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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  Better than our Lexus - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Bootstau - September 19 - 10:00 am

  The MDX has surpased my expectations. The ride is quite and extemely comfortable. We had a Lexus RX 300 and it was smaller and did not have the same power. It handles great and has surprising excelleration.The interior is set up great. Plenty of room even in the third row seats.

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  Rattles but rolls - 2004 Acura TL
  By ziggy3 - September 19 - 10:00 am

  Disappointed with the build quality of this car. Expect more from Acura/Honda product. Many interior rattles, headliner fell and body panels misaligned. Engine and ride are excellent. Would wait a year for Acura to get the bugs out. I thought I wouldnt have to worry about that with a Honda product, but I guess I was wrong.

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  Getting the most for your money - 2004 Acura TL
  By Seat Clip - September 19 - 10:00 am

  The only problem that Iev had with the car is several visits back to the Acura service department because the front seat clip that connects the seats plastic base to the leather seat. The Service dept. claims to have replaced it (seat clip) on every occasion, but breaks shortly after that. PS Good luck in finding an affordable cellphone with the blue tooth feature under $150.

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  Boring but great care - 1996 Acura RL
  By nicke1 - September 19 - 2:00 am

  It looks kinda boring to me (mines a 96) but the performance and reliability are outstanding. I have become an Acura person. Now the car has 95,000 and looks and runs like new. Really, most people think its a year or two old.

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  1995 Acura Legend Sedan - 1995 Acura Legend
  By MrSmitty - September 19 - 2:00 am

  Great car for the money! Change oil, new tires - thats it!

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  Experience with my 2001 Silver MDX - 2002 Acura MDX
  By newbie2001 - September 19 - 2:00 am

  Always gets a lot of glances, on and off the road. Several people comes up to me to compliment my choice of vehicle. Impressive vehicle, never regretted my purchase. Am also continually upgrading, just recently added new body side moulding to my 2001 silver MDX.

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  Great Deal - 2002 Acura RL
  By mdbrad - September 18 - 2:00 am

  Acura had a $4,000 dealer rebate thru Labor Day which I got the dealer to give to me. Thus, I "stole" my 02 RL for $34,225. That is truly an extraordinary price for such a finely built car. While I wish the mileage as better, the car is quite an upgrade from my 98 Accord EX with V-6. While the Accords engine was more responsive, the RL can certainly get out of it s own way on the road. The day after I bought it, I drove it 5 hours on a trip, and it is truly wonderful. An in-dash CD Player is a must for the next edition of the car, as is dual climate control and improved mileage. Just added the VTEC engine to this car would suffice.

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  Poor Customer Support/Arragunt Responce - 2002 Acura RL
  By srinip - September 18 - 2:00 am

  My RL has manufacturing defect on paint. When I contacted Acura for this problem but no response for 10 days, time the rep said the case is with the manager for review. Same evening Case manage called me and was so rude and rough, He not only listined to my problem but putting alligations on me and said I can do whatever I can do. I was very much disappointed with the customer care the Acura does with their customers. Beware acura is selling RL for less (May be the defective models) not listed on any documents.

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  Type-S in Odessa - 2003 Acura CL
  By Hobbie - September 17 - 10:00 am

  Have a rattle coming from the rear passenger side speaker. Dealership has not been able to fix it.

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  Soo Money - 2002 Acura TL
  By lookin4money - September 17 - 10:00 am

  For the money, I think this is hands down the best deal on the road at any price! The car corners great! Is amazing on the highway. You can get into any slot you want in rush-hour traffic with its acceloration and braking. Maybe the only complaint is that the acceleration seems more responsive in Auto than in Sport shift mode (were it is a little slow to shift). I love the sound system!!! Anyone who wishes for more base isnt really a music lover anyway. You can have the base as loud as it gets, feel it, and yet still hear the music as you should. WHAT A BUY!