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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  2008 RDX Base - 2008 Acura RDX
  By benlee78 - October 17 - 1:48 am

  Since my wife had a baby, I have traded my 06 Acura TL (base) for the 08 RDX base model. Even though I miss my TL, I thought this was a good trade. Pros: This is a fun and powerful vehicle. The turbo gives it an extra kick in acceleration. AWD gives the vehicle more stability. Interior and the exterior design is pretty decent. Stereo sounds is great. Price value is pretty good for a luxury/sport vehicle.

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  Im LUVIN it, this ones a keeper! - 2004 Acura TSX
  By 4 NIQUES - October 15 - 8:07 pm

  This is my 4th Honda vehicle and what can I say? I love it. Driven a honda civic, honda accord and an acura RSX. Was going to buy a BMW or G35 but decided to stick with Honda quality and I am so glad I did. Bought the pearl white 2004 TSX, fog lights, tint and spoiler... what a beauty. All heads turn. I have had a recall on the headlamps, but I absolutely love the car (most of all its made in Japan). The paint chips easily but I think Acura did a great job for a 4 cyl. luxury entry level sedan. Buy one, you wont regret it!

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  Excellent Car - few nits - 2003 Acura TL
  By Old Joe - October 15 - 10:00 am

  This car has every option I can think of, good power and handling, and the price was very good. Resale is very good (from what I understand) as demand is high for Honda products - so I wont have to break my neck to sell it one day. Yes - I have a few nits with it but for the price, I dont think you can beat it. The Accord is close - especially the new one but the price is very close too if you opt for a loaded Accord EX vs the base TL (which is already loaded). I also find our area Acura dealer a lot better to work with than the Honda dealers in our area (better respect for customers, better treatment overall).

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  Satisfied Owner - 2008 Acura TSX
  By Larryken - October 14 - 1:25 pm

  I dont agree with posters who arent satisfied with the engines power. Im getting up to 35mpg on highway and never less than 31 mpg on a mixed driving tank. The car has plenty of zip for me (pleasant surprise) and handles very well. The technology provided is useful (bluetooth, homelink). The stereo is ok but not great, seats are most adjustable and comfortable. Agree with some that looks are mundane but I dont see the outside of the car when Im driving. The cost to features ratio is very high. Ive driven the car three months and 2500 miles. No problems and the interior is big enough, Im 6 feet.

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  Great car - 1994 Acura Legend
  By Joey Bobboly - October 14 - 7:03 am

  Car has a lot of power and comfortable to ride.

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  Rattles and squeaks - 2007 Acura TSX
  By disappointed_cust - October 12 - 4:46 pm

  This is the 2nd new acura Ive owned. I had my previous acura for 9 years. Ive had this 06 TSX for 13 months and it is a disappointent compared with my first. Performance, looks, and features are good. The issues are with the multitude of rattles and squeaks that developed within 6 months in the interior and the ineffectual wiper system on the driver side which the dealer cant seem to address (fluid dribbles onto the windshield and wipers - new and old - only smudge and smear, they do not clear very well at all). These quality issues are surprising. The visual and auditory annoyances distract greatly from the driving experience.

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  Pretty great! - 2003 Acura RSX
  By christineeee - October 11 - 5:39 pm

  Bought used, ended up paying more that I normally do for a used car, but still a great value. Car is excellent to drive, inside console seems to be made to mold around driver. Only thing I wish is that the seats were a little bit cushier, but all in all a great car!

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  Great family SUV can be improved - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Baymate Diego - October 11 - 2:31 pm

  We bought a 2007 Acura MDX tech package more than a month ago. Great handling. Overall excellent interior and exterior. Both navigation and backup camera are great additions. Vehicle is wilder than comparable vehicles so think about parking in crowded garages before purchase. We bought this over competitions because of excellent value and the 7 seat capacity. Third row seats practical only for kids. There is sometimes wind noise coming from the right side when driving on freeway. Have not figured that one out yet.

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  InLuvWithMyVigor. - 1993 Acura Vigor
  By JoPro@ElPaso - October 10 - 4:09 am

  Ive owned my Acura Vigor for 10 months and Im happy with my purchase. Handling is on point, pickup is awesome and style is excellent. Acura has won me many races along with my heart!

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  Great Car, But The Build Quality Killed - 2005 Acura TL
  By ecb - October 9 - 1:36 pm

  The pros of this car are very obvious... 1. Very fast and responsive engine. Fun to drive. 2. The navigation system is the best on the market, by far. Also, the voice integration and bluetooth capability works perfectly. 3. The list of standard features are more than any other vehicle under $40K The cons are the following: 1. The build quality was horrible. I had numerious interior rattles. From the centre compartment, to something in the upper left corner of the dash, to another by the right front door ... they drove me crazy. Also, the interior quality was not good for a luxury car. The aluminum scratches easily and just looked cheap 2. The dealer installed tires bad