opened my trunk up the other day and found a nice hidden rust spot under the lip below the emblem:


this is in addition to the chips and dents in my hood from rocks on the highway:


and on the side:


At what point am i able to go to the dealer and convince him that there is a problem with my paint job!?

 

Shit! Those are huge!!

Maybe having a black car is not so bad after all...

Hey, it doesn't cost anything to try. Visit the dealer, tell him this is the last Acura you'll ever buy if he doesn't fix your car, and see what he says.

You do need to get it fixed, though. Those are big chunks of paint missing.

 

How old is your car?

Those are pretty big, but yknow, if its more than a year old, that's kind of a sh*t happens deal. Invest in some touch up paint.

The trunk lip sucks though. Did it bang down on something?

 

ouch those suck...shouldnt these be covered under the Rust Warranty? at least the trunk one

 

Definately the trunk....as far as the hood and the side i doubt it.

 

Wow...and I thought my paint chips were bad.. Your dealer should take care of that rust...not sure about the paint chipping (as mentioned..won't hurt to ask)

 

Yeah i tried to get the dealer to fix the chips. He said he would fix the various chips on the front and side for something arround $80. But the hood would not be fixed. I would have to take it to Auto Body shop.

The trunk is something i only recently noticed. But i never did anything to cause it.

It is all very frustrating. There goes my tax refund :'(

 

how is he going to fix it? just apply touch up paint? if so you can save urself some $$ and do it urself

 

Read your warranty book, you have 3 years unlimited mileage coverage for surface rust. You are entitled to getting it repaired under warranty.

 

so the trunk should be no problem but i won't be able to get them to fix chips (and dents) from rocks

right?

 

I bought my TSX is late March. I have a had to use a local company to fix the stone chips. The care has ver fragile paint.

 

Wow...that sucks. How long did those of you who've had chips have your cars before the chips began to appear? I've been lurking on this forum for some time now, and I recall reading something about the paint needing to continue to dry for a couple of months after getting the car from the dealer, because the cars were basically coming from the factory, spending a day at the dealer, and then going home with customers. The person who said this claimed that with other cars that stay at the dealer longer, the paint could continue to dry or set while the car was on the lot. Is there any validity to this? I'm hoping so, because I haven't had any chips yet (knock on wood), and I've had my car since March. Hopefully, this guy was correct, and my paint has gotten to a point that it won't be quite so fragile. Thanks, and sorry if this is a stupid question.

 

I also read this post a while back. This seems to contradict what I've read about paint curing on other forums(www.meguiarsonline.com) From what I've read, paint on new cars is cured properly before the cars are sold. This is because the paint fired at higher temps before the car is assembled. Don'
t know if this is acurate, just another opinion.

 

some of you guys might want to invest in a clear bra. www.xpel.com i have one and i dont have to worry about rock chips, love bugs, etc

 

That is true but I don't think it covers rust resulting from stone chips...as it was mentioned before, that's kind of a "sh*t happens" occurence.

As far as the problem on the trunk can you get a better picture? It's kind of hard to tell what I'm looking at. Also, are those marks/scratches on the bottom of the emblem? Or is that the reflection of something else? (Did someone try to swipe your emblem?)

 

Honestly your paint doesn't look too bad most new cars do this. As the factories get newer and more high tech they are able to spray less and less paint to cover the car.

This isn't to save money but actually to reduce enviromental concerns on emmissions from the factory. Honda being very green when it comes to mfg. just has some of the thinest paint.

My Honda Accord when new had lots of chips like that before I had the front clip repainted. If you apply touch up or lots of wax they won't rust thanks to the metal being galva dipped before paint.

As for the rust on the trunk, that's the first I've ever seen of this on a new Honda. Is it missing paint or just surface rust in the seam that a good clay bar and touch up paint can cure?

 

Sorry about the picture, its the only one out of about 5 that the camera focused at all. I can try again soon.

Under the emblem is just reflection. not marks. Man you have to be some kind of weirdo to want to steal an emblem.

 

you are happy with the look ? how visible is the bra ?

 

You must not know anything about car paint.

 

Actually, it's quite common...I had the "H" stolen off the front of my Honda Civic. It ended up costing me about 30 bucks to get a new one. In talking to the folks at the Honda dealership here, it apparently happens on an almost weekly basis.

As Superintendent Chalmers would say, "It has to have the 'H'...that's how you tell it's a Honda!"

 

Well some jackass tried to rip off the "A" emblem off of the front grille of my TSX. Of course, it's screwed in and half of the emblem snapped off and I guess the guy gave up at that point. It cost me $34CDN for a new emblem, which I'm not installing until I get my new plates. The guy at the dealership said the exact same thing - that it happens all the time.

 

Wow..that's the first time I've ever heard of people stealing front emblems... I had a friend who had an old caddy with a hood ornament...he basically wired that chain to his horn..so if you bumped the ornament...the horn went off.

 

I thought they left that Tread back in the 80's you know like "Flava Flav"BOOOYYYYYY!!!

 

Sorry to see, those are really big! :'(

That's the thing I most fear of...I doubt your dealer will fix it for you under warranty. I think they will say sure, we will fix it and just put some touch up paint on it...that's what my dealer did to my last car... :sqnteek:

 

Same problem. I'm driving around with half an "A" now.

 

You can thank the tree huggers for the weak paint everyone is putting on cars these days.

 

Amen to that! "Environmentally friendly" paint is mutualy exclusive to durable paint. So long as the paint they use is keeping the EPA and Greenpeace happy, enthusiasts who like their cars looking good and able to withstand a little abuse will never matter. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, can lobby politicians and fake scientific studies like the environmentalists.

By the same token, though, can the chemical engineers of this world seriously not find a relatively cheap, durable paint without that precious, preceious lead? Auto manufacturers managed (with difficulty) to deal with unleaded fuel. Why not unleaded paint? My guess is that they figure it's not worth it, as most people only keep their vehicles a short time, and used car buyers don't typically get all uptight about stone chips on a used car. Not to mention, we've all just come to accept it. And really, what are we all going to do, stop buying cars until a durable replacement is found?? Ha! We can't even drive less to use less gas to stick it to OPEC. There's no way to stick it to the manufacturers.

 

I cant believe how huge some of those chips are. I am very sorry man!

 

what kind of touch up paint? where can i get it? obviously the dealer is going to be more expensive.

 

Dealer touch up paint is cheap to free.

I have Acura San Marino Red Touch up paint for my Accord (same color as honda)
I think I paid a total of 6bucks for the paint--wow how pricey is that?

TSX is a $26k+ car, the touch up paint is .0003% the price of the car.

 

Unless your clear bra covers the entire bumper, grill, hood, front fenders and the front doors (about as far back as the mirrors), you still need to worry...

 

Wow, the more the car cost the more the Bra costs?

2002 Accord kit is 300ish, TSX kit is 440ish? Not counting labor.

500 bucks could get you a repainted hood and front bumper 2years down the road, about the same time the clear bra will start looking nasty and need reapplied.

Plus the repaint will fix the chips that happen around the wiper blade and middle of the hood too.

I think I'd much rather apply touch up paint, I can buff and polish touch up paint with Zaino.

 

welcome to acura paint

it gets everyone evenutally... we CL guys noticed this back in 2001

 

yeah you can also clear bra the entire car if you want

honestly i dont think you need to go that extreme, i just have front bumper, side mirrors, front lip, and 1/3 of the hood and its fine...no chips or rust yet *knock on wood*

honda/acura paint has always been like this, my lude had the same problem thats why i got the clear bra ASAP

 

I found out about the clear bra too late...but I also have quite a few chips outside of where the clear bra would've covered (hood & fender) :'(
I'll have to go the repainting route..

 

How much would a new hood / bumper / side floor panel / side mirror housing cost?

 

A lot more than covering the areas with clear bra material for sure. Acura probabley doesnt have enough parts in the system to have a reasonable price yet.

 

covering scratches, chips, dents, and rust spots really won't help too much. Once these problems are fixed, then a car bra might be a good idea to prevent future problems.

 

Took the car to the dealer again. This time the Honda parts and service rep Acura devision guy was there and checked it out. (it being the rusty trunk)

He'll get back to me soon (yeah right) but he said it will be made right. which is good.

 

yeah, my brother had his emblem stolen too. probably by some teenage jackasses. the little shits used a screwdriver and made a 1 inch long scratch.

i swear, i catch any of 'em, imah beat 'em like i was their daddy. then i'll take their lunch money and buy myself a new one.