After having paint problems with my '02 TL-S, and reading about many others who had issues with the low quality paint, I have been reading this forum to see if anyone has had any paint quality issues with the 3rd Generation TL? I don't recall seeing any threads regarding paint problems, and I hope that Accura learned their lesson with the previous model years, and improved the paint quality with the new '04. I had NBP on my '02 TL-S, and had many problems with the paint on that car. The worst issue was acid rain spotting which happened after only one time in the rain, then having the sun "bake" the water beads and burn the paint permanently. The dealer offered to repaint the hood and trunk which I declined since the car was new. I've had enough with Black, and decided to go with Anthracite this time. Just hope the paint quality and process has improved since I'd actually like to drive this car in the rain sometime. After the acid rain experience with my old car, I never drove it in the rain afterwards.

 

I have poor paint quality on my hood. It looks like it was wet sanded in 2 places on the hood...then cleared. The spots where it had been wet sanded is lighter in color. It looks like absolute garbage. Also all around the car..I can see dust..etc. Not impressed at all.

 

Brian, thanks for the information, I am definately going to do a thorough pre-purchase inspection, and will refuse the car if I see anything like what you are talking about. On my old car, the NBP '02, the paint looked awesome until it got the spots from the rain and sun damage. It just looked awesome, but the paint was of poor quality, or not cured properly. The funny thing was the roof and spoiler had no damage, and had the same water lying on it after the brief rain storm. The water dried on the roof, and the spots wiped off, while the spots on the hood and trunk were burned permanently into the paint. Also, the paint is awefully soft, and scratches with just the slightest touch. My first Acura, a Legend, was also black and I never had any trouble with it, and it sat outside in the rain and wasn't babied and garaged like the TL-S. I know some of the problems are from the EPA regulations with lead in paint, but I think they can do better. I just hope the new car is better than the TL-S.

 

I have done a pretty extensive inspection of the paint while applying various coats of polish and have been please with what I have seen. I used to have an Agean Blue 01 CL-s that had some minor paint issues, but the new TL seems to be void of those issues. My only gripe is a bit of overspray between the front bumper and one of the front fenders. Seeing as that problem encompasses all of 1/16th of an inch of painted surface, it does not bother me much.

Oh, one other thing, I have a WDP and the old problem with the bumpers not looking exactly like the rest of the car kind of sucks

 

I have a Redundo Red one and overall paint quailty is fine but factory/dealer handling is another issue because I have a small nick on the edge of the rear bumper, a scratch on the lower door sill and I found a scratch on the corner of my front bumper - that one ticks me off the most. I spent about an hour going over it with Mequier's Scratch -X and got it pretty invisible but you can feel it with your fingernail so it is too deep to totally remove. My 2002 TL was perfect so I'm upset about this but in 6 months of bug splats this will be minor. I considered a Clearbra but my local installer wants over $1000 installed and that's just too much. Maybe I'll go with a conventional black one.

 

I second this. The paint finish quality is bad.

Dozens of chips out of my hood are caused by chesil or macadam.

The darker color paint is much easier to show the swirl effects after car wash.

It's easy to get scratches. I have no idea why my trunk hood has 5 scratches already. Maybe I live in NYC? :wow:

Is it possible the new environmental standard makes the new car's paint thinner? Or is this another defective in my early built 04TL?

IMO, the only thing good is the paint over the bumper is fastness.

 

I got 2 paint chips already after having only 2000 miles. I'm hoping that it's because the paint hadn't cured as I recieved the car with only 4 miles on it.

 

acura's just have sh!tty paint

 

Why do the front and especially rear covers look different from the side of the car. Are they not painted at the same time or is it a matter of coverage.

 

Guys, regarding paint issues. Many car manufacturers have been forced to put a less then stellar coat of paint on the car due to environmental issues. My subaru wrx had the exact same issues when I bought that new. So far I've only noticed one small ding on my NBP hood. I guess it's just something we have to live with.

 

Its just terrible....you get a brand new car, and you want it to be perfect. It bothers me so much...nobody else can see the flaws, but you know its there. IT EATS AT ME!!!

 

Does anyone have any opinion as to weather the '04 TL has better paint quality than the previous generation TL. I think everyone is aware of the second generation TL paint issues, and I am curious if that is going to carryover to the new gen. The new EPA regulations make painting much more problematic than in the past, but Acura seems to have some quality issues in the past generation caused by thin application of the paint etc.

 

How effective is keeping a protective wax coat on protecting the paint and keeping the color sharp......? What exactly does wax protect against?

 

I had a clear bra installed for $500 by Rockblocker.com. They work in the Seattle area, but they can sell you the product and refer you to an installer. DO NOT get a vinyl bra. Sand and pebbles get under it and scratch the hell out of your paint. They also leave you with a two-toned hood.

 

NOTE - my dealer just mentioned that they haven't seen it personally but were warned to look out for paint flaws, peeling and chipping.

 

I've had vinyl bra's on 2 of my cars, and never had any trouble with scratches from stones, that's exactly what they are designed to protect against. The problem with vinyl is keeping it on all the time. If it get's wet, and water get's caught underneath, that can cause trouble. I would take the bra off weekly, clean underneath, and then wash the car and put it back on. Also, if you know it's going to rain...take it off. It's a lot of trouble, I know, but it does protect pretty well if you like the look.

 

Now that is not what you want to hear

 

Not true. I had an MDX and TL-S and the paint on both was crap - the TL-S much more so than the MDX. You could run your finger over the Aegean Blue paint on the TL-S when it was clean and it would leave tiny little streaks in the paint (or clearcoat). The car was always kept waxed and never went through a machine car wash and looked like hell after the 30 month lease was up. I have a Volvo and BMW that just went through a hellish Winter and neither one has any chips, blemishes, or noticable swirl marks.

(BTW - I used Blackfire on the Volvo in October and it did an incredible job protecting the paint all through the Winter - I highly recommend it for durability)

 

[The new EPA regulations make painting much more problematic than in the past, but Acura seems to have some quality issues in the past generation caused by thin application of the paint etc.]

Actually ...Acura and Honda vehicle paint film is NOT thinner than competitive manufacturers. If you measure (with a paint thickness guage), you'll find a total paint film thickness between 6-7 mils (Thousanths of an inch). This is comparable with Lexus, Infiniti, Lincoln, etc. (@ least the vehicles I checked). Chipping problems seem to be related to the large amount of exposed painted sheetmetal on the front of the TL due to "aerodynamic" or style decisions (2 large chips on my ABP hood). Acura (& Honda) actually applies an additional coat of a more flexible primer on the front of the hood and leading area of the front fenders for more protection against stone/impact chips in those areas.

 

Since Gen II and Gen III are built at the same plant on the same assembly line, you can probably assume nothing has changed in the paint department. Paint quality would improve only if Acura made a conscious decision that something needed to be done. It sure would be nice if they did.

 

I was at the dealer lot yesterday just hoping that my new car had arrived (it didn't) and I couldn't help looking closely at the new TL's. There were several colors available to admire, and since it was such a nice day with bright sun etc., I got to check them out very carefully. I could not notice one defect in any of the cars. The red and black looked great, and had a deep, rich, vibrant look to them. The paint looked very high quality, and the finish was awesome with no dust, runs or anything else for that matter that I noticed...and I spent quite a bit of time trying to find something. Now.....with such a great looking finish, it's got to be either the paint itself, or something in the air we breathe that is causing these problems later on. My 2002 NBP looked awesome too, but the rain drops sure ate into the clear coat and basically ruined the paint (something only I can see btw). It's not like they are doing crummy paint jobs, they look awesome, but something is going on here.