Acura TL Poor Paint Quality
 

I know this has been beaten to death, but I want eveyone to know that to date it appears that Acura can't get their paint process improved, at least on the TL. I just bought an 05 TL at the end of May and when I took delivery of it, I inspected it in direct sunlight. I now know that you should not only inspect it in bright light, but also inspect it under several varying light conditions because I recently discovered (at extreme sunset, certain overcast conditions, and under certain florescent lighting) that my door panels appear to be mottled (Anthracite color). This is classic evidence of a factory paint defect, or even a factory touch-up prior to clearcoat. It is definitely not a post-factory job because there is absolutely no evidence of refinishing.

This is a shame because I really want to love this car. Mechanically it is sound so far, but I've lost some confidence in it just due to this paint job. I'm regretting my decision to give up my Audi A6 2.7T for this TL. I tought I was doing the fiscally responsible thing by getting a new TL in lieu of another Audi.

My advice to TL shoppers: inspect the car thoroughly, including inspecting the paint job at many angles and in differing light.

yes, i have the same thing on my jan 05 built anthracite TL, there is a real problem with this on our color, the factory sucks on paint, expecially the bumper mismatch issue on white TLs

I have the same problem on my door panels, and mine too is Anthracite. My car only has 400 kilometers on it, and already, I'm starting to hate it. Oh, and my subwoofer rattles too.

Sorry to hear that the problem is affecting others as well. Here's an update of my situation.

I presented the problem to the Acura regional factory rep while he was at the dealer. I arranged for an appointment when he was going to be there. Of course, the time of appointment was probably the worst time of day to detect the problem (Murphy's Law). After a car wash and after a bit of time spent with the factory rep (the service manager was too busy to spend too much time with us, which was a good thing), we were finally able to find a place in the service area that duplicated the light effects needed to show the blotching. Once he saw it, he was a believer.

The weird thing is, you can't see it at "high noon" in the sun or even on certain partly cloudy days. The only sure time you'll see it is at sunset with the sun directly hitting the panels, and thereafter in the dusk lighting on a clear day. You'll also be guaranteed to see it under certain (not all) flourescent lighting. The best flourescent lighting to detect paint defects is at a color temp of about 10K (more cool white or blue-white than warm white). 6500K does not show it. The best lighting I've found is in a Jewel Food Store parking lot when the blue-white flourescent lights are shining bright. That is where the paint job looks ugly (Sunset is not pretty either). I was told that the paint is inspected at the factory with flourescent lighting, the inspection of which lasts all of 15 seconds on the line. I have a hunch that their not using lighting that best exhibits the certain lighting conditions in which I have encountered the problem.

Anyway, I talked to the rep for a bit about my options, and I told him that a do not want a repaint (been down that road before - not acceptable on a new car). We negotiated a bit and he said that he would talk to the dealer to look into getting a new car with Acura Mediation "helping out" by kicking in some $$$. To make a long story short, the negotiations resulted in me having to kick in about $1k to swap out the car. I feel bad having to pay anything, but after looking at the numbers, even though I'm getting hit for a defect that I didn't cause, Acura Corporate is showing a lot of good will here. I think the dealer could come forward a bit more, but what do you expect from a dealer. Right now I put the transaction on hold until I get final word on the negotiated interest rate (My car was financed with the 2.9% special APR back at the end of May, which is not being offered now).

I have a hunch that there were a handful of Anthracite TLs that were "reworked"at the factory, which caused the mottled metallic paint. Beleive it or not, there is a database that the dealer/factory rep can check to see if this is the case. Mine was built in February 05.

All in all, I'm not exactly thrilled with the TL quality, but I'm trying to make lemonade here. I looked at a bunch of TLs at the dealer to find a potential replacement, and I noticed little things on evey one of them. I thought about switching to silver because its easier to spot paint defects in lighter metallic colors. At this point, I have another Anthracite on reserve ( I even found a few minor paint defects, such as minor debris under the paint, but at this point I'm willing to accept minor things.).

The most disheartening thing about all this is that the TL could have been very nearly the perfect car, taking into consideration price, performance, features, and design.

If only they had better quality control.

*sigh*

If you all think the paint on the TL's are bad, check out a 350Z. Oranges are jealous of the texture in the paint. There is orange peel in the TL but it's smooth as glass in comparison.

All Anthracite TL's I've seen exibit some degree of the metallic mottling you mention. It's just the nature of the color and amount of metallic in the paint. Other than getting another color, it's just inherent in that particular color. I personally have Anthracite and under some lighting conditions, I can see a "blotchy" look in the metallic particles. It really doesn't bother me that much. I used Zaino on my car and after the shine you get from several coats of Zaino, you won't notice the metallic issue as much. Don't sweat it...the color still looks GREAT especially after a few coats of Zaino.

No, mine is a defect. Mottled paint across all four door panels is not the "nature of the color." Under the right light, it looks camouflaged. I've seen many makes and models on the road with similar metallic colors that do not exhibit this problem. IMO, this is unacceptable and shows the severe lack of quality control by Acura.

yep, me too
 

i took delivery of our new TL tuesday evening. it was pouring down rain, preventing a thorough once-over of the car after the durashield bra was installed.

wednesday morning

man, this car has a totally unacceptable paint job. rough and smooth all over...

durashield installation will have to be completely re-done... lots of crackle and bubbles all over it.

it's back at the dealer DAY TWO of ownership.... they gave us an RL as a loaner (with an expired temp tag... can't wait to get pulled over for that one)


Any attorneys here? Is this reason enuf to demand they exchange the car?

New car sales mgr told wifey that they were "claying" the entire car first thing tomorrow morning after the durashield was re-done (duh... why do that BEFORE you clay the car?)

this freakin' paint job better be perfect tomorrow or I am going to refuse to accept the vehicle...

i am going to tear this dealer a new orifice on the customer survey.


doug

follow up
 

3 days worth of clay work and tidying up... car was delivered this PM by duval acura.

ultra shield was replaced by "road guard" - same thing - 3M product - with a different cut...covers all the way over the front wheel wells.

AND THE DEALER (Sales GM KEVIN SNYDER) CHEERFULLY REFUNDED MY $459.00 FOR THE CLEAR BRA

believe that?

(it took 3 tries to get it done right.. but to their credit... they use a 3rd party installer)

on the way home, i noticed that the plastic piece that covers the screws under the drivers side door opening latch was missing....

oh well... called kevin... no problem-o

and to add to their commitment to service.....

kevin has promised some kind of paint treatment process on a new $8000 machine every 6 mos for the next 5 years.... i bring it in, they re-treat it for free - and i don't have to wax the car... EVER.

overall, :thumbsup: to this guy.... it just took a little push to get them going - but i am VERY VERY pleased with the car and dealership.


doug

Don't lose confidence. I find Acura/Honda to be great to work with, even with problems like this. I also find Acura to be a mostly trouble free car, in spite of all the thrashing listed on these forums! We had a '91 Accord that was treated to a full repaint at 5 years old, courtesy of Honda. Paint on the hood was checking and starting to look bad. Not sure what Honda does with their paint, but they need to update their process.

BTW: Stick with that TL. I have sworn off VW/Audi after countless mechanical problems on those German beasts. They're fun to drive, but not when driving to the mechanic!

I find it hard to believe. The orange peel is so bad on my NBP TL my friend actually thought it had been repainted, BTW this was 1 month ago when the car had 20 miles on it.

I have seen this orange peel before, usually whenever I get next to a Kia.

The paintjobs are unacceptable IMO, my lexus has 80,000 miles on it and the paint and shine look twice as good as my TL. If the paint was smooth and shiney it would really go a long way. But with the dull, orange peeled paint at some angles I think i'm looking at a black pontiac grand am.

Forget about orange peel. They can't even get the basecoat right!

Acura TL Paint Job
 

Do you guys think it is a really bad idea to get Acura to do a repaint job? I recently found out that what had appeared to be a spotty paint job on one of my TL's door panels was in fact a result of an accident on the original Acura dealer's lot where I purchased the car.
Of course, I've got the WDP, so it's a complete bear to match!

If you bought the vehicle new, were you told that a repair had been done on the vehicle? If new and not told, you were deceived and the dealer had an OBLIGATION to notify you of this because you are buying a new vehicle.