Fit and finish issues possibly having something to do with availability issues

[optronix]

It's been a theme on this forum and the facebook group (but oddly missing from pretty much any "formal" reviews...), but there's been some lively conversation around the fit and finish issues the early Type S's may or may not have... actually dating back to most of the base/A-spec Integras.

Well... I just got back from finally finding a car and locking in a deal tonight, and I had some interesting discussion with the GM of my local dealer.

As it turns out, this GM told me that they were scheduled to receive 4 cars as general allocations- not preorders- but all in the "original"/preorder paint schemes of LCM/red, TEP/ebony, APB/orchid, black/ebony. They received exactly none of those cars- HOWEVER, did get a "surprise" allocation of a Performance Red Pearl/ebony they didn't find out about until a couple days ago- of which I am now the proud owner (won't get here til ~8/1 though).

He alluded to his other allocations being cut because they were "pulled from the factory". Basically, my my interpretation was, this was QA issues.

Read into this what you will, but part of the reason I started calling around to other dealers and considering M3s and CTRs was because I just wasn't getting good vibes from the dealer I had a deposit with (separate dealer from the one I was at tonight). Not because I didn't trust the dealer- just because they didn't have any news to report and it made me nervous. It just felt like availability was becoming a huge issue and I had no end in sight, and kind of hit the panic button (and got quite lucky as a result). But... it sort of makes sense. People who preordered their cars and still don't have build dates, or build dates shifting, allocations disappearing and then suddenly reappearing... might be due to a shaky launch from the factory. Could be supply chain, could be QA, could be a number of things.

This is literally hearsay, but thought it prudent to share.

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[SierraOne]

Could be. Although outside of paint mismatch (which is a recurring problem across multiple brands, not just models), I haven't heard anything about fit issues on non-demo vehicles. It's a theory here on the forums that the bumper fit issues comes from dealer installation (illuminated/black logo), so I would be curious to see what that looks like on vehicles where no "dealer" mods were done to the bumper area.

 

[optronix]

Could be. Although outside of paint mismatch (which is a recurring problem across multiple brands, not just models), I haven't heard anything about fit issues on non-demo vehicles. It's a theory here on the forums that the bumper fit issues comes from dealer installation (illuminated/black logo), so I would be curious to see what that looks like on vehicles where no "dealer" mods were done to the bumper area.

Yeah the bumper alignment/paint mismatch is the most frequently targeted complaint, and there was one guy on the FB group that notoriously described a litany of issues he had with a black car he preordered causing him to back out of the deal, and a few other examples here and there. It was just what I inferred from listening to the GM.

But the undeniable takeaway is that cars are being pulled from dealer allocations, and there's no clear path forward. The cause of said cars being pulled is speculation, at least in my case. My dealer was supposed to get 5 cars total including the demo, and they've gotten 2. BUT, the one they got they weren't expecting and my sense is it sort of just materialized so that's pretty good news for those of us who are waiting.

I feel like eventually there won't be a problem with these cars' availability. It's just kind of a period in time where there's a lot of pent up demand because it's new and fresh, and add supply chain/availability issues into the mix and over the past few weeks it's led to frustration.

This is also why it's important to resist the urge to pay a markup. I came extremely close to paying $5k over for a Civic Type R, and even in that case it's arguably not a terrible idea because the market has proven that the value is there for the Civic but I'm still glad I didn't do it because I think over time the market will calm and I'd be stuck holding an empty bag.

 

[eculley]

Glad you found one! I don't see any fitment issues with body panels but I do have a plethora of rattles on the interior. I am working on isolating them and am making progress, but it's still pretty frustrating.

 

[KindaACarGuy]

Glad you found one! I don't see any fitment issues with body panels but I do have a plethora of rattles on the interior. I am working on isolating them and am making progress, but it's still pretty frustrating.

Please provide us with a list of locations and fixes. This will be immensely helpful if we end up with similar rattles. Thanks in advance!

 

[Gernett]

Yeah the bumper alignment/paint mismatch is the most frequently targeted complaint, and there was one guy on the FB group that notoriously described a litany of issues he had with a black car he preordered causing him to back out of the deal, and a few other examples here and there. It was just what I inferred from listening to the GM.

But the undeniable takeaway is that cars are being pulled from dealer allocations, and there's no clear path forward. The cause of said cars being pulled is speculation, at least in my case. My dealer was supposed to get 5 cars total including the demo, and they've gotten 2. BUT, the one they got they weren't expecting and my sense is it sort of just materialized so that's pretty good news for those of us who are waiting.

I feel like eventually there won't be a problem with these cars' availability. It's just kind of a period in time where there's a lot of pent up demand because it's new and fresh, and add supply chain/availability issues into the mix and over the past few weeks it's led to frustration.

This is also why it's important to resist the urge to pay a markup. I came extremely close to paying $5k over for a Civic Type R, and even in that case it's arguably not a terrible idea because the market has proven that the value is there for the Civic but I'm still glad I didn't do it because I think over time the market will calm and I'd be stuck holding an empty bag.

I understand the markup part, but I would say 5k mark up for a FL5 is Actually a good deal, japan is only going to make 400 a month and only for three years (they literaly said that in multiple interviews) and less than half of that is coming to NA. So the supply wont settle much, I had a hard time trying to find one under 10k mark up and now I am just going to wait for a DE5

 

[bpebler]

Supposedly their seat supplier is recovering from a warehouse fire plus the plant shutdowns both the week of July 4th & 13/14th.

I found the fire info:
https://jrmanufacturing.net/

Waiting to hear back on a couple other things that I'll share when I can get confirmation.

 

[raisedhaze]

Supposedly their seat supplier is recovering from a warehouse fire plus the plant shutdowns both the week of July 4th & 13/14th.

I found the fire info:
https://jrmanufacturing.net/

Waiting to hear back on a couple other things that I'll share when I can get confirmation.

Sad news for that plant. Although in the meantime maybe Acura could just offer some of the ITS units to willing customers with the FL5 seats instead?

 

[VtecBuddy]

People who preordered their cars and still don't have build dates, or build dates shifting, allocations disappearing and then suddenly reappearing... might be due to a shaky launch from the factory. Could be supply chain, could be QA, could be a number of things.

I'm convinced there's supply chain issues going on. It makes no sense for Acura to cut in-vehicle wifi, rear USB ports, memory seat function, and even the tilt rearview mirror when reversing function from the Type S, other than having issues with supply chain. These are all pretty simple electronics that I doubt cost them that much (in comparison to a 5th seat, sunroof, etc). I feel like stuff might get added back in in future model years once these issues ease up.

 

[vexingv]

I'm convinced there's supply chain issues going on. It makes no sense for Acura to cut in-vehicle wifi, rear USB ports, memory seat function, and even the tilt rearview mirror when reversing function from the Type S, other than having issues with supply chain. These are all pretty simple electronics that I doubt cost them that much (in comparison to a 5th seat, sunroof, etc). I feel like stuff might get added back in in future model years once these issues ease up.

rear USB, vents, and seat memory function are all features not available on the FL5. so i think the omission on the Acura is understandable if the ITS is re-skinned and tuned CTR. regarding the rearview tilt, do you mean the side mirrors tilt down automatically when shifting to reverse? that's really a big omission if true -- that features helps prevent me from curbing my wheels when parallel parking...

 

[VtecBuddy]

rear USB, vents, and seat memory function are all features not available on the FL5. so i think the omission on the Acura is understandable if the ITS is re-skinned and tuned CTR. regarding the rearview tilt, do you mean the side mirrors tilt down automatically when shifting to reverse? that's really a big omission if true -- that features helps prevent me from curbing my wheels when parallel parking...

But seat memory isn't possible on the FL5 because it's not a powered seat. The Type S uses the same powered seat as the A-Spec, which does have a memory function. I'd buy the efficiency argument of making it similar to the FL5 if they were both built in Japan, but the Type S is built in Ohio, so I'd imagine it would be more efficient to make the Type S similar to the A-spec.

And yeah the side mirror tilt thing is not available on the DE5, here's the link where I saw it https://www.acura.com/cars/integra/pricing-and-specs. (Click the exterior dropdown). A strange feature to exclude for any reason other than chip shortage.

 

[vexingv]

At this point in time, I don't buy chip shortage as an excuse/reason. If it isn't due to manufacturing lines/efficiency, feature parity with FL5, or driving dynamics/weight savings, then it's due to cost savings/profit for Acura/Honda. Unless Acura is removing those features from regular A-spec Tech Integras, the chips are available. If you think, the Type S accounts for ~10% production, so I think there are semi conductors to spare for an additional 10% of cars. At the peak of the chip shortages, companies were actively delivering cars without various packages or features that had been offered: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g38179550/new-cars-tech-features-missing-chip-shortage/

but that's truly disappointing with the omission of automatic tilt down side mirrors when reversing. just like memory setting for the powered seats, i don't see how they could have left that out (they're already electronic and i can't imagine the additional looms of cable/wiring would severely impact weight)

 

[VtecBuddy]

At the peak of the chip shortages, companies were actively delivering cars without various packages or features that had been offered: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g38179550/new-cars-tech-features-missing-chip-shortage/

It’s possible the base integra had been already designed and validation was underway during the pandemic so they couldn’t cut features (contracts with suppliers might already have been signed too), and the Type S was designed during peak pandemic supply chain issues, so Acura might have been more conservative about what they could include in the Type S (this could line up well because the first Type S was spied in November 2020).

 

[optronix]

I don't doubt some model years will have changes; they always do. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

Many would accuse me of gatekeeping, and maybe that's exactly what I'm doing. But if you're holding out for memory seats or usb chargers in the rear, you probably don't get the car.

I actually feel like for this particular car the lack of these little things were more of a cost-savings decision. I'm still scratching my head a bit about the lack of moonroof, but most of the other features are so infinitesimal that I feel like the design team just said to hell with it, people who need tilting mirrors are just going to buy a Buick anyway so leave them out.

That said I'm glad it has auto-dimming mirrors. I was worried, because the Type R doesn't and that's honestly the one hill I would die on. I've driven a lot of rental cars and I notice the lack of auto-dim mirrors IMMEDIATELY.

 

[lz23]

I don't doubt some model years will have changes; they always do. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

Many would accuse me of gatekeeping, and maybe that's exactly what I'm doing. But if you're holding out for memory seats or usb chargers in the rear, you probably don't get the car.

I actually feel like for this particular car the lack of these little things were more of a cost-savings decision. I'm still scratching my head a bit about the lack of moonroof, but most of the other features are so infinitesimal that I feel like the design team just said to hell with it, people who need tilting mirrors are just going to buy a Buick anyway so leave them out.

That said I'm glad it has auto-dimming mirrors. I was worried, because the Type R doesn't and that's honestly the one hill I would die on. I've driven a lot of rental cars and I notice the lack of auto-dim mirrors IMMEDIATELY.

All Acuras lose the ELS sound system next year and are being replaced with a B&O sound system which is really a HK system.

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