Honda Motors Defective Paint Job – Honda Accord’s Clear Coat Peeling

by Michael Sheehan on May 4, 2009

I’m typically not one to complain out things. Bad things happen and I frequently find it better to just look at the bight side of things. Sometimes this gets me into hot water though, as I miss opportunities to make things (including myself) better. To that end, I’m hoping that the end result of this negative blog post will result in something positive.

Back in December of 1997, my wife and I bought our first car together, a 1998 Honda Accord 4-door EX Sedan. I traded in my beloved cherry red Honda CRX-si for a car that was more practical, and, unfortunately, more boring. But this was ok. We planned on having a family and a 2-seater car (the CRX) was just not very safe or convenient for a family. So we settled with what then was a beautiful dark green color Honda Accord.

As time passed, the car became mine and my wife got a Honda Odyssey which was a much better “mommy taxi.” She shuttled kids to and from school, play dates, activities, etc. I used the Accord to drive a few minutes a day back and forth to the train station. As of this writing, the 11 year old car has only 58,000 miles on it while our 2001 Odyssey has about 105,000.

A few years ago, I noticed that my Accord was starting to show some odd discoloration on the roofline. I thought this was odd because I took pretty good car of the car, with regular waxings and cleanings. It was, however, parked outside. We needed to have the Odyssey in the garage to allow for easy kids and grocery schlepping.

What started as a discoloration (a patchy whitening) then turned into a full fledged peeling of the clear coat surface. The surface just started to flake off, easily exacerbated by a fingernail, leaving underneath a dull metal surface. This erosion of the clear coat surface continued to spread, but interestingly, not to all parts of the car. Specifically affected were the: roof, trunk and hood (in order of magnitude), but the side panels or bumpers seemed to be fine.

I have seen many old cars, including older Honda Accords, that show not signs of deterioration of the clear coat. When I confronted my local Honda dealership, they, too were a bit surprised but had to go to a Regional Manager to even consider doing anything about it. In the end, they did acknowledge that this was not normal wear & tear and offered to pay for a portion of the paint job.

I decided not to take the partial acknowledgement or payment. In my mind, this is something that is defective and Honda Motors needs to step up to correct this.

I have done some research and have found others with the same circumstances and characteristics. So I ask, it this just a coincidence or was there truly something wrong with that year’s application of clear coat and paint? Here are a few listings of people with similar complaints:

Carcomplaints.com – multiple complaints on 1998 clear coat peel
Allexperts.com – complaint of clear coat peel; (lame) answer, keep out of sun
Honda-Tech.com – thread that shows the EXACT SAME thing as my accord with pictures; another thread about factory green Honda Accord X clear coat peel; thread that discusses how “cancerous” the clearcoat peel actually is (funny too); another thread on a Technical Bulletin on peeling paint.
Yahoo Answers – thread about peeling clear coat

There are other complaints of this nature as well if you search for them.

Some pictures

First, back in 2006 or so, I was considering selling my 1998 Honda Accord EX (something I really didn’t want to do). I’m actually glad I kept it. It runs great and aside from the clear coat, I have no other complaints other than basic wear-and-tear. However, here are some pictures that I took of it long before the peeling started.

Just a few years later, here is what it looks like:

The passenger’s side looks ok.

Another shot of the passenger side.

Driver’s side looks ok as well. The sides of the Accord actually look pretty good.

Hood line starting to show the clear coat peel.

Roofline shows the clearcoat peel better. Down to the metal.

More on the roofline. It’s pretty bad.

Another shot of the roof.

There is very little clear coat remaining on the roof.

One more shot of the roof.

Here is the trunk peeling.

Another shot of the trunk.

You can see how the peel starts along the trunk lines.

Close-up of a peel in progress.

One last shot of the front.

And, of course, I have to throw in a picture of my vanity plate. “T3CHDAD” = Tech Dad in l33t speak. Details on that here.

So, why did I take time to post this article? Mainly because I wanted to raise attention of this Honda clear coat issue. Also, I wanted to see if the powers of Social Media and networking can eventually get the eyes and ears of Honda Motors, some dealerships or an auto paint company who wants a bit of publicity helping out a cause. Personally, I think that Honda Motors should step up and 1) acknowledge that there WAS an issue with this year and this color (or dark colored cars around this time) and 2) that they should do something about it. Offering to pay for part of the expense and only at certified auto body shops is not what I’m looking for. My car has been treated well, frequent washes and waxes and has extremely low mileage on it. Again, I have seen older Honda Accords that do NOT exhibit this type of corrosion or deterioration. There is something definitely wrong here and there should be some full retribution.

Note: I just uploaded these photos to Flickr. If this is happening to your Honda Accord, please upload your photos and tag them with the following tags: HONDACCPEEL, HONDA, ACCORD, CLEAR COAT, and PEEL. Thanks for your help!

If you are reading this post, thanks for taking the time to do so. If you have connections in the auto industry, please make sure others see this. If you are connected to the powers that be at Honda Motor Corporation, PLEASE get this in front of them. It is a shame to their brand (of which I have been extremely loyal). However, I’m ready to jump brands if this is the type of durability that Honda has. The motor is great, but that is only part of the equation.

HTD Says: Please help me spread the word about this clear coat peeling issue of Honda Accords. It has to stop or be acknowledged and corrected.

Below are some of the images that have been uploaded to Flickr using the tag “HONDACCPEEL”. Want your picture there? Just upload public images with the tags: HONDACCPEEL, HONDA, ACCORD, CLEAR COAT, and PEEL

Tagged as: Accord, clear coat, fix, Honda, paint, peel

Suzan_lewis
My 1998 dark green Honda Accord has the exact same problem. I don’t see Honda doing anything to make it right. If we were all driving Pontiacs we wouldn’t be asking this question because the car would’ve been long dead. At least it drives great.
Kaners
My 2003 Green Honda Accord is experiencing the same thing. I only have washed the car with water and never have taken it to a car wash. It looks terrible. We need to get HOnda to pay attention to this problem. I have been telling everyone I know not to buy Honda products due to the poor customer service when it comes to this problem.
Anand
I am also having the same issue…. having a 2002 honda accord green color.. saw few other hondas today and thought to google and see if it is common and here it goes!!!! was planning to sell my car and get another accord.. but!!! now…. i dont think it would be a good idea to get another honda!! more over.. i dont know how would this affect resale value of my car!!!!
Veronique
Hello I have the exact problem with my green Honda accord LX. I realize this post is a couple years old now… Did you get your paint fixed? Any tips? Will Honda do anything? Thank you for any comments you may have!
gio
i have a 99 honda accord ex. all my panels except my side panels clear coat are peeling off, so i think it is sun/heat related. it makes my car look ugly. honda needs to do something to make their paint/clear coat last longer.
Marisabilbo
I agree I have a 2006 Honda and is peeling also, looks pretty bad, Such a low quality paint,
I only have 120.000 miles and is having many issues with the oil leaks but I’m working on it . The company should give us half price for painting the cars, I won’t buy another Honda if they don’t do something about it.
Sdab22
I too have a 98 honda accord ex plum purple and it is peeling as well. HONDA please do something its making your vehicle’s look very sub par.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MCRMWK7XUKCBTFUCCAKUJZMLY4 Michelle C.
I had a 1992 charcoal Honda Accord LX. I would say within about 5 years, my paint job start pealing. Same as the pictures above. I gave the car to my brother just 3 years ago. He in turn has sold the car. The car still runs, but the clear coat is completely gone. I purchased another Honda (Acura TL 3.2-1999) in 2005/reddish/burgandy. To my surprise, I notice a discloratioin on the roof (right in front on the sunroof). As time passed it spreaded (just like the pictures shown) and now it has gone to the trunk. I can tell it’s moving to the hood….it starts off by looking like tiny tiny airbubbles. If you run your hand over the hood, it feels rough. I think it’s all older Honda’s. I notice alot of older Honda’s on the road with the missing clear coat….but the cars are still running. I want a MDX…but I’m so afraid of the paint problem.
Billitzer
I have a 2004 Honda CR-V in dark blue that has a hood with almost no paint left on it and the front bumper is a faded gray that doesn’t match the side and rear bumpers! I live in New England so the winters can be tough, but my car is garaged most of the time and it only has 80,000 miles. I bought it used in 2007 from Atamian Honda dealer in Tewskbury, MA when it was 3 years old with 36,000 miles. A month ago I took it to them and asked about the paint and the service guys looked under the hood and said it wasn’t the original paint, that it had been repainted by someone. Yeah, I think Atamian Honda knew the paint was a problem, had it repainted and sold it to me without telling me and no warranty covers it because it isn’t the original paint job. So I have issues with Honda and the dealership and the minimum work to re-paint the problem area is about $1500.
http://twitter.com/critrdoc Dr. Tim Hammond
We bought a 2004 accord for our son when he graduated from college. Within 2 years the clear coat began to peel. Now it looks exactly like the car in the photos above. Honda said we caused it by polishing the car with a buffer, which was something we have never done to the car. I have a 12y/o Audi and the paint still looks new. I’ll never buy another Japanese car. They’ll run forever but in a few years they’ll be a crappy looking rattle trap….
Twarner
I don’t think all Japanese cars have this problem…that’s a bit unfair. Honda had this problem during a certain time period when they tried to outsource their painting.
Disappointed
I also have the same problem with my 1999 Honda Accord EX-V6 with “heather mist” paint. I had thought, since I have a sun roof and the car has those channels on either side of the roof, I could spot paint the top between the channels and the sun roof. That way any deviation in paint color would be less detectable because of the break in the lines. But, now the truck lid is also peeling, as well as the back bumper. Other than this paint problem, I have had little else go wrong with the car. But it looks horrible and reflects as if I didn’t take care of it, which is not the case.
Ellenroth89
I have a green 2003 Accord and it looks like it has a rare disease – the clear coat issue has been going on for 4 yrs. Awful.
Manuelrivera_2
i have a 2008 honda civic lx coup and just notice 2 days ago what everyone is talking about…fading and white spotting on the roof top. very sad because the car is only 4 years old and from what ive been reading, not going to like the outcome of this! next week im going to address this with my dealer and not settle for anything less then them offering 3/4 the pay. 100% would be nice but we all know how that goes.
maybe someone should start a facebook spread about this…always the best way to get attention.
Andrew
Has anyone heard of consumerist.com ? I saw a section about it on the news last night and it seems like a ripe place to bring this paint issue to light.
On that note I own a 2007 Fiji Blue Civic Si. Love the car, it’s probably everything I need right now…EXCEPT the paint. I immediately noticed it scratched very very easily and I had to watch what sponges I used when I washed it. At some point shortly after purchasing crows feet appeared all over the front of my hood. I had just brought the car in to have the 3rd gear recall fixed so I looked past it for the time being…not a huge deal, I can live with it. About 4 months ago this issue with the clear coat fading has been the latest. I tried to look past it and just wax it up and try to keep it pristine but it keeps spreading like a wildfire and doesn’t look like it’s stopping anytime soon…
http://www.hightechdad.com hightechdad
Actually, I have submitted to them a while ago but it might make sense to re-submit. If anyone has contacts there, please let me know.
Andrew
So I brought my 2007 Fiji Blue Si in around a week ago to the Honda Dealer in Sunnyvale, CA. A rep named Jerry was very helpful with my and came outside and seemed a little disturbed by the crows feet and blatant clear coat erosion on both the front of the roof and the rear, even saying that the paint should not be doing that (I will post some pictures soon). We went inside and he filed a form so that a Honda of America rep would come and take a look at it. I got a call from Jerry today (Jan 11, 2012) saying (without seeing any pictures of the vehicle) that due to the amount of owners (I bought it used as the second owner still under warranty with 22k miles), and the year (it’s a 2007…five years old give me a break) that they would not offer anything on the issue.
I’m a little pissed needless to say. I’ve babied this car since I got it, washed it once a week/every other week and wax at least once a month. I’m 25, graduated college, can’t find a decent paying job…this car was going to be my stable stallion that I could ride until 30 or so. SURE you can say that “hey, at least it still drives,” but would you sell a car with a defective transmission? Defective brakes? Defective pistons? No, absolutely not. The paint is so much a piece of a car as any one of those elements aforementioned. Honda sold cars with a defective product, end of story. It’s on them. In actuality, this “inconvenience” takes a large piece out of the resale value as whoever else would be willing to buy it is going to have to fix it eventually. Honda is costing me precious money that I cannot afford and do not have to keep my car from looking like an absolute P.O.S. on the road.
It would be one thing for the car to be a hunk of junk in the first place, but truth be told, I actually love this car. The Fiji Blue is a gorgeous color. The Si is quick and can handle a turn well, and the stereo pumps. I really could not want much more in a car right now. Which is a shame because I would like to keep it for many more years. If Honda actually owned up to their poor discretion in paint procedures, I would respect them so much more. My first car was a 1999 Civic Ex. Great car. Been driving Hondas since 2004 which would be eight years now. I’ve repped Honda so hard and only said good things about them to my friends and family. This could very well change depending on how this turns out.
I find it hopeful and encouraging that there are many many more people out there with the same problem. I know I will be referencing from many of the sources here should I have to get down to the details and truth with Honda.
This is the beauty of social media, we have power in numbers. Maybe we could combine our opinions and stories into a more focused and concise document that we could print out and bring in if and when we decide to bring this to Honda’s attention.
-Andrew
http://www.hightechdad.com hightechdad
Thanks Andrew for your story. I’m glad that you added it to the growing list. I would say, yes, use social media to promote this issue and raise awareness with Honda. I have tried and tried again. I’m sure they know about me. I was a long time Honda advocate but the fact that they refuse to even talk about this cordially brings a lot of concern. Many other car manufacturers are engaging and listening. Honda doesn’t seem to want to (but I understand that it would be a huge PR nightmare for them).
I would tweet to Honda, reference this and the other posts that I made. The more people that do that, the better!
Dbratt2
I also have a grey 2006 Honda Civic, My neighbor has the exact same car and both cars are faded and peeling in the same exact areas along the top front,back top (I have a sun roof) and on the trunk center. Every Honda Civic I see I have noticed the same, they really need to make this right. I am a favored Honda buyer and I would like my next care to be a Honda as my previous one was also but now I am second guessing it. Although they did fix the issue with the engine block.
Chant4chakri
mine’s a honda accord 1998 LX… bottle green… i have the same problem too…!!
Rubysmom
I have a 2005 Accord, Burgandy in color–87,000 miles. My paint on the bumpers, by the windows, and especially the roof, have started pealing. It is getting worse by the day. We took it in this week to let a Honda rep look at it and she insisted it wasn’t original paint! I just found this link. What can we do about this???
Annpa
We have a 1997 Honda Accord that started out with the color Heather Mist Metallic-basically beige but now it is disgustinly patchy. Otherwise, it’s a great car.
T Warner
I really liked the news story I heard this week where a woman took Honda to small claims court over their false mileage claims on the hybrids. And she won…almost $10K!!! I wish we could all do that with our paint problems.