youngmic

My rear driver-side door is lower than the front by about 1.5mm. You can see it most at the tops of the doors - they do not line up.
I've seen this on most of the TL's I've had the opportunity to look at closely. Only a few have been line up correctly.

I was wondering how many of you have the same thing on yours - or any other body panel alignment issues, for that matter.

VTEC=happiness

My rear door was out of alignment too. Took it to the dealer who fixed it under warranty

youngmic

Cool! I've been looking for someone who's had that done! I've been told by several that adjusting that could cause other repurcussions. You're completely satisfied with the outcome of the adjustment? Do you know how the adjustment was accomplished? In other words, what exactly did they adjust? Was there any damage to the paint inside the door or on the bolts?

Would you be willing to give me a contact at your dealership?

KJSmitty

The only body panels I did not touch were the hood and fenders... Other than that I adjusted all four doors, front bumper - rear bumper facia, and trunk-lid. I can honestly say some of the worst body fit-n-finish of any car that I have purchased. Many others have complained and have commented how their Dealer/Acura states: "they are within tolerances/specs".... Due to being a former mechanic and body guy I spent about 1.5 hours total doing them all myself - near perfect. If I had thought it couldn't be done I would have said "walked" during my walk around. Part of its just me being more picky than most... But by far the worst was the passenger rear door and trunk... Off a good 1/8th inch or more..

Anyway, without seeing your door mis-alignment, I can say that the door hinges have about 1/16 of an inch movement - So your 1.5 mil discrepancy should be able to be aligned with ease. Then again, if its already all the way up or down, your out of luck. In the old days the amount of adjustment on panels was literally near endless. Todays manufacturing specs etc. result in near perfect fit thus very little adjustment built in. Worse case would involve you to elongate a hinge or mounting hole a bit... I had to make my trunk lid hing arm holes about 1/16 inch bigger for a perfect fit.

Bottom line, your not alone. If its that bad I would ask your dealer/body shop to look at it.

Take care

youngmic

KJSmitty, great post, thanks.

I wonder just how pervasive this poor fit and finish issue really is. Acura's websites claim the following:

"The gaps where the body panels meet are narrow and consistent, an industry-leading detail that demands an extraordinary amount of craftsmanship during the assembly process."

"Gaps are minimized between the instrument panel and door lining." (The gap between the instrument panel and driver side door is very wide.)

“As time goes by, some things, like build quality, just keep getting better. As you’d expect from an Acura, the TL displays an unprecedented level of fit and finish. Even if you don’t share our obsession for detail, you have to admit that it results in a truly remarkable sedan.”

“Gaps between body panels are held to a consistent 2mm.” (This was actually recently changed to: “Gaps between body panels are consistently held to close tolerances.”)

“Doors close with a firm, reassuring sound.” (Even includes sound bytes. But on the front doors, this is true only when the windows are closed.)

The last three are from the voice overs in the Interactive Exterior Showroom.

I know that marketing tends to "over emphasize" and/or "exaggerate" the facts, but these appear to be pure misrepresentation. It's interesting to note that you don't find these types of claims in Lexus, Infiniti, BMW, or Mercedes advertising.

"Unprecedented", "industry-leading", "obsession for detail", "narrow and consistent", "2mm", "firm, reassuring sound"... has Acura gone too far with these claims?

My TL certainly does not conform to these claims:

Hood and trunk out of alignment.
Dash board gaps inconsistent.
Rear-view mirror panels inconsistent.
Rear tail-light mis-aligned.
Rear driver-side door mis-aligned.
And "2mm"? No. (Although Acura has changed this, it was out there for some time.)
With windows open, front doors exhibit a cheap rattle when closed.

I expect more from a company that values it's ACURAcy, and it's INTEGRAty. It's not right for a company to set expectations with it's advertising that cannot be accommodated in reality.

How many of you have ever considered the sound of the doors closing as a criteria for purchasing a car? And yet, now, having had expectations set by the advertising, the sound exhibited by the doors with the windows open is a source of disappointment. The same can be said about the other fit and finish issues.

Has anyone gone to ACS with these types of issues?

youngmic

KJSmitty, I've got a question for you. My passenger side rear tail-light is about 3mm closer to the trunk than the driver-side tail-light. It's definitely the tail-light, not the trunk (althought the trunk is out too).

I've been told that there is a danger of water leaks if I break the factory seals on the tail-light in order to adjust it. Is this true? Can you comment on that statement?

Thanks.

Modeler

Damn! My car came without the rear driver!

Why does your rear driver need a side door anyway???

VTEC=happiness

I went to Keyes Acura in Van Nuys. My service advisor was Josh (he is the asst. manager). I'm not a big fan of the kid cause he comes across as really cocky, but he did get all of my concerns addressed. His direct is 818 907 4467

I did not find any damage at all, in fact, you cannot even tell anyone had worked on it. I was concerned that they might detach the door and put it on the ground before reattaching and that there would be scratches, etc, but I found no problems. If you have any other issues with the car (i.e. rattles), they will have a technician ride with you. THe guy that went with me was an older (late 50s early 60s) white guy. He was really good to direct me to all of the bumpiest streets in the area so that he could hear everything I was talking about. He even the things that I could not replicate, and seemed to take care of eveything. If you find the need to have a technician to with you, make sure that its that guy.

Good luck, and feel free to PM with any other questions.

Swat Dude

My trunk is out of alignment and sits too low from the body. The hood also seems slightly low. My exhaust tip on the left side is not centered in the body. I will be addressing this and several other issues at my first service.

Nicki

my drivers side front fender has a gap of about 1/8" just above where the headlamp assembly meets the fender. The pass side fender is completely flush. Its not very noticible by sight but you can feel it. I do not plan to do anything with it because I dont trust them breaking any factory bolt seals and disturb any other alignments or ruin the paint, plus I dont trust the dealer trying to push the fender down and dent it with their hand. So i think I am going to leave it alone. However since there is a gap above the headlamp I am concerned that while driving through rain the water will get into areas that it is not supposed to like if it was flush. Well I will think about this some more... any opinions? what would you guys do?

youngmic

OK, OK - rear driver-side door. Very sharp, dulnev. I've gone back and edited the post.

KJSmitty

Is the entire right rear tail-light assembly shifted to the left? If so is the "flushness" of the light assembly to the rear quarter panel also bad/off? I would assume this is the case. - Check the black portion of the light assembly that is under the trunk lid.. Does it look as if it is away from the "body" more than the left light assembly?? If all of these areas are off then the housing is out of adjustment, if they are not then maybe you have a poorly made light assembly.

Now, for the water leakage question, the answer would be "its possible. Without knowing the design of the assembly and mating/seal contact area it's hard to say (due to the small amount of possible adjustment I would guess "no"). But from a dealer standpoint (if the assembly is out of alignment), their pre-adjustment comment should be "we will attempt adjustment yet may have to replace the housing/assembly if the "seal" is questionable".

Sounds like the dealer VTEC mentioned would be a good starting point. As for adjusting your door, if it only requires a minor adjustment like mine, the hinge bolts are not painted thus little worries of chipped paint etc.

Good luck - hope the dealer treats you well...

Smitty

youngmic

Thanks for the feedback. I took a closer look at the tail-tight. Rather than shoved to one side, it actually appears to be skewed to the left. The gap at the top is less than the bottom. I think it must be the entire assembly. I'll let the dealer determine that.

Thanks again KJSmitty!

youngmic

I'm sending this around again...