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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  Fab SUV - 2004 Acura MDX
  By foodie - May 18 - 2:00 am

  My new MDX is the most wonderful car. I enjoy it more then any other car I have had, be it SUV or sports car. It is safe, reliable, beautiful and handles like a dream.

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  MDX - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Strong - May 18 - 2:00 am

  Best vechicle I have ever owned. Pleasant to drive, good visability. The Nav system is wonderful - never ben lost since I have satrted using it.

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  Confort, a beauty to drive - 2003 Acura TL
  By flaco2 - May 18 - 2:00 am

  It feels like a very agile car, even though is not small. A beauty!

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  2004 Acura TL Great car for the money! - 2004 Acura TL
  By jdboca - May 18 - 2:00 am

  Great car for the money! Love at 1st site...lolThe new body styling is very nice and sleek. The interior is very sharp looking. I liked the color selection. The car is luxorious and sporty at the same time.

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  Best in Class - 2004 Acura TL
  By joaquin soto - May 18 - 2:00 am

  This has been the best decision that I have made when it comes to purchasing a car. It comes with just about everything. The only option is a navigation system. The car is sturdy and fast as hell. Count the horses here and compare with the 3 series, CTS, A4, and ther is no competition.

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  Acura got it right - 2002 Acura RSX
  By DPH - May 17 - 10:00 am

  Pure fun, great flexibility. Drives smooth & easy or blasts when appropriate. Smart, functional cockpit. Makes driving to work fun. Suspension just right, stiff enough to hang a corner but not jar your teeth on expansion joints. Perfect fit and finish. Only my BMW can match the gearbox for shifts and feel. Most enjoyable machine.

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  Serious Raders only - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Maneesh N Patel - May 17 - 10:00 am

  This brand new SUV has been to garage twice.Very poor service.They drove the car for 100+ miles.No loaner.You have to fight for it.Rude staff. DO NOT EVEN THINK OF THIS ACURA>

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  Deserves one more star but please read it. - 2016 Acura ILX
  By PJ - May 16 - 3:55 am

  I got my car back in April of 2015. Reason I took off one star is squeaky front brakes issue. Its factory defect and acura is aware of it (Please google on tgat issue if you are interested). Acura did not want to change my brakes at time I came in and I dont have any more time to waste with them so I live with it. Its a huge disappointed especially for a brand such as acura. Another star I taken off because I believe few other things could have been better. Such as, very rough ride over uneven pavement and especially potholes. No 40/60 rear fold, whole rear seat just folds. Steering is a little numb as well. Not too much headroom for tall drivers. Never the less its an enormous value. For $27k you get compact (a plus for some) 0-60 in less than 7 seconds, great fuel economy, decent handling, sunroof, keyless entery, duel clutch transmission, full Led head lights, Adaptive cruise, crush prevention system, auto dual climate, heated seats and mirrors, back up cam, Acura badge (Might matter to some.

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  Great Car! I still love it. - 1992 Acura Vigor
  By Alabalan - May 16 - 2:00 am

  I never expected to keep a car this long, but I bought it new and 170K miles later it still runs beautifully. It IS like a sports car. I have standard transmission which I had to replace at 130K. Small back seat is the only drawback, but if you rarely have passengers, its a perfect car. I look for it to last to at least 250K.

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  Forelorne - 1997 Acura Integra
  By forlorne - May 16 - 2:00 am

  My 97 integra RS was in the prime of its life when I totalled it. Apparently I got accustomed to its smooth ride and quick handling but lacked the driver skills to hold her wide race like tires to the road. I am saddened to say that I said my farewells to my car last week...hopefully I can find a replacement but not optomistic at all...:o( All-in-all a terrific car with a lot of gusto for the price. Just a cool car all the way around.