nreisfelt

I picked up my 05 TL (black) from the body shop today after getting some paint work done to the rear bumper and before I got to chance to ask the estimator what was wrong with the clear coat on my car he asked me what the heck happened to my paint as he said it looks like it has been in a sand storm.

To make a long story short soon after I purchased my car a few months ago I noticed little specks of corrosion in the clear coat all over the car (slowly getting worse, some spots the size of quarters).

He told me he had a few painters look at it and they all agreed that the clear coat has completely failed. He said some parts were down to the e-coat (that didn't mean much to me but he said its in bad shape and needs to be repainted). He said the dealership should cover it under the corrosion warranty as it is due to a bad batch of clear coat being applied at the factory.

Is this common and what are the chances they are going to approve this when I bring it in tomorrow... I have only had one experience with warranty at the dealership and it was great but it was no where near the level this is going to cost...

Thanks in advance.

powerflow

I'm surprised none of the painters mentioned rail dust being the initial cause. I'm guessing thats what happened and since you have a dark color it went unnoticed for a long time. Many people don't take care of their paint and wouldn't notice the start of really bad problem like this.

Without checking the car in person, this is just my guess. When you describe specks of corrosion, that's jumps out, right to rail dust.

Either that or a noob detailer burned through the clear at some point in the past. Honda clear is soft and this can easily happen if someone doesn't know what they are doing, when they have a rotary buffer in their hands.

Hopefully you get refinished under warranty.

nreisfelt

Thanks for your feedback. Since I have had the car I only had it detailed once, this was after I noticed the problem. Could it happen some time after detailing or is it usually immediate? However come to think of it, it was detailed right when I bought it... Anyways, its going in tomorrow for service and I am going to discuss this with the svc writer.

csmeance

can you post a picture of what you are speaking of. I think the issue you may have is indeed rail dust or fallout that has stuck to your paint. When a dealer sells you a car, a detail is a simple glaze and wax to make the paint appear flawless by masking the imperfections, kinda like makeup. then as the car is subjected to the elements and the glaze wears off, you start to see the imperfections. If indeed it is rail dust, go to autozone/pep boys/advance auto parts/kragen - any auto part store and buy a claybar kit. have a friend hold hose over the portion you want to fix (do it in small increments) and then rub the claybar while the hose is providing lubrication. As the claybar works you will see it come off.

nreisfelt

Last time I had it detailed I had them do the clay bar treatment with no luck :/

csmeance

I think a picture would then provide the best insight into the problem

nreisfelt

I'll try tomorrow. Its not noticeable except in sunlight (thankfully). Anyone had much experience with the Bay Area Acura dealers approving things of this magnitude? They were great with the last few items I needed.

I asked the guy at my body shop today what he figured there cost would be and estimated a few grand. I assume if they are leaning towards approving they will need to get the blessing from someone at Acura of America, at least thats how we had to do it when I worked for Audi...

bdogg77

i too have this problem on my black 04 TL. I just thought it was from the previous owner parking under pine trees and getting sap on the car. I am interested to know if this is simply just a clear-coat issue.

Fulani has a TL

iTrader: (1)

As the OP says that some parts were the size of quarters It seems as though the previous owner never really maintained the vehicle causing this havoc. Hopefully Acura will take this in as a faulty clear coat claim. And you are right as Acura Corporate will have to approve it.

bdogg77- when clear coat fails, you cant really remove JUST the clear coat and respray clear coat, a complete repaint is necessary....

Jesstzn

Neglected rail dust isn't going to proceed to quarter sized spots. And if it did it would have a brownish ( rust ) color to it.

There is a possibility the clear was cut down to far eliminating any form of UV protection and the remaining clear is failing.

Here is a link showing some failure.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...ad.php?t=20411

http://www.autoint.com/tips/oem_clearcoat_fail.php

521ranger

Will someone please tell me what rail dust is?

ross7778

I have the same issues with my 05 black TL. I tried getting the dealer to repaint it but they said it was caused by the environment and not covered under warranty. A couple guys from Acura corporate happened to be at the dealership and they looked over the car for a good hour.

Acid rain, wet leaves and bird poop. The previous owner apparently didn't have a garage.

There are a couple more threads dealing with this same problem.

Jesstzn

Here is a thread

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3632222