slo007

If you are shopping for a TSX (great choice!), here are reasons why not to purchase a black one. These are based on my personal experience during 10,500 miles (16.800 km).

Some might consider it nitpicking, but they are annoying enough for me to write them down...


Acids in bird droppings destroy the paint's clear coat. This happens to all colors, but is very noticeable on a black TSX. I found the following mark after cleaning up poop that was on the car for only three days. It will require a professional detail to clear it up. There are other, smaller ones, in other places.



I got to this one in time, but the clean up marked the paint. It wouldn't show so much, if at all, in another color.



Even fine scratches are easy to see. The following are on top of my trunk. At first, I thought a friend put a bag on the trunk; but I see more and more of these with time, and I never put anything on it. Wonder where they come from...





I always open the door with my free hand (no keys), yet the paint behind the door handle is substantially marked. This is a bit annoying because I see it every time I open the door.



If you live in an area with sprinklers and hard water, water stains are very visible, too.



I washed the car yesterday, and the dust is taking over already.



There were dead bugs abound on the front of the car, but I was able to clear those off yesterday.

In conclusion, I recommend against purchasing a black TSX. You might consider the Carbon Gray instead.


Next up: possible reasons why you would want to purchase a black TSX.

KingV

Fou can fix all of that stuff yourself. It's a bit of work, I'd say 5-12 hours depending how good of a job you want to do but definitely possible, if you're interested in advice. You can get that car back to like new. I, a number of other people on this forum, or autopia.org can set you on the right track if you're interested. The initial investment will be a couple hundred $, but you'll save tons of money over time as opposed to paying for a professional detail.

slo007

I've been studying the products and tools needed to fix it up. I park my car outside and birds are everywhere in SLO. Since I can't have it detailed every month (only got it once: a "freebie" after an accident), I'll have to figure out a way to maintain it clean.

I'm always open to new ideas. What would you suggest to buff out that acid mark? And those mysterious scratches?

KingV

http://www.detailersparadise.com/_Sy...ductDetail.asp

Above is the deluxe polishing bundle from detailer's paradise. It includes basically everything you need to fix the swirl marks (mysterious scratches) and the etching in the clearcoat from the bird crap. You may be able to find all of that equipment cheaper, but I like detailer's paradise because it's just a guy and his wife that run the store, so if you call you literally can talk to the owner, who consequently will give you good advice on detailing if you ask. If you say you're a roadfly member you get an additional 10% off as well. I think there's a space to write comments stating such on the order form page.

I'll write more about the swirl marks later, gotta go eat right now.

majormojo

Before the TSX, I drove a black car for 12 yrs. Everything you point out is accurate. Black looks good for about 20 mins after washing, the rest of the time it's just plain work to keep it looking good.

One thing you could do for the scratching inside the door handle is to put some of that 3M Stoneguard film ("ClearBra") material in there to keep the paint from getting damaged. It's a bit of a challenge to get into that area, but might be worth it if those scratches really bug you.

NocturnalEvo

Yea i got those same problems w/my NBP TSX.. and I did w/my NBP 2000 Accord too..

But wat really gets to me is that how those scratches behind the door handle get there, because i always make sure not to hit the door w/my fingers or anything, and no1 else does either.. yet their still there...

KingV

Do you maybe wear a class ring or something, or have a wife or fiance, or girlfriend with an engagement ring or something similar? The door scratches are kind of a mystery to me too.

The rest of the swirl marks are basically inavoidable. You can lessen how quickly you add them by using a lambskin wash mitt, plenty of good quality car soap, and periodically rinsing the mitt to keep dirt off. About every 6 months, I get out the Porter Cable and polish using the einszett polishes. This does a pretty good job of removing swirl marks. A lot of people are scared to use a machine polisher, but it's really pretty easy and I've never had a problem. It is time consuming though.

I also carry a bottle of Quick detailer and a microfiber in my trunk to wipe off bird bombs as soon as I see them. It's a pain in the ass, but again, it's either a pain in the ass now or a bigger pain in the ass later. A good quality protectant will maximize the amount of time it takes for bird bombs to etch into the clearcoat.

tony4311

eh it's a black car. It's to be expected

Mokos23

i can tell you that my folks had a black I35 before they bought their G35 and it was hard to keep clean that black.

there were lots of swirls just like those pics you posted. also i had to use a california duster to keep my folks car clean cause it was a dust magnet.

that's why my folks told me never to buy a black car ever again and i know i won't. carbon grey is the darkest i'll ever buy in a car. like i've said many times before, i wish Acura put out a graphite gray color like the old TL and anarchite color on the current TL has.

i can tell you a plus is that if you wax black, dang, you'll attract a lot of attention from other drivers and it looks more expensive when you buy a black colored color on the TSX compared to silver.

no matter how many times you wax a silver colored car, it will never give an awesome shine.

NocturnalEvo

yea its the way a black car looks after being freshly waxed, which made me get the blak color

AJB_RENAMED

Black cars (IMO) are the best looking cars on the road, as long as they are taken care of and cleaned. I've never seen a better looking color than black when it's clean. (When it's clean being the keyword here!)

slo007: I would consider purchasing a orbital buffer to remove the swirl marks and bird crap. The Porter Cable is an excellent choice. For what you would spend on having the car detailed you can purchase the buffer.

As for it being a dust magnet, you're 100% correct. But I've found that using Meguiars NXT next generation car wash helps. In the South we're in the middle of pollen season, yet my car is not showing it too bad right now since I switched to the NXT wash. Check it out, good stuff!

I've always owned black cars. I wax/buff my car every 3 months. It's just a way of life if you want to own a black car.

Your car can be easily cleaned up and look almost new again. You're going to have to spend about $200 (The buffer alone is going to cost you $125 to $135).

James

same goes for Carbon Grey buddy.....

sauceman

Same here, and I now absolutely refuse to buy a black car.

fdl

Reason #1: hides tar.

I had a hell of a time with drops of black tar all over my SSM TSX. Some were tiny and I would never have noticed with black, but with silver i could see every miniscule dot.


Black is a pain for sure. But for those 5 minutes its clean...wow does it look good!

KingV

Any dark colored car will take lots of maintenance. Black, Carbon Grey, a dark blue, that popular dark green on Jetta's, etc. Anything you can clearly see your reflection in will be difficult to keep looking awesome. IMO, it's more than worth the effort. I spend probably 2-3 hours a week on my car, on average. Most weeks this is just a wash, a quick detail, and an interior touch up. I'd say my car looks better than the day it came off the lot, all things told.

Santa Rosa Steve

I've had my black car (everyone should have one), so I know enough to not go there again. My CGP requires more attention than my former Iced Teal Pearl CL, but it is still way easier to keep clean-looking than any black car... the dust blends in with the gray better, and even after a storm it still looks presentable. Try that with a black car.

Santa Rosa Steve

slo007

None of the above. It's a complete mystery.

I'll look into the Porter Cable model. I've always been a fanatic about keeping my car clean, so spending a few more hours on it doesn't sound bad at all. I already spend around 3+ hours cleaning the car every 2-3 weeks.

After the shower, this weekend... very glossy and spiffy!

KingV

I'm guessing you can polish out those door scratches, but chances are the handles will need to be removed to really get to them. It's probably not worth the effort. Some protectants have filler properties, like Meguiar's NXT Tech wax. My roommates dark blue miata is moderately swirled after he had some body work done and the body shop took the rotor to his car. The Tech wax seemed to make a respectable difference. It's not perfect, but definitely a noticeable improvement. I would still recommend polishing the car with the Porter Cable first to remove the swirls elsewhere, but it may make enough of a difference under the handles that it's not too noticeable.

KingV

BTW, it looks damn good in that picture.

tony4311

I think the marks behind the handle come from finger nails. It's the only thing I've ever been able to figure out. Does someone that drives the car besides you have long fingernails?

None of my cars have ever had those marks but everyone my mom's had has them. She has long fingernails....

KingV

Crazy to think that fingernails could scratch the paint that much. What products do you use as a protectant? Maybe the wax/polymer you're using isn't hard enough to protect from fingernail marks?

tony4311

I agree but it's the only thing I can think of. What else regularly gets under the door handles? I just can't think of any other possibilities.

I don't have any on my cars its just my parents.

slo007

My parents take the car out when I stay at their place. Their $42K A6 can't compete with mine... And my mom does have a ring or two. But that's a lot of scratches on that door for 6 or 8 drives.

I think cars should have a different material behind door handles, like the plastic material between the doors... people hold on to that while opening the driver's door and it doesn't get scratched.

moTorSX

tc86

man..i am DEFINITELY starting to have second thoughts on whether or not i should get the NBP. now i am considering SSM and CGP much more seriously.

slo007

SSM will be very easy to keep clean. I almost wish I got one... the dealer offered me $500 off, in addition to the negotiated $1K, to take the SSM he had in stock; but I wanted a CG or NBP... so he had to trade that in for mine (at his cost). Oh well! NBP it is for another 4 years...

7or8

I have a NBP TSX. My last car was an NBP Accord. I decided to stick with black because it looks more aggressive than the other colors IMO. Yeah it's work,....but chicks dig the car