i have a 02 wdp tl-s... its been 11 or 10 months since we had this car... loved it so far and thought all the part of the car was very up to quality...

now winter is gone in my city and spring/summer is here...roads are being cleaned from all the rock and ****...

i was just out side lookin at the car in the sun and i notice freakin 5 paint chips!!!!!!... ive read alot of posts saying that acura paint was weak, and now im a victim... i dont even remember any big stones hitting the car, but there are few paint chips starting to peel on top of the gril and on the lower bumper...

what should i do? i dont wany my whole hood to peel by next year...

 

some ideas and suggestions would be appreciated...

 

Do you remember driving behind any salt truck or any truck for that matter?

I do agree that the paint Acura uses is very thin. You can try using the touch-up paint.

 

Solution is simple. Do the following steps.

1. Put your car in a garage.
2. Lock the garage.
3. Don't drive your car.



j/k, I feel for you man, but you won't be able to avoid those paint chips... just as long as you drive your car, you'll get those one by one. I guess the best thing you can do is install genuine Acura splash guards - they won't block all the rocks from scratching your paint, but they'll certainly help.

 

GET A FRONT NOSE MASK FOR THE FRONT OF YOUR CAR!!
Make sure to get the one made by honda though. All the other nose masks are cheap and have ghetto stiching... It will make your car look sweet and protect the entire front from annoying chips!!! I loved it on my honda accord and am getting one for the TL when I fix the front clip.

Anybody know how these fit with different body kits?? I usually perfer stock body but am growing a taste for a sportier sedan

BTW, this way you could still drive it instead of making your car waste away in some garage

 

The stock bra doesn't fit (according to Acura's website) when you have the underbody kit. Anyone know of a good quality 3rd party bra that will??

eCo

 

auto bras are turn offs...thats the only problem... i guess i can get xpel...

 

I'm surprised you didn't noice anything until now. How big are the chips - .25 CM dia, .5 CM? Let us know how you deal with this. Touch up or what.

I'm curious to hear comments on potential paint peeling from a small chip. My son's Pontiac has a large peel on the roof. I would be very disappointed if something like that started happening to this car. Is peeling more likely on the plastic vs the metal surfaces?

As for the bra, I have one, but only plan to use it on "long" trips. The dealer warned against long term use. They said sand and dirt would get under it and rub the paint - scratching it.

-------------------------------
03 TLS, NH Black on Parch, no MODs

 

Xpel or stoneguard, it works.

 

Yep Acura paint sucks. Of course ACURA and ACURA supporters will either say "our paint thickness meets industry specs" or "The EPA has mandated use of water-based paint" Both those answers still don't satisfy my complaint. I have a '01 4Runner that has black paint that holds up much better!

 

i don't think the paint is too much of an issue. every car I have owned has had its nicks on the paint...my 98 M3 had nicks, but you couldn't see it all that well because the paint was black...

my suburban gets them too....

however, my WDP does show even the smallest chip because, well, its white, and the chips are not white

very small rocks hitting any car at 80 miles an hour will chip most paint....

 

I didn't have any paint related problems with my WDP 2000 nor do I have any on my ABP 2002 -- and both of them are no stranger to litter-laden I-95.

 

You might wanna try this.

Stone Guard

Good Luck!!

 

thanx i should suggest this to my dad...

 

Be careful if you are going to use the factory bra for the front of your car. I just dropped my 2002 TL-S WDP off at Acura of South Florida for them to repain the bumper. I bought the car on November 29, 2001 and it has 3,000 miles and is always kept in the garage. The pain on the front bumper is peeling off where you insert the tab for the bra right below the headlight. I think the bumper was not finiashed properly from the factory because I did not leave the bra on the car for long periods of time. At least it is covered under warranty, hope the paint matches. Good Luck

 

I was considering a clear bra as well! Tell us how it goes if you do install it =)

 

TL...fellow calgarian...where do u live?

 

lilboykorea

reading up on u're paint problem i own a 2002 maxima se and over on the .org many people were also complaining about the poor quality of the paint...from what i understand it has to do with enviromental issues that made the paints thinner and not as durable

anywayz reading up on this I had got the 3M clear bra installed on the car once purchused and its protecting the paint just fine

you should give it some thought

i also live in calgary too
it'd be nice to hook up and just check out each others rides

 

Hey 2K255HP,

Which brand of the 3m clear bra do you have? Also, did you install it yourself? I just washed the car and I notice even more chips from the winter =(. Most of them are very light tho..like sratches on the paint. I'm considering xpel and I'm also considering installing it myself if it's not too difficult.

 

I'm shocked to hear that Acura of South Florida didn't deny you a warranty fix for some stupid reason. Did you have to fight with them to get this done?

 

2k255hp, nice to meet u, are u on abcars.net? and where did u get ur 3m thing done at? i want it done on my tl...

we should meet up sometime during the summer, once i turn 16 i get the tl-s for the summer since my moms going away overseas...

do u have msn or icq? plz contact me through email if u dont
lilboykorea@hotmail.com

 

TL : I didn't know that there were different brands...i always thought 3m was the brand

I am not exactly sure where it was done...see heres the situation....i purchused the car from sunridge nissan and many other family members have purchused cars there so we were very familiar with the staff...we talked with our salesman and we bargined for him to included the 3M bra for us

I will try to find out which company he went thru to do it later for you....i got the 3m installed on the front grille/bumper the mirros and about 10-15 cm upwards for the hood....i heard that it cost my salesman somewhere in the 400 range with install

IMO the process of installing it yourself maybe hard for some areas of the car say the mirrors and such for a lot of work is required. But with the company that installed my 3M they had poor workmanship and tried to cover up a huge long scratch on the driver side mirror etc etc

Thankfully the weather is improving and streets are getting cleaned....i was washing the car today and i found a chip near the upper part of the hood but nothing touch up paint coudn't fix but its still noticable........


lilboykorea: First off i'm not on abcars.net and the ans to where i got my 3m is up top.......for sure we'll meet up sometime during the summer...i'm in my first year of engineering and i'm actually off school now just getting rdy to finish off my final exams....i use icq mostly so 41366171 is my uin
i'll catch u later

 

kk thanx anyways i found out where i can get it done, its at 3m trimline tint shop...i'll add u to icq tomolo first thing.. pce out

 

Thanks for the info 2K255HP. I emailed xpel (they have the 3m stuff), and this is their reply:

If you want some installation assistance, I would call Shadow Tinting in Calgary at 403-235-3800. They have lots of experience at installations.

Regards,

Michael Mayall (mmayall@xpel.com)
Reflex Enterprises Technical Support
Voice (800)447-9928 x 201 Fax (210)342-8114
"Automotive Survival Products"

But Xpel is from the states...so shipping will cost additional $. I'll see if there's anything similar local first.

 

Acura of South Florida did not give me a hard time at all. I just went up there one afternoon and showed it to them, and they said that they would repaint it under warranty. I dropped the car off on the 15th of April and picked it up on the 17th of April. They seemed to have done a really good job.