Wifey had the tl-s detailed today and we both noticed even more paint chips on the hood! We now have about 10 (down to the metal). We are at such a loss as to what to do to protect the finish!!!

I know that Acura and others have said that it's all the EPA's fault...but I've been looking at other new-model black cars (like a 2000 BMW 330i) in the same color (black) and I couldn't find any chips. I'm feeling soooo frustrated and jipped here. I keep thinking that if this is where I'm at in 7 months.....what is my paint gonna look like on it's first year anniversary....by 2 and 3......are there gonna be so many chips that I have actual bald spots? That's a pretty crappy plausibility for a $30k car.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

the reason why bmw paint is so much better is cus their not bounded by the EPA since their imported...since the tl is made in the usa they only use water base paints not not oil....if you really want to prevent chips try investing in a 3m clear bra or perhaps consider getting your car repainted by a body shop that still has the illegal oil based paints still...hope that helps


Jon Lerd

 

Jon,

Thanks, my detailer warned against the 3M clear bra stating that once they get worn (or even torn), they look like crap. He's seen these on Mercedes and Porsches but says they just look so crappy.

How does one go about finding a body shop that is still illegal? I don't imagine I could just barge in and ask if they are working outside the EPA guidelines.......?

 

JOn,

One more thing about the 3M clear bra (because we did seriously consider it).....some of the chips are well above where the clear bra or a leather one would be anyway....so that's not a full solution.

Grrrr...I hate this water-based crap! Maybe I'll have to get a european car next time for this very reason!

Acura needs to rethink the usa mftg......my last 4 cars were mftg. in Japan and I NEVER had a problem with the paint. BAM! Buy my first car mftg. in USA and the paint sucks!

Sorry guys, but I'm just venting...this is a problem that just seems to get worse and worse, no matter how much I try to put it out of my mind.

 

Are you guys forgetting that the BMW Z3 and X5 are built in the states as well as the MB MLs? They do have to comply with the same EPA laws as Acura, and I think the cars built in Europe might as well (not sure on the European cars though).

BMW does put on an awesome paint job but they chip just as much as any other car, check www.bimmer.org, they have the same complaints. A guy I carpool with has a 99 BMW 323 that he just had the whole front end of his car repainted and replaced both head lights due to rock chips.

The highways and drivers suck down here in South Florida and I have found that the best protection is a bra, clear or other wise.

 

Thanks for the clarification, Kramer.

Anyone know a good clear bra source???? Tim?

 

It's not any better in Japan either, I had a 92 Mitsuibishi Diamante built in Japan and it was peppered with chips down to the bare metal. Just real thin and crappy paint job cuz when you run your fingers over it, its smooth as baby's bottom. Need higher paint mil standards with oil base paint.

 

I looked in the phone book for a local installer that was certified to apply the stuff. At least if it gets beat up and looking bad you can have it taken of and a new piece put on.

 

Bricot,

I'm curious. As I mentioned before about 1/3 of the chips on my hood are above the line where Xpel would be. How is your hood holding up, do you have any chips above the Xpel line?

How much can I expect to pay for the bra and install, roughly?

As always, thanks for your insight!

 

Well I disagree, my 02 Maxima made in Japan and the paint is just as bad as on My TLS. I had a 96 300zx the paint was also bad so dont think because its made in Japan its better paint!

 

Thanks Monte...that makes me feel better or at least educates me. We had a '94 Infiniti Q45 and had NO chips in the 3 years we owned it....but maybe the hood sat higher than this car. I guess I'm back to considering the xpel or just living with this crap (and no longer griping about it online)

 

I just had a clear bra put onto my ABP TLS. The shop I went to seemed to imply that I could have the material cut for pretty much any part of the car I wanted. If that's true, you might be able to find a place that can do your entire hood. That sounds kina funny, but at least you wouldn't see a line partway up the hood.

I had a "full wrap", which is the standard 12" on the hood plus a bit on the sides, and it also covers the front bumper and front ground effects. Also had the backs of the side mirrors done, and the "A" posts. All told it was about $430.

-Steve

 

I paid $440 - I chose not to put the hood piece on, didn't like the line on the dark color. Had the bumper, headlights, bodykit wrapped into the door jams, rear body kit behind wheels, and any painted surface inside the wheel wells.

I'd be tempted to check out the stonegaurd and some of the others too, I think it was Hyde that said one of them didn't have the relief cuts in the bumper piece, etc, although they may have been that much more expensive too.

 

I don't think the paint chips are due to the paint. Its more to do with how fast you drive and how many rocks you hit on the road. Living on the out skirts of Houston TX, I hit small rocks everyday driving to and from work (~75 mile round trip). Yet I have not had a single chip on the car and its got 7125 miles on it already, in three months. Not that I don't run into rocks, it hear them hit my car all the time.. but lucky me no chips yets.. Most of the time I only drive 65mph so that might contribute to the non paint chip..

 

well chips are inevitable...no way around them just as to how many you will get and how deep depends on certain qualities of paint and driving habbits....the paint on my mb clk is 7 layers....compared to acura 4 coats(i think) chips to bare metal is much easier to get.....also....if you want to know what kind of paint their using..you can simply ask....am i paying for water based or oil based and how can i go about getting oil based paints?...im sure if you keep asking...you will eventually find one.....if your in so cal area...there is a shop called 20/20.....their paint job is awesome but quite pricy....well hope that helps

Jon Lerd

 

Acura's paint is a 2-coat job. Maybe that's why it chips so easily.

 

Maybe a bit off topic, but with the winter weather, they dump tons of salt and sand on the roads. As I'm driving behind another car, all I hear are the little pebbles and rocks hitting my car. I am not looking forward to washing my car, because I know I'm going to have a ton of chips everywhere. There's absolutely nothing you can do it. Hmm... I may decide to count the number of paint chips on my car. Who has the most here?

 

I've been dealing with the same thing...this is what I realized...

Day by day the paint's gonna get worn...you'll get scratches, nicks, etc. Take it to a good body shop, get them to repaint it. The paint they use is much thicker and more durable. As each piece gets messed up have it done. Your car is going to get work anyway...just say that every 1.5 years or so you'll have everything repainted...not that bad...

Austin519

 

The dealer already installed the 3M Scotchcal clear bar when I purchased my TL. I am thinking about getting some to protect my headlight and fog lamp housing. Here are some links for Scotchcal and others:

http://www.sema.org/semanews/may2000/protection.html
http://www.autosupermart.com/cgi-bin...ml?id=kNgXoaZw
http://www.bodygard.cc/index.htm
http://www.xpel.com/headlight/produc...=5&image1.y=11

 

Yeah, according to the <a href="http://www.acura.com/model_TL/tl_spec_results.asp">specs</a> on Acura's website, the TL uses a "2-coat, 1-bake paint process", whatever that means.

 

Its all on the paint process. For example WDP Toyota Avalons' paint doesn't chip because it is hand sanded, zinc based primer and 16 layers of combined paint and clear coat. Now thats quality.

 

Actually I have a 99 Honda Accord Coupe, and I know what you guys go through. I used to fret over every little nick on my hood, and you know what I realize now. No matter what you do, you are going to get rock chips on your paint job. Especially with the way the nose of your car slopes and the fact that your car is lower to the ground due to the sports suspension that accompanies the TL-S's. What you can do is go to your local Acura dealer and pick up touchup paint. (But do not use the brush that they include in the touchup paint bottle. It is too thick. You want a thinner brush so you should got to a paint supply store and pick up a really thin brush, or you can try toothpicks. Make sure the toothpicks have the sharp point and not the rounded point for the small chips. Remember you have to clean out the area you want to touch up before you use the paint.) You can also get one of those nose mask, but personally, I hate them. Every time it rains you have to take the mask off. If you don't you'll get a debris and water inside of the mask which will do a job on the area your supposed to be protecting.) Finally, you can learn to live with rock chips. Thats what I kind of did, and I noticed that after the first year of ownership, the number of rock chips seemed to level off to an acceptable level...Oh, make sure you never get behind trucks that contribute to those chips in your car.

 

secretaccord:
VERY sound advice...in fact I tried the touchup paint and toothpick thing myself before...you just reminded me of it. You want to make sure the paint is really liquidy beforehand...I haven't dealt with Acura touchup paint...but I even used to water down the Ford paint a bit...not for anything but viscosity...because you want to just wet the toothpick a little. Good call SA...I'll be doing this next week.

Austin519

 

Yup yup. My '97 Maxima (made in Japan) has paint just as soft as my TL-S. My '93 Sentra SE-R (made in Smyrna, TN) on the other hand, had really good paint. I imagine the EPA stricter standards went into effect sometime between '93 and '97.

 

another good tips is you heat up the surface with a hair dryer and get ther surface really hot and then apply the paint it will help the paint to expand out evenly

 

asiankidd:
Another good piece of advice Only thing about heating it up...and of course I haven't dealt with the Acura paint...but it may dry too fast if you do that...but you can do what I used to do...which is put Vaseline on either side of the scratch and then use a toothpick...just to make sure to only get it in the crack...and not all over the clearcoat.

Austin519

 

I realize chips are inevitable but the ironic thing is that my wife drives this 95% of the time and she only drives like 5 miles, on surface streets at a maximum speed of 50. She is very in tune to road noise and one or two times she has heard a rock hit and immediately checks out the paint (she's more anal about this than I am)....but I asked her if she could account for the last batch of chips....and she could not. Now on the highway, I've taken the tl-s up to like 110. BUT again, I took my Q45 up to 135 on the highway and still had no chips on my hood!

No matter what the situation, the chips are a reality that we will just have to live with and try to ignore.

3 months of driving with no chips.....good luck...especially when driving 75 miles RT in Houston....hope it stays that way for you because it sure hasn't for us!!!