women. Yikes!!! The MDX Sport handles better than top of the line Porsche of my 70s youth. While not the briskest off the line, from 4000 rpm and above this beast will compare favorably with almost anything not in the "super car" category. The blend of technology (too much to tell you about), comfort, utility, fit and finish is unrivaled. Drive one, hear one, and make one go around a corner... then decide.

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  Too bad they dont make them anymore :-( - 1996 Acura Integra
  By Bipin Pillai - November 15 - 2:00 am

  It is more than 7 years now and 155000 miles old. Still running as if i just took it out of the dealership !! The only thing i had to fix was one headlight, radio antenna (it got stuck and I went through a car wash!). No other repairs ... only maintenances !! I would have definitely bought a new one again ... if only they started making them again :-(

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  My reliable ride - 1995 Acura Integra
  By Beagleboy - November 15 - 2:00 am

  Bought it used from a lease buy-back. Biggest problem has been exhaust system rusting out: costly compared to other vehicles. A bit of rusting problems along the rear wheel wells where they meet the bumper. Have seen many with the same problem. Not much speed on first gear, but flies throuigh rest of range. Best performance above 3500 rpm.

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  Best Value if You Can Find Any Left - 2003 Acura CL
  By Gawain - November 15 - 2:00 am

  There was a silver 6sp/CL-S that I had my eye on for months at the dealer. Knowing that 2003 was the last model year, I figured I would be able to pick one up for a good price. Indeed. I did. This car comes with everything. The build quality is top notch. The engine, ooh, that engine. Tranny, a slick shifting dream! Quiet cabin, excellent ergonomics. Honda builds great cars!