Acura TL Paint and Exterior Care

Replying to: nim4ever (Sep 20, 2007 12:32 pm)

i call it wrinkling. like shrink wrap gone horribly wrong... only this is a $30,000 car.
 
at any rate, yes, the dealers know all about it whether they admit it or not. my local acura parts department told me that even though i could replace it, it would just do the same thing. appalling. anyway, what he did tell me is that what people are doing is removing the trim including the black plastic trim on the pillars (eg, front right trim on driver door) that peels and oxidizes, is remove all of it and paint the underlying metal flat black at an auto body shop.
and honestly, come spring i'm going to do that as i don't even like the shiny black trim... he told me they were doing it for about $200-300.

Replies to this message:
• nim4ever (Oct 03, 2007 12:14 pm)

Replying to: nwtl (Oct 03, 2007 11:50 am)

Replying to: john19 (Sep 24, 2006 1:25 pm)

I have a 2003 Nighthawk Black Pearl TL-S purchased new with the worst case of this problem I've ever seen. I started losing the paint less than a year after purchasing the car - everything that landed on the car seemed to go through the clearcoat. Bubbling, cracking, spotting... despite using Pinnacle and Meguiar's Gold Class car care products obsessively, nearly 5 years after purchase, the car's finish is trashed. Dealer in NorCal said it was "berry eating birds" - nothing they could do. Dealer in Phoenix said it was "poorly applied clearcoat" or a bad process for applying water based paint - nothing they could do. Dealer in Colorado said "environmental damage" - nothing they could do. This car was not Simonized.... I also took delivery right off the truck without dealer prep. Car looks like acid is eating through the hood, passenger side doors, roof, and trunk lid. Toss in the peeling B pillars and the car looks pretty hideous. I'm somewhat relieved to hear that others are having similar issues - I thought my car was cursed!! Only have 34,000 miles on it too...

Replies to this message:
• scottm123 (Oct 04, 2007 7:32 am)
  • tltypek (Oct 05, 2007 6:11 am)

Replying to: tltypek (Oct 03, 2007 5:12 pm)

Replies to this message:
• tltypek (Oct 05, 2007 6:11 am)

Replying to: scottm123 (Oct 04, 2007 7:32 am)

Yep, I learned this after leaving my month old car at the airport for a 3 day business trip .... problem is, 90% of this wasn't bird droppings. It's become ANYTHING that touches the car. I was hand washing my car every week (as often as I could manage with a 100 plus hour work week at the time) plus I'm known for being an excellent detailer (all my other cars have been almost showroom perfect when I sold them). "Waxing" to me includes cleaning, polishing, glazing and usually 4 light coats of a very high quality carnauba. It takes a couple days to do by hand - no buffers touch my cars. Pinnacle products have essential oils in them and are my favorites - I use Meguiar's if I'm just doing a quick touch up and know I will be stripping the car shortly and starting again.
 
At this point I've given up and just accepted the 10,000 buck hit I'm going to take when I get rid of the car. Estimate on a full body re-paint was over eight grand and it isn't worth it after already undergoing 3 warrantied transmission replacements. Guess a lot has changed at Acura since I last owned one.

Replies to this message:
• laurasdada (Oct 09, 2007 4:43 pm)
• scottm123 (Oct 11, 2007 4:35 am)
  • laurasdada (Oct 11, 2007 8:55 am)
    • scottm123 (Oct 11, 2007 10:13 am) and 6 more...

Replying to: oc2020 (Oct 09, 2007 12:30 pm)

Replying to: oc2020 (Oct 09, 2007 12:30 pm)

OC, it depends.
 
Is the protection they put on your car worth $600?
Absolutely NOT!
And that's assuming they even put it on to begin with.
 
What may be worth the $600 is the warranty it comes with.
Some people claim that their package comes with a lifetime warranty on internal or external stains.
Check the fine print before shelling out your hard earned dough.
 
If the warranty stinks, as it did with my Acura dealership, then yeah... spend a percentage of that on good car care chemicals and do it yourself...it's not hard and doesn't take much time, unless your slightly obsessive like me or laurasdada up there.
I also like Zaino.
It works well and is very easy to work with, once you learn the steps.
 
If you want to learn more on dos and dont's, check out Autopia

Replies to this message:
• laurasdada (Oct 11, 2007 8:55 am)
  • scottm123 (Oct 11, 2007 10:13 am)
    • laurasdada (Oct 11, 2007 10:22 am) and 3 more...
    • upstatedoc (Oct 12, 2007 5:04 am) and 1 more...

Replying to: scottm123 (Oct 11, 2007 4:35 am)

Another coat of Z-2 last weekend...

Replies to this message:
• scottm123 (Oct 11, 2007 10:13 am)
  • laurasdada (Oct 11, 2007 10:22 am)
    • scottm123 (Oct 11, 2007 11:30 am) and 2 more...
  • upstatedoc (Oct 12, 2007 5:04 am)
    • scottm123 (Oct 12, 2007 6:57 am)

Replying to: laurasdada (Oct 11, 2007 8:55 am)

Countdown continues to next weekend's 8 hour fall treatment.
 
Dawn
Clay
Wash
Dry
Z-5
Z-6
Z-2
Z-6
Z-2
Z-6
Z-2
Z-6
Z-2
Z-6
Wax
Wax
Wax
Obvisously, dress tires & wax wheels as well.
 
Haven't informed the wife yet.

Replies to this message:
• laurasdada (Oct 11, 2007 10:22 am)
  • scottm123 (Oct 11, 2007 11:30 am)
    • laurasdada (Oct 11, 2007 12:53 pm) and 1 more...
• upstatedoc (Oct 12, 2007 5:04 am)
  • scottm123 (Oct 12, 2007 6:57 am)