I was washing my car a couple days ago, and as I was spraying the front nose of the bumper a ping-pong ball size of paint peels off. I then swore alot, then managed to fold the piece back up so everyone passing could not tell that the TL has shitty paint, and is missing a chunk.

After I was done stressing out I came and checked AZ and found some threads of this kind happening to others. It seemed like the majority of TL owners with paint peel have had their bumper repainted, so I left to go stand in line.

Today I took the car in, the service manager took a look, told me I should have the clear bra on the bumper as well (I have it on the front of the hood), but sighed and told me he would repaint the bumper this One Time. Then I got it out of him that Acura will allow a one time bumper repainting, obviously because they know their paint sucks. The dealership was good to deal with, I didn't have to go in being all tough, and I got the result I wanted. So if paint falls off your bumper in big chunks, you get a One Time repainting!

 

I am curious. Where did you read up on the bumper repainting?

 

The same thing happened to mine...but it obviously had been shoddily repainted at the factory or dealership before delivery. Acura fixed it under warranty after much bitching and moaning.

 

I searched AZ and found some other members stories of this happening and Acura repainting their bumpers. I then went to my dealership, and without having to argue at all, he pretty much told me that Acura will give each customer that this happens too "A One time repaint".

 

i have a similar situation, my clear coat is peeling on the bumper(looks like crap), acura regional manager said that it is only covered up to 80k km. am a little concern that acura would only warranty there quality for this short of a period. GM warranty there paint for life.

has anyone had this issue with acura in having there clear coat peeling.

 

My dad's '05 TL has 56,000 miles on it and the front bumper is DESTROYED from rock chips. It's absolutely ridiculous how a vehicle of this caliber could have such horrendous paint. We want to go and see if we can get the one free paint job out of Acura. Anyone have any ideas of what the likelihood of this would be? Here are some pictures

 

Man, that is horrendous! I would definitely be PO'd if that happened to my car.

My front bumper is chipped up pretty bad from road rash, but nothing like that. I just figured it was the new non-volatile paint or whatever that they're having to use nowadays. It was like that when I bought it and I hadn't made up my mind to spend the $$$ to have it repainted, but maybe with a little work with the old carwash wand - who knows?

 

Those aren't "rock chips". Thats paint that did not properly adhere to the bumper. Paint should never peel off in "chunks" like that.

 

jesus..that looks bad..

 

wow! that's bad. it doesn't look like rock chips; more like a mfg defect.

 

It would not happen if there was a clear bra cover DIY for $40. lol

 

We realize that it's horrible to look at... it's even worse to drive around in it because its such an eyesore. We contacted two different dealerships up here in Massachusetts (Acura of Peabody and Acura of Boston) and left voicemails with the service managers. One of the service techs at Boston said that my best bet is to bring it in and have them look at it to tell if it's defective paint which I absolutely believe it is. Every TL we see on the road doesn't look nearly as bad as my Dad's.

As far as the clear bra goes, my dad learned his lesson the hard way. I put the bra on my '04 TSX a few months after I got it and I have zero chips or defects...

 

I also forgot to ask... If we are able to get one of the dealerships to repaint it for free like others on here have, will the dealerships where we didn't buy the vehicle from give us a hassle? We purchased it at Acura of Peabody so would that mean they have to foot the cost or would it be okay if we had Acura of Boston cover it? Thanks fellas, I really want to get this fixed up for him, it's a shame that a car that is so beautiful would have such a horrendous blemish...

 

so does the car come with a clear coat bra? or when you buy it new can you request it or do you have to purchase it yourself from a autobody shop?

 

It should be covered under warranty I would imagine...........that's scary to look at.

I didn't get the clear bra installed when I purchased my TL but I sure wish I had.....

 

This may not apply to most of you because you're not doing your own paint work, but if it ever comes up with your body shop, you may want to suggest having them use a flex additive. I don't remember the name of the product I used on my car but I believe it's a 3M product. You add this "Flex" to the mixture of your clearcoat and it allows the clear coat to be flexible after the paint has dried.
I've seen a guy paint a flat peice of plastic and bend it at a 90 degree angle after the paint dried...with no cracks in the paint. Normally the britle clear coat would crack to peices.
The reason I suggest it is because I use this stuff on the front-end of any car that I rebuild and it really seems to prevent paint peel and paint chips...just a thought

 

Most places will claim that the flex agent isn't required any longer and don't use it.

I've got a Honda Pilot where I hit a deer and the bumper cracked vertically, but the paint is not peeling at all. I've been running with it damaged for about a year through last summer, winter and this summer. I don't see the chipping on my paint either like I see on the TL.

Is this a case of US mfg vs made in Japan?

 

^^ The Pilot is made at the same plant as the MDX, which is in Canada.

 

Very true. The old "lacquer" paint jobs did require it due to the brittle/hard nature of lacquer. Most paint today is enamel and flexible even when fully curred. What "crap" Acura is using for paint and/or process on the bumpers is unknown - nor do I care to research it because it still would be crap...

Bottom line,
the reason the paint is coming off in chunks like above has nothing to do with flex additive, rather inappropriate prep of the bumper and/or a lack of bumper primer..

 

Truth be told - Should not happen in the first place.......

 

Absolutley right. A $35,000 car absoultely should not be having paint problems like this, albeit an Acura. My sister has a 2003 Honda Accord with about 85,000 miles on it and her paint looks very good with very few blemishes, but nothing near what our TL has. Also, when looking at other TL's on the road, NONE of them have the paint problems that ours does so the more I think about it, I'm convinced that ours has defective paint. I'm going to the dealership on Monday to talk with the service manager and discuss with them how they are going to make this right, this is just absurd. It's just going to continue to get worse and worse if we don't fix it and get a clear bra on it soon...

 

This *should* be a warranty repair. Any dealer can do the work, Acura picks up the tab. Pick a the better dealer service center.


Agree. Should not happen. A couple of possible causes:

- Inadequate/poor prep on the primer
- Primer not properly blended leading to poor adhesion between Paint and Primer.

Question: Has this car ever had the bumper replaced/repainted?

 

No, absolutely no body work whatsoever to the front bumper. It started chipping after about 2 months of ownership (We've owned it since November of 2004) and has just gotten progressively worse and worse... Only thing that we are concerned about is that the vehicle now has 56,000 miles on it and they won't cover it under warranty but we have complained to the dealership but it has to be fixed now before the entire bumper has no paint left on it and at this rate, that looks like it's going to be soon...

 

After looking at those pics, I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Man I hope my car doesn't develop this problem...

 

Well the dealership where we purchased the car called us back this afternoon. My dad is taking it in at 7AM to have the service manager look at it. He said that if it hasn't been repainted (which it never has been) then they will probably pay for the front bumper to be repainted. My dad will then have to pay for the clear bra to be applied.

All I have to say is THANK GOD for this website. If I hadn't searched for it on here, we would have had to pay the $700 that the body shop wanted. I love it here! I'll keep you guys updated and if you haven't yet, GET THE CLEAR BRA INSTALLED NOW!

 

dayumm

 

Well my dad met with the service manager at our dealership this morning. It took him a total of 15 seconds to look at the paint and verify that it will be repainted free of charge for us! And to boot, they are giving us a loaner car for the length of the repairs! Needless to say, we are THRILLED with this and very happy with our dealership, which we haven't been so satisfied with lately. So if your paint is chipping, take it to the dealer and complain, who knows what will happen!



AcuraZine just saved us $700... Thank GOD for this damn site!

 

Are you getting the clear bra installed too.......? See if they will discount it for ya - I regret not getting one before I rolled off the lot

 

I would commend your dealership but "it" (the paint issue), should be a no-brainer to repaint/warranty by any manufacturer with this problem..

I commend Sclass88 for researching the issue and listening to his gut saying it wasn't right.

- I'm not a clear-bra fan (nothing negative just no experience or history with it) but ensure the paint is cured/and you like the match prior to install.

Good luck

 

My dad is getting the clear bra installed, we aren't going to make that mistake again. I have it on my TSX and I swear by it.

Thanks, I'm just happy it worked out for us! And once you try the clear bra and see the wonders that it works, you'll never want to own a car without it again. We already spoke to the body shop that the dealer is using (he fixed my TSX when I had an accident so we know the owner personally) and he said that after 2 days, the paint will have healed and the bra will be ready to put on!

 

the same crap is happening to my ssm tl. this is crazy big "patches" of paint are peeling off like dandruff!!!!!

 

i forgot to ask..... is this all colors or just ssm?