Unimpressed with our Civic 2012 paint. Multiple chips that keep getting larger quickly if not taken care with touch-up paint. This seems like a weak primer to me.

I assume that Acura paints are better quality.... but I wonder how so?

I think the acura paint is cunt hair thicker but not by much. Our 08 accord and 09 tsx paint is terrible b/c of how thin it is.

I'd be interested to see the differences in factory paint thickness by manufacturer and model.

Newer Honda/Acura paints are generally awful compared to how they used to be. I blame the whole 'eco/green' thing. My '02 RL had four thick coats of paint that were high quality.

tl;dr Thanks Stunna!

Only the RL and NSX have good paint.

Its not so much that they were high quality vs lesser quality paint I could go to the paint store and buy the generic brand paint or pay 6x as much for the best lessonal/ppg/dupont and have all be the same quality as far as adhesion and finish, How well they spray/lay may be a different story but the same finish can be achieved. Its probably more that they used less material and the fact that the base isnt sticking as well which means they need a better metal etch/primer .

All dark colors (especially black) for 8th Gen civic have defective paint jobs.

They all start fading within 3-4 years. I have seen so many black 8th gen civic with fuked up paint jobs on the road.

My friend just got his Si repainted for free (the whole car) by the dealer and he was out of warranty. So i guess there was either a TSB or recall for the paint.

On the other hand light colors seem ok. My GF's white 8th civic's paint is still pretty good after 6 years now.

94 accord - white... paint/clear held up til I sold it in 2008-ish

99 TL - red/burgundy paint/clear was fantastic and thick (aside from a few spots on the roof) looked great in 2010

98 prelude - black - garbage clear/paint super thin chipped to the metal each time I hit a small rock on the highway.

03 accord - silver... paint was outstanding until the day I sent it off in February of this year.

02 S2000 - red... thin clear and paint once again, much like the Prelude. chips are easily made and all the way to/through the primer at times.


obviously paint's longevity is heavily weighted on climate and care of the owner. but a few of my cars had clearly thin paint jobs. and that's where the problem lies.

I think in the case of my RL, it was due to oil-based as opposed to water-based.

My 2010 accord also has very thin paint compared to the acura's and both have 1/10th the paint I do on my 760.

Honestly, I think wrapping the car in vinyl might be an easy way to cover up the defects with honda/acura paint rather than a full respray.

Due to complaints and a class action lawsuit, Honda extended the paint warranty on 8th gen Civics to 7 years/unlimited miles so your friend was covered.

The clearcoat on my friend's silver '06 Civic roof has failed. It's flaking and peeling off. He's working with dealer now to try to get this covered (or partial goodwill coverage) even though extended warranty only covered darker colors.

I think Honda may have even extended the paint warranty on 7th gen Accords too.

They werent oil based either. Most all manufacturers and body shops use/used urethane based paints. The key in all of it is is the RL probably used at least 2 coats more of the product (between the base and the clear) maybe more. Adding more paint allows them to finish the car better, and add a few more mils of paint makes it absorb rocks better, and gives it better UV protection.

Nice to know the different suggestion about the paint,i have a little bit knowledge about the car paint and know about the qualities of these paints and in my opinion work on Honda is the Best one than the Acura,everyone has its own choice so its a difference in the qualities and our thinking.

I have no idea what you are talking about.

You are saying Honda's paint is better than Acura's? Maybe and maybe not, who knows unless some lab test is done.

Looks are subjective, and many other things are subjective. But paint quality can be measured and tested to find out exactly which is better SO it s NOT our thinking.

my experience

Acura 02 CLS the original paint has not failed but the car has been properly maintained paint wise left rear quarter has rust on it due to previous repair work done about 12 years ago

2003 Subaru paint (clear coat) has failed on right rear quarter panel. I have new clear coat and Subaru paint and will be repairing it shortly. Failure imho was lack of proper care of said car

1998 accord LX-V6 8 years and paint was pristine.

1994 accord LX, paint was good up to about 2005 when rust started to eat it with a vengeance.

In my experience, I was unhappy with the paint on my Acura TL. It fell victim to sun oxidation after about 5 years (2006 model) and the car was garage kept and waxed bimonthly. Regardless, I had the paint sealed with Opti-Coat on my '14 Accord Coupe to add another layer of protection to Honda's crappy paint.

Here's a video that explains why our Honda/Acura paint sucks.



The gist of it:

^ ALL manufacturers are pushing towards cheaper/more economically friendly ways of painting cars. 40% is massive. That video doesn't go into details about what they've done to maintain whatever finish or protection standards they've had, so it's all speculation.