Greetings all...

Something caught my eye as I was walking past my TL this weekend, and I went over to take a closer look. At first, I thought that there was a small residual bit of wax caught in the indentation between my tail light and the body. Closer inspection revealed that my paint is actualy chipping. The problem exists on both sides of the car, and is also present in one very small corner of the bumper on one side.

I immediately took the car to the dealer and had them look at it. They said it's definitely not right, it's definitely warranty, and have made all the arrangements to get it out to the body shop for repair.

My question here is: has anyone else experienced this? It almost seems like the lights are somehow rubbing against the metal of the body and causing the paint to chip. I wouldn't have been overly concerned about this if my car wasn't five months old!

 

I haven't had the chipping but the fit & finish on the TL isn't top notch ... The space between my headlight and bumper varies day to day .. I notice this trying to put the bra on.

 

I had the same problem but only on the front bumper around the headlight area. The dealer said it was a paint defect from the manufacturer and it was cover under warranty.

Kevin

 

Funny thing is I just noticed this last night as I was installing the A-spec rear bumper. I thought I had caused the damage by not being careful reinstalling the bumper. It's hard to see the chip because it is located in the gap between the tail light and rear bumper.

I don't think I'll have that fixed since I have an A-spec bumper on already. And I don't want them to mess anything up. Besides, I used so much 3M Scotch tape that the two pieces are practically glued together.

 

A little update for everyone:

The issue with my paint was apparently cause by the tail lights themselves. I'm told that the edges of the assemblies are razor sharp. What the shop ended up doing was (besides the paint repair) taking the sharp edge of off the plastic and then installing a small strip of 3M material (the same stuff the clear bra is made of) on the light and the paint. This will hopefully prevent any rubbing between the two in future from scratching away the paint.

 

Yea, I had the same thing around the tail light, Just a little chip. I used some touch up paint so far It's holding up ok... I did notice it was sharp on the bottom of the lights. The 3m Ideal sounds good. Did they Repaint the whole bumper?

 

I have this exact problem on my left tail light. I too thought it was residual stuck so i tried to take it out but instead the paint was peeling! Sometimes i think the TL was built by a bunch of monkeys because of the poor quality compared to the previous acuras.

 

I just noticed it today when I put on my CT RSB (Comtech Rear Sway Bar). I am soon for a maintainence A1. Did you tell the dealer about the paint chip to get it warranty? If so how did you take the approach. I don't want them trying to say I did the chip myself. Even though i'm about to put on a Ron Jon Kit. It would be nice to have it repainted =D

 

I have a pretty good relationship with my dealer - I work with the same guy there whenever I have something done, and he "knows me" (basically, he knows I'm a bit neurotic about my car). I took the car right in on a Monday morning, first thing. I told him the story about finding it, and he simply didn't question it.

My dealer has also been pretty "stand-up" about taking care of things that should have been taken care of under warranty. I've never asked for more than I believed the warranty should cover, and I've owned up to things I did myself right away (like the time I curbed a rim, but asked them to repair the two that they scratched).

 

yep i got the chip but my bumper is f-ed up i need a new one so it doesnt matter....some dick slammed into me in traffic and left a hole in it.....good thing is he didnt have insurance or regi or license so he got arrested

 

Mine's chipped too! Just noticed it this weekend!

 

Same here,

while washing my new car yesterday(3 months new) I too noticed what I thought was a small residual bit of wax caught in the indentation between my tail light and the body. I am not happy as this is happening around both lights.

I will be bring the car to the dealship tomorrow.

I haven't even serviced the car yet

 

ill have to check mine today after work....this worries me.

 

I havent noticed it personally but i saw this thread the other day and thought you may be interested. This guy has a major chip and I think it is in the same spot as you are talking about

 

I had that problem on my 05 TL they fixed it and covered it under Wrnty

 

I just inspected my 05 TL and I didnt see any chips around the tail light. I even ran my finger nail between the tail light and the car. There was a small chip (upper right tail light) I found a couple of months back, but that was touched up.