Interior Door Grip Question
 

Hi everyone,

I have a 2012 TSX V6. I noticed the interior door grips are very easy to disfigure. Mine are all torn up from general use. Not really sure what the material is but it's so easy to scratch or scuff. Does anyone else have this problem? I did some research and found a TSB for 2009 and 2010s but that's really it. I almost feel crazy that I can't find anything lol. Can these be replaced? Any help is appreciated!!

Offhand I don't recall if that part is individually replaceable or is a part of the door card. I *think* it's all one unit.

I've noticed mine has a little bit of scuffing. Probably from my ring scraping it when I close the door.

Not much you can do, I don't think. Although, I wonder if it would be possible to get it leather wrapped without looking like total garbage. :ponder:

Yea I was thinking the same thing! Would be nice but not sure how it could be done .

My 2010 v6 has some minor marks and scuffs but nothing major enough to replace them, I think it's normal for our cars !!

I checked a few days ago and that piece looks like its attached to entire door card. Other then replacing the entire panel I'm not sure what else can be done. Mine looks pretty bad too.

wrap yourselves in a bubble, bubble boys!

I looked at mine a little closer this morning... Yeah, there's not a whole lot that can be done. I think it *could* be wrapped but it's a pretty oddball shape. Not sure it'll look good.

Maybe someone should try it out though. Someone.

Mine looks horrible!

Mine still looks great after 5 years, but I'm sort of OCD about my car. I've seen a bunch on the facebook group where it looks destroyed. For a piece that should stand up to daily wear they really choose poorly with the material.

I am pretty OCD for the most part too. The driver door grip is immaculate but I can't say the same for the rest which are out of my control haha :(

Acura really did pick a bad material for something that is handled so much. Like cu2wagon said, someone try to wrap it lol!

I kinda meant you. :poke:

Haha I don't think anyone would follow my lead if I attempted it. Not too great at that type of stuff.

I've been meaning to ask this question. My passenger side door grip is all messed up from people. The driver one is much better, just because I've been careful with it.

Also, what do you guys use to clean it. I tried 303 aerospace before and it looked messy.

Sounds like you need better passengers.

I clean with a damp rag and protect with A303.

Feel like it's nail marks from people trying to push open the door. Hard to be mad when the quality of the material is so crappy. I wonder what the TSB does, maybe I'll ask them about it. Need to take my car in for the clicking steering wheel noise also.

same here... Works good !!!

I've actually taken the doors apart before and it looked like you would be able to replace the handle...

Are you referring to part 23 and 37 on the chart? OEM Acura TSX SEDAN 2009 FRONT DOOR LINING parts

How about that! 23 and 37 is what I was thinking about. Looks like ~$66 each.

Looks like the old one should pop off after you get the pin from behind it and you can snap the new one in...

Yes, those appear to be the ones... interesting.
If someone does the swap, please post results. I might do this (mine looks pretty crappy)

buy the parts now, before price increase.
then install when original door grip gets super super super beat up.

:ugh: I have that thought about so many little bits and pieces it's not even funny.

Having worked on pseudo-restoring some old cars; I wish I would have had the foresight to have done that with a bunch of stuff in the '90s.

The problem is that I'd just have a whole car hoarded in the attic, and I promised myself I wouldn't do that again.

But there might be some wisdom in buying up the heavily touched parts to keep minty fresh.

But on the flip side, this is a TSX. Not exactly going to ever be a concourse quality item on the Barrett Jackson stage or anything.

:run: Need more monies!

This is why I've bought a second brand new TSX and keep it a vault. One of each spare part!

I agree...Acura chose a crappy-looking and feeling door pull material. Kind of like the cheap plastic used in sex toys.

The 1st Gen had a much richer look and feel, except for the driver's door(!), which lacked a vertical door pull.

Also, the silver trim scratches way too easily. Not a big deal, but it prematurely ages the interior of the car...

i have noticed that poor appearance on my driver door handle as well. It looks scuffed. I usually forget about it and this thread reminded me about it. With so many wrapping options out there now I think a vinyl wrap would help make the handles look like new again.

Maybe a gloss black.

2010 TSX V6 here. hmm..mine is too,. When I first noticed it, I actually thought something had dripped on it, like wax or something. When I used my fingernails to try to remove it, I realized that I was removing part of the grip and I was just making it worse. To me, it looks like a scuff but I have no idea what causes it.

I recall a co-worker with a pilot...the door handles were this odd chrome plastic...that broke, and when it did, it was friggin razor sharp!
They get all fancy trying new materials and we get to test them out in the field over the next decade :tomato: (a la 3G dash cracking dash made of eco material)

I second the idea of just wrapping them or having them painted professionally...buying new ones will probably do the same thing too, no?

Well guys, these door grips are replaceable. I did change my driver side about a year back. Somehow i managed to scuff it really bad. Anyways installation is easy, just remove inner liner and It is held down with few screws from inside. as t3hhcaptain said you would need just door grips part number 27 and 37. and Yeah I manage to scuff new one again!

Sweet!! Looking forward to getting mine replaced. Thanks for all the input everyone :D

My door grip is so scratched up. I wish there was any easier way to fix it!

Just took in my wagon saturday , and from search i realize mine wasnt the only car with this issue. My handle grips look like they are paper-machaed into the handle ,looks like crap melting in someway

I noticed mine had a few scratches when I purchased it (used 2012 TSX). I then added (inadvertently) a few more while removing the door panels to do some sound deadening. They scratch easily.

acura sells them, they are replaceable, I wrapped mine in leather instead
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tsx-...884557/page17/

So a year plus into this thread, and I was noticing my driver side door pull is now all beat to hell. That "soft touch" plastic is terrible. I think all my damage is coming from my wedding ring. Which is evidently made out of barbed wire and broken glass shards, judging from the amount of scratches and gouges.

Looks like I'll be buying a couple sets of handles to make it through the life of the car. :bored:

Were they easy to wrap? I'm very interested in doing that to mine...they are looking rough.

I see they are up to $90 for part numbers 22 and 36. https://www.oemacuraparts.com/auto-p...or-lining-scat
That's a lot for some handles.

@ksawant could you please share some more detail on the install? I'm assuming you have to pull the whole door apart? How long did it take? As you'll see below, I found a cheap workaround, but my OCD is killing me. I'd rather replace with new parts, even though the price has gone way the hell up!

So I didn't exactly "wrap" them, but here is a workaround for 1/10th the price
 

Before:
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...671ee62fc9.jpg

For Honda/Acura usually having a good name for quality, the material choice for the door handles is really piss-poor. I can't bear to look at this much longer so I did some searching and found this thread. Thanks for turning me on to the proper part numbers @cu2wagon and @t3hhcaptain . Although as you can see below, the price has gone way the hell up.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...d35c543411.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...187601cf74.jpg

Although the $190 price tag doesn't turn me away too bad, the idea of disassembling the whole door to swap each one out... doesn't excite me. As I was staring at the ugly ass monstrosity though, it occurred to me that the shape of the door handle is roughly the same as on my old BMW, and I seem to remember there being aftermarket leather doorhandle covers available. Turns out, there are (linky), and they're CHEAP! Only $20, so with so little to lose, why not give it a try, right? Here is what arrived:


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...13edd0f753.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...06da64d76f.jpg



After a bit of stretching and a little bit of trimming the leather on the bottom back side (by the window controls), it actually fits pretty good. Tip for installation: wait until you get the positioning right and the leather trimmed before peeling the 3M tape back. After a few days of being on, they stretched out to fit almost perfectly and the 3M adhesive keeps it from shifting around. And it's kind of nice to put your hand on leather instead of cheap plastic. However, if we end up with a shelter in place order and I have tons of free time to disassemble the door, I may still spring for the $200 OEM parts replacement. Which given the poor durability of the plastic, I'd likely put the leather cover ups back on top for protection. But for now, and for only $20, not too shabby!

After:
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...4deec496f2.jpg

I'm betting your southern U.S. location is a significant factor, too, as it looks like the plastic around the bottom end of the grip area is staring to discolor, too? Hard to say, and while I agree the door grips don't hold up to fingernails, the alternative to is make the material harder, which would probably look even worse. I thin the rubberized grip material is a fair compromise in this case, and for me, the aftermarket leather grip looks tacked on and stands out too much.

While the door panel removal might be a pain, I think that's the direction I would go, despite knowing my own well-trimmed fingernails would inevitably scuff up the new grips yet again.

Yeah this has been a Texas car since original purchase, and the heat here is NOT kind to cars. I can see the combination of 100+ F temps in a car plus somebody with long nails or a dog being the death of "soft touch" plastic. My OCD agrees with your points about the coverups, because even with them, all the damage isn't covered. Sooooo I pulled the trigger on buying the new handles last night. While I have the doors opened up, I figure it will be a good time to put some additional sound dampening material in the doors anyway. Will post up once I get the parts and get into the job.

Interestingly enough - while I was looking for a how-to video on disassembling the door panel, I found one where the guy had vinyl wrapped his door handle. I don't love the carbon fiber wrap, but it would look decent with the gunmetal 3m film I already have. Might be a good way to keep a protective layer over the new part once installed.