Has anyone else had a defect in their paint. Although I am very happy with my E, I found a defect in the paint. On the bottom of the passenger side door there is a small lightened mark the size of a man's thumbprint. I showed it to the dealer and they will repaint (and give me a loaner for the time in the shop) all under warranty. According to the service manager, who wasn't too pleased that Honda would let this type of thing go "un-noticed," said that it looks as if someone touched the paint while wet and then put the clearcoat on top of it. Anyway, like I said, I am very happy with my E, and am grateful that the dealer is taking care of it. But I was just wondering if anyone else has every seen or heard of a such a thing...

aloha
I seem to have something similar to what you described on my pass door too, tho the top coat is smooth.
I've decided not to try and get it fixed as most dealers wounldn't be able to get as good a paint job as the factory done and with pearl it's even harder due to fading, I do hope yours comes out good tho. Good Luck
scotty

I've got a smudge in my drivers door! Dealer said they would fix it free. They haven't yet. i'm stilllllll waiting

:D

I just got my E back from the dealer yesterday after repainting the small part on the door. It looks great and was done all under warranty. The only inconveinence was not having my E for a couple of days. I hope the rest of you can get your paint issues figured out.

:D

i would be very wary of getting the dealer to repaint any part of my car. i had the dealer repaint the hood of my last car and i got dinged big time when i went to trade it in. the repaint is never the same quality as the original, and when dealers see that your car's paint was touched they usually assume you were in an accident and that there was structural damage to your car

I bought my E in Nov. I live in Michigan so until today, I haven't had a chance to be outside in the sun, open all the doors and give it a good vacuuming. While cleaning I noticed on the driver side door, above the window toward windshield there is a big section of the door that looks like they didn't spray paint it, then put the finish over it. It's supposed to be black but there's about a four inch brown spot with just a fine smattering of black paint on it. It just screams POOR WORKMANSHIP. Though I've been enjoying many things about the E, I'm very disappointed in the quality of interior materials and now this. :(

That's really annoying. That's also something that should be fixed under warranty if it's very clearly not something that could have happened after you received the car.

Myself, I was freaking out about a big splotch on the hood, but then realized it was tree sap. :)

- brendan

Yes, I found a run in the paint just above the rear taillights in the rounded corner of the Element. Really bad, reported to Honda, but will not have it repaired. I think the bodyshop might make things worst trying to repair.

I also noticed a factory paint defect on my new 06 Element it is on the passenger side above the wheel well. We have a Kiwi Metallic ELement. When you look at it from one angle it appears as a light spot and from the other angle it appears dark. I pointed this out to our Salesman and he alerted the Sales Manager who in turn told us to take it back anytime at our convienence and they would have to fix it because it is under warranty. Well, I finally have the chance not quite 90 days later. Now I am getting the run around. I just want to speak with the original Sales Manager who said it was covered. He stated to bring it in to the service department anytime, now the service dept is telling me I have to go through the sales department again. After some frustration and a bit of a struggle, a different Sales Manager said for me to bring the vehicle in tomorrow and they will look over my paperwork and vehicle to see what they can do for me. I asked if the original Sales Manager ___ will be there, and he stated yes. Well, we will see how that goes. I was like look at it I already showed it to the Salesman and Sales Manager when I came in to sign my final paper work. They stated to bring it in to the service department anytime, now the service dept is telling me I have to go through the sales department again. Lets just git-R-done. Other than this frustrating customer service issue. I Love My 06 Element. It is fun to drive & I like the box.

i would be very wary of getting the dealer to repaint any part of my car. i had the dealer repaint the hood of my last car and i got dinged big time when i went to trade it in. the repaint is never the same quality as the original, and when dealers see that your car's paint was touched they usually assume you were in an accident and that there was structural damage to your car
That's why you have receipts! Keep your receipts and records on everything and it will show clearly it was a warranty repair. Also the "in an accident" thing now doesn't work as an excuse for lowering the trade in value with instant car records available - you can prove it has never been in an accident. It's just another pile of BS from a slick salesman/dealer who doesn't want to give you what the car is worth.

In any case I would never let that sort of worry keep me from getting something repainted. I mean it seems like to me the original flaw would lower the value MORE than a re-paint. Plus people repaint cars all the time for lots of reasons - a repaint (a good one) should not lower the value a bit.

If it was MY E I would get the work done (at Honda's expense) and if they botched the job I would refuse to accept it until it was done to my satisfaction. Good auto painters will match the paint perfectly - especially on a new car with no weathering or fading. Insist they repaint the entire section, not just the flawed area and it should be impossible to tell the repainted section from the OEM paint. Don't drive around in your new E with a flaw in it simply because you are afraid of the paint job or lowering the value later.

Oh - and anytime a sales person promises you anything GET IT IN WRITING! Car sales people change jobs with the wind sometimes and you want to be assured their promise is honored - if you have it in writing the dealership cannot weasel out at a later date by saying they can't honor anything the sales person promised verbally. Any flaws, repairs or extras promised at a later date should be clearly noted on your sales contract.

In response to my previous post regarding the factory paint flaw (that is a common issue with lots of new cars) and the customer service issue I was going through with my local dealer. I am pleased to report that my local dealer pulled through for me. I luckily ran into the original sales manager who remebered me & remebered talking to me about fixing the paint flaw. He took care of it instantly & squared everything away for us. I was very relieved and happy that they didn't pull any bolonga. I am pleased and proud to know that my Local Honda Dealer stands by it's word. Also I did find that a factory paint flaw on a new car should be covered under warranty(there are different warranties check them all out including the ones enforced by your state). They stated whatever it took to keep me happy with my purchase. So the customer service issue now just seems to have been a misunderstanding between departments. Hats off to Honda for keeping me in the green.:D

:twisted: Answer....Hahahaa:cool:

My husband drives an Element with the plastic panels for work.
Dear ADAMLSTL, I wouldn't laugh too hard your whole Element isn't made of plastic.:roll:

My husband drives an Element with the plastic panels for work.
Dear ADAMLSTL, I wouldn't laugh too hard your whole Element isn't made of plastic.:roll:
True... But that would be too cool!:cool:

I also have paint issues that I've posted here. I have particles trapped under the paint/clearcoat on one part, small spots of rust starting on the inside of the door in the crevice that runs around the window, and wavy paint on the insides of the suicide doors. My dealership will repaint anything I want, but I'm hesitant to do it, because my luck tends to run with the results of having something done being worse than what you started with... :-|

Too bad I didn't notice it when I first got the car -- then I could have just not accepted it and demanded a new one! :grin:

Have you ever looked underneath? I was undercoating my E and just about the entire underneath of my E was a light beige color. No red whatsoever.

D

Have you ever looked underneath? I was undercoating my E and just about the entire underneath of my E was a light beige color. No red whatsoever.

So you mean underneath the car wasn't painted? But should it be?

And by "beigh color" -- do you mean it's rusted? Or that's just the color of... well, I'm not sure... :)

It's the color. Every car I've owned before my element was painted underneath. But my E wasn't. I thought it strange but figured it was coated with something.

D

Just bought a 03 with Nighthawk Black Pearl paint. It is used of course but I noticed some paint defects on hood. Almost looks to be lifting in several small areas size of dime and another half dollar. Can't say if something was on the paint that caused it egg or chemical? Looks like it's cracking and flaking. Anyone else seen this as I will probably have to pay for a hood paint job next summer unless this is an issue others have noticed.....

Wow, I haven't been on here in too long. Haven't had much time to play too much work. I just wanted to give an update on the Factory paint job. They fixed the paint problem & it still looks good to this day. No other problems with paint since then. If you are having a paint problem I would contact your dealer a.s.a.p. don't wait or you may get stuck fixing it yourself. I will try & take before & after pics to show where they fixed it. It was fixed a while ago, but it's still looks even & you can't tell they repainted that area, thank-goodness. The perks of going through the factory is that if it doesn't come out right the 1st time, you bring it back & they do it again(and so on). It seems to me though when they did pull through to fix my paint issue they did it right the 1st time.
So far so Good.