So I got hit in a parking lot. The trunk and rear panels needed to be replaced. My car has been in the shop since August 17 due to problems and miscommunications between my insurance company and the shop. It was finally scheduled to be finished this past Friday. Now get this.

The shop owner called me last Wednesday. He said the car had been sitting outside parked under some trees, and quite a bit of bird droppings ended up on the car, as it did on the other cars around it. But when they went to wash off my car, white rings were left behind. There are now 10-15 bird crap spots on my 7 month old car, a few on each panel. The droppings came off all the other cars fine. The shop's owner said he knows these new TL's have a problem with not using a thick enough clearcoat. He took it into the dealer on Friday, and heard back that this will not be covered under warranty. I called Acura Consumer Affairs and the guy was no help, rudely telling me that bird droppings are not a defect in the paint. Oh really?! I could understand if my car got hit by lightning, that's not something you should plan for. But if I'm building a car and developing a paint coat, I would make sure that bird crap will not ruin the paint! Especially on a $33,000 car! I paid extra money to have a vehicle that I would not have to worry about, and between all these rattles, headliner issues, scratched tint, and now this, this car has been nothing but a headache. I still love the car, and love driving it, but this just has me so depressed.

Has anyone else had this problem? What should I do? The shop has been very apologetic and offerred to help me out. I filed a comprehensive insurance claim yesterday, but I doubt it will be covered. My father is telling me I might have to sue Acura.

I'm picking the car up today. I don't have any pictures, I'll try to get some this weekend. What a horrible two months.

 

God man thats awful. Good luck with that. I had worse happen. On my other car , the dealership had to take apart the engine and replace a ton of parts and told me that warranty would cover it. I ended up having to pay 4500 bucks because when i went to pick it up they told me it wasnt covered.

 

You should go after the shop owner not Acura. The lame excuse of it came off other cars that parked near by doesn't cover for the fact that he missed placed your car. It's the shop's way to cover their ass for mis-treating your car. It all boils down to the shop not taking care of your car. I've had this same problem before. Mine was on my old 330 but the end result was the same, 1 month of bird crap in the sun. Sit down and ask yourself whether or not you'll leave your car under a tree with bird crap on it for a month? of course you would not. So ask the shop why did they do it?

Anyway I know how you feel and it really does suck Have you tried Zaino? if it's a bad case of stain Zaino should be able to clear it up.

 

Yeah, last week the shop owner said it's his responsibility. Now that the warranty work was denied, he didn't sound like he was going to take care of it for me. Pretty much the whole car needs to be repainted. The easiest thing will just be if my insurance will cover it. If not, then I'm either gonna have to get the shop to just take of it for me, or they need to seriously help me go after acura. You're right, there's no possible way I would have left the car sitting in the sun with bird droppings on it.

Maybe I'll try some Zaino, if the insurance company denies it.

 

brusie,

well.. I have the same problem like you, however, I only had 2 bird dropping and only one is barely visible of the white ring you describe... and the other one you can see the clear coat is damage... it happened on the hood and my tl is NBP.... i have always zaino my car like every 2 weeks.... but it does not prevent the bird droppings eat away my clear coat... I do agree with you that acura does have a paint problem but i am doubtful that will be covered by warranty... i would suggest try to use zaino Z5 polish... it seems to cover up the white ring pretty good...

me too my car was rear end by someone on 9/7 and I got it back like like 9/23... i can feel your pain without your car for that long...

 

The shop should be responsible for repainting your car. If the car is in their possession, they have the responsibility of keeping it safe and in the same condition as it was when it was dropped off. If they were parking it and ran over a nail that damaged the sidewall of the tires, would they go after Acura for a claim? NO! They'd have to replace the tire.

Water spots are a common problem with the TL too - I use rubbing compound to get rid of those.

 

Wow, I didn't expect this, but my insurance company said I'm covered. They're gonna send an appraiser to make sure they really are bird droppings and not something else. So as long as the shop pays my deductable, (and aren't lying about the birds), this might actually turn out ok. I didn't want to have to fight with the shop, because they're actually good guys.

One last question though: will my premiums be affected by a comprehensive claim?

 

No, they should not be affected since it wasn't your fault (and can be proven as such). If you had hit a tree or something then it would be a different story.

 

That's great! glad it worked out for you.

 

is there a way to go to a shop and get them to put another layer of clearcoat for the car?

 

i have a question regarding clear coats. I've had my car for 6 months now. Havent waxed it. nor zainod... just a car wash every month. If i were to get a hand wax... does that mean a clear coat will be put on it? If not, where can i get a clear coat? what does waxing actually do?

 

You may want to check out:

www.acurasucks.com
www.planetfeedback.com

I also have had a lot of issues and will try those.

S