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 Car!! - 2003 Acura TL
  By Bret - September 11 - 10:00 am

  There is no doubt that the acura 3.2TL is one of the best cars out there on the road, especially for the money. You have all the amenities of a luxury car, without paying the outragous prices. I think they have really improved on the exterior looks of the car, while keeping in their tradition for making an interior very inviting and confortable. Even though i did not purchase the S-Type, the normall 3.2 has great pickup, and has a very smooth quiet ride. All around, a fantastic car.

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  Beware! - 1999 Acura CL
  By Vivek - September 11 - 2:00 am

  Purchased it used off a lease in 2001. An attractive coupe, comfortable interior and good gas mileage. But has potentially serious handling problems on wet roads. Even with limited amount of rain, it is hard to control over speeds of 55-60 has tendency to hydroplane. (My Acura Legend in contrast is rock steady.) I have to slow down to 50 to keep the car steady. (The tires are new and the inflation is at the recommended levels.) Even on dry roads, it has a tendency to float around - there is a constant need to control the steering a pain when driving long distances on the highway. I wonder whats up with the suspension, aerodynamics or ??

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  best 2 door car - 1999 Acura CL
  By eddie8 - September 11 - 2:00 am

  exelent quality , confort and performance doesnt feel "cheap" like most american cars. its a fun car to drive with all the "extras" as a standar features like leather seats,power everything, electronic climate control, cd player... i only had a problem with the drivers door window, everything else still looks like a new car.

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  love it - 2003 Acura CL
  By stuckoncl - September 11 - 2:00 am

  My CL has been a perfect blend of performance and comfort. I have had absolutely no problems whatsoever.

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  Hard to believe!!! - 1996 Acura RL
  By Dan Klug - September 10 - 2:00 am

  I would never consider a car with so many miles on it... however. I drove it home. Looked at the Volvo, C Series Mercedes, Lexus 300. This car is outstanding. The quietest car I have ever drove. Simple yet luxurious styling. excellent seats. I cant believe I waited so long to consider an Acura.

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  Such a solid car - 1997 Acura CL
  By ztiger93 - September 10 - 2:00 am

  It says a lot that the most difficult thing Ive had to deal with in 6-1/2 years is a window motor. This car is not fast, but its not meant to be (which saves on insurance). My next car will be another Acura for sure -- but not until the day comes that I need to add two more doors.

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  I love my Car - 2003 Acura RSX
  By cutychuchu - September 10 - 2:00 am

  This car was what i wanted my first car to be but instead i got a mitsubishi eclipse GSX it was fun and great but ever since i purchase this car everything is great its realiable it take 87 gas and it people always complement what a nice car i have. I love this car!!

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  1990 Integra - 1990 Acura Integra
  By wpd - September 9 - 2:00 am

  Awesome Car. Still love it after 13 years. Just starting to have to replace some items, after 170,000 miles. Its been a true pleasure to own.

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  Dont Sell Yours, Youll Be Sorry! - 1993 Acura Legend
  By AC Coupe Lover - September 9 - 2:00 am

  My friend and I bought our 93 Acura Legend LS Coupes Type II automatics at the same time. He sold his 1 year later because he wanted to get the Lexus SC400. He said the SC400 had more status. Needless to say, I advised him not to sell. Now that Lexus has more problems than I can keep track of, and thats just the problems I know about. I still have my Legend and I have done nothing but routine maintenance (brakes, tires, oil change, brakes, tires, oil change, brakes, tires, oil change)!

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  lots of problems - 2001 Acura MDX
  By always at shop - September 9 - 2:00 am

  my acura had a faulty gas tank (could only pump .10 cents of gas at a time) that to my knowledge is the only one ever totally replaced and had to have roof liner taken out the first week to fix "chirping" in the sunroof. since then, have had lots of smaller issues- noises when braking, FOUR front dash vents have fallen out, transmission problems at 38-42 mph., and popping behind glove box.