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:

• 

  My first Legend, best ride ever - 1993 Acura Legend
  By Stebo63 - November 16 - 2:00 am

  I purchased my 93 Legend L in July 2002 with only 74,000 miles from the original owner in Long Island, NY. This car was maintained very well, garage kept and spent its winters in Florida via Amtrack Car Train. Extremely reliable, comfortable... Wonderful design, Acura should re-development the Legend !!

• 

  Great Car - 1990 Acura Legend
  By Great Car - November 16 - 2:00 am

  This is such a great car. Its finally gone after 175,000 miles. I have a friend who same year Acura is pushing over 200,000. Very reliable. Isnt very expensive to fix. GREAT JOB HONDA

• 

  The Best Car you will ever own - 2000 Acura RL
  By FelipeAcuralover - November 16 - 2:00 am

  After 30 years of driving cars from every make an model, Lexus, Porsche, GM, Ford, Cadillac, Mercedes, BMW, etc. there is no better car I have ever driven for price vs value, handling, steering (unbelieveable), responsiveness, reliability (never needs anything but routine maintenance). It is the best kept secret in the world for those that have not owned one,

• 

  U Gotta Problem?...Nope!!! - 2000 Acura Integra
  By mr27122 - November 15 - 2:00 am

  Reliable, fun, and relaxed. Its a great car and my fondness for it has only increased as ive reacked up mileage on the odometer.

• 

  Great RL! - 1997 Acura RL
  By wxluvus - November 14 - 2:00 am

  This is the best sedan I ever own!

• 

  Great SUV - 2002 Acura MDX
  By MRH - November 14 - 2:00 am

  I have used this vehicle to haul large items long distances on the roof to carry home improvement items and landscaping materials and to carry the family 5000 miles on vacation. There isnt a better, more reliable vehicle on the market.

• 

  The Best Car for cheep - 1996 Acura Integra
  By Garet - November 13 - 2:00 am

  I just got my Integra GS-R and I love it. It is one of the best cars for a good price. It is so easy to fix-up for cheep.

• 

  Best Used Car Buy Ever - 1994 Acura Legend
  By DHC - November 13 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car used (or rather certified pre-owned) with 41,000 miles on it. It now has close to 150,000 and shows no sign of slowing down. I originally bought the car because I needed a nice front-wheel drive car for long-distance driving in upstate NY which can be serious snow country in the winter. The car never let me down and provided an excellent ride along the way. Most Acura/Honda folks still lament that the Legend was replaced with the RL. Reliability has been superb with only basic wear items needing to be replaced (timing belt, brake pad/rotors, belts).

• 

  Liberty loves it! - 2002 Acura MDX
  By ladylib - November 13 - 2:00 am

  The MDX was not without inital minor problems (the thud, the weeping mirrors) but both problems were resolved by Acura and the dealership. Hubby was recently in a 50mph freeway crash in our MDX, and while our vehicle is pronbably totalled, he wasnt. This vehicle has earned its admirably high safety rating - it did what it was designed to do and Im grateful. Those foks at Acura build an awewsome egg crate. Were not looking elsewhere - were just planning on replacing our damaged MDX with a newer model. Thanks Acura!

• 

  Great if you want a racer - 2000 Acura Integra
  By Marine1983 - November 12 - 2:00 am

  Bought the GS-R new trading in a 9 year old 3 series BMW. The GS-R has not held up as well as the BMW and does not handle/drive as well as a 9 year old BMW. Dont get me wrong, this is a great car if you want a Civic on steriods with leather. It is noisy at highway speed, uncomfortable on long trips, but a blast around town on short trips.