This is a short "heads-up" type of article that I decided to write after seeing the damage caused by the Accessory splashguards on two of my own Acuras.

Shortly after purchasing our 2002 TL Type S, I decided that the splashguards that came mounted on the car sort of spoiled the lines, so I started to remove them. The rear ones came off without a hitch, but when I started on the front splashguards, I quickly saw that the design of the product causes road grit to get trapped between the splashguard and the paint, which over time will abrasively wear the paint finish, possibly down to the point of bare metal. In the case of the TL-S, the car had about 10000 miles on it when I decided to remove the splashguards, and the white paint had been worn almost completely through to the sheetmetal. Needless to say, after using some touchup paint to protect the exposed sheetmetal, I reinstalled the front splashguards to cover up the scars. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have taken photos of the damage.

Now we fast-forward to a few weeks ago. Shortly after taking delivery of my TSX, I remembered to remove the splashguards again. This time there was only about 500 miles on the car, but unfortunately it was already too late (see photo).

2004 Acura TSX - driver's side front fender shown

We feel that these splashguards and/or their mounting mechanism should be redesigned with the longevity of the car's paint finish set as the top priority.

In the mean time, if your car new Honda or Acura comes equipped with these splashguards, please keep in mind that your paint finish might be at risk.