I just posted this in the TL section but I wanted to get your thoughts as well since the TSX also comes in CBP...


I just purchased a 2010 TL in Crystal Black Pearl. I had it shipped from Arizona (sight unseen) but since it was a CPO and had less than 10k miles I wasn't worried about not seeing it. I had my salesman send me numerous pics in addition to the 25 or so I saw online.

Well I received the vehicle earlier this week and when washing it for the first time I noticed these specs in the paint. I was thinking it was maybe the metallic flakes because of the "pearl" but I saw that it is not like this everywhere (though a good portion of the car is).

Fortunately from a distance you don't notice it, but as you get closer it does stand out a bit (maybe just because I know it's there).

I did a bit of research earlier and wonder if this mottling. The symptoms I mostly saw though in regards to that were much more noticable from a distance and were big streaks or spots...not little flakes like this.

I wanted to get your opinions to see if anyone has experienced this before and if you think the warranty would cover it. Unfortunately I'm sure it would be a major pain because even if the dealer would cover it, the entire car would probably need to be re-painted (and the clear bra removed and a new one installed). Since I just got the car I don't want to be without it for however long it would take to complete the work, and how do I know the quality of the work this time around will be up to par...?

 

Damn... cant believe it passed the QA inspectors looking like that... unless something happened to it in the last 10k miles...

Maybe one of the wax/claybar detailing gurus can point you in the right direction.

 

Granted I know very little about auto paint, but it looks like it rolled off the line like that. It is smooth to the touch and appears to be in or under the clearcoat. I don't know of anything that could've happened post production that could cause it to look like that.

 

Pics 2 & 3 look like overspray, where 1,4 & 5 looks more like a careless repaint/blending. There's obviously trash in the paint/clearcoat, dust, dirt, whatever.

If the car were to have been "rail dusted" from transportation on a train car, someone could have been trying to repair that.

Any of the above could have been done outside of the original production finish by a dealer, body shop, etc., so there probably won't be a Carfax line item about it.

Find a body shop you can trust, or an auto body paint supplier who can recommend a paint guy, or check with your insurance agent to find someone that has a paint depth gauge. It measures the thickness of the paint and will quickly identify which panels have been repainted.

Unfortunately, you're probably on your own, you can't really go after Acura for something they didn't do. Good luck.

EDIT: I just read your screen name. If you're in Orlando the very best paint/body man I've ever met is in your backyard. The guy truly is a perfectionist and does a helluva job managing your expectations, but he's not cheap.


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I just purchased the same car, 2010 TL, with the same issue. Did you find out the cause? Did Acura repaint your car of is there another remedy? Thanks

 

I just bought the exact car as well and have the exact same issue. When I drove it and bought it I didn't notice this at all, then I washead yesterday for the first time after having it for a week and saw those little streaks in the undercoating of the paint and it looked horrible. At first I thought something happened during the car wash then noticed it was under the paint and in several locations of the car. The front end is not like that at all. Have no idea how I didn't notice that at the dealership. Unfortunately I bought it at a Toyota dealership so doubt they will do anything when I take it up there. Curious to know if OP or anyone else that has had this found resolution and what they did.

 

Definitely looks as if it were re-sprayed...

 

Deff looks like it was Re-Sprayed and left outside in the sun for way too long

 

I ran into this thread today after looking into this "problem" three years after I bought the car after I just had it waxed. I have similar fracture-like features in the paint or clear-coat and wanted to see if you discovered any more information. Mine is pretty uniform over the car but worse on the trunk surface, maybe it's intentional to create the "crystal" appearance in the paint?

 

my 2 cents.

back in 98 my dad purchased a isuzu trooper limited which came in a 2 tone paint scheme. the body color was solid black and the bumpers were "pearl like" silver... where it looks like flakes of tiny broken glass from certain angles in the light.

anyways the car had been inside the dealership building as a demo and got a good deal on it but also had some paint work being needed on the rear bumper because someone at the lot ran into something while pulling it out for us for the test drive.

so week later went to go pick it up and thats exactly what we saw on the body pain as far as i can see according to the pics. the repair job and the damage seems to have come from not painting the bumper in a very well ventilated paint booth and the small silver paint particles landed on the black body paint. and of course you can imagine the clear coat would of done the same thing as the silver paint did.

i was too young to know anything back then but if i remember correctly the surface was not rough but bumpy due to the clear coats drying on top of existing clear coat. and the paint flakes were not evenly well distributed... but have more of a clustered look in certain areas or spots.

unfortunately, after 15yrs of ownership it was still there.

 

I actually worked with Acura through a local dealership and they acknowledged an issue with some cars on their end and once they saw mine to confirm it was the same paint issue, they agreed to re-paint the car. I took it in two weeks ago and expect to get it back at the end of this week. I will let you know how it turns out.

 

Just realized I never followed up on this thread. All of the metal surfaces on my car were sanded to the metal and re-painted, at no charge. It was determined to be a factory defect and other CBP 4G TL's have had the same issue.

Click here for the thread in the 4G TL subforum.

 

Sweet. Shiny fresh paint!

 

 

I also had my car reprinted under warranty, 2010 TL, CBP at Camco Acura (Ottawa, Canada) and just got it back a week ago. Car was built in Phoenix. One theory is it may have been due to the climate there (over 100 degrees at times) during the drying process. Although they said this was the first car they'd seen with this issue, it only took one day for them to reply with the go ahead to do the work. I had great service, and also had my grill, fog light trim and trunk trim custom painted at the same time. Painted "beak" black, but went with gun-metal Gary for the trim around it on the grill. I'll post pictures soon.

 

In for pics of the of the gun metal

 

wait.. a.. sec.

1. You can print cars?!

2. Since when did I get the nickname gunmetal Gary?

 

 

^lmfaoo

 

wut

 

I'm having the same issue as of now 2018. 2010 tl sh awd crystal black as well smh. Almost all over the hood and top portion of the car.

 

Same exact thing, bought a 10' tl 6mt last week. As soon as I washed it, there's the crawfoot defect on hood, fenders, front bumper. Anything we can still do? Or we just let them get away with this..

 

[QUOTE]Hi there. I have a paint issue known as CHECKING on a 2009 Acura TL. After reading your post I thought you might be able to help me out. You’ve said that this is a known issue with Acura TL’s.

 

It is an issue called "crow's feet". The paint, during the drying stage actually separates in particles.Not noticeable until after large amounts of time in heat/sun, the paint "breaks" or splits due to expansion causing what looks like a crow's foot prints in the paint. It is usually the base coat, or in your case the black bc it didn't bond well with the surface. The clear coat is usually unaffected by this. Ford had a huge issue with their black paint for years doing this!