I recently bought an Acura TSX from a dealer (DEC 31 pick up).

2004
Black on Tan 6 Speed
73000km
On road date: Sept 2004

Now I was cleaning the car today and discovered RUST on the bottom of the driver door where it meets the rubber seat at the bottom of the door frame.

What should I do? What's the warranty?
Am I still covered under the 5/100,000km BODY Perforation part of the warranty?

I have their '125 point inspection sheet' and it was NOT declared, so I missed and they missed it.

Any advice would extremely helpful!!

 

You should have received the warranty info/maint. books/etc. when you bought the car. I would look in there to see what the warranty for rust is.

 

Took it to the dealer today, they took some photos and authorized my claim.
'Body Perforation' it was called.

 

Thats crazy I have never heard of rust on a 4 year old car.

 

Well, all 3 OTHER doors are rusting at the weld seems.... they did fix the driver door so they'll have to fix the rest!!! What a hassel!

 

I had a scratch chip size of a half of a dime as well on my CL when i bought it used. My door scratch was from opening it from parking lot concrete curbs on the bottom part of the door frame. I didn't notice it until i washed it and found only bare metal no rust of yet.
So i fixed it myself better then the dealer would. They will just cover over rusted or small scratches or in my case big chip of paint.
So what i did to correct the paint chip was to go to a body shop ask if they have some epoxy primer got two jars, for the mix of epoxy primer its pretty pricey to buy it alone. So he gave me at the body shop a few drops of the epoxy primer in the jars for free. Took it home preped the area with a light sanding cleaned the area, mixed the epoxy primer daped it with a small artist paint brush and let it dry. After a day i lightly sanded the dry durable primer and used the touchup paint you buy for scratches at auto stores, and now five years later no bubbles or rust whatsoever.
You gotta do the job correctly or in few years you will see the touch up paint a dealer may do quickly come to bubble up because they didn't prep the area just to cover the area for a few years before the warranty runs out.
Before i buy a used car i take a fridge thin magnet to see any body work done is done on the door panels quarter panel trunk, fenders and hood.
In a way i hate any touch up scratches covered up on the front hood or in my case around the gas cap, by the dealer because you never know if they did the job correctly. Also a good polish really hid a lot of scuffs on my drivers door panel.

 

Well I'll post some pictures in this thread when I get them hosted and show you guys. I am supprised that no one else has reported it.

 

 

Was your car ever had work done in the past that you know of? With the look to me it looks as bad painting was done to the car. Buying used with a non reported accident plus a cheap lazy body shop work equals what you may have on your hand.
Usually it takes five years before bubbling appears and rust shows after accident repairs. Many people have accidents rather then report it to insurance get a cheap repair done at body shop. Check see if any of your door panels have fibreglass filler on them with a magnet.

Its not to uncommon to see rust under perfectly good factory paint jobs. Seen at a shop awhile back a Pontiac Sunfire maybe 2 or 3 years old did some sanding on the qarter panel and it was all red with rust underneath. Go figure.

 

Nah man, it was a leased car through Acura Canada, no accidents actually. I don't think the previous guy every cleaned it. At least its covered under warranty but what a feaking hassel!

 

What dealer in town did you get it from? PM

 

Just because it was leased does not mean it was not in an accident. I not saying it was but some owners or leaser's do not report accidents so they do not show up on the reports.

 

my car actually had small rust spots on the inside of the trunk liner. i brought it to the dealer and they repainted it. at the time my car was only 1 year old. the rust wasn't as bad as yours it was just tiny little spots, looked kind of like surface rust.

 

Well I took it to the dealer today and they took some photos and will send them off to Honda Canada for approval, if they already fixed one, why wouldn't they fix the others!?!
I'll wait and see, I'm still within the 5 years anyhow.

 

Just an update.

I was at a dealership today and I looked at the doors on a Used 2004 TSX they had sitting there and it had the SAME RUST!!!

ALL 2004 OWNERS!!! CHECK YOUR DOORS!

 

No rust on my 04.

I don't think this is a widespread problem. Maybe these TSXs were kept outside and not cared for properly.

 

Glad to report no rust on my 04


THANK GOD !

 

The fact that he lives in Canada has a big part in it. I'm in MTL and with all the crap they use in the winter over here, no wonder all our cars are rusting. By the way, does anyone recommend doing an anti-rust treatment on their cars or is this just a waste of money?

 

I've often wondered if we in Canada should do that. I do know the dealer recommends it (well they recommend everything $$)

 

Damn that blows. Who ever did the check should be fired.

 

I don't have that on my '04 and it's seen 6 Ottawa winters now (shudder!). But, I do get it rustproofed at least every 2 years, if not annually, at Krown. I think it works very well and for $100 tax-in / year it's fairly cheap insurance against replacing even one body panel on my own dime. Not to mention the much fewer seized bolts I hope to encounter.

 

Wanted to buy a 2005 at a auto wholesaler around town auto 8000.
Looked at the rear door as your picture showed and the car had the same rust on all doors.
TL's of the same year have no rust. Is it because the tsx is japanese manufactured unlike the TL is made in ohio?

 

It's used, who knows in what condition it was kept or what happened to it.

 

Just checked new to me 2004 TSX 69,000 miles and doors are clean and no rust....glad I looked....Milano Red Basic...and loving it...
Also, new guy on the block....1st post....hope I don't sound too green...