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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  Electrical nightmare - 1992 Acura Vigor
  By nathan - March 20 - 12:40 am

  I have owned mine for 2 weeks and had the heater blower motor fail, the alarm goes off sometimes when I use the key to unlock it, the stereo display only works sometimes and I have expensive repair quotes for anything that comes up. I find the car attractive to look at and fun to drive. I believe the engine and drivetrain are solid but the electrical issues are awful. This is a money pit that will cost you as much as a newer more reliable car would have from the beginning.

• 

  Great value - 2008 Acura TL
  By Scott@Columbia - March 18 - 12:52 pm

  Im very happy with this car. Ride is a nice balance of firm but pleasant. It is a quiet car and the engine is only heard under hard acceleration (and the noise is pleasing). Great interior layout with sharp exterior styling. All the features you could want at a nice price. Engine is peppy and responsive, well-suited to the car. This car is the perfect balance of practical, fun, affordable and well-equipped.

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  The perfect entry luxury sports sedan - 2006 Acura TSX
  By mettyt - March 18 - 8:23 am

  All the mod cons; Memory seats, heated seats, Ipod hookup, navigation, voice activation, xenon headlights, the list goes on. And for the price you cant beat it. Great handling and braking. The interior is very quiet and well constructed. My previous car was a Honda Accord and I like the reliability of Hondas. Makes me get up everyday with a smile on my face thinking I get to drive it. I almost wish my job was twice as far away.

• 

  Good car that lacks soul - 2005 Acura TL
  By JDRTL - March 17 - 2:25 pm

  This car does everything well but is a very dull driving experience (if anyone cares about that). I do care about that and unloaded this car after two years and got a German make which is more to my liking. I really wish I would have gotten the manual transmission as the automatic is incredibly un-sporty. It is a great value as everything is standard except the navigation system (which I highly recommend). Although it was only in once for an unscheduled repair, the car was getting creaky and rattling after 30,000 miles.

• 

  So far so good. - 2017 Acura RDX
  By Scott - March 16 - 12:49 am

  Overall, I really enjoy this vehicle. I chose the base AWD because I did not like the stereo and navigation interface on the technology package and above. I also did not get Acura watch package because its not perfected. The only options I wish I had are blind spot monitor and rear cross traffic. Get about 21 mpg overall so far and it is winter. The past 3 days has been 32-40 degrees and Ive been getting about 24 in mixed driving on regular. Overall, the RDX has great acceleration and great value vs its main competitors. Nothing else comparable with a luxury nameplate comes close. I only have 3 minor complaints. 1) use of cargo space could be better. My wife has a Mazda CX5 and her car holds way more and has nice little cubbies the RDX lacks. 2) handling. Again, comparing to the CX5 steering is vague and lacks feedback. 3) When using the Bluetooth its really hard to hear. Voices very tinny and have to have volume on very high to hear the other line. Its a little odd because the stereo and speakers are otherwise fine. Overall, I definitely recommend. Bulletproof engine and transmission and again, its hard to match at its price point.

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  Good Value - 2008 Acura TL
  By firebird - March 9 - 1:19 pm

  For the great lease you can not beat the value of this car, lots of options that cost extra or cannot get on other cars. The ride is a little on the stiff side especially when temps are below 30 degrees.

• 

  Never Buy First Year Car - 2003 Acura RSX
  By joe249 - March 9 - 10:00 am

  My radio makes a electrical click when turned on. The relay swich under glove box clicks twice when you turn on ignition.The brake pedal is soft and I only have 4400 miles on it. You step on brake pedal and you get an electrical switch click also.

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  Its exactly what its supposed to be - 2006 Acura TSX
  By TSXNJ - March 8 - 3:20 pm

  This car does exactly what its meant to do, and it does it perfectly (for 28k!). No, its not going to tear up other cars when you want to race them to the next red light, but it has decent acceleration and great passing power. It handles beautifully. The technology on this car is downright addictive. The Nav system is top notch and SIMPLE to use. There are about a billion voice commands which the car can recognize, and the blue tooth hands free link is incredibly convenient. Its bigger than a civic, but smaller than an accord - very nice size. Plenty of trunk space. The iPod jack is just icing on a very sweet cake. Want a drag-racer? Buy something else. This car is perfect.

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  not really happy - 2004 Acura TL
  By kslittlebitt - March 6 - 10:00 am

  i have had my acura tl sinnce december and my head liner has fell 4 times. also my cigerette lighter in the front has stop working. but it does drve good

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  Great is not perfection - 2005 Acura RSX
  By laurent reze - March 5 - 9:30 am

  Its a super little car. So far very reliable IF you do not mind stiff shifting, average comfort, noises from everywhere and especially from engine over 3500 rpm. Its a small sport car for road and speed lovers!