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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  Very nice car, high reliability - 1998 Acura TL
  By TLW - June 25 - 9:15 am

  I bought my 98 2.5 TL about 5 years ago, I also paid $1200 for the extended warranty to 100K miles. I never got to use the warranty. At 107K miles now, D4 light is out, and I have replaced both oxygen sensors as well as doing the scheduled 104K miles timing belt / water pump service. I also replaced the battery a couple years ago, and new brake pads. Im due for replacing the AT fluid and filter. All in all, this car has been excellent. My car with 107K miles drives and feels like a new car - nothing loose or sloppy, and the throttle response is very smooth.

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  Disappointed in NH - 2007 Acura MDX
  By RS - June 24 - 7:50 pm

  We traded my wifes 02 RX 300 that never had one problem for 5 yrs. We wanted something a little bigger. The new MDX has 800 miles and the windshield wiper fell apart and scratched the glass. Also am hearing a series of thud sounds when shifting 1st to 2nd with little to no load. Additional rattles are coming from the rear shock area. The dealer had the car for over a week and found both wipers defective and replaced the windshield. Also replaced the exhaust below the cat converter and replaced rear swing arm spring seat as it was damaged along with replacing the spring itself. We picked up the vehicle and heard the same noise. Im thinking I should have kept the 02 Lexus.

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  One-Month Review - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Don - June 24 - 5:41 pm

  Like the styling and comfort, but there are things that I missed completely with the test drive. 1) The bottom of the steering wheel feels like a food grater as the sharp and hard stitching sits above the leather, 2) the navigation system is at least 2-3 years behind in features with only 2D maps and ugly text for street names, 3) the AUX input requires an iPod at full volume, 4) the voice recognition is worthless and unusable, its wrong at least 75% of the time, 5) when you drive in an "unverified" area (my home of 50 years) there are annoying warnings that dont go away without a lot of attention, and the worst, 6) the steering is so hard my wrists hurt when trying to turn a corner.

• 

  Unhappy so far - 2003 Acura MDX
  By carbuyer - June 22 - 11:10 am

  Purchased this car in Oct 06, pre-owned certified. Since then the vehicle has been in the shop for faulty electrical, steering wheel controls replaced, replaced heated seat sensor, hatch has a short in the light (quits working after about 2 wks), latch door sticks, wipers come on at whim, rattle/shaking at high speed (repair says it is the tires, I purchased new tires, problem still not fixed). Very loud squealing noise happened, something about torque valve - luckily I have the wrap-around coverage. The dealership has been working with me and I really like the car but have been plagued with problems since owning it. My old 93 Mitsubishi ran with 304k without incident. I will stick with Mits.

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  Nice dependable car - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Geo - June 19 - 10:01 pm

  I exchanged the 06 MDX for the 07 MDX. I like the exterior and the interior, compare to the 2006. The only problems is that with this 2007 the bumper front and back are plastic and makes the car look cheap. I do not understand on a luxury $40,000 dollar car they would install a plastic bumper. Also, the car has too much wind noise and the steering wheel is unconvertible.

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  Great Second Car - 1994 Acura Integra
  By Tiger - June 19 - 11:47 am

  Acura reliability, style and fun to drive. This car is 13 years old and I havent had to do any major repair work to the engine and transmission. Love the gas mileage and the sporty driving experience. Only thing to watch for is the body around the back wheel wells. If theres too much salt, it will rust. Otherwise, outside of having to replace usual wear and tear items, it has been a great car. Very reliable.

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  Not that great for the money - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Allen - June 18 - 3:50 pm

  An expensive SUV with mediocre habits. Drives a lot like a minivan. Reliability problems with radio, steering wheel controls (repeated), power windows (repeated), and occasionally its difficult to start. For a luxury vehicle, there is a lot of road noise at highway speeds, but almost no wind noise. Window rattles and they cant seem to fix. Black interior is pretty boring, and the buckets are hard. Rumble in fifth gear around town, dealer says "just leave it in fourth". Nice fix. On the plus side, lots of pep, great fuel economy (19-22 all the time) and tons of room inside. The rear visibility is good also, unlike many SUVs. Tire wear is excellent - they dont wear!

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  An SUV with a High FTD Factor - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Bish - June 15 - 12:37 pm

  The best thing about this vehicle is its high fun-to-drive factor. I have owned 3 VW GTIs because I loved the combination of practical, usable room and sports car handling and acceleration. I never though I could find it in a family car, much less an SUV. The ride may be a bit firm for some, but one feels noticably relaxed even after a long trip. The Tech package is worth every penny. The nav system and stereo are outstanding. The main drawback is gas mileage. I cant get much over 17 in the city and 21 on the highway. But, take a look out there, other than the RX 400h ($55K !!), this combination of FTD factor, room and tech cant be found with 20+ mpg!

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  Still Going - 1999 Acura TL
  By lsmac - June 15 - 9:51 am

  Bought the car new. Now has 220,000 miles! No trans or engine issues. Have replaced the power steering pump, otherwise no repairs, only scheduled maintenance. 25-28 mpg all the time.

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  Disappointing - 2005 Acura TL
  By JP41 - June 14 - 11:15 am

  I really love the interior and exterior looks of the car but the build quality is less than stellar. My tires wore out after 20K miles, my dash is faded and looks 20 years old, leather is wearing away, and I have numerous squeaks and rattles. It is too bad because I really want to like the car and the features for the money can not be beat. However, I am angered everytime I drive it listening to the rattles in the dash, door, and steering column.