I've owned about 11 Honda/Acura products since the late eighties and they all have had the same problem....

When I close the drivers side door, I tend to grab the pillar that trims the flat front side of the window (there are two of these that are end-to-end between the drivers and rear doors) and after a year or two, the semi-gloss black surface rubs off leaving a discolored, splotchy black area that's very visible to all who see the car.

The '04 TL apparently was designed a bit differently, as these pillars have a very shiny and glossy black pillar area. Does anyone know if this is merely cosmetic design or if there is a functional purpose ie avoids the hand-fading-on-door-closing issue?

If it's not a fix, anyone know how to treat that area so that it doens't rub away?

TIA

 

Thanks for the heads up, bolt! I too am grabbing that area...I guess I better try to get out of that habit before it's...uh...a habit. I guess I'll try to remember to push on the handle or even the painted surface itself. What is that area made of, anyway?

 

That was one thing I liked about my 96TL. There was no window frame so if you touched the glass, a little windex fixed it up.

I never got in the habit with the 04TL because I saw the fingerprint problem early on, and the door closes so easy, just a little nudge to get it off the stop and it closes itself. If I do touch it, I use the door handle to push on.

The trim appears to be some kind of plastic. If it is, and not painted metal, it should hold up well, except of course for the fingerprints.

 

Well, it's definitely plastic and it's definitely been on every Honda product made since at least 1980 (my first Prelude). The TL's is the first one that I've seen that's different. IMO it's the same plastic but with what appears to be glossy black auto paint or a triple-thick plastic shiny coating.

I just hope that it's more than cosmetic and that they've built in some extra durability as all the Armor All in the world didn't get that dull hand-spot out of any Honda I've owned.

 

I think the finish around the windows is going to be very durable. The paint appears to be very very glossy and thick. I hate having fingerprints on it so I use the door handle to close the door.