May need door panel repainted on brand new Acura!

**MST3K** · 05-07-2003, 12:29 PM

Don`t know if I should have it done or not... can you help?

I just bought an Acura TL Type-S one week ago, and the first thing I noticed going over it was some paint defect in the bottom rear door panel. It is 3/4 of an inch below the trim, and looks like a scratch from several feet away, but turns out to be some problem with the metal under the paint, either it was scratched or there was some glue or chemical built up on it which was painted over. It`s about 4 or 5 inches long and runs parallell with the trim panel. I will try to post pictures later as soon as I can.

I pointed this out and made an appointment to have the detailer look at it, being told initially that most likely he can compound it out. But on seeing it he said it must be sanded down and painted. They would have to repaint the bottom panel of the rear left door, with the trim separating the repainted part from the factory part.

I hate the idea of repainting a week old car! I came here originally because I wanted to find out new car detailing info, and it seems you all know the value of a good paint finish. So which is worse, leaving a factory defect with factory paint intact? Or repainting part of the door to fix it? Will it last just as long?

If I can get pictures up later I can show you what I mean better.

**BoxsterCharlie** · 05-07-2003, 01:13 PM

At least it is only a door, which is easy to paint and doesn`t directly interface with another body panel (not that matching is that big a deal anyway). Just get it painted and move on. A year from now you won`t even remember this blip in your ownership experience.

**medic** · 05-07-2003, 01:40 PM

repaint it, but make sure it meets your satisfaction before you drive off with it. if you can ask them to take the car to a shop of your choice...if they have a hand in it, they can sometimes cut corners to save cost

make sure they compensate you for this...a new car should not have problems like this and if they do the quality check at teh factory and dealership should have picked it up

btw, what color is the car...metalic colors are harder to match.

**meGrimlock** · 05-07-2003, 01:58 PM

I had a similar problem when we bought my wife`s car. There was a dent in the door that could not be repaired by PDR, and it had to be pulled and repainted. We had previously bought another car from them, and we used this as some leverage telling them that if they treated us right, they might get even more future busniess from us. The car was in the body shop for a week, and the dealership made our car payment for that month. Not a bad deal if you ask me, although I will never go there again after the way they treated my wife in an unrelated occasion. Bottom line, if they think you might do business with them again, you can usually be compensated pretty well.

**MST3K** · 05-07-2003, 02:11 PM

Thank you for your replies. I forgot to mention it is Silver, but since it`s a lower panel and not upward-facing, I am told matching it should not be a problem, and I certainly hope not. They told me they would only need a day, so I`d have a loaner that day. I guess that`s not too bad. They are actually doing the work themselves at their body shop.

I may call them again today to give them my decision and make the appointment, it really looks like a deep scratch from far away, I don`t want to have to live with that on a new car.

**medic** · 05-07-2003, 03:46 PM

really, just a day? that seems awfully fast.

make sure they are stripping the old paint and fixing whatever the metal defect is underneath. sounds like they are just trying to cover it up with more paint.

**GoodnClean** · 05-07-2003, 06:04 PM

I really don`t think you`ll be able to tell the difference seeing that the car is brand new, just make sure its done right. I dont blame you, I wouldnt want to deal with that either.

**tkr128** · 05-07-2003, 07:32 PM

A day sounds awfully short. The door on our Accord, the same silver as your TL, took about 3 days to paint after they pulled out a big dent in it.

They should strip the paint off, primer it, paint it, clearcoat it, sand it in between each step as necessary and after the clearcoat. Some bodyshops will even bake the paint. It also takes a lot of time for each coat to dry before they can paint over it again.

I`m just curious as to what type of job they`re going to be doing on your car in only a day. If I bought a 33k car, i`d like it fixed properly.

Good luck!

**MST3K** · 05-08-2003, 08:44 AM

OK, I just went to their body shop today to get their official opinion.

He told me he`d need it a full day, meaning I would drop it off monday morning and get it Tuesday. I told him since the car is new, I wanted it done right, and was willing to take however long it takes, and he said, "Yes, of course." So then I asked him why it would only take a day? He told me he would NOT strip the whole panel to bare metal because he said the factory dips the body in some solvent or sealant or something and I did not want to break that. So he wants to remove the trim, grind down only the part where the imperfection is, and would only strip the rest of the panel to the primer. Then they would paint and clearcoat over that. He said it will be just as durable and in fact they warranty their work for the life of the car.

I don`t know much about body work, (took a body course in college actually, but it was very basic and dealt with pre-clearcoat vehicles), so I can only take his word for it. What do you think?

I tried taking pictures yesterday but it was already dusk and the flash washed out the area.

**evor1** · 05-08-2003, 11:46 PM

That is really weird. My parents `02 TL Type S had a defect on a door that sounds exactly as you describe. It was under the paint and looked like a scratch?? His car is grey.

The TL Type S was my dad`s first foreign car in 60 some years of life, and he was pretty upset when he found it. His main reason for going to Acura was perceived quality, and he felt like it was for nothing.

The dealer repainted the door, and did a perfect job. They also let him bum around in a CL Type S 6 Speed for the day it was in. Now the car lives up to his expectations. He has nothing bad to say about the car, and he loves driving it.

**MST3K** · 05-12-2003, 09:52 AM

Well the pictures did not show the defect well enough so I didn`t bother posting any.

I just dropped it off this morning. I am very worried and pessimistic and I`m just waiting to see how good (or bad) their job will be. I should have just given Acura the keys back as soon as I saw the defect. I must say I feel like a fool.

Well, since the shop is not near the dealership they didn`t give me a nice Acura to bum around in, instead they use Enterprise rental. So the Enterprise driver picked me up and we went over there, but apparently they did not know I was comming and had nothing! So after some time they found a Ford van to give me. I was late to work this morning and not happy at all. This is all being paid for of course, but I don`t know how else I should ask to be compensated by the dealer for all this. Any suggestions?

**MST3K** · 05-12-2003, 03:48 PM

One more question, I wanted to ask someone OTHER than the people working on the car. Should the paint look perfect right away or does it need to cure for a few weeks before the quality of the job can be assessed? I will inspect it carefully before I get it back, and if it`s not perfect I don`t want them telling me to wait a month, as a means to get me to leave with it.

And do you still need to wait before you can wax it again?

**jim antis** · 05-12-2003, 05:39 PM

yes! the paint should look perferct from the second you see the

vehicle. do not take the car if it is less than perfect!

**MST3K** · 05-14-2003, 08:41 AM

Well, the dealer picked it up for me because I could not make it to the body shop before it closed. They matched the color correctly, but there is a little orange peel. It is noticeable to me because I am looking for it and that panel is more shiny than the adjacent ones so it reflects more. There is actually slight orange peel in the adjacent panels now that I am looking at them so closely. I probably should have left it the way it was and avoided this ordeal, but now I am debating whether to go back to them and have them buff it, or leave it, I don`t want them to take off too much clearcoat.

**Andre'** · 05-15-2003, 03:03 AM

That`s the problem with a rushed paint job, you need to let the new paint harden before you can wetsand or buff. If the finish has a life time warranty i would go ahead and let them wetsand and buff the finish, and if the clear ever fails, you have the warranty.