Hey Guys:
Brought up my issues with my 05 TL to the Acura Factory Rep and heres what happened:

Trunk misaligned and rubbling when shut, paint damaged on edge of trunk and quarter panel, edge of trunk now has rust on it fromt he missing paint.

Mottling on Anthracite on all four doors.

Did not bring this up but noticed this with body shop adjuster who evaluated my car but there is a stamping bend in the right passenger door that looks like a crease in the sheetmetal from the factory.

Factory rep only offered to fix the trunk issue saying he would get it aligned and touched up. I refused this as I previously spoke to the bodyshop and they told me that the touchup would still be noticable. Factory rep said he could have trunk painted then and this is not acceptable as it would reduce my value.

Painting all four doors would also reduce my value and is seen as the only way to fix the bad mottling effect under certain lights.

I asked for a new vehicle as these issues are ones that should have prevented the vehicle from leaving the factory and that repairing them would reduce the value or offered to let him repaint the trunk if he gave me some diminished value consideration (which he refused).

He refused to do anything about the mottling calling it "commercially acceptable: whatever that means, and said it was "to Acura specs". I doubt a new $35XXX vehicle is expected to have mottling.

He did not back down from this acceptable claim even though I showed him another vehicle on the dealer lot that had no mottling, he said that he saw some mottling in thats car's paint as well but hinted it wasnt as bad as mine. (I found the car's paint job to be perfect)

I showed him another blue TL with a trunk lid that was severely pushed in and he stated that it was "normal" even though you could run your finger across the panels and the difference in height is enough to stop your finger.

So since I had some minor bumper damage I offered to forget the trunk paint issue and the mottling if he could replace and paint the bumper, which was estimated to be about the same amount as repainting the trunk and quarter panel blend (and certainly much less expensive than repainting the trunk and doors). This I offered in an effort to find a solution that would INCREASE MY VALUE INSTEAD OF REDUCING IT. However, he refused even this.

Thus I can say that I am unhappy with the quality of my vehicle and the way my concerns are being hanled by Acura, after talkign to client services, they stated that this was not a warranty issue and that they only could look back over the vehicle and possibly repaint some panels. They also said no consideration would be given to me for having to deal with a new vehicle with paint work on it.

I have filed for BBB Autoline assistance and would like some input from you guys on how you would handle this situation if it were your car.

Thanks!

 

Are you younger like late teens early 20's? Reason I ask is because unless you are damn near mid to late 40's these reps are complete dicks. I went through some issues with my WRX and the Rep was such an ass I almost whooped his ass. They were gonna call the cops so I left. Needless to say I will never ever own another Subaru.

If you strongly believe that your issues are defects and they refuse to fix them and offer lots of resistance then you need to hire a lawyer. I personally feel there are a lot of things wrong with these cars that should be fixed no questions asked. However, there are also a lot of picky/complaining ass people on this damn site.

I guess I got lucky with my TL I havent really had any problems. I believe the leather is cheaper than the accords and I have a sub rattle (but never hear it with the radio up) but that's it. My car has been pretty good to me so far.

Good luck.

PS: WTF is mottling? Do you mean Molting?

 

nevermind looked it up ~ the act of coloring with areas of different shades

I think you would have better off using the word blotchy because mottling isn't really what you are describing.

You mean the paint is blotchy and not even throughout correct. Thats also because its a metallic and doesn't it have a pearl base in it?

 

Hey thanks for your reply, Yes I am in my 20s and yes i figured the factory rep in his 40s would treat me like a punk.
Yes the correct terminology is mottling, a blotchy effect in the paint people in the auto industry know about. The factory rep had no problem detecting the mottling on my car but went on to say that it was commerically acceptable.
I guess I will have to make my point because I do not and will not accept a car that needs to be repainted due to a factory problem. It should not have left the factory looking like that.

We'll see what the BBB process yields, at the very least they lost the possibility of selling me a new MDX.

We'll see what the BBB process yields and if anyone else has some thoughts please reign in with them. I do appreciate your input!

 

Get a lawyer and review your claim. If the lawyer feels that you can use the Lemon Law or if your car is finance, the Fair Lending Act may allow you to proceed with legal action.

At least for me, BBB is a waste of time. It is a long story, but in short, I hired a lawyer to resolve the issue.

 

To avoid confusion, I will post the short story version. The issue I had was with my previous car the Mazda Millenia S. When I had purchased the car, the check engine light came-on when the temperature went below 34 degrees.

The dealer had the car almost a month on their lot and still could not find the problem.

I got a lawyer and the lawyer sent a letter to the dealer and Mazda informing them that I was about to invoke the Lemon Law.

Mazda found that the problem was due to a change to the computer programming and replace the computer in my car.

It's a shame I had to waste my time and money forcing them to fix the problem. They had to know that the car was approaching the 30 days.

The lawyer said that even if the car did not meet the definition of the Lemon Law, that we could take action under the Fair Lending Act if the car was financed.

 

I don't understand. If these defects are that gross and noticeable, why did you even accept the car and drive it off the lot? How did that happen?

 

The defects in the trunk were not noticable, they occur when the trunk is closed and hits the quarter panel. The mottling is something that an expert can pick up and is noticed when you look at it under certain shades of sunlight and under flourscent lighting. It is not normal for someone to scruitinize a paint job and look for mottling but once you notice it under certain lights you always notice it (and the experts notice it when you are trying to sell your vehicle or get it appraised).

The bend in the door was noticed immediately by the bodyshop as irregular but to the layman it would take a thorough scruitinization of every inch of the vehicle to notice. after looking at other vehicles I realize it is indeed a material/workmanship error in the stamping and noticable when looked at from 30/150 degree angle to the door.

 

All in all the car has mainly defects in workmanship from a poorly aligned trunk that is so bad it has caused rust to form on the vehicle, poor stamping of body panel, and horrendous paint job on the vehicle.