hi,

I am having some paint issues with my black 06 TL that I bought in Decemeber 2005.
And I would appreciate your advice/suggestions about this problem.

I have attached the pictures of 2 of the affected areas. The size of the affected spot in the picture is about 0.5 to 1 cm (approx.).
I started seeing this issue after a detailing job at the Acura Dealership in July 2006. (after about 6 months).

I contacted the dealer immediately and after a few weeks the dealer's service mgr had a look at it.
He said he will ask the District mgr, so I requested an appointment with the District Parts and service
manager. The District mgr did not meet me the first time and just told the dealer that its not their
problem and they will not cover it under warranty. So I requested to meet with the District mgr again and
the dealer arranged for a meeting again.
This time the district mgr met me and he had got a tool that measured the paint thickness and
according to his measurements he said that its not a paint defect. He said it may be something like bird
crap or tree sap but he was not able to point out exactly what has caused the paint to come off.
He said I should wax my car monthly to avoid such paint issues.

The reason I am still not convinced is that I always clean and wax my car regularly. I never
park the car under trees and clean off any bird crap immediately. And I have a 2000 Totota Camry that
I park and drive under the same conditions. And I have never seen the paint come off that car. Also all
the affected spots on Acura have not come up at once but gradually.

I had called up ACS, but the rep told me that if the dealer has said it is not going to be covered under
warranty then there's nothing they can do about it.

I am really disappointed. The car was only 6 months old when this problem started showing up. I will try to take
it to another dealer.
My last option is to send a letter to Acura HeadQuarters.

Please let me know any suggestions/comments about this. May be your experiences can help me.

Thanks!!

 

Could you make a test of aherence of the paint. I think a body shop can do that, althougn it's a destructive test. I remenber to see one just put some tape and take it off quickly to see if some paint stick on the tape.

I had a same issue 6 years ago after my alero front bumper was repainted after a crash.

They did the job again and it was fine after.

It could be a bird drop also, but it's not the direct cause of the paint take off, it's just due to poor quality.

 

Yeah, it looks like this is an adhesion problem. But for so new of a car it should definitely not be happening. I would think that your warrentee would cover such an issue.

-Mike

 

its appears that TLs are first coated with a base color that is a bit lighter than the top coat. Mine does the same thing when a small rock hits it and leaves the base color showing. IMHO the TLs pait SUCKS compared to my older 92 NSX and also my 92 Vigor which both had very thick and durable paints. I am very upset about the paint quality of the TL.

DD

 

This is actually not true, not to be an automotive paint snob but.... When a car is painted using a basecoat/clearcoat paint system (all cars 1997 or newer) the basecoat has no gloss at all. This complete matte finish can be percieved as "lighter" when seen without the clear but its really not at all. The top coat is completely colorless and the basecoat holds all the color for the car. The best and esiest way to fix this issue if its not covered by insurance or a warrantee is to just lightly sand with 1000+ grit sandpaper and re-spray the clear (DUP.A-7480S www.paintworldinc.com) . This is a very easy repair to make if you're gonna do it yourself.

-Mike

 

I had a 2002 TL-S that I waxed several times/month. I don't think I could have done anything more to protect the paint. One July afternoon, the car was parked outside during a brief rainstorm. The sun came out shortly, and all the water beads burned spots into the paint. The spots that formed were from the sun, combined with acid rain. They burned into the hood, roof, and trunk. The sides were OK because the water ran off without beading. Nothing would remove the spots. The dealer said they would have to wet sand the clear coat off, then repaint all the surfaces with damage. I ended up selling the car and bought a 2004 Anthracite TL. It doesn't spot like black. Black is sure pretty when clean, but it's a nightmare to keep looking good. Never Again For Me. I'm thru with black cars.