[accordian]

I can't believe it! After taking delivery, and looking the van over very very carefully for paint problems, I noticed a bad blotch on the hood of my new 2002 Ody LX. It only shows up when the sun is shining on the hood from over the top of the van, but when is shows, it REALLY shows. It looks like the metal flakes in an arc across the hood are not laying the same way as all the others, and it makes a bright streak. Unbelievably visible under the right light, completely invisible any other time.

Now what do I do? All the posters on this site seem so rational and level headed. I value your opinions. Do I:
-Insist on replacing the whole van? How can I be sure the next one won't be the same or worse?
-Get them to repaint the hood? Will the repaint match, and will it fade faster than the rest of the van?
-Get my money back and buy something else? As much as the Chrysler is criticized for reliability problems, it is a nice van with better paint quality than Honda. And right now it comes with a 7/100K powertrain warranty.
-Just live with it and save the heavy-duty worrying for important things in life?

I have not taken it back to the dealer yet. I picked it up yesterday (Sat) and noticed the problem today. I have a very good working relationship with the dealer as this is my 4th Honda. Jim F., I think you know this dealer, they are right up Hwy. 6 from you, actually on 1960 just north of 290. They have dealt with me honestly and fairly, and I think if I let them know I am serious about replacing the van I stand a better than average chance. Got a good deal, too: $500 below MSRP, no hidden charges, and $850 for the 7/100/0 Hondacare warranty.

Please let me know what you all think. Thanks.

 

[sixtn39]

My 2 cents:

I had a '00 MB that had to have the rear bumper fascia and the left front fender repainted as a result of minor traffic crashes. In both instances the match was perfect. It was painted both times by a local favorite body shop. Properly applied the repaint should fix the problem.

I know I would be very disappointed if this was happening to me, but I think you have to be a realist. I can't believe if this issue went to some type of mediation or court that Honda would be required to replace a $28,000 van because of a cosmetic flaw. Paint happens!

I suggest letting them repaint the hood and if it matches, like it should, let bygones be bygones. Relax and enjoy your new van. These things are made by man, they're not going to be perfect.


------------------
Mike Lowary
'00 traded-in
'02 ordered

'96 Honda Accord EX
'01 Honda Goldwing ABS
'96 Honda Helix

 

[accordian]

Thanks, sixtn. That's the direction I am leaning, but it is indeed very disapointing. I have been talking up Honda quality to my friends, and now I have to eat a bit of crow. The flaw only shows in certain light, so I might just leave it as is. With my luck, as soon as it's fixed, it'll get wrecked anyway

. But in any event, Honda will hear about it from me. I think they should know. Now, whether they care or not is another matter.

 

[Intrepid175]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by accordian:
Thanks, sixtn. That's the direction I am leaning, but it is indeed very disapointing. I have been talking up Honda quality to my friends, and now I have to eat a bit of crow. The flaw only shows in certain light, so I might just leave it as is. With my luck, as soon as it's fixed, it'll get wrecked anyway

. But in any event, Honda will hear about it from me. I think they should know. Now, whether they care or not is another matter.</font>

Hi Accordian,

I had some minor paint repair done in the right rear quarter of my SS '01 LX. The damage was caused by driver stupidity and inattention. I don't know what dealer you use or what body shop facilities they use but Clear Lake Honda directed me to a body shop in League City. They did a beautiful job of matching the paint. I was really worried about that considering the comments that have been made in this forum but it worked out great.

I'm blanking on the name of the place at this time but I'll look it up for you is you'd like.




------------------
Drive Safe,
Steve R.
'01 SS LX
Cargo tray, leather steering wheel, mud guards, alarm, fog lights, transmission cooler, in-dash CD player, Kelton subwoofer, under seat storage tray.

 

[Tony the Tiger]

Hi Accordian,

When I took delivery of my '02EX SS 3 months ago, I checked the car every possible ways at the dealershi, under the sun, under the shade, everywhere. In fact, I've spent more time checking the paint than the interior of the car. However, that late evening, while I was waxingthe car, there it is! the hood appears a little cloudy. Yes, I was a little disappointed with it at first. but after a few days, I'm back to normal and life goes on. Reason ? If you look hard enough at anything, you will most certainly find imperfections, in this case, the paint job. If you looked carefully at the paint at the dealership and cannot find anything wrong with it, chances are, nobody will see the bad paint job you saw.

My point is, in a year or two, paint job will be the least likely thing on your mind once your car starts to accumulate dings and scratches at the parking lots. (yes, getting into the Fiesta supermarket parking lot gives me the chill !!) Let's not forget the main reason you buy this car over a DC minivan: reliability, quality, and peace of mind.

So, just take a deep breath and be happy that you are now owning the best minivan on the street $ can buy.

Just my $0.02

Tony the Tiger

 

[DP]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by accordian:
But in any event, Honda will hear about it from me. I think they should know. Now, whether they care or not is another matter.</font>

My experience with the same issue tells they will not care.

 

[Cymro]

When I got my 2002 Ody late last year, I spent time looking for cosmetic defects. Within a week, a car ran quite hard into the back of my Ody while I was stopped at a light.

The hit was square on into the rear bumper. I was jolted, but not injured. I was amazed to find no scratches in the paint, and an indentation that can be felt but not seen. Since it happened right outside my favorite body shop, I had it inspected and they agreed that I should leave it as is.

The point of this message is that now that I know that I have the defect, I have stopped looking for any other blemishes.

 

[Intrepid175]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Cymro:
When I got my 2002 Ody late last year, I spent time looking for cosmetic defects. Within a week, a car ran quite hard into the back of my Ody while I was stopped at a light.

The hit was square on into the rear bumper. I was jolted, but not injured. I was amazed to find no scratches in the paint, and an indentation that can be felt but not seen. Since it happened right outside my favorite body shop, I had it inspected and they agreed that I should leave it as is.

The point of this message is that now that I know that I have the defect, I have stopped looking for any other blemishes.</font>

Hi Cymro,

I'm not sure I agree with your bodyshops suggestion that you should just leave your Ody as is.

My reason for saying that is that, whether you can see the damage or not, it is there. One of the reasons you came out of the impact without any signficant injuries is that crumple zone built into the car. That zone is now compromized on your Ody and it's ability to protect you and your family in any subsequent impacts is reduced.

If you don't need any cosmetic repair, that's great. All they'd need to do is remove the rear facia (not a big deal on the Ody), repair the underlying structure, and replace the facia. Any decent body shop should be able to do that with no problems.

The decision is yours of course.



------------------
Drive Safe,
Steve R.
'01 SS LX
Cargo tray, leather steering wheel, mud guards, alarm, fog lights, transmission cooler, in-dash CD player, Kelton subwoofer, under seat storage tray.

 

[Mad Dad]

Your Silver paint problem is all to familiar with my family. We waited months for our car and balked at the deal the night we were signing papers because of "mottled" paint across the hood and a bit on a rear quarterpanel. The dealer was nice enough to say wait and let's look at it in the morning, which we did and it was still horrible. They admited that they ran it down to their body shop that morning and even the painters agreed it was flawed paint. In hopes of closing the deal, this dealer was offering a LIFETIME WARRANTY BACKED BY HONDA on the repainted hood! I'm a bit anal and still backed out but you might press the issue with your dealer too to see if Honda is willing to make the same offer. You are not alone. Their silver is beautiful but a good 60% of the cars I see in here in Southern California have the same problem.

What pisses me off even more is changing our minds and going with Taffeta White, thinking, "How can you screw up white?" So after a few months more of waiting I have a real nice bright white 2001 with off-white bumpers! Talk about crappy matches and piece painting problems! Unfortunately a whole lot of other situations surrounding this purchase prevent me from pursuing it with Honda. Actually tried once with photos and everything, and NEVER heard back from Honda Factory Customer Service if you can believe that! Good luck.

 

[accordian]

Thanks for all the replies. Since the flaws are not huge, and most of the silver cars I see have mottled paint, I decided to just leave well enough alone. Silver is a great-looking color on the Ody, but it's apparently a tough color to paint.

As far as the mismatched bumper color goes, that's another condition that is common on many makes of cars. It seems most noticeable to me on Toyotas. I see lots of Corollas with bumpers that don't match. My understanding is that they are not painted at the same time as the rest of the car, so when the are put on the car, they don't match. My silver bumpers on my Ody don't match, either.