get a bra...it helps, unless you're reading this...

 

If you want to protect your hood get a product called Clearmask. It is made by 3M and it protects your car from those chips. It costs about $400 but it is worth the money.

 

Ok, I'm going to take this chance to clear up some mis-conceptions I've read on here about paint jobs on cars.

For starters, I work in the industry. I design electrical controls, but I'm familar with the processes, and I've worked for most of the major companies (GM, Ford, DCX, Nissan, Honda, and Toyota)

No one uses multi-coat paint. They all use these steps:
1. Phosphate (cleans and prepares the metal)
2. E-coat (This is the tough grey layer that most people would call primer. It is adhered and drawn into the crevices with electric current)
3. Primer (there are typically a few colors of primer to be close to the final paint color)
4. Topcoat (This is the primary colred paint coat)
5. Clearcoat

The paint is dried in ovens after steps 2,3,and 5.

The industry is moving (slowly) toward water based paint. The Japanese companies tend to be doing this faster, but that's mostly because their plants are newer.

I would estimate that 1/3 cars made in North America have water based paint jobs. It sounds like the paint on the TSX is more prone to chipping than most. This could be a result of a number of things including the type of process, but that's certainly not the only thing.

 

I got a clear bra too on the whole front bumper, 18" of hood, rear view mirror and door handles. Its the best way to protect ur baby against those nasty rock chips. In six months, I have only one rock chip and no door handle scratches.

 

Well, someone is rite, its a permanent thing, you dont take the clear bra off. But even though if you do, it does not leave a mark. I had the 12" bra on my hood from my dealer when i bought it. I got it removed and got 18". but did not notice the change in the color when they took off the 12"

 

I have the same problem. Is there any type of wax or anything that can cover this up?

 

The clear bra is totally useless on an Acura car. The paint is so brittle, I have paint chips all the way up the front hood until the windshield. The clear bra covers only a small portion of the hood. There is just no point. At least without the clear bra the hood will look uniformly full of stone chips. That money spent on the clear bra could be more wisely used towards a repaint of the front hood in a year or two.

Also this EPA excuse is total and purely BS. It has nothing to do with them. This is the worst case of bad paint process (whatever they did wrong) I have ever seen in my life including 2006 imports and domestics. Other manufacture's RECENT paint is much, much better than this. They follow the EPA regs aswell.

 

TSX paint is indeed horrible and totally scratch prone. I have had a few cars also, very new I might add and NONE of them chipped anywhere near as easily as the TSX.

I got a deluxe extended ventureshield clear bra kit installed a few weeks ago, problem has been reduced greatly although this is an expensive solution.

A car that is as expensive as the tsx should have terrific multilayer paint, my 2004 Mazda had ZERO chips after 2 years. ZERO!!!! My TSX had 4 in 2 weeks. I never even thought about rock chips until I got the TSX.

I will post pics of the clear bra soon.

 

Clear bra is definitely not useless. My clear bra extends 24" up the hood line, and also covers the area between the windshield and the moonroof. All the other normals places are covered too, headlights, fogs, bumper, 1/3 of fenders, and side view mirrors.

 

I'd have likely gotten a clear bra if I'd known when the car was new how brittle the paint is. As it stands now, I, too, have about 1 million (that's an exaggeration) tiny little chip/specks on my hood that can't possibly all be from rocks. It's from sand and other road debris, and in one case the paint was marred (not chipped) by a bug. So there's not much use in putting a clear bra on a hood with 1 million (exaggeration for effect) little white specks on it. I'll probably eventually have the hood and bumper re-sprayed and THEN put a clear bra on.

I intend to keep the car a long time -- the paint is my sole complaint -- and it's unfortunate that Acura isn't more sensitive to how their cars will look in ten years. That kind of reputation, sooner or later, catches up with you, just like crappy longevity did with American cars for a couple decades. Word gets around.

 

any wax or treatment to remedy this?

 

I’ve had my CG TSX for 3+ years, 61k miles. The paint on the front ¼ of the car is chipped to heck. I mean even my old rust bucket of a Datsun (avatar) had less chipping. Sure, it was a rusted hulk by the time I got rid of it, but it didn’t chip like this. The paint on my 92 Accord w/ 124k miles held up better. Acura needs to correct this issue with the paint/clear coat. It’s way too fragile. It will definitely factor in my next vehicle purchase. Wish I knew better at the time, I would have gone with a lighter color and the clear bra.

 

The paint on the Tsx is crap! I've only had my car for about a week and I have about 5 paint chips already. I've put a little under 1000 miles on it. Also, the paint is very easily scratched. I guess I'm going to have to looking into getting a clear bra now..

 

Will applying many layers of polymer wax help?? I have a clearbra on my hood and there's a HUGE dent on it from a rock on the highway. Although the hood didn't chip because of the clearbra, the dent is surely there. It sucks. I see it every morning. But the rest of the car is holding up ok. So far, almost $3,000 miles with mostly city driving and parking.

 

ask paintless-dent remover.. see if they can fix the dent under the bra or not.. my clear bra installer gave me 4 year warranty for the bra

 

I'm a newbie and looking to protect my first big investment! I'll be keeping this car as long as I possibly can, so does anyone know: how does the clear bra affect the paint color fading over time? In other words, after a few years, is the front 1/3 of the hood going to be a deeper shade from uv protection from the bra while the rest of the car's color fades to a lighter shade?

 

anyone?

 

best thing i can think of is a clear bra.. i don't there's any wax out there thick enough to protect you from rock chips.

 

Car is great, but the paint SUCKS.

 

I don't see what's the complaint about. If you can afford a $28-30K car, I'm sure you can afford to get the clear bra install for about $500. Then you wouldn't ever have any problems.

 

Ummm, what about the rest of the car. The clear bra goes up not even half way up the hood. I have chips past that. The paint is very, very easily scratched every where else. Like you said its a $28-30k car, there is no excuse for this, NONE!!

 

Same here.

 

The paint on my TSX is great... At least I think it is. I have no chips on my car, and it's been a good 5-6 months now.

 

I thought the same thing, but in past 6 months or so, I've accumulated a ton of tiny little white nicks, mostly on the hood. There are a hundred or more reaching all the way up to the trailing edge of the hood. It looks truly awful, my dad and brother (RSX and Accord, respectively) both commented on it today.

I intend to contact Acura and find out what they might be prepared to do. I drive almost exclusively highway miles and don't drive behind rock trucks or sand trucks or anything like that. A car's paint should not have a hundred rock chips in the first 1-1/2 years of ownership. At this rate, the hood will be a mottled white-and-black after five years or so.

What's the point of buying premium marque that has a repuatation for mechanical longevity but will look like a beater in five years? If I can't stand looking at it by then I won't keep it, in which case I don't care how well-built it is.

The only remedy I can imagine is a complete respray of the hood, which by far looks worse than the bumper or front fenders. For comparison, my wife's 2001 Volvo XC70 has no rock chips on the hood -- not one -- and it has 96k miles and she pays no attention who she follows or how closely.

If Acura intends to play in the premium league, they need to bury this reputation two-year-old paint looks like that of a ten-year-old car. I've never seen anything like it.

 

Don't repaint your car if you don't need too. It kills the value of the car, I used to appraise cars at used car dealerships and if the car was painted, I would not hesitate to take at least 1,500 off the car - its the best indicator of an accident. As far as using the touch up paint, it protects against rust, but if you do it on the most tiny chips it will look worse. I suggest a good wash, dry and then touchup the larger ones. Then buy a good polymer sealant and polish the hood - it won't rust if you reapply every month. I think the paint is average - the C class Benz (potentially a car that's worse to drive than a Corolla) has far superior clear on it - but nothing beats the paint work that was put on my old 94 accord - wash her and she's smooth! Compare the TSX to the Impreza's peeling clearcoat and you'll see that were not that bad off.

 

I suppose an experienced appraiser can tell if a hood has been repainted. How can you tell? I'm going to just take some time each weekend and fill in the larger chips -- there are about 30 -- and put a couple coats of NXT on. People talk about a clear bra, but on my hood there are more chips further up the hood than down on the front, and the chips further up are small and hard to touch up but clearly visible with the white primer under black paint.

I wonder why they don't use black primer under black paint as a way to minimize the visibility of rock chips. People always talk about white cars hiding chips/scratches because the primer's white. Why is the primer white? I can't imagine the pigment in primer affects its primer properties.

 

[QUOTE=I intend to contact Acura and find out what they might be prepared to do. I drive almost exclusively highway miles and don't drive behind rock trucks or sand trucks or anything like that. A car's paint should not have a hundred rock chips in the first 1-1/2 years of ownership. At this rate, the hood will be a mottled white-and-black after five years or so.
QUOTE]

Let us know what Acura tells you. It would be interesting to see. I think though they might tell you to go F*$# yourself (not in so many words) and give you a song and dance about driving characteristics, etc. If enough of us call.... well, maybe not.

 

I talked to the service mgr at my local Acura dealer, nice guy and said he'd had a lot of complaints along the same lines as mine, not only TSXs but TLs and RLs. He said it boils down mainly to the water-based paint that they use, even on models still built in Japan as a nod to EPA. He told me to bring it by and he'll take a look at it and let me know what they can do. He was mostly apologetic and understanding -- I can work with that.

 

Ive owned my car for 2 years and it hurts me everything i wash/wax my car and the touch up paint jus isnt the same guys.. btw would it be worth it after geting those chips to put on the clear bra haha.. the worse is my front apec lip.. i might as well get a new from body kit..............

 

Don't expect to get much though. This is a problem that is endemic across the board with all makes and models. You'll hear the same bitching and moaning at any forum you visit about late model cars. The water-based paint is entirely to blame, but there is nothing we can do because this is the new method required of all vehicle manufacturers by the EPA.

 

oh well.. that sucks.

 

How does the EPA have regulatory authority for a car built in Japan...duh?

All Acuras have so-so paint jobs having lots of orange peal, only the RL has its primer coat hand sanded to minimize this effect.

 

I don't know the particulars, but the svc mgr confirmed what I've read which is that, even in Japan, they use water-based paints. Might be part of their green image, or to simplify their painting technologies across the company, or because it's cheaper -- whatever.

I'm expecting nothing except maybe sympathy from the svc mgr. If he does anything, it will be as a good-faith gesture and likely tied to having my bumper blemishes repaired at his shop. I'll keep you all informed in case something I try actually works . . .

 

Just because the car is made in Japan doesn't mean they get to skirt the US regulations. The car can still be prevented from reaching the consumer in the US if the company doesn't comply with the EPA regulation.

 

1.) How does the bra look like after being on for a few yrs? Those same rocks that would be chipping the paint should now be chipping the bra.

2.) How will installing the bra after already having chips make them appear? Does it hide them or magnify them?

 

Bmw uses 7 paint coats? Damn...

 

Wow... found this thread and I've got to say that I have the same thing too!

I had a HUGE chip in my hood in the first month of ownership but I just thought I was really unlucky... Now it's been 7 months and the amount of tiny chip all over the front lip and bumper are ridiculous

Makes sense that it's everyone and not just me

 

i jizzed on my hood and rubbed it on real good, that solved the problem.

 

I've come to the conclusion you can't buy an Acura outright. It's better to lease and give that oreo icecream looking front end right back to them. I will NEVER EVER buy an Acura again unless I lease.

I purchased my TSX outright, now I was looking for an Accord for the wife, I will definately will look elsewhere to another manufacturer. I cant justify spending all this $$$ on a vehicle that will look like complete crap in 1.5 years it just doesn't make sense.

I have had my car since March and I already put into the budget to repaint the front hood, bumper and front quarters after winter. Ths is completely rediculous. And that EPA bull doesn't fly with me. There are a lot of other manufacturers with wayyyy better paint. I know first hand. I look at my car the wrong way and the paint marres. I don't even bother washing my car anymore, it looks better dirty than clean. At least when dirty all those chips look like part of the dirt/dust.

I have owned only Hondas for almost 20 years and every year it gets worse and worse. Let me ask, how does small itty bitty bugs and road DUST get imbedded in the paint now? pleeeeeeaaasssse!!

I think we might have legal rights here giving the right resarch and homework on other manufacturers. I say class-action or at least threaten for one. I want my first 3 repaints for free. I can't even believe the way I'm talking, re-paints? A car should need to be repainted unless in an accident, this is a first for all of us.

I'm gonna CC this thread to Honda of Canada and Honda of America once it gets even bigger than it is. Can you guys even begin to imagine what our cars will look like after 5 years? It will be interesting and discusting to see. Keep it up Honda, we'll see what your name will be after 5 years when people look at Honda/Acura as rusted, stone chipped, scratched pieces of shit. Keep it up!!

 

i MUST SAY i HAVE AN 05' NBP AND IT HAS 24,000 ON IT..................., i GOT ATLEAST A HUNDRED CHIPS ON THE FRONT OF MY CAR, DEEP ONES TO TO THE METAL.........., REALLY IS A BUMMER...........,

BUT WHAT YA GONNA DO.........., GET IT REPAINTED WITH THE SAME CRAPPY PAINT. iM NOT CONVINCED THE CLEAR BRA IS THE WAY TO GO........., RATHER EXPENSIVE AND NOT TO CONVINCING......., IVE SEEN THEM IN PERSON AND STILL SEE IMPERFECTIONS AND CHIPS....... REMEMBER ITS THE WHOLE CAR THAT IS PAINTED WITH THIS PAINT......., CANT PUT A CLEAR BRA ON THE ENTIRE CAR.

MAYBE NEED TO LOOK INTO A PAINT JOB WITH NON-WATER BASED PAINT AT A GOOD PLACE...., AND THEN YOULL BE SET.