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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  Awesome SUV - 2010 Acura MDX
  By JR - October 31 - 2:00 am

  The powertrain (engine and transmission) are unbelievable smooth. The six speed transmission is a significant improvement over the previous 5 speed one. Seat comfort is a perfect 10 as is the interior design. Handling is agile, especially for a vehicle this size. Outward visibility is excellent, the ELS stereo sounds fantastic along with its USB/IPOD integration and the ability to rip CDs right to the hard drive. The leather is soft and supple and the ride is extremely composed at all speeds. A sporty yet comfortable suspension is the way to go and this vehicle nails it. Gas mileage is as expected given this vehicles size & weight if no better than others for its size.

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  I Loved This Car - 1995 Acura Integra
  By eeee - October 30 - 2:00 am

  I wrote a review along time ago but I dont see it on here anymore. I think the poster below might have been talking about my old post. But this car was super reliable, got it up to 280,000 miles with no problems. Some basic stuff had to be replaced, new clutch (the original lasted over 120,000 miles.) A new starter solenoid which cost almost a grand to fix but again, the car had over 200,000 miles on it before it went out. Take care of this car with the basic maintenance and it will last forever. One day my dad borrowed it and got rear ended. The back bumper was folded down and insurance said it wasnt worth fixing. They gave me a grand for it.

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  2010 Acura TL w/Tech is cool - 2010 Acura TL
  By tedm - October 30 - 2:00 am

  Best luxury car value for the money. Hard to beat. If they can fix the styling (exterior) and add a few more color choices, it would have scored higher. Car rides better than most german cars (not too stiff). Handling, acceleration, braking is perfect. Get the tech package, it is worth the extra money, most noteable, the rear camera, upgraded stereo, keyless access. Bluetooth, USB interface and function is the best that I have seen. The NAV system is average and it really should have touch screen function vs. dial knob. Acura should make this car 6 speed transmission for better mileage

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  Incredible look, High rev fun, Reliable - 2010 Acura ZDX
  By Ronny - October 29 - 2:00 am

  Wow, what a car!!! Just need more power!!!!

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  Cracked dashboard- - 2004 Acura TL
  By ww - October 28 - 2:00 am

  By doing a little research found that their is a problem with 04-05 TLs dashboard cracking around the passenger AIRBAG. You can do a internet search to see the details. So car re-sale value will tank.

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  A Great Buy - 2011 Acura MDX
  By DILJIT KARAYIL - October 28 - 2:00 am

  Took me 4 months and a lot of comparison to nail it down to the MDX.Compared to BMW X5 and Audi Q7 Great stability and handling.Does the corners well. Good Pick Up and a host of convenient features.GPS w/ weather and traffic is great.3rd row is ideal for kids and slim adults but other than that it is spacious. Braking is smooth and the headlights are nice.

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  Excellent sport/luxury sedan. - 2010 Acura TL
  By J. Matheson - October 27 - 2:00 am

  This is my 9th TL since 1999 and this is without question the best performing model of all so far. The 3.7 motor is smooth and powerful and gas mileage is respectable when driven with some restraint. While I prefered the exterior styling of the 04 - 08 model, the interior design and materials are excellent and make for an extremely comfortable driving experience, and the sound system is icing on the cake. The SH-AWD works very well and should provide and extra level of confidence this coming winter.

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  Good value - 2011 Acura RDX
  By jps1010 - October 26 - 2:00 am

  After considering a number of different vehicles I finally narrowed it down to the RDX, the Nissan Murano and the Audi Q5. I thought the Audi was the nicest of the trio but the price and the long term reliability concerned me. The Murano was also very nice, however, I have heard there have been numerous problems with the CVT transmission. I believe the Acura gave me the best bang for the buck due to their proven reliability, 4 year warranty and convenience of getting a loaner in case anything significant is wrong with the car.

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  Basically very reliable - 1997 Acura RL
  By Brad Gardner - October 25 - 2:00 am

  Bought the car at 29,000 miles and now have 144,000 miles. The only problems have been both back window motors, front struts went out at about 85,000, rear struts are also out. Now, i have a broken motor mount somehow to the tune of $725.00. I have really enjoyed the car, though it does have poor cornering manners. Recommend replacing the timing belt as called for in the manual.

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  Head gasket blown twice in 4 years - 1995 Acura Legend
  By Doberman - October 24 - 2:00 am

  I bought the car in 2006 when its mileage was 136K. The car had a sensor failure right after I bought it. The dealer was willing to fix it with free labor only. The car just turned 200K. In the past 4 years of ownership, I had replaced head gaskets twice, spending $2K+ each, replaced a control circuit board that failure caused a cable connector melted down. This year the left side ball joint broke and broke the ABS sensor as well. These could have been prevented if I was cautious about the noise I heard while driving the car. Last week, the car was hit at a spot between 2 doors on driver side by a truck. It is a total loss........