So I am a bit of a perfectionist. I've been taking my car every once or twice a month to my body shop guy just to get pieces repainted. Such as the trunk the quarter panel the doors the hood. Just from average wear and tear over the years the typical rock chips and what not. This past weekend I took it to get the trunk repainted and the headlights buffed out as well as the mirrors repainted. He always does amazing paint... I mean you cannot complain it's perfect...

With that being said I picked up the car pay them the money I also had to buy me a brand new Acura front grill and the actual a symbol. Upon taking it home today I let the paint finish showering so that I could wash it and have it all buffed out so it looks like showroom floor quality. I then noticed that when the lettering was placed back on it is not even the factory lettering and it's not even straight. Look at this .... how do you let somebody take this car home? Not to mention that the lining for the actual trunk lid was not even connected the correct way. I've already rescheduled an appointment for him to pull the lettering off and fix it. But in the meantime it's just pisses me off. The actual word Acura is not in the right location it is too far to the left and all the lettering is not the right size. They are different fonts and different brands. .....what a shame

 

 

If it wasn't your car, it would actually be pretty funny. I do agree, how can a professional return a car like that? It's just so obviously WRONG.

 

To be honest, the car would have never left the shop had it been mine. That is most definitely a disaster. Good luck getting that done right.

 

 

I sent him pictures. Honestly I had to run into a meeting that day and when I picked up the car I did not even think that someone would remove the letters. With all the cars that I have had all you do is pop a letter off and then paint it and it pops back in. I did not know that the Acura emblems come off one by one. I didn't even look at the straightness of the lettering. He's going to fix it and he told me he ordered all the correct letters and he apologizes. I took it to a huge Acura shop here I mean it wasn't like it was a rinky-dink place

 

That is truly horrific. I can't even imagine what was going through your painters mind to even let that leave his shop?????

 

You and me both bro

 

Not sure what the problem is... looks good to me!

 

 

So your only worried about letters? This is hardly a disaster. Is the paint work perfect if so then this is an easy fix, yes their QA sucks but just ensure they know the correct placement for all emblems. Just hope when they remove them they dont FUBAR the freshly painted surface.

I would suggest the person who removes them should NOT be the person that applied them. Jus saying

 

Very true, it could be alot worse

 

You need to have that shop order new emblems for all 3 - "Acura" "RL" and "SH-AWD". They will come with the super sticky tape already applied and be wrapped in a blue foam strip that allows you/the shop to re-apply perfectly, albeit in whatever location you want. Last summer, I had my trunk door repainted and they put the emblems in the wrong place but they did the first half right and ordered new ones. I still haven't re-applied the replacement ones but I might get around to doing that today in the spirit of this thread.

The replacements are no more than $20 apiece, so the shop shouldn't give you any hell. If they do, then its $50-$60 well spent on your own to never go back to that shop...

 

I mean, it could have been a lot worst. I hate to say I'm laughing at the fact that the shop thought this was acceptable to give the car back to you thinking you wouldn't notice. If it was my car I would be angry though lol.

 

probably shouldnt let this shop do the Skyline engine swap for you...

 

^they would probably put the 2.4 GM ecotec in from a Saturn Sky and be like "Looks good to me!!!"

 

That orange peel is far worse than the letter placement.

 

What do you mean? ...also he has to buff it this Saturday as well...idk if that will make a difference with what you're talking about

 

I dont see it either but yes if they are doing either a polish or wet sand that will generally remove orange peel. Orange peel is usually in the clear but can sometimes be in base coat, if its in the base coat your SOL and other than a repaint you cant fix it. The appearance makes the paint look wavy,bumpy and choppy like that of a peel on an orange.



Nice way to get post count up

 

at least contribute to the conversation, you dolt!

 

yeah he is going to buff it this weekend, the paint was too fresh to do it last weekend. Also all the lettering is re-ordered and will be done THANK GOD. I also ordered lettering because i was unsure if they were going to order them on time so I have an extra set of " ACURA" and "RL" and SH-AWD badges if anyone needs

 

I see where he is referring to now about the orange peel.

 

Also, it's not a good idea to paint your car, one piece at time. If you want it refreshed, refresh the whole thing. I know it's hard saving up that much allowance, but you can do it, man! I believe in you!!

 

Allowance? what are you talking about? I only had the trunk repainted because it was scratched due to tree damage along with the front left panel b/c of a shopping cart. I had the car re-painted about 6 months back.

 

And I quote:

 

yeah i did the truck, and the FL fender/hood part, im not doing the WHOLE car ( not that it matters, its my car and ill paint it one inch at a time if i want) ... but you don't need to sit here and TRY to act like I can't afford it,because i assure you I can, i only repair what NEEDS to be repaired, not what I want.

 

but anyways, he's going to finish the trunk buffing and fix the letters, i just wanted to share this with a fellow RL owner as a little laugh. Sucked at the time i noticed it but since it will be fixed, its all good now. This thread is over and done with. Thanks for all the helpful imput guys

 

Why?

 

my thought exactly but i didnt want to go back and forth....i guess he thinks I am some kid with a mcdonalds job trying my hardest to save money to paint my car or something( according to his allowance comment).... In all reality, its one of 4 cars I have that I picked up as a bargan value and want it to look good...and, as I drive it more, I realize how amazing and underestimated and unappreciated these cars are. I Actually put my 08 C300 in storage because I enjoy this car more lol. My fiance's mom has a TL and now I'm curious to actually ask her to drive that because of how the RL changed my thinking haha.

 

I was underwhelmed by the 3G TL I drove in 2010. I owned a '95 Legend and was seeking a 2G RL. The salesman thought it was out of my reach (age I'm sure) and figured the TL would better suit me. I drove both and was only reassured I had it right when I walked in. I told him to call me if he could find an '07 for less than $30k. He never contacted me again, and I flew/drove to Montgomery, AL to pickup Silver Fox for $26k.

tl;dr, the TL has the spirit of a great Honda and the panache of an Acura, but the Legend has refinement that isn't paralleled in any other Honda. That's why it's the flagship.

 

Very true very true. A lot of people tend to underestimate People based on the Edge versus their income. When a lot of the times now it is, I see it down here in Fort Lauderdale, the younger people have more money than the older people. I've got more friends that old Exotics then I have friends that don't. But as far as the Acura, a lot of people like to tell me that it's the same thing as a Honda Accord and they say how my car looks like a Honda Accord. I first ask them if they're blind and try to explain the difference which seems to go way over their head. Acura did a great job with this car... I mean the torque vectoring concept( sh-awd) was extremely Advanced for its time period

 

I have a 3G TLType S and am very happy with it albeit a very different car than the RL. Now the 4G I was definitely underwhelmed.

OP - when you get your car sanded/compounded/polished I'd be curious to see if your happy with the result

 

well, yeah! I suppose we(both you and I) were looking for something more sporty. I have a 6MT TL.
the RL is a boss of a car, but I wasnt looking for that at the time. I was looking for a 6MT V6 that was comparable to G35's...and I happened to land in a TL.

 

Correct!

But I was responding to 007 comment about being underwhelmed in a 3G TL. I should have asked why as I was not.

 

I have to admit the TL I drove was an automatic 3.2L, and I overlooked the Type-S with my post. I do believe the UA7 is the best looking sedan that Acura has ever made, and the idea of rowing gears in the Type-S is so much more desirable than the AT. I'm definitely not writing off the Type-S, but unless the OP's future MIL has one, my point still stands.

 

^hey dont smash my camaraderie with 08KBP!!!! lol

 

I keep coming back to at the letter placement..


When your looking for orange peel it's REALLY noticeable

 

 

I suppose some of us are a bit more discerning than others... when it comes to paint, you want the utmost consistency. If a shop is painting a piece of your car, ever 2 to 4 weeks, consistency will likely be compromised to some extent. There's no guarantee the same person is doing the prep work. Every person has different levels of what is considered acceptable- yes, even between professionals. Further, there's no guarantee the prep work being done is being done to the same caliber. Looking at what this shop did to his trunk, with the brutal badging and inconsistent orange peel, I'd be hesitant.

You also now have parts of the car that have perfect clear coat. It's an older black car, so there likely are swirls on the non-newly-painted pieces. It'll look like a patchwork quilt. OP is having the shop buff the trunk lid... so essentially they are cutting the clear coat down to make it look consistent. Clear coat is the only thing protecting your paint. Doing some minor cutting is ok, but with how the orange peel looked, he's going to have near nothing protecting his paint in certain spots.

Not everyone will notice it. I'm sure many would say it looks fantastic... but then there's those people who can spot stuff like this from a mile away.

 

In this case the car is a Honda and the Acura name is just a marketing switch. The car is a rebadged Honda LEGEND. Just as the TSX was the Euro Accord. And being designed as a Honda, is SHOULD have a family resemblance to the Accord. Acura has no engineering arm, only styling input. SHAWD was engineered for the Honda LEGEND, and only afterward did Acura market it for the Acura brand. In the current fleet, the TL, TLX, RDX and MDX are unique to Acura due to styling. The engineering is still Honda.