AR-Trvlr

Does the 4th Gen TL have any corrosion issues? I'm looking at buying a 2012, and I'm seeing a number of northern vehicles turning up at the local dealers.

My gut tells me to run far away, but how much damage will three years of road salts do to the cars? Should I reconsider?

C8N

I live in Northern NJ and bought my 2012 TL new. I see no signs of corrosion on my car.

Hogan9166

iTrader: (1)

Mine is an '09 with 140K miles on it...I live in SW Ohio, but work in Central Ohio. Through the last several years, we have had significant snow for this part of the country. The only corrosion I have is the standard on the hubs and calipers.

I was under the car during an alignment about a month ago and it was clean as a whistle.

Tonyware

^Same here '09 around 100k miles. No rust.

There was a bit of rust on a heat shield and bolts holding it together in the engine bay. Sometimes the rattling was annoying. It is the heat shield protecting the axle from the rear catalytic. Same issue with my old Accord. All it took was some silver heat spray paint to change the frequency of the material so it won't rattle no more.

Best thing to do in the winter is wash it often and not allow multiple layers of road salt to settle in. Especially around fenders, door edges and trunk/hood edges. That road salt they use can eat through the best galvanized metal anywhere. One layer is ok, two not good.

vtec260

Too early to tell. I think most Honda/Acura products are not too bad, except for thin factory paint. Just make sure touch up paint is applied to any chips on vulnerable areas. Also, I am big on washing rear fender wheel well and get salt and dirt off there in winter months. I had corrosion happening around 8 year mark on 03 TL before. I did notice that on our MDX, Acura put a bead of sealant on the rear fender lip/joint, but not on the TL. Having that sealant bead should help a lot in preventing rust there.

acupower

2009 TL with 70k miles driven in Toronto, Canada. Crazy amounts of salt on the roads but still no sign of rust.

I am taking some preventative measures though. I am spraying the under-body with rubberized asphalt and have already claybar-ed/polished the car and applied Opti-coat 2.0.

I am confident that would be enough to keep it rust free for many years to come.

AR-Trvlr

Thanks for all the good information. I'm getting a bit more comfortable with the idea of a northern car.

I'm not worried about the winters once I get it - salt (and winter for that matter....) is pretty much a foreign concept down here in Georgia.

I'm mostly worried about the three years before I get it. I'll have to assume it was only washed by the dealer when the lease was over. How much damage can be done?

Tonyware

^I guess you have lots of humidity down there in Georgia. If the car is sitting for a long period of time the non-aluminum metallic parts may get rusty. But not if they are galvanized and painted. If any serious rust develops it will be on body panels that have been damaged and repainted outside of the factory by a body shop. So, if there are no previously damaged panels you should be OK.

andrewcjduong

I live in Canada and I drive a 2009 TL. No rust on my vehicle. I do notice some rock chips that end up having surface rust. What I usually do is give the car a good wash then use a clay bar and clean up the area then apply paint with the pen thing from the dealership. Give a few hours to dry off then buff it with polish and apply wax and it looks good as new.

You probably won't see any rust until the 10-15 year mark and even then, if you keep your car maintained then you should be fine. My 2004 TSX had no rust until last year where I noticed some around the roof/windshield area and that's when I decided to sell it. It was repairable but I had other plans and wanted a bigger car.

KBear

Any point in spraying the rust inhibitor oil in the trunk and hood seams? Is there any area of the car that is prone to rust? The oil seems to work well, but does creep out to the outside areas of the car.

Booya4139

You are hosing down the underbody with FlexSeal?

acupower

This is what I use:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/automo...t#.VD25IlVzaUk

I am not sure if this exact same product is available down in the states but there should be something equivalent.
I've used this product for about 8 years now and I am extremely happy with it. Any areas that have been sprayed with it exhibit no signs of rust.