Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Del Sols, Fits, Odysseys, Pilots, Passports, Preludes, Ridgelines, and S2000s. I’ve either driven them myself, or close family members and friends have. And while no automaker seems to build as well as they used to, Honda (notably) won a stronghold on its (albeit restricted) lane. Universally appealing, accessibly priced, high reliability ratings, convenient, practical…the list goes on. But a lane it is. And when drivers are ready to merge into the luxury space, Honda faithful probably think of Acura.

However, I’ll argue – may pointlessly, here, but humor me – that if you’ve driven a Honda for most of your driving tenure, and are looking for something of an upgrade, an Acura actually isn’t the next best thing.

Lexus is.

Hear me out:

When I think “Honda,” certain keywords come to mind

After decades of loitering in the car world, including hoofing back and forth through Manheim’s football field of an auction lot, I have to admit that I’ve formed, what at least I believe to be, well-earned opinions of various brands. I’m going to reduce my ponderings down as much as possible, here…

Ask me about Honda, and here’s what shows: Practical. Understated. Easy. Economical. 

No surprise, right?

Ask me about Acura, though, and here’s what surfaces: Heavy. Low. Stiff. Performance.

So, if you’re a Honda driver looking for a step “up,” consider what an upgrade truly means to you.

In my mind, Lexus means quiet, smooth, luxurious, and reliable performance

Case in point: We have two young kids and some nieces and nephews in the same age range. I felt it was best to swap our five-seater crossover for a three-row SUV. A used Acura MDX came up, and the price was right. It needed the timing belt service, but everything worked out selling my Range Rover and adopting the MDX.

A couple months in, though, and I have qualms. Compared to the Honda Pilot, it sure is stiffer and heavier. The transmission is jerky, too – a TSB to update the TCM needs to be done, I suspect. I’ll get to that soon. Hopefully. (Millennial working parent schedules…)

Anyway, it’s got plenty of space. The interior looks sharp.

But it’s just…missing something. And I might understand what it is, finally:

It’s not a Lexus.

This is not to say that Acura doesn’t have a very much justifiable fan base. I get it.

BUT: Every Lexus model I’ve driven had a more comfortable, higher-end ride than this MDX. And, I’ll point out, the Lexus models I’ve been in – ES sedans, RX crossovers, and an IS 250 sedan – were all much older.

And I’ll point out that most of the Honda drivers I know weren’t looking for stiff suspensions to corner better in organically formed street race scenarios, either. They’re just people looking to not go broke owning a car.

After working in a shop for years, I found that “performance” isn’t really all that important to most drivers, especially ones coming out of the “practical and cheap” zone. And now that my peers and I are about to be exiting our 30s (the horror), we’d probably prefer an even smoother, cushier ride. And for those shopping around, might I heartily suggest a Lexus.

They just feel so nice from an occupant experience standpoint. They’re also super reliable and not as expensive as, say, your European luxury cars like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, VW, or Audi.

I recently came across an old Reddit thread wherein, to my surprise, a commenter actually did exactly this move:

“After owning nothing but Hondas (prelude, 2 civics, 2 FITs and an HRV) I crossed over to the dark side and got a Lexus UX250h. Zero regrets.”

And if you’re committed to Honda for the long haul, more power to you. If you’re interested, you can read the whole thread about whether and which Hondas are even still reliable right here: