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:

• 

  Do not buy - 1999 Acura TL
  By nathalie mcgill - April 15 - 6:43 pm

  I bought my car at the auto store in Miami and since the first day I got my car I had nothing but problems. I replace my transmission last year in nov of 2008 and my transmission went out again in April of 2009. I think I got played and I still make payments on this car. I cant get out of it.

• 

  Brakes - 2008 Acura RDX
  By disappoited - February 24 - 1:00 pm

  I had the car for 8 months and drove wonderfully. Then, it snowed and my car had no brakes. I would miss stop signs, traffic lights, etc. 3 wheels ago, I got in a car accidents because the brakes fail to operate. I had taken it to the dealership and complained but they indicated that some ppl have had issues but there isnt much they can do about it. I filed a complaint at the corporate office but they brushed the matter off as if it was nothing. Beware when purchasing the vehicle. Not every car gets tested for snow, rain and gravel. this is a matter of life and death, for you and others on the road with you. I am in the process of a law suit with Acura. Good Luck to all!

• 

  Jerky Transmission + Clunky Shifting = last Acura - 2016 Acura MDX
  By KLance - February 3 - 1:21 pm

  Background: Purchased this 2016 model in May of 2015 - have driven for a year. Thud/clunk noise e-v-e-r-y time I accelerate from around 40 to a higher speed. Head mechanic at dealer acknowledged this shouldnt be happening, had my car for weeks, put in a new drive train. Problem still there so then they told me that all of the MDXs do this. Wait-what?? Engine will shut off when I stop, every single time I stop, unless I deactivate the fuel saving feature. Get in the car in the AM, deactivate, go to grocery, get back in car, deactivate, stop to get gas, get back in car, deactivate. You can see how irritating this becomes on a daily basis. Dealer tells me no way to get around this. Drivers side window rattles when its about 1/3 of the way down. After my first month of driving this car, transmission made a thud noise when in reverse (dealer was able to fix this). Very jerky ride at slow speeds (i.e., pulling slowly out of my driveway or rounding a corner). Lots of "cool" touch screen controls -- until you realize that you cant just turn a knob to change the AC or heat, you have to hit the control screen multiple times. Even my husband, who loves everything tech, complains about what a pain this is. When you shift gears, rolls forward or backward quite a bit so dont you dare park too close to anything. And there are other smaller things that make driving this vehicle every day unpleasant. My car history: every 3-5 yrs, when a typical manuf. warranty runs out, I get a new car (Ive been hit more than once so Im very concerned about safety) and this is the WORST car Ive ever owned. I hate it. What am I comparing it to? Going way back to my Honda Passport, Mercedes ML350, Mazda MPV, Subaru Tribeca, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Volvo XC60 (all of them high-end models w lots of features). This vehicle may get a great review after being test driven once for a car website, but check online and see how disappointed all of us owners are who have to drive it every day.

• 

  Mostly OK with the SUV - terrible transmission! - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Heather - February 3 - 12:11 am

  Mostly this car is OK for the price. But the transmission is terrible and has an odd shift that makes it uncomfortable to drive and for passengers. No matter what "mode" youre in. Its been in the shop twice now for this problem and we just keep hearing - it is what it is. Which is frustrating given how much we are paying for it. The Acura service department we also have been going to is less than stellar at communication and makes us even more frustrated with the car. I loved, loved, loved my first Acura many years ago - but I do not think I will be purchasing / leasing another one anytime soon.

• 

  Terrible customer service and tech problems - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Jeff Axup - January 20 - 8:58 am

  Acura customer care refused to return my calls for 8 months when the backup camera was intermittently not functioning. Even after I send videos of it occurring they refused to accept responsibility or communicate. Acura clearly doesnt care about customers after they make the purchase. The navigation system and voice recognition system is really a joke as well. I replaced it with a dash-mounted iPhone. The car does handle well and the all-wheel drive is great.

• 

  Not Happy - 2009 Acura RDX
  By Disappointed - November 23 - 10:55 pm

  Very disappointed, poor value for the price. Seats are uncomfortable (Im 510", always hitting my thigh on steering wheel) nav system very complicated voice recognition never accurate (say "go home" and nav responds with "air conditioner off"). Dont ever turn the car off with the steering wheel in anything but the straight position, if wheels are not straight, you will have problems turning the key in the ignition. Gas mileage is awful acceleration certainly not peppy requires premium gas oil changes require synthetic oil. Bought this car outright (not leased). After 2 months I am considering getting rid of this car and buying something more comfortable with better nav & mileage.

• 

  IF YOU WANT TO LIVE IN FEAR BUY THIS - 2003 Acura TL
  By JohnGalt2376 - October 3 - 2:00 am

  DONT BUY THIS CAR UNLESS. . .You want increased insurance premiums, you want to pay the insurance deductible many times a year, you want to live in fear that no matter where you go, your expensive headlamps may be stolen. Acura has a big problem that it wont admit. The headlamp design is so poor that a thief can make off with both of your $800 headlamps in a matter of minutes, leaving you with a a financial loss, lost wages, and a very expensive repair, especially when body damage is incurred. Acura makes tons of money on repairs and has no incentive to fix this. One Acura dealer tells me that they repair 30 vehicles a month with this problem.

• 

  Consistent failures - 2003 Acura MDX
  By techvet - October 2 - 1:59 pm

  I purchased this MDX certified pre owned last year with 30K miles on it and have had nothing but problems with it. I have been to the dealer 6 times in the last 12 months with various engine lights/codes and what I call the Christmas tree - all error lights go off on the dashboard. Sometimes is fixed with loosening the gas cap but most the time has to go to the shop. The dealer will not honor the pre owned warranty so now I am paying for repairs every few months. I bought for brand and this was not a good idea.

• 

  Problem in two week after 630 miles - 2016 Acura MDX
  By :( - August 29 - 9:29 am

  These is the list of problems that I had after two weeks (630 miles) The Car is in service center. 1. Navigation problem with failed HDD - take about week to fix 2. Transmission, The ride is jerky at low speed - service told me that never reported as problem and not fix for it. 3. Back up camera feed is showing for long time after driving forward - They will try to fix it. * Dealer told me nothing wrong with transmission and try different settings might fix the problem which means no solution and no fix. * I had 4 Honda/Acura before Prelude, Pilot, CL, RL and this time I am so disappointed. Maybe no more Honda/Acura in the future. This is follow up on the fix. * Dealer service department call me after 1.5 weeks after I drop off the car about a problem with audio system. Now waiting for new audio system to arrive. Mean time the loaner car is making squeaking sounds and this car has only 3800 miles. I hope other people have better luck with this car.

• 

  my truck drives better - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Kate - August 28 - 12:39 pm

  Between Sept 2007 and April 2008 I had 3 sets of front tires, 2 sets of back tires and it drives worse than my Tacoma! I jumps from side to side over bumps. Its unpredictable on stopping. Honda Corp only tell me they can try and "have it fixed" Its been in 7 times in 8 months! I stopped driving it in June. Selling something to you that is broken then just "fixing it" is unethical. I would suggest that NO ONE ever buy this car!!