Paint Color Mismatch

[hdbrown]

My wife and I recently got a new 2008 TSX, color Alabaster Silver Metallic. My wife is the primary driver of the car, When we first looked at the car at the dealership it was quite dirty, but I did check it over for scratches and paint chips. It had none. However, I did have to return the car to the selling dealer four times to repeatedly clean the exterior before they finally clayed it to get all of the contaminants off of the finish. I do not want anything else to do with this dealer.

Since getting the car I never looked at the finish very closely until I started to wax it today. The color of the various panels on the car do not match. The front fenders and doors are a noticeably different in color than the rear doors and rear fenders. Also, the hood and trunk panels are slightly different in color than the fenders and the top. How did this car ever pass factory inspection? Has anyone else had a similar problem? How do I contact Honda to complain about this color mismatch?

Thanks for any advice or information that anyone can give me.

Hal

[Nikon1]

Would definitely give Honda / Acura Corporate a call - they are in California.

Is it possible that the car was damaged / repainted before you bought it and the dealer didn't tell you? Might be worth a CarFax report - though it might not show anything if the dealership damaged / repaired / repainted the car without using their insurance?

Good luck and let us know what you find, when you find something!

[blue702]

I noticed my front and rear bumber are darker. Then I looked around the dealership and there were several others that way too. I mentioned about it and a spot on the hood. They said there is really nothing that could be done and that they could repaint it, but that would not be as good qulaity as the factory paint that is on there and it might never match even if they do repaint it. They reassured me it was not every invloved in a accident that it was brand new. It really is not that noticable at least on my ride.

[blue702]

I talked to Acura customer care today about the mismatched paint. They said they add some kind of paint additive to the plastic so the paint can flex and this makes the color darker. They said it’s a normal occurrence.

[hdbrown]

Thanks for the responses my questions about paint color mismatches on my 2008 TSX. As suggested, I contacted Acura Customer Service in Torrance, CA and arranged for a factory representative to take a look at the car. I was instructed to take the car to the local dealership and leave it. The dealership contacted me to come pick up the car after the factory representative inspected it. The conclusions of the representative as well as the dealership's service manager were "due to the high metallic content of silver paint different body panels at different angles will reflect light differently" (I certainly agree with this statement) and "no defects are present under normal conditions as per Acura DPMS". I do not understand how they could come to the later conclusion. I have attached a photo of the car taken in normal daylight that clearly show the differences between the paint on the front and rear doors which are certainly panels at the same angle. The customer service person in Torrance told me that the factory service representative's conclusion was "the last word" and my only remaing option was to hire an attorney.

Does anyone in the Forum know where to send a complaint to someone higher up the customer service chain? I am really upset with Acura for saying that an obvious defect does not exist.

Thanks for any help.

Hal