Paint/Warranty issue.

jwbooth

09 TL - 4 year warranty up beginning of July this year.

I live in NV, where it can be over 100 degrees for long periods during the summer.

I have tiny pitmarks on the roof and trunk lid. Likely on the hood also.

Had bodywork done (on the side of the car) recently, and the bodyshop guy told me that the paint on the horizontal surfaces is "checking" - that the lacquer is cracking from the bottom layer of paint.

The Acura dealer told me that it is not checking, but that I must have had spray or droplets of some sort of substance which caused it.

He told me to bring it in and for no charge will have a detail guy they have visit sometimes use the finest grade sandpaper and then I think buff it/polish it and he thought that would cure it.

My question is what do I do if he doesn't cure it and we end up disagreeing on the problem?

Another question - Has anyone here run into paint issues and/or warranty disagreements?

timscc

You describe the problem as pit marks. That doesn't sound like lacquer checking. It does remind me of something on the paint (i.e. over spray, industrial fallout, sap). I would let them detail it. Especially if they are paying. Being an '09 I doubt warranty would cover any surface marks on the paint unless it is peeling.

graphicguy

Yeah....without seeing/touching it, sounds like some sort of airborn contaminants hit your paint. I'd also try claying the surface to see if that removes it.

jwbooth

(This is a follow up to my post #1 above, which has the details leading up to this post):

My car is an '09 TL, and my paint is Coral Black Pearl.

My 4 year warranty was coming to an end, and the Service Manager - Joe - at a local Acura dealer where I get my work done was first telling me that it's not checking but something had gotten on the paint causing that.

His solution was to have his detailing guy work on it to try to get it better.
The detailer told me he wouldn't be able to help that.

Joe then changed his mind, and told me to bring in the car and he'd have the roof painted.

When I brought it in, I happened to see him. He told me that I wouldn't get the car back for about 3-4 weeks.
This took me by surprise, and when I asked why, he said they were having the car totally repainted.
This didn't really make sense to me - why they were going to do the whole car rather than repaint just the roof.

However, I'm planning on keeping the car, so an effect on resale doesn't bother me.
And the car had some light scratches in a few places which he'd originally said he'd have his detail guy work on them, but this sounded like a good deal to me - having the car repainted after 4 years, so why not.
He said they're going to take off the doors, go down to the bare metal, etc.

I saw the car for the 1st time last Wednesday, and it needed a cleaning - it had been outside for about a week after being painted.
But I could see that it had as many swirls on the trunk lid as it did when I brought it in after owning it for 4 years.
I even wondered if it had actually been painted - as mentioned, it needed a cleaning from dust and water spots especially from recent rain, so I couldn't see the shiny new car paint job look at that point.

He looked at it and said "I'm not happy right now", and there was also an issue with a fender having a slightly larger gap than it should where it meets the side body, so he sent it back to the outside body shop which had painted it.

Meanwhile, I researched swirls, and most of the top entries on Google brought me to Meguiar's forum.
I called Joe 2 days later - last Friday (2 days ago). He told me that it's back from the body shop that did the paint job and ready to pick up.

I told him what I'd read - that a fresh paint job should have no swirls.
I also told him that based on what I'd read, I was afraid that the body shop may have just put glaze on the car to fill in the swirls.

He told me that anyone can say anything on the internet, it means nothing. (He's said the same thing in the past if I bring up something I've read on the net).
He said he doesn't know what glaze is, that new cars on his lot have swirls, all cars have swirls.

He said the bodyshop buffed it and the swirls are less, and they polished it.
QUESTION - (Can a paint job 1 week old be buffed?).

He mentioned a lot of irrelevant items - How long he's been doing this, that it's a professional bodyshop that did the job, how much Acura spent on the paint job (before it went in he said Acura was going to pay 6k, and he now says with some additional body work they had to do when they got to the metal, and new emblems and other parts they replaced, that they spent 8k - all covered by warranty and no charge to me), that it's not a show car, that he would get angry if he keeps discussing this.
He said "It is what it is".

I know from a number of swirl articles I read on Meguiar's and elsewhere, that the point of view there is that a fresh paint job has no swirls.
That swirls are scratches in the clear coat, and they are usually caused by rubbing the car with a cleaning cloth which is dirty or the car has some dirt.

He finally said, "Come in and see the car and we'll talk after you see it".

So what would you guys advise?

I've had a good relationship with Joe the service manager and the service department (did not purchase car here). Over the last 4 years I've been very pleased with the customer service and would've rated them "Excellent" up till now.
I know they are very concerned with getting a "10" approval rating on work they do - Joe sends out an email after getting the car serviced there, stating that if there is any reason that the customer would not give a "10" if they are called for a survey by Acura, to call him personally and he will do whatever he can. And he's mentioned that once or twice to me also.

He finally said, "Come in and see the car and we'll talk after you see it".

My conclusion based on my reading at Meguiar's and elsewhere is that the best solution would be to have his detail guy spend as much time as it will take (a lot) going over the car with clay to work out the swirls.
I asked him if the body shop worked on the car with clay when he brought it back to them - he said "You can't use clay on a fresh paint job" but then as mentioned he told me they buffed the fresh paint job.

How would you guys approach it?

Thanks for any advice you can give - the sooner the better, as I'm planning to go there tomorrow (Monday).

PS - He told me that the Acura paint warranty is 7 years. Is this correct? (Planning to check with Acura next week - there is a 4 year bumper to bumper warranty, and 7 years drive train. Didn't realize paint is also 7 years. ??)/

graphicguy

jw....I'm late to the party here, so don't know if this is relevant.

First, I'd say your dealer's service mgr is full of cow flatulence.

Swirls? In a new paint job? You sure they repainted it? The actually took all the doors, hood, etc off to do the paint work? All under warranty? Again, I'm throwing the BS flag on him.

Probably what they did was try to buff out the paint imperfections. And, sounds like they didn't do a very good job of it (i.e. swirls). I'd also bet whomever did the buffing wasn't very good at their job, as a good paint restoration would eliminate the swirls, not add to them.

As far as the Service Mgr's claims that the paint is warranted by Acura for 7 years, he's wrong there. If he insists he's right, tell him to put that in writing on the dealership's letterhead. They warrant that the car won't have any "rust through" (body panels rusting all the way through where there's a hole in the panel that the rust has eaten through it). I would bet a paycheck that if you took your car to the dealership 5 years from now and showed them paint chips that need to be fixed, they wouldn't even remotely entertain doing it under warranty.

Bottom line, I'm afraid your dealer has done more harm than good.

If it were me? My car? Take it to another Acura dealer. I'd also ask your current dealer to put you in touch with the regional Acura rep and have the Mgr repeat exactly what he told you, while you're present. I'm guessing his story would change quite a bit.

Good luck!