I hit my limit of tolerating the piece of plastic petween the doors. Mine looks so $hitty. The whole thing looks like 1 big spider web. Do all of you guys have the same problem? Is it only the 99s? Please tell me this will be under warantee!!
Dave

 

They are under warranty but only if you have less than 50K miles on your TL. I had mine replaced for free (all 4 of them). I also have a 99 TL.

 

That is awesome. I ony have 27k on mine. Is this problem only with the 99s?
Dave

 

I don't know if it's just the 99 or not.
But definitely go get new ones or you can wait until you are close to 50K miles. In the meantime, you can fvck it up more without worrying about messing them up because you know that you are going to get new ones (it's just a thought).

 

I will metion all of the problems I have had with the car real loud around the customers!!
Dave

 

yeah i would definatly go get that replaced before you hit 50k miles. I have a 99 too and i had that problem.. i brought it in a got them replaced for free...

 

I hope my dealer does not try and **** my over about this!
Dave

 

From what I've heard, this is a universal problem with all Honda's and Acura's. My MDX and TL-S have the same issue. The way to avoid marking up the pillar is to guide the seat belt back in to position instead of letting it snap back in to place by itself. The metal seat belt buckle is what causes most of the marks you see. You'd think it would be cheaper for Honda/Acura to change the material they use on the pillars rather than constantly have to replace them under warranty.

 

I just had all 4 of mine replaced under warranty. I have a 2001 with 13,000 miles on it.

 

I posted this dinged up plastic B pillar trim problem last fall and it seems to be a common problem shared by other TL owners on this board. I tried to get the plastic trim replaced under warranty while I was at Burrard Acura getting the squeaky door sash fixed but the service guy said they would not replace it under warranty. He also said he had never seen this problem on a TL before (yeah right!). I was pissed cause it is not reasonable to expect this level of workmanship in this class of car and it was obvious from the reponses I got on this board that he was lying when he said he had never seen this on a TL before. I said if I bought a luxury Hyundia or Kia, yeah I would expect this kind of ****ty plastic material but not on an Acura. Besides I've owned other Hondas before and none had such a problem. In the end Burrard Acura refused to do anything for me.

A few months later when I dropped my car off for the first scheduled service at Richmond Acura I spoke with service manager on this issue and he promised that he would replace my interior B pillar trim free of charge at the next service. He said this would be done at the dealer's expense because Acura would not do it under warranty. It seems to me Acura knows about this problem and is refusing to replace this part under warranty but what is most disappointing to me is that they continue to use this part in the 2001s and 2002s.

 

Man...Sorry guys....I have no clue what kind of part you guys talkin about.....
Is that the Sill Plate?? or plastic piece below seat belt????
Which one????????

 

Songoku, the B-pillar is located near the mid-length of the car. The piece of plastic in question covers the interior of the B-pillar. This is where the safety belt is hung from. The action of the belt buckle snapping back upon release dings the heck out of this piece of plastic. In other cars they use more ding resistant plastic or the manufacturer will cover the plastic with vinyl/leather.

 

Can a little bit of ArmorAll work on this? I've ArmorAll my 92 Accord and the scratches looked 'bearable' Try it if it doesnt work and you have <50K miles take it back.
my$0.02

 

I had this problem but ever since I used Meguiars on all the plastic and vinyl in the interior for the car show I noticed that almost all the seatbelt dings are gone.

 

Guys im talking about the shiny plastic on the outside of the car not inside, never noticed a problem there?
Dave

 

Acuraracer, the outside plastic B-pillar trim on mine is good. You're the first person I heard that had a problem with this piece. That type of shiny plastic can scratch easily. I always wash my car with a sheep skin mitt to prevent scratching the finish. So far so good.

 

If the dealer won't replace it under warranty you might want to try the Meguiars or Zymol products designed for taking scratches out of the plastic rear windows on convertibles. Those products have worked for me whenever I've needed to remove scratches from "shiny plastic". Works great if you ever scratch the clear plastic covers over your guages.

 

HOW RIDICULOUS IS IT THAT ACURA HIS STILL NOT CHANGED THAT SOFT, THIN, CHEAP PLASTIC ON THE B PILLAR?

I'm really happy to know that the dealer will be able to replace it for me under warranty. Although its just going to do it again, I like the idea of them replacing it.

See, this is another one of those cutting corners things that I'm starting to hate about Acura.

 

Now.........You made me more confused..........

 

Jeez, this is funny.. if the tl had better quality (and did not share 45% of the Accords parts) it would cost the same as the high quality competitors.........

U see nagging problems like this are from cost-cutting, I suggest writing American Honda on b.s. parts like this

 

It looks like the scratches are from the bottom of the plastic. You can not feel them. I called and made an appointment on monday at 1. He said it is not very common but he has heard of it and it is covered. I want to ask about my cd player not playing burned CDs. Also the temp guage is always starting arounf like 112F. My release for the trunk for the reach through is broken too. My car is just falling apart guys.
Dave

 

Here is a picture of what I've been talking about. Sorry, the image is not rotated.

Thankfully, this will be gone soon as the dealer will be replacing it for me:

 

Damn, my buckles don't leave big as red Xs like that!

 

Nate, any idea why the picture attached dissappears sometimes? I uploaded the picture on Yahoo and the url for the pic is OK.

 

Thats what i thought you were talking about in the first place. I had to have mine replaced b/c they started to crack. Park ave fixed them under warranty.

 

Yeah... I signed into Yahoo then visited the pic to your URL and it worked. Those not signed in are SOL if your pic is on Yahoo.

 

the plastic pillars that you guys are talkin about is it where the seatbelt is?

 

LOL... this entire thread is about trying to figure out what this entire thread is about.

 

guess im not missing much then

 

OK, I have the same problem....

I'm going to get the B pillar replaced at the next service, but does anyone have any ideas to keep this from happenning besides just trying to remember to not let go of the buckle?

I thought I saw a post where someone mentioned a velcro sticker or something, but couldn't find it. Meguiars works pretty good, there's got to be something to do that keeps that butt-ass cheap plastic from getting dinged without looking tacky..

anyone? bueller?

thanx

 

Yes, slap your friend if he/she lets go of the buckle. Slap yourself twice if you do it.

 

Oh hell....I got this problem too. The problem is, you are used to getting out of your car and just flinging the seatbelt back. I noticed it being scratched up on my 2001TL and I'm kinda annoyed by this that I thought about putting some kinda padding on that section. But it's too late now...it's got dings all over it. I don't know how my dealer would react if I ask them to replace this thing, I don't think they will replace it.

Another problem I had was my airbag cover on the passenger side is starting to come loose, the edge is popping out ocassionally and I told them about it and they didn't replace it. I'm going to tell them again the next time I get an oil change.

 

Gee thanx for the wonderful tidbit of info there SickLex. Maybe we should all do what you did and get a high quality competitor like the ES300, it probably doesnt share any parts with a Camry.

Hell until 1999 did the ES300 even have a different engine or till 2002 a different tranny? That putdown is laughable at best coming from an ES300 owner.

 

Can you believe i still have not git this fixed? First I went in over a month ago and they sais they will fix under warantee but they have to order them and shound be in next week and that they will send me a post card to let me know they were in. I called this tuesday and and said its been over a month and where the hell is my post card? They took 1/2 hour to find it figuring out there computer is messed up. Well went in yesterday (wedsday) at 10:30 and they told me it would take until about 5:00. There is no way i could have stayed 7 hours with a bunch of salesman. I asked if i could get a loner and they said all out plus you are not 21! I was pissed. Lived an hour away so i will go another time with 2 cars or something.
Dave

 

That sucks! Did they say if they are just going to order the exact same part? I'm guessing there's not much of a choice, but its still going to ding if its the same cheap plastic...I can't believe Acura has been able to get away with this, I mean you literally can scratch it with your fingernail... they should be able to come up with something better

 

It looks like the plastic is not scratched from the outside. It looks like it is cracking from the bottom of it.
Dave

 

Dave, My 99 has the same problem, but only on the drivers side. It looks like the black panels are pulling away from the door or something. Did the dealer fix them, if so, mine will be in next week for replacement.

Hods

 

hods they said they would but call and have them pre order them. I went but had no ride to leave and did not want to stay there from 1030 to 500. I am too young to get a loner. You have to be 21.
Dave