SO I Spoke with Acura Customer Serivce about the off color in the bumpers of the WDP Acura TL...

and the person who answered the call tells me that at the time the car was designed, "it was designed to be a different color", i'm sure she meant it as in, they can't match it since the surface is different...

but wow, thought it was funny... i asked her if i could get a repaint or new bumpers, and they said i had to talk to the dealership about it...

Acura of Westmont in IL.<--- where I got my car,...

LOTS Of issues with them. i had planned on not filing a complaint, but went ahead and did it, avoid this dealership.

 

repainting might make it worse

 

Repainting like he said will probally make things worse but can make it better. One thing about WDP or pearls in general is that pearl is translucent so ever layer you put on can and will change the outcome lighter or darker. Even if the body shop was to get is closer to matching it won't match because of flopping(the way the pigments of the paint lay) flat vs curved surface looking staright at it, it probally won't match. If you look at the bumper form the rear and the trunk it will probally look really close.

 

Don't make an uneducated comment if you have never experienced it

 

Listen, why don't you stfu please and how the hell did you help this guy by your post.

I had my rear bumper repaired once already and the paint is way off than stock. So now i'm having it replaced with new since I have more damage.

 

Jatt is right, matching white is one of the hardest colors to do. IF the factory cant make it perfect what makes ya think the dealer could.

Also didnt you notice the color difference when you picked up the car? People amaze me.

 

i didn't notice mine when i bought it. i have SSM though. the discoloration became more apparent as time passed. if you go to the dealer and compare a couple of WDP or SSM the discoloration will be more apparent than others. there's no consistency, at least in my eyes. WDP is the worse with the bumper paint. the darker the color, the less obvious you'll see the mismatch. think of it as a free upgrade to a "2 tone" car though we didn't request for it

 

I also noticed that the longer I've owned the car the more pronounced the discoloration is...mine's not that bad and don't want to open a can of worms(repaint being worse)that isn't already opened.

 

That's why I got my body kit custom molded and everything repainted. Matches perfect now.

 

nope, when i picked it up you couldn't tell
it gets worse as time goes

 

Over time all paints fade. Reds fade the worst. After 10 years parked outside, a red car will look primer colored.

The paint used over the body is different than the paint used on the bumpers. Bumpers need to flex so to allow this without the paint cracking, they use a different formulation. Body panels aren't planned to take hits so the paint (clearcoat) is a better quality although more brittle. Imagine all the complaints if everytime someone 'bumps' your bumper in the parking lot all the paint shattered and fell off.

The formulation of the flexible paint will fade quicker than the body paint and over time will harden and crack. On white cars this will show up as yellowing (take a look at old Ford plastic headlights). With darker cars, the yellow is not as apparent.

 

And the problem is not unique to Acura/Honda sourced paints.

My brother is part owner of an autobody shop and claims that the paint match does get worse with extended UV exposure. I now thank him for strongly suggesting that I stay away from both WDP and SSM for this reason alone.

 

you mean that's why you did it the way i had mine

 

My 2 month old WDP is at the dealer right now for this same issue. The first thing out of the managers mouth as he saw my rear bumpers paint peeling was "ahhhh yes...very common occurance...dont worry we will paint the whole rear bumper again at no cost to you but remember as you can see by all these other new WDP TL's the bumpers paint will not match the body". What else could I say except...okay. So I pick up my car tommarow and at least it better match the front bumpers color or I will demand that my front bumper be repainted as well. In the meantime I will continue to redline my new loaner TL to help offset my frustration...not to mention all the time that I wasted because of this problem.

 

I'm not gonna lie. Your TL was one of the two that inspired me. Except for the flames. I didn't like the flames, so I resorted to decals.

 

I think it's hit or miss with the repainting of the bumpers. I had to get mine repainted because of a defect, and they matched up the paint better than when I bought it.

 

Oh since i was wrong with my post, i say try Mullers Acura. Been going there since 1996 and never had an issue.

 

All you're doing is abusing the car for the next guy who buys it. It's not going to do anything to the dealer, you're just hurting the poor guy who gets the car when the dealer sells it. I know you're pissed but please don't make things bad for the next guy...it could be someone on this forum that gets the car.

 

Yo relax - WTF.

 

Not different paint but you are right on track. Same paint but they add a flex agent. But you are correct about the rest.

 

It wasn't an uneducated comment; it was an opinion. And it has happened.

This is the same as telling someone not to have their dash replaced because it might look worse than originally. Definitely a possibility.

 

but she's like that, u should see her past posts in rambling.

cough cough attention whore cough cough

 

I am in the process of trying to exchange my WDP for an anthracite TL. I only have 400 miles on it and I just can't bear to look at my two-tone car!