More paint failure on Clarity

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Well, you mentioned "Ibex" clear coat protection. Doesn't that come with some type of warranty? Typically dealers add this crap at a high cost but include some type of warranty...
 
The Ibex covers the clear coat and not the base coat. it is a good idea though.. I can call them and see if I can make it their problem.
 
Oh.. Silly me.. They will just say that it is environmental because i am sure that somewhere in the fine print it says that it won't protect you from bird poo.

See, this is why this is such a dangerous precedent. It gives Honda an easy walk away. "Oh, it is just environmental"

I offered to leave the car with them if they needed it to examine, but they just took some low res pictures.

Maybe it is just my dealer and my Honda region, but Corporate seemed inclined to just buy what they said, so if there is a systemic problem, this could blow up in their face as another class action law suit. I would think that Honda Corporate would actually have a deep interest in investigating this issue.. I know if I were a corporation and my product's quality came into question, I would investigate it.
 
Going to reread the “environmental” coverage terms that we purchased. We were told by the finance person that sold us the coverage that it would be covered, but in light of other discrepancies, I’m questioning.

We also have a moonlight Forrest vehicle, still at dealership for some minor issues and unsure of production date.
 
Moonlit Forest Pearl is a unique paint color for the Clarity PHEV. No other Honda has it. Our Moonlit Forest Pearl Clarity was built in October, 2017, and there have been no paint problems. We didn't get the Ibex-type clear-coat because I've always waxed my cars and washed them by hand. It makes me feel closer to my car (I know, I know. Crazy talk).
 
insightman said:
It makes me feel closer to my car (I know, I know. Crazy talk).
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LOL. No not at all. I hand wax too, though I have not waxed this car yet. I was actually going to wax it on the day that I found the initial missing paint spot but that sidetracked me. It is good to get close to the finish so you can in fact see dings and nicks and touch up as required.

My GF has an Element, and I have found many little door dings on it when I would wash it, and when I find a bad one, I get the Dent Magic people to take it out. Incredible at what they can do (Dent Busters, Dent Magic, whatever. Impressive to see how well they can remove a dent).
 
Eddgie said:
LOL.. I have had maybe 10 new cars in my life and never had paint start to flake off on any of them, and frankly, never thought I would ever need "environmental" coverage, though to be honest, I don't recall being offered "environmental" coverage.

My faith in the Honda brand has been badly shaken now. I don't trust the dealer in Round Rock to be my advocate if I do have a warranty issue because they just blew it off as bird poo.

Either way this seems it would look bad to Honda. If it really is environment and was caused by "bird poo" than that would suggest that you can't park your Honda under trees. Neither of the paint shops though said it looked like Bird Poo. Both said that it rarely takes off the paint and on the occasions that it does happen, it only etches the clear coat. Both said that they felt like they could not just sand the the areas involved, but would have to strip the paint because both said that they did not trust that other spots degrade under the new paint.

So, Honda has put me in the corner. Corporate points to the dealer, the dealer point to Corporate and all say it is "environmental" (though the dealer in Round Rock was a bit less causal saying "bird poo.")

I suspect that at some time I will run afoul of whatever Terms of Service this site has, but the info is out there.
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Eddgie...I was unable to properly inspect my car today due to weather conditions. I should be able to Friday or Saturday then post back if my car is showing any signs of this paint issue.

The dealership isn't going to do anything to help you...and you got your answer from Honda. Its a shame really that these large companies come up with all sort of tales and end up either blaming the consumer or some other factor. Bird feces my arse. While I obviously hope no other Clarity has these paint issues...it will most likely take several vehicles to demonstrate this was a production run problem or something similar.

30 years ago my Uncle bought his one and only brand spanking new vehicle...Early 80's Chevy 1/2 ton pick-up. After 6-8 months, the paint on the front half of the vehicle...hood and front quarter panels...began to shed paint like a snake sheds skin. The dealership and Chevy basically said oh well...not our fault nor our problem. He went back and forth for two years to no avail. Drove it for 10 years until he passed with it looking like that...money didn't grow on trees like it does today.

In my Uncles case...his mechanics said the peeling paint was from inferior primer and it looked like to one of them the front portion of the car was repainted...most likely because some sort of damage had occurred.

Its always something and I feel for you.

Good luck.
 
I have never seen bird poo damage the paint. Eggs, yes.

I would point out how much better Kia is caring for its customers (not that it will help). That is clearly a failure of the paint job. Can you elevate it at Honda corporate?
 
I have noticed a different issue with my car. My fuel lid appears to have been painted separately from the rest of the car so the color is a little different when viewed in the sun.


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A followup.

First, this is the big hold up. I have been on the phone to American Honda and their position seems intractable. If the dealer says that it is environmental, Honda seems uninterested in going any further on the issue. I have sent several pictures and asked to escalate this to American Honda headquarters and that is where I am at this point with Honda. They have done a new case file, but they are once again adamant that the Honda dealers are the "Gatekeeper" and if the dealer says it is not a warranty issue, they do not seem in the slightest inclined to research the issue further.

In addition to calling American Honda, I also called the headquarters for the national firm that actually owns this dealership. I left a detailed message about how the dealer is calling this an environment issue, and how three paint shops and the largest paint distributor in central Tx had looked at the car and said that it did not look at all like environmental damage. (One of the big collision centers had their best painter come out and look at the car though a magnifier. I told him the dealer said it was bird poo. He looked though the magnifying glass and laughed.. Seriously...)

I got a call back from the executive that manages the dealers and while I did not get a chance to answer the call, he left a message with me that said I would hear back from the dealer by the end of the day (Thursday) and surprise surprise, I did hear back from the dealer that afternoon. They wanted me come in to talk to the GM yesterday, but I had to ask to delay that until Monday because I had eye surgery on Thursday and could not drive. I did also get a note from them saying they were going to look hard at the car and if they think it is warranted, they will try to work with me so I would have no out of pocket costs. (??? Isn't that what a warranty is supposed to do???)

So, I will go in on Monday and see if I can convince the dealer to get behind me on this. Meanwhile, 10 day elapsed picture shows that the paint continues to flake around the edges. I am good with the collision centers though, with all saying that it did not look like any environment damage that they had ever seen before.
 
Here is a picture taken 10 days apart. While the difference is small, I think that anyone that studies the picture for more than abut a minute will be able to see that the paint continues to flake off around the margins, most notably at the little knot near the bottom of the picture.

Maybe it is tiny little paint eating birds. Hey, trying to have a sense of humor about this.

10 day comparison of trunk panel.webp
 
Eddgie said:
Here is a picture taken 10 days apart. While the difference is small, I think that anyone that studies the picture for more than abut a minute will be able to see that the paint continues to flake off around the margins, most notably at the little knot near the bottom of the picture.

Maybe it is tiny little paint eating birds. Hey, trying to have a sense of humor about this.

View attachment 2502
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I wonder if a lemon law would be applicable... if your state has that?

Sent from my Pixel using Inside EVs mobile app
 
Well, I will explore my other options only when I feel like I have exhausted the three players involved: The dealer, the national company that owns the dealer, and American Honda. I suspect that at some point, one of them will look seriously at the problem and stand up for the brand because in the world of Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit, you really don't want millions of people questioning your ethics as a car brand.

The goal here is to get the car made right as new, and that means sanding all questionable areas down to primer, doing a factory quality paint job, and giving a life time warranty on the painted panels (and any other panels that subsequently fail, if any).

Even if I have to involve Honda Japan, I am ready to do that. It is not like I have to fly over there to talk to them. I can send a huge email attachment. Having done business in Japan for 10 years though, I don't want someone to have to carve their guts out over this. I just want it fixed.
 
Eddgie said:
Well, I will explore my other options only when I feel like I have exhausted the three players involved: The dealer, the national company that owns the dealer, and American Honda. [snip] I just want it fixed.
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Well you're more adventurous than me. I don't think I would want a car that has been sanded down completely and repainted. I would be happier with a different car.
 
I don't think it would be necessary at this point to repaint the entire car. There are three panels that have paint that appears to be peeling off. These panels need to be stripped to primer and repainted.

I would of course expect to have a lifetime guarantee on any panel that gets repainted.

An excellent collision center can do paint that rivals or even surpasses the factory finish.

If Honda wanted to replace the car though, I would not argue with that. I would not expect it though. A single warranty problem to me is not a basis to ask for a brand new car, but if they repaint the panels, it will have to be with the understanding that if the painted panels start to loose clear coat or a paint while I own it, they would have to fix it. All of the leading collision centers now offer this kind of guarantee.
 
Eddgie said:
Here is a picture taken 10 days apart. While the difference is small, I think that anyone that studies the picture for more than abut a minute will be able to see that the paint continues to flake off around the margins, most notably at the little knot near the bottom of the picture.

Maybe it is tiny little paint eating birds. Hey, trying to have a sense of humor about this.

View attachment 2502
Click to expand...
I hate to say it, but your pix look like a rorschach test! Good luck on your battle.
 
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