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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  Blue Beauty - 2003 Acura MDX
  By KauaiMDX - April 11 - 10:00 am

  I really like this vehicle alot. There have been a few annoyances - the largest with the service department I have visited twice. This SUV is very comfortable to drive, has great heating and AC. It handles very well for a SUV.

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  Great Va,lue - 2003 Acura TL
  By joycie - April 11 - 10:00 am

  This car is a great value. The ride is smoothe, the pick up is superb, and it feels very luxurious to drive. Steering is easy and the comfortability of the seats and ride is a big plus.

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  Very good car - 2003 Acura TL
  By BennyJet - April 5 - 10:00 am

  Very good car for money you spend. I really love to drive it

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  2004 TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By Dialdave - April 5 - 10:00 am

  Fun to drive, obvious quality, intuitive instrumentation; A real head turner thats bound to evolve into a world class vehicle. The bluetooth works great with my Sony Ericsson cel phone and the XM stereo sounds awsomely superb! Its fun to step into the car every time! Handling is good, although not as good as the BMW 5 Series which costs 18-20 grand more.

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  the new tl - 2004 Acura TL
  By chuckieTL - April 5 - 10:00 am

  I purchased this car on the release date and have been extremely happy. It is beautiful with lines that draw alot of attention (especially TL drivers) It handles great and has so much technology and options you have study so you dont miss them. The surround sound is fantastic and the voice commands with the bluetooth make it very functional. I am very glad i got this car as I looked at BMW, Mercedes, Infiniti, Lexus, and several other cars and I believe it is by far the best

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  Superb Car - 2008 Acura TL
  By Rich - March 31 - 3:10 am

  This is my first Acura; I came from owning Toyotas and Hondas (a minivan from each). One thing I loved about the Acura (and the Honda I have owned) is that they dont nickel and dime you on options; the car simply has what you want on it standard from the factory.

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  Expensive Name with Basic Entertainment - 2016 Acura ILX
  By Monica - March 31 - 1:11 am

  Very disappointed in the hands-free system when in actuality its Hands-On. You can only dial numbers that are stored in your speed dial other than that you are having to use your phone to dial numbers. While driving your phone book and dialing is not accessible which is the reason why you need these options accessible to you while driving so that it can be hands-free. I feel as though for this car to cost so much that I paid for a basic Ford Focus entertainment system on the inside of it. This car doesnt have a dial pad to dial a number you have to roll the button and push the numbers which is Hands-On. The technology in this car doesnt make sense and is not a safety feature as they say it should be. I feel as though for this car to be as expensive as it is that this Siri radio should have come along with it. But no its a basic radio station with speakers that are not loud at all and theres no touchscreen to do anything. This is by far the worst car Ive bought and wish I would have kept my Hyundai Elantra which features on the inside were so much better than this Acura and I paid 10 - 15 G less. Ive contacted Acura numerous of times with only to be told that this will go in a file for my complaints. I sure wish they would give me another car with the features that are basic in other cars or buy this one back. This is a $30,000 car and I am so disappointed in it . I advised them that I would sell them this car back in a heartbeat and now Im stuck with an expensive car with basic features and a High car payment. So definitely think twice about buying the ILX because you will really be disappointed in the features that they offer you in such an expensive body. Review: nothing has changed for the better. No room in car and Ive almost received ticket due to having my phone in hand for trying to make a phone call because the Calling system in the car is poorly done. Ive call the company and they still have not tried to rectify my problem or even offer me a better car from my money. Their attitude is oh well. They may would have helped me If I was of political or entertainment status.

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  Great Car but lots of little problems - 2004 Acura TL
  By USCGMoose - March 30 - 2:00 am

  This car is usually awesome. It has great styling, is comfortable, & very respectable performance numbers. Plus its loaded w/ features for a great price. A couple things buyers should note: early build cars have lots of problems. Memory seats dont always work, check engine lights come on, & some people experience annoying vibrations.

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  Exceptional Vehicle for the money - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Ray 2000 - March 28 - 10:00 am

  Superb interior, fun to drive, drives like a car not a truck.

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  Survey - 2016 Acura ILX
  By Raul Ramon Nevarez - March 27 - 8:19 pm

  Complete style