Hi all!

Just picked up a new CL-S the other day and brought it home. Does anyone else have fit & finish problems with theirs? The car drives great, but there were 2 exterior problems I had.

The first was the hood. It looks like it's not straight. On the driver side, near the front windshield, you see that the hood is slightly higher than the fender. On the passenger side near the windshield, the lines don't flow together too nicely (hood looks just slightly further forward than the fender.

Last was the rear bumper. Where it meets the rear sides of the rear quarterpanels near the headlight, the bumper seems to be sticking out a bit. It's just not flush with the rest of the car and the tail-lights.

What's up with that? It can't be a manufactured in the US thing, is it? When I had my '98 GSR, the finish was flawless. Anybody else have this kind of problem with their CL? This kinda worries me. The dealer already tried to fix it and did in fact make it look better than it was. However, if I wanted to, they would send me to the local body shop to fix it (don't know if they will be bending metal or not) but I'm concerned that they may make it worse.

Let me know if any of you are experiencing this or noticed it about your cars.

Thanks! Other than that, the car is pretty sweet!

 

The hood is absolutely easy to fix! Observe that there are rubber stoppers that can be adjusted by turning clockwise/CCW to raise or lower your hood and it will be perfect. These stoppers are located very close to where your front headlights rest and another pair closer to the windshield.

Re: the rear bumper, I myself have not experienced this, so maybe others can lend their input.

 

My bumper is fine, so is the rest of my body. the hood was a little low but as Kavex said easy to fix. The only other thing is that the left muffler can, seems to be a little lower than the right! And my main concern is that the plastic pillar cover near the left side of the windshield fell off the day after I bought it! I just snapped it back on. the hardest thing was pulling the rubber seal over the cover! It comes loose once in a while, but i got the part on order. Other than that, I LOVE MY CAR!!!

 

My hood and bumper are fine. My passenger door is slightly out of allignment but not enough to worry about.

 

I'll try to adjust the height myself then if it's really that simple.

But how about if the hood looks like it is slightly further forward on one side? Is there a quick fix or do I need to unscrew something?

 

I know what your saying about the back quarter panel, but I dont think there is much you can do about it. I think its the way it was constructed, not a totally fluid side to back paneling. I also noticed that the left muffler hung a little lower, you should be able to get the dealer to check the hanger to make sure they are the same height. Good luck!

 

Mine did that after repeatly popping it off to run wires. You don't need a new one. All you need are the little clips. I got them at the dealer for $2. All you need are 3.

 

What happened to Honda/Acura build quality? Shoot, I'd take it back and ask for a new one!

 

I have a problem that is yet to be addressed concerning my hood. There is a faint kidney shaped stain about 9" X 3" that is on the Taffeta White finish. The problem is the car was "Tough Guarded" when I bought it. They will probably have to remove the material to get to the stain, then re-apply the "Tough Guard."

Now, as to misalignment problems. I had the same problem with another car I once had. It turned out that when the car was off loaded at the shipyard, it was damaged and then repaired before it got to the dealer. The dealer swore he didn't know. After further checking, I found this was common practice. Check it out.

 

My bumper cover sticks out a bit from the rear quarter and tailight as well. I am going to have the dealer look at it next time I take it in.

Hey, gsrblack, where you at in AZ?

 

I looked at the rubber pegs and they sit basically with two in the front and two in the mid area, but no rubber pegs at the back near the windshield. In anycase, I called up the dealer and will set an appointment to have them look it over again. I think they will be sending me over to the local body shop to fix it but I will tell them not to bend any metal. I also need them to touch up some paint on the bumper where the tail lights are (the area where water usually gets trapped) since it is peeling there.

I wonder if my car did ever get damaged there. Well, as long as they fix it right.

 

Hey thanks! wire for what? just curious

 

no fit and finish problems at all. As good, if not better than my old bimmer...

 

I'll take my car in this week and have the dealer (or the local body shop they send me to) pull off the bumper and hood and have them reattach those. Hopefully they are able to put it on straight. Also, I'll have them touch up the paint that is chipped on the rear bumper that is under the tail light.

Great car, but going through these little things is really annoying. Hopefully they don't screw up anything else or make the existing problems worse.

 

Radar detector, (2 times V1, & 8500) & then again for my alarm/remote start antenna.