I agree with Henry, Acura's paint is thin and soft and they dont hold up to time. Have you ever seen a 5 year old Lexus, Audi or MB compare to a 5 year old Acura? Most Acura's paint job will show its age pretty quick. I do agree with you on BMW's paint job though, but the BMW's paint is still more durable than Acura's.

Hey I8ABMR, I wasnt trying to be-little your new car, I was just trying to tell you what I know about the MDX. Good luck with your wife's new ride, I hope you dont have the same experience I did with your MDX.

 

I detail cars too and have never seen or heard of any issues with Acura paint being any thinner or weaker then what is on most other cars or it becoming a durability issue. Yes, the paint or clearcoat is soft like Lexus paint and swirls and scratches easier then harder clearcoats from Audi/Mercedes but it is also much easier to correct any defects on softer clearcoat.

Most of the higher end Audi and some Mercedes finishes I have seen are very impressive with little to no orange peel and are more swirl and scratch resistant from a hard ceramic clearcoat. Other cars with very nice finishes I have seen are the Acura RL and LS460 which are also hand sanded from the factory. The German brand that sticks out where I have noticed bad finishes and tons of orange peel is BMW, some of which is the worst I have ever seen.


My parents had a black 99TL they bought brand new and kept for about 10yrs 100K miles. With just washing and waxing the paint looked like it was brand new until the day they sold it, it had no visible orange peel. It had maybe one or two rock chips over its entire ownership and there was no sign of any paint issues over the years. When they decided to get a newer 08 TL and sell the 99 I polished it and did a Zaino process on it. It got tons of positive comments on the finish and they immediately got a couple offers on it from customers at the dealership and immediately sold. My dads 03 CL paint is very similar and has held up very well, hardly any rock chips and a beautiful finish. The 08 TL also has a nice finish with no issues.

Contrast that to my 01 GS430 that has basically the same type of soft clearcoat but the paint is not nearly as durable as the Acuras and I seem to get some kind of new chip every few weeks. I have never experienced a car finish that is so prone to rock chips and road rash like on my GS and I don't tailgate. The difference between my parents Acuras and my Lexus durability/chip resistance wise is huge and the finish on the Acuras looks better too. I have read many threads here were people complain how prone Lexus paint and the GS is to rock chips.

The only issues I have heard of with Honda paint/body panels is a rusting issue mostly from the 80's on some cars that were not regularly waxed in areas that have salted roads. That issue has been long addressed and fixed. In my experience the durability of Acura paints is very good but the clearcoats are softer and more prone to surface swirls like Lexus paint.

If someone takes care of their finish with regular washing and waxing I don't see them having any issues with Acura paint over the years.

 

Anybody can wash, wax and detail their car weekly and have their old car look good. A good paint job can hold up over time with low maintenance. On some Audi or MB paint jobs, you can ignore your car for months and simply just wash it, not even wax, and it will shine like new. A good paint job to stand up to more abuse. The paint job on my Acura lost its shine after about 2 years and it scratch and chip very easliy. I agree that the paint job on the RL is better, but still not as good as the MB and Audi. For some reason, the Paint job on my GX470 was much better than on my GS350.

 

well feel free to disagree, i am speaking from my experience. 99 tl i believe was still with oil based paint so of course it was nice. starting 01 most manufacturers went with water base and that's where problem started. starting 02 they claimed with their famous 2 coat paint and it was beyond horrible, i had the 02 tl and it was easily the worst paint ever, chipped like no tomorrow and they were all the way to metal.

i am not defending lexus, there is no need coz' i have my complaint about their paints too. but saying acura paint is good i just think that's totally off

 

that's how i treat my m3. i don't really care about it, but because of hard clear, it holds up pretty well with very low maintenance. granted i won't say their paint is "very good" coz' orange peel is very common, but i know some people (and i have done so as well) polish the clear coat to very smooth, and it continues to last very long

can't say the same about acura and lexus

 

Hey now...

 

If your paint job lost its shine after 2 years that has more to do with the surface being dirty, swirled, spotted, acid rain, etc and generally not how well the paint was applied at the factory or its quality. Did you ever polish the car? Polishing will bring back the shine and gloss and is more important then waxing for looks.

New finishes don't just lose their shine after 2 years unless something drastic has happened. If you occasionally washed your car, waxed it, and most importantly polished it and it still did not shine anymore then you had some kind of major issue like acid rain, a harsh chemical exposure, or complete clearcoat failure with your paint that is not typical of Acura or any other brands modern paint finish. The vehicle should have been taken back as that is not typical and should not happen.

I have not heard of just ignoring a certain brands car paint finish(Mercedes,Audi) for months and then you can just wash it and it will shine like new and look much better then other brands unless the factory or dealer put some kind of durable wax on it before they sold it.
Higher end Audis and Mercedes may have harder more swirl resistant clearcoats with less orange peel but they still need to be washed and waxed like all other cars or the finish is not going to look as good no matter what their advertising might say.

If you ignored your paint finish for months and did not wash or wax and then expect it to still shine like new then that is the culprit why your finish may not have looked good, a thorough wash, clay, and polish would have brought the finish back and made it shine again.

The previous owner did not really take car of my cars finish and when you got up close the paint looked horrible on the hood and other places. After claying it and polishing it with a PC it looked almost brand new.

Acura's and Lexus have softer more swirl/scratch prone clearcoats but softer clearcoats does not automatically mean they are bad or inferior and won't last. The one good thing about them is they are much easier to correct when you do get surface swirls and scratches. Hard ceramic clearcoats require more effort to correct and in many cases more expensive specialized polishes like Menzerna SIP to properly correct. Currently there is no such thing as a clearcoat or paintjob that will never swirl or scratch on a car sold today, they all will and they need to be polished eventually.

 

Older oil based paint was certainly better then most of the new more environmentally friendly stuff they have to use now, I totally agree with you on that point. I am not exactly sure if the 99TL used something much different then the 03CL or one was oil and the other water but I have not noticed any difference in quality, durability, or paint chipping although the CL does have a slight noticeable orange peel over the 99 TL that had none. In my experience the paint is soft on Acura's but good to very good and it has held up much better or in much more chip resistant then on my Lexus.

It can be frustrating how easily Lexus and Acura finishes swirl and scratch but at least they are easy to correct.

Germans have done some good things with the newer harder ceramic clearcoats but not all of them are equal and I find the orange peel on some BMWs to be horrible.

 

Speaking of orange peel...has anyone looked up close at a Mercedes S Class recently? My neighbor has one and the paint is horrible, and I noticed it again in Top Gear's 760Li vs S 63 video. Since then I have been looking at others in person and the orange peel looks as bad as GM's fullsize SUVs.

 

Lex posted this about the G 550.




I had a white BMW 335i with some pretty bad orange peel on the trunk area.

 

That is what I'm talking about.

Here is a screenshot of the S63 that Top Gear tested:

 

I looked at a blue 2010 today on the lot and it had ZERO orange peel. Acura puts out a solid product guys. There is no perfect car. The total package is what counts and functionally and cosmetically the Acura MDX is easily in the the top of its class for me and the needs of the family

 

Without going back through every post, ever consider an X5 with 3rd-row seating? Your price would probably jump to $70K but I STILL think it runs better than a Cayenne with more size and NO Cayenne has seating over 5... AND IMO out-handles ANY Cayenne short of the Turbo (The GTS can be HARSH on broken roads, X5 eats 'em up)

But as stated previously, the MDX meets your criteria 100%!!!!

 

I agree that for the price, the MDX cannot be beat on paper. For a little over $40000, it offers a lot more than other cars in this preice range. Then again, the Genesis looks the same on paper as the MB E-class as well. Sometimes its what you cannot see that counts. like the stamped metal suspension MDX used or the plastic wood trim they try to pass for trims pieces.

 

Agree, on all accounts. MDX is a good people mover with decent technology and it does have the luxury badge on the front that you are looking for. However, I don't think it is the best 'ute for the money.

If it meets your criteria and you're happy with it, then go for it