I just came back from the dealer to have a look at my car. On the bottom inside of the driver's door the entire corner has a bad weld on it from the factory, plus the bottom of the door is flaired out slightly. He said that he doesn't advise them repairing it since it is a new car and he doesn't want to chance the door not matching the rest of the car after painting it. He is having a district manager from Acura come to look at it this week. He said that maybe they can give me some free accessories to compensate for it. Since this is a factory problem and the car never should have been delivered to me with that problem, should I push for a replacement car? Let me know what you guys think about it.

 

I would push for a new car. No matter what they do it will never look or feel right. Like you said the car should have never been sold like that in the first place.

 

You might have to fight like hell but I would try for a new car.

 

hell yeah if the dealer admits its a factory flaw i would push for a new TL. i mean you aren't paying 35K for a flawed new car. there should be qc checks throughout their assembly if this got by them it's their fault and you should not have to accept something that is not up to standards.

 

They need to go to an experienced paint professional. Auto body shops do not ditch a car whenever it needs to be painted.

I agree that you should try for a new car, but it is unlikely that they will give you one. I had 3 trannys go bad on me with my '02 TL-S and if they were swapping out tranny's then they will swap out a door skin.

 

My dealer showed me a list of pretty much all the components that were checked out before my car was considered "sellable." I am not sure if all dealers are required to do this, but I would demand a new car. If it was a factory flaw, someone missed an inspection along the way and you shouldn't be the one paying for it. Just my thoughts.

 

Can you post a picture? Is the bad weld affecting the operation of the vehicle?

When I was with Honda (Marysville plant, process engineer), I worked in the weld dept, and my "specialty" was doors (still had to cover the whole freakin 2 million acre plant, but my projects were centerd around door fit and finish). Honda may step up and take care of this with a new door, but I would be surprised to see a new car out of this. With the car being so new, the paint on a new door should match no problem.

Your best chance of a new vehicle is to push the issue through Acura customer service. You'll need to make a bit of a stink, and you'll need to write a letter or two. The factory has a field team that they dispatch, and they may be able to push a new vehicle.

If a new door is offered, and that's not what you want, then I would point out that the VIN on the door would not match the car. This WILL reduce the near-term value of the car, but in 5 or 6 years it won't make an appreciable difference. If you're concerned, get a letter from Acura stating the situation - almost any reasonable buyer will understand.

 

I think you are correct, with the exception of the door skin - it will be an entire door. The skins are too hard to get off, to hard to put back on, and usually look like crap when not welded by the robot. Labor considered, the new door is cheaper.

If we had a bad skin at the factory, we would pop it off and send the door inner back through the robot with a new skin.

 

is it the door, or the door opening, my guess is they would replace the door

 

Push for a new car.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I definitely do not want a new door for the reasons mentioned above. The VIN won't match! Plus, I don't want to chance even the slightest difference in color between the door and the rest of the car. It is a brand new $35,000 car and I don't want one with mismatched VIN numbers or colors.

 

When I bought my TBird SC new back in 93,the engine went at 175 miles!!!! all Ford would do is have a new engine put in it..I felt as if I was raped!!! the customer service rep told me that if it's fixable,I should be glad and go about my way...this has led me to "no more Ford's" or quite a while(after 25 yrs). So I wouldn't be surprised if they don't get you a new car.