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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  1 Year Review - 2006 Acura TL
  By Car Man - November 4 - 3:43 pm

  After owning only European cars for the past 10 years (Audi, BMW, MB) I decided to give the Acura TL a chance. Although I was impressed by the lower cost, Ive realized that the extra cost goes into the details. After about a year of ownership, Ive noticed that the TL just cant match the attention to detail, high-speed performance, and material quality of German competitors (e.g., interior materials, ambient lighting inside, intelligent design in small details, etc.) I think every manfacturer has a competency, and the TL is relatively comfortable, luxurious, and performs relatively well, but doesnt excel like those offered by Euro car makers.

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  What constructive criticism can I find? - 2003 Acura MDX
  By djcurrie32 - October 27 - 10:00 am

  The Acura MDX is second to none in this price range for a luxury SUV, Acura has always fitted its vehicles with standard options that would be a la carte on most luxury lines, example heated seats, sunroof, memory seats, 6 disc CD changer, rain sensing wipers, rear view camera etc...After extensive research and with the fold down third seat this was the vehicle for my family, it rides smooth, great acceleration and handling, outstanding exterior styling..

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  You get what you pay for... not here! - 2006 Acura TL
  By TL06 - October 27 - 9:58 am

  My better half needed a new vehicle. She didnt want to spend over 30K. My only condition was that it have a Nav system. After looking around and pricing everything out there, nothing could beat the value vs price of the TL. Even if purchased at MSRP you are getting a great vehicle with tons of great features.

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  Its Only A Car! - 2006 Acura TL
  By Carlos A. Lopez - October 25 - 7:20 pm

  Nice to drive and own but fuel economy for heavy footed people like me doesnt go too well with this car! V6 is great but you pay for what you get. Overall good, quality vehicle.

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  CL-S - Great to me - 2001 Acura CL
  By cl in mn - October 23 - 9:12 pm

  I bought my CL-S w/Nav early (May 00) - and enjoyed having a car that wasnt too common,yet a real sleeper in performance (can run with some fast cars). I never had the transmission replaced that seemed so common - but watching it close (Acura stepped up and extended warr for all to 7 yrs/100K - a stand-up thing to do for a car company). The rest of the cars quality has been great - literally nothing has gone wrong. Had a squeaky sunroof and rear cargo lid - but both were fixed early in the cars life. I still ENJOY driving this car 6 1/2 years later.

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  Good, but not perfect - 2006 Acura TL
  By evo34 - October 20 - 3:24 pm

  See pros and cons below...

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  Too many front suspension problems! - 2014 Acura RDX
  By Vern Boyce - October 20 - 2:23 am

  Weve owned Honda vehicles for over 20 years. MOST impressed with every one - with the exception of our RDX. We absolutely loved the car when we first saw it on the dealership lot. Never having had any major issues with the previous Honda vehicles weve owned(2 Accords and 3 CRVs), we thought wed add a "touch of class" in vehicle ownership. We purchased our RDX about 2 and a half years ago, and now have doubts in our decision. MOST disappointed in that we have had one issue and then another. Our most serious complaints are that with the front end suspension!! As mentioned, in a little over 2 years, we just had our third front end strut replaced. And trust me, being a senior citizen and ex-police officer, were NOT ones to abuse our vehicles in any way nor neglect what need be. As I say, other than that, its a Honda. We love the handling, style, economy and performance. The last time we brought our RDX in for strut replacement, the dealership shared our views on our frustration and disappointment, but sadly, thats the way it goes sometimes. Therefore, now that we have our car back home and cleaned up, well be trading it in - for a Buick. No longer bothering with Honda. Again, its too bad for us as we have thoroughly enjoyed MANY Honda cars and other Honda-made products(Honda Shadow motorcycle, boat motor and two 4-wheelers) but will no longer deal with the company. Calling customer satisfaction made NO difference - other than "lending an ear". Oh well, thats the way it goes sometimes.......

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  Nice ride, poor shift - 2017 Acura RDX
  By Ed Lee - October 19 - 12:07 am

  It isnt the Lexus ride that I traded,. Then again, it was $12K less expensive. Life is a series of tradeoffs and this was one. The transmission shift is clunky. I expected much better gas mileage but the around town is a Killer. Looks good, easy to get around in and park. When you get out of either side, your foot hits the threshold and it gets dirty and stained really fast. Mine is a light color and looks nasty already

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  Fun SUV, but gas milage could be better - 2007 Acura RDX
  By rskdsk - October 17 - 3:26 pm

  It is really to early to tell alot, however my first tank of gas seem to yield me only 13.5MPG ... and I did not dog the SUV. This may be because the engine needs to break in, but with my last acura (MDX) getting poor gas milage, I am starting to see a trend. This vehicle is very confortable and the handeling is great (for a SUV). The exterior could be better, but still very nice. I paid just over sticker ($150) ... not bad so far. The brakes seem a bit weak, but again they may need to seat and the intial take off torque is nonexisitant, but once the turbo spools, it has a good punch.

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  Excellent Value Near Luxury/Sport Sedan - 2006 Acura TL
  By Allen D. - October 17 - 8:09 am

  I shopped several cars within the luxury and near luxury class. I can break the survey down four ways: Price Dependent, Price Independent, Performance Real World and Performance All Out: Price Dependent: Excellent Price Independent: Very Good Performance Real World: Excellent Performance All Out: Very Good Roll in resale value and maintenence, and the TL should be a "must drive" for anyone shopping in this class.