Acura has an SUV for every size class, from the compact Acura ADX, to the Acura RDX crossover, to the three-row Acura MDX. While the Acura Integra may be the first car that comes to mind when you think of the brand, luxury SUVs form the automaker's backbone, with Acura building some of the more dependable – and some of the more affordable – luxury SUVs on the market today.Once upon a time, Acura had no representation on the SUV front whatsoever. The brand was established in 1986, but wouldn't have its own SUV until the mid-1990s, and it wasn't even an Acura original, but a rebadged Isuzu. Acura dropped this SUV at the end of the decade and never looked back, but it helped them to get a foot in the door of the SUV segment, and, if you can find one, you can have it for a song in 2026. A Look At The 1996 Acura SLX Bring a Trailer The Acura SLX debuted with a pair of V6 engine options, both naturally aspirated, both paired to a four-speed automatic transmission in all-wheel drive. The Isuzu Trooper was available with a manual transmission, but this was omitted as an option for the SLX.The Acura SLX was only ever sold in the US. That is, they didn't even get this SUV in Canada or Mexico. The SUV was built in Japan, by Isuzu, and shipped to the States with an Acura badge. This is comparable to the original Lexus, the LS 400, being built specifically for the American market, while Japanese buyers got the Toyota Celsior.Acura emphasized the "sophisticated new 4-wheel drive system" in its press release, noting the system's ability to switch between two- and four-wheel drive as necessary. The SUV's multiple drive modes (less common back then than they are today) included rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, and torque-on-demand all-wheel-drive for tricky situations and high-speed highway driving. Reviewers Didn't Hate The Acura SLX, But... Bring a Trailer Back in the mid-1990s, reviewers had measured praise for the luxurious cabin, which including optional heated leather seats and a power sunroof. They liked the capable acceleration and the versatile drive modes but were less enthused about the small, fidgety driver controls for features like the radio, and some reviewers noted that the steering wheel's bus-like positioning took some getting used to. Overall, a decent entry-level luxury SUV for the price.Unfortunately, the SUV's most notable review comes from Consumer Reports, which branded the 1996 model as "not acceptable" on American roads for its high risk of rollover (characteristic of SUVs at the time). CR subjected the Isuzu Trooper and the SLX both to the usual avoidance-maneuvering tests back in the mid-1990s, and found that the outside wheel had a tendency to leave the ground on sharp turns, which is just as terrifying as it sounds if you've never nearly tipped an SUV over.It's difficult to determine to exactly what extent a bad review ever has on a product, whether we're talking about a car, a movie, or a new fast food item that gets panned on the Report Of The Week YouTube channel. But, we can at least confirm that the CR review didn't help the SLX to make a good first impression on American buyers. Initial sales were underwhelming, and it only got worse from there, as the table, below, shows.So the SLX got off to a slow start, and it never really bounced back. By all appearances, it would seem that Acura's intention was to dip a toe in the SUV pool with a quick rebadging in order to explore the segment. The SLX might not have set the world on fire, and it's largely forgotten in the modern day, but Acura clearly learned the right lessons from the experiment, launching the Acura MDX, the brand's first in-house SUV, for the 2001 model year, and generally maintaining a strong presence in the SUV and crossover market ever since. What Will An Acura SLX Cost You In 2026? Bring a Trailer If you're not scared off by the Acura SLX's tendency to turn into a motorcycle around hard corners, putting two tires in the air like it's doing a water-skiing trick, the good news is that these SUVs are very affordable 30 years since their launch. The bad news is that they're pretty hard to find.Browsing the used car sites for an Acura SLX, in any condition, with any mileage, at any price, we turned up diddly squat, and we've only found one auction listing for the SLX, being a 1996 model with a 3.2-liter engine, selling for $11,250 in 2024 with 63,000 miles on the odometer. If you're a fan of obscure mid-1990s SUVs, that's a solid deal, and it's too bad someone else already scooped it up.The Acura SLX originally sold for a base MSRP of $33,900, which comes out to around $72,501 in 2026 dollars (hey, you don't have to tell us how bad inflation's got). Neither BMW nor Lexus had introduced a luxury SUV to the market around this time, and a price in the low-$30,000 range, while unmistakably premium, would have been more attractive than the $55,000 sticker price on a mid-size Range Rover. The Acura SLX Was Very Reliable Bring a Trailer If there aren't many instances of the Acura SLX on the road today, that has more to do with the car's age and poor sales numbers than it has to do with the car's survival rate. RepairPal estimates an annual maintenance cost of just $278, with the following accounting for the most expensive common fixes. Cylinder head replacement $4,596–$5,538 Steering gearbox replacement $2,904–$3,054 Wheel speed sensor replacement $685–$750 Engine coolant temperature sensor replacement $461–$528 Coolant change $395–$430 CarComplaints sees just one complaint across all four model years, being for beeping noises and failure to start in a 1996 SLX at 149,000 miles.That so few problems have been reported for the SLX can be attributed to both its scarcity and its dependability. After three decades on the road, you should expect any SUV to have developed a whole range of issues from malfunctioning door locks to windows that don't roll down and wiring that needs replacing. But, the SLX should have fewer major mechanical issues than most cars this age. An Early Acura MDX Is A Good Buy, Too Acura Chances are you're not going to find an Acura SLX for sale anytime soon. The Acura MDX, on the other hand, sold 40,950 units in its first model year, outselling its predecessor's entire four-year run in the first quarter of 2001 alone.Our marketplace shows several first-gen Acura MDXs available for purchase right now, including the following. A 181,601-mile 2001 base model is selling for $2,895 in Oregon. A 119,895-mile 2006 Touring model is selling for $5,990 in California. A 93,000-mile 2004 Touring model is selling for $7,995 in New York. A 173,308-mile 2004 Touring model is selling for $1,999 in Florida. A 158,481-mile 2006 Touring model is selling for $4,500 in New Jersey. It's not easy to find a low-mileage first-gen MDX, but the models ranging from 150,000–200,000 miles are at least priced appropriately. You've likely rented apartments that cost you more in a month than some of these listings, so you won't feel bad about driving these cars until the wheels fall off and selling them for their scrap value the first time something breaks.An Acura SLX is a pretty sweet find, if you can find one, for its dependability and its unique place in automotive history. But, an early Acura MDX is just as reliable, far more common, and less likely to roll over like a turtle when you hit a corner a little too hard.
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