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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  No complaints at all - 2002 Acura MDX
  By JohnT - December 5 - 2:00 am

  After two years with my MDX Im pleased to say that I have not had a single problem with this vehicle. Its fun to drive and has a lot of space. I put two child car seats in the back and still easily fit an adult in that row. Downside: Its not truck-like enough to be "cool" and its not mini-van-like enough to be superbly useful. I was looking for a hybrid of these two things and while this is the best compromise there is, the MDX is not quite the best of both worlds. More luxurious than an Explorer, more spacious than an RX300, less expensive than a BMW, cooler (somewhat) than a minivan.

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  perfect SUV - 2003 Acura MDX
  By theprop - December 5 - 2:00 am

  Powerful, strong build. A car hit my MDX back bumper, MDX didnt scratch a bit, the other car broke the radiator and damaged most of the front parts. 14-22 mile per gal. Nav. system is accurate and fun, Calculator and calendar feature are great.

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  Poor Reliability - 1996 Acura RL
  By MikeFulmer - December 4 - 2:00 am

  Dropped a transmission at 70K. Needed a new AC compressor at 80K. Window off the tracks at 95K. ABS sendsor needed to be replaced. I must have got a lemon.

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  3.5 RL with Nav Review - 2003 Acura RL
  By CB-VA - December 4 - 2:00 am

  Great car for the price. Picked up 3.5RL with NAV for $36K plus 4.9% Honda financing. Exterior design isnt terribly exciting but its a classic style that will never be dated. Had a 2002 TL before this and traded it in after racking up 25K miles in 10 months for work. This car was priced only a few thousand dollars more than the TL so I couldnt not buy it. The New Infiniti GS35 has a much more exciting design but once you add a steering wheel and tires(nothing is standard on that car) youll be approaching $38K. Acura pricing strategy makes it difficlut to consider any other car.

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  Love It! ! ! - 2003 Acura RL
  By itr03 - December 4 - 2:00 am

  I tested BMW, Lexus, Infinity, and many others. . .Dollar for Dollar. .Cant Beat It

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  Acura is an awesome car to drive and own - 1999 Acura TL
  By D Wiecz - December 4 - 2:00 am

  I bought my Acura when my company decided to not provide us with company cars any longer. I have loved driving my Acura for almost 3 years now and am currently looking at buying another one to replace mine. I have put over 60,000 miles on the one I have now and have only had to change the oil, replace the brakes and tires during that time.

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  Best Car for power driver - 2001 Acura CL
  By Shahram - December 4 - 2:00 am

  I love my CL type S. It is fast and it is powerful. Much better than BMW, Mercedez, Audi, for the price you pay. love the navigation system. Its much better than BMWs navigation system.

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  Great Car - 1999 Acura Integra
  By Jorge L - December 2 - 2:00 am

  Fun to drive, fast , great handling, the most reliable car Ive owned.

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  All Around Great Car - 1992 Acura Integra
  By Mrs. A - December 2 - 2:00 am

  I bought my integra used in 1998 and have been throughly pleased with it since. This car has been fun, reliable, and easy to maintain. My car has 165000 miles and is still driving just like it did 4 years ago. The up keep on the car has been fairly reasonable and except for replacing the master cylinder I have had no major repairs. I would strongly recommend this car to anyone especially those that tend to be rougher on their cars as I tend to be.

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  I wish it was more reliable - 1998 Acura TL
  By myself - December 2 - 2:00 am

  Bought the car used, at 70K. The car is perfect, but not as reliable as Honda. I expected it to be as reliable as Honda, but apparently all those nice features introduce failure factors. Things that are supposed to last a long time broke down: a radiator fan started making funny noise, had to replace it ($250), the exhaust manifold got cracked ($1100). Other than that, the car is great, handles well, excellent brakes and transmission.