Karl_in_Chicago

So I've had this new RL for all of 2 1/2 weeks and I take a friend to lunch today and the valet gets it feked up! I've been the usual new car owner and watching it like a hawk and my friend wanted to check it out so before we even left for lunch we walked all around it in my corp garage - had it been scraped up we would have seen it. So we go to Shaw's Crab House in Chicago, one of our fave restaurants, and have the valet take the car.

On the way out something wasn't right. What's your car? Blue Acura. Then multiple people that come after us get their cars but not me. Then a valet drives up in a ratted out old (blue) Buick and pulls to the curb, looks at us, waits, and then drives away. Shortly thereafter the SAME valet finally pulls up in my car. Since it's like 20-something degrees we just get in the car and go. After dropping my friend off and stopping for some stuff I approach the right side of my car and realize it's ALL FECKED UP! The right rear fender has scrapes and yellow paint as does the mudguard. JAHDAMMIT!!

So after calling the restaurant they gave me the name of the head honcho at the valet comp and I talked to him and he was pretty cool. I'll be dropping by tomorrow for pic's and I'll be getting my own estimates. My concern is that the paint on the RL is so unique that it's going to be a real biatch to get it right. I've got a call in to my dealer to see who they use as I figure they would know best how to fix this. Damn, not even 3 weeks old and already fecked up. I need a new car all over again.

You know it's one thing if you park on the street and take your chances - and that's bad enough when it gets munged. But to pay somebody to take car of your car and they feck it up really pisses me off.

I know there was one thread about somebody (and I believe it was also blue) having their car messed up by a bad application of clear plastic. Any advice on paint work?

SoCalCarDude

Sorry to hear about your RL!!! I know what you are going through, since I went through a similiar situation with my brand new CL Type-S that was also two weeks old at the time. I was at the post office and a man in a pickup truck just started backing out of the stall without looking. I was trapped behind him since there was a car in front of me and in back of me. I honked my horn full-blast, but to no avail. Anyways, my CL was ruined (in my mind) from the initial sloppy paint job and the two attempts to correct the paint color.

So based upon my lessons learned, the next time that I had a slight fender-bender (this time my fault) on my Toyota Tacoma Pre-Runner, I tried to make sure that I had the best guy for the job. What I did was to go to a recommended body shop numerous times to see the cars that they were repairing and to inspect the paint jobs. Go to the bodyshop when there is adequate sunlight to see any imperfections. Make sure you look at the higher end vehicles that are being repaired, since they have better paint quality and I would think, would be harder to match. After I felt comfortable with their work, I requested to talk to their best painter and I had a personal conversation with him. In that conversation, I told him that if he did a perfect job, I would compensate him accordingly (on the side).

Well, guess what.......it came out perfect! I couldn't tell where the dent was and I couldn't tell that it was ever painted. Even 3 years later, still lookin great!

Now the side compensation is up to you, but I always find (sad to say) that a little motivation can do wonders.

Karl_in_Chicago

Thanks SoCal. I live in Chicago so I'm no stranger to using money on the side to make things happen. My concern is that the paint on the RL is of such a specific unique quality that it can't be easily matched by (currently) available body shop painting techniques. I've had very good results with Gerber, a national body/paint chain, but I'm not sure even they possess the required stuff to redo my Opulent Blue Pearl body panels. I've already got an inquiry into my Acura dealer as my first desire is to get Acura panels to replace the damaged ones. The lower right rear quarter is scraped up - that one definitely needs paint and I'd prefer it simply be replaced with a factory painted panel if such a beast exists. The rear fender panel behind it has yellow paint on top of it and might be salvagable if it's just paint on paint and no scraping/gouging. A proper job removing the paint and then buffing it out might be OK. Geez, why couldn't they have done it to the 2 year old Volvo I traded in rather than the 2 week old Acura I bought? It would have barely dented the value on the Volvo but it's ruined my long weekend with my new Acura.

SoCalCarDude

When my CL was repaired, I had to get a new front side quarter panel and it came from the manufacturer unpainted. I wish it was pre-painted, because that would have prevented the nightmare that I went through.

If you can get the panel pre-painted, then that would be a great option. If you do, please let us know, because that would be great information for future reference (and for AcuraRLBlue). If not, whenever you find a bodyshop that you are comfortable with, have them paint only that one part and see if the color and quality matches the original. In that way, you don't risk messing up the paint on the other adjacent body panels of your RL due to blending, that's if they are planning to do that.

rets

Sorry to hear that. It sucks. If you concern about the painting outcome or quality, is it possible to get the whole new rear bumper or that rear fender or something? I mean you may get the replacement from the factory if it's the lower fender. Perhaps, some pics would be helpful for others to make suggestions to you.

For example...



That should be the part replacable... Maybe I'm wrong here...

AcuraRLBlue

So sorry what happened to your RL. I had my car messed up by a idiot who applied the 3M clear film. I still could not get more than one estimate as no one else except my Acura dealer's body shop could do the estimate due to the lack of the software database for such a new car.

I got some good recommendations at the other thread as to what type of shop to go to; one post recommended seeking out a shop that does high end cars.

Your desire to have the panel replaced is a good idea, except that your insurance company may bark at the higher cost.

Not telling you that he (the valet driver) fecked up your car is down right low. It is too bad that there are this type out there that mess up our cars.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Man, that sucks. The valet company better step up and cough up the money to pay for the repairs. I'll bet the dumbass valet took the car joy riding...

legendguy

Karl_in_Chicago


Hey Karl, bummer man. I got my RL in Libertyville. I went for a tour of the facility and saw that they had a big, busy body shop. I haven't personally had any work by them but the shop looked very neat and high tech. If you are in Chicago, you might want to check them out as they are Acura.

In your favor might be the fact that the RL goes through a factory hand sand process to improve the finish. Many other cars have the "orange peel" effect from the factory paint that is hard to match when repaired with a hand sand. At least with RL you will have an easier to match FINISH if not color. Good luck!

Karl_in_Chicago

Thank you all for your replies. I'm a normal guy, so I have the normal emotions most of us have about seeing their cars damaged. I also am 45 and am not the hot-headed young man of my youth - I take the long view now and just want things to be made right rather than try and match might and right as I might have done some time ago. My concern isn't from the financial aspect of making those responsible do what needs to be done, rather my concern is finding people capable of managing the body/paint work to match the quality of the panels delivered with the car. I will update this thread with my experiences, hopefully for the benefit of all.

8-)

Good luck, and I feel for ya.

Two months with mine and 3 scratches. I don't park near anyone, so who knows.

Fortunately you have a good attitude. Otherwise you'd be working on an ulcer!

Rob L

sorry to hear about this and I hope it can get fixed with that factory matching quality.

I do have to say the valet is a dick for not saying anything but Ive come to expect that type of crap from people these days.

Karl_in_Chicago

Yeah, sad isn't it? Well I spoke on the phone with the owner of the valet service last night and he was quite sympathetic (mentioned he just got a new car, too) and very helpful so it's starting out good, at least. I have to go back to the valet and have them open a claim, take pictures, etc., to file with THEIR insurance company. I'm charging up the battery on my digi-cam right now to snap my own pix. I really wanted to wash the car today, too, but I'm not touching it until after we all get our pictures and start the claim process.

The restaurant where I ate doesn't do lunch on Saturdays so I have to wait until 4:30 when they open. Kinda kills a Saturday planning your whole day around filing a damage claim with a valet.

Karl_in_Chicago

Met with the valet folks on Saturday - they were actually quite pleasant and helpful. We filled out the claim forms for THEIR insurer and the valet mgr. snapped some pic's with his phone. I mentioned that I had also taken pic's with my digital camera and offered to email them to him which he accepted.

This is my first attempt to ever post a picture of anything online so let me know if it's not right or I could have done it better.

Oh yeah, the car's dirty because I didn't want to change anything about the car's appearance prior to filing the claim. It's been washed since then.

RedTangello

Best of luck with the repairs, Karl.

Being a fellow Chicagoan, (in fact, I think I got my Acura at the same place as yours-- McGrath in Glenview?) I can certainly relate to that "jump in the car, get out of the cold" mentality, not realizing anything's wrong until much later.

Last year, I had a really full day-- after school, I had a field trip with our school's multicultural awareness organization to the Japanese Cultural Center in the Loop and then, directly following, a congressional debate meeting. I wasn't to get home until 10:00 PM, arriving at school at 7:00 AM. Needless to say, I was up for a LONG day.

Figuring no one would care since school had ended and most of the teachers had left, I moved my 2000 RL to the visitors parking lot right near the school's entrance so, right after coming back from the field trip, I could jet to the pizza parlour for the debate meeting.

All of the club meetings went well and I had a great time. I was saying goodbye to a few friends from other schools as I was leaving the debate event, standing right next to my car. Glancing down, I see someone had KEYED it. Ugh.

dseag2

Good luck with the car, Karl, and don't give up hope. When I had my '99 TL, some idiot ran into the back of me at a stoplight and knocked me into the car in front of me, so both ends of the car were severely damaged. The Acura body shop did such a beautiful job it looked better than before. It was Heather Mist Metallic (silver), so the color was tricky, but they still matched it perfectly.

We'll keep our fingers crossed for you.

Karl_in_Chicago

Thanks Red. I did buy from McGrath but the Westmont location. You know I will never understand what drives people to do something like keying a car. Accidents happen and that I can accept, but the deliberate vandalism like that is unfathomable. Idiots like that really need to be dealth with harshly but, sadly, are rarely even dealt with at all. I'd suggest castration with a grapefruit spoon to be the appropriate punishment.

Karl_in_Chicago

That's real encouraging. I talked to my sales guy and he says the dealership has a body shop they use that does the wetsanding between coats so I'm hopeful it can get done right. I've got an appointment for an estimate with Gerber this afternoon - I've used them in the past with good results, too. My preference will be to go wherver the dealer goes, though; I just need multiple estimates for the insurance claim.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Looks like the valet backed it into one of those poles. The stuff on the rear quarter panel looks like it can be buffed out, but a partial repaint of the bumper cover is going to be a necessity.

RedTangello

Karl, I got my car at McGrath - Glenview when it was still McGrath Audi and Acura! My mother bought an Audi A6 Avant at the same time. But now I get it serviced by Pauly Acura in Highland Park, where my father bought his latest car. From every Acura dealership I've been to, though, positively impeccable service.

I vote for tar and feathers for vandals. Or having their eyes gouged out with soup spoons.

Karl_in_Chicago

Unfortunately there's also a dent in the upper section, not easily visibile in the photos. Yeah, it definitely looks like he hit one of those stupid poles. The guy at Gerber walked me through everything they need to do; surprised me that it was only ~$940. Next I'll be visiting my Acura dealer's bodyshop.

rets

So, it's similar to the pic I posted above... if you think the shop has to work something more than just painting, do you know how much for replacing the whole rear bumper (including that rear quarter panel)? Just curious... Thanks...

Karl_in_Chicago

It's a VERY small dent, barely noticeable, and right up on the edge of where the upper panel mates to the lower. I think it's quite fixable and won't require replacement of the panel. I don't know what replacement would cost. As I was typing this my Acura dealer just called with the names/numbers of the 2 body shops they've used for RL work with good results. These shops wet-sand in between each of the coats of paint; I imagine if the panel really should be replaced they will say so. I'll visit them and get estimates this week and post my results. It's getting fixed the right way regardless of what the valet's insurance ends up doing; if they don't do the right thing then I'll make it State Farm's problem. Just hate to mess up that no-claim discount I've had with them for so long.

rets

Thanks for your reply. Good luck with that repair and painting.