Dealer says "all black Hondas are covered in scratches from the factory"

[Nicksey]

Piffle. Tell them to sort it, if they won't then reject it.
Like Lincolnshire rambler, my Blue beam metallic was purchased from DM Keith and it was polished to perfection when I took delivery of it.

[Wilmo]

What dealer ?

From the photo that looks like Yeomans in Eastbourne.

Captain Hindsight says never buy a black car 'cos it will look like that pretty quickly anyway.

How on earth can you tell where it is from that photo ?

It's my local dealer and it looks like the internal office structures.
I could be wrong but if the OP would tell us we would all know.

[aphybrid]

It all says something about the dealer, an opportunity will arise to bring this to Hondas attentionwhen new car survey from is received'

That is if you accept car, personally I would reject.

My dealer once rejected on my behalf a Jazz received with a very minor dent on roof, and I mean minor - he had to point it out to me. I endorsed the dealers rejection. I believe they got grief for some time from Honda  before the car was sold (saw it in yard for months) - no doubt with a discount to someone else

[davejazz]

My black MK4, has numerous light scratches, behind the door handles.
They are caused by fingernails of my passengers.

I am always careful to park away from overgrown bushes, as a slight breeze, will cause a movement on any touching branch, lightly abrading the top coat.

Having said that, the soft paint is the only “down side” of the car; everything else easily fits the bill!

I have had the near side door mirror motor renewed today, a known lubrication fault shared by many on here,
It was ordered three weeks ago, and fitted within the hour. A £380 job, gratis, within my 5 year service plan.

Just luvin’ it!                         

[peteo48]

I'd reject the car. The only sliver of truth in what the dealer said is that dark cars certainly show swirl marks much more than other colours. I have the midnight blue and it has quite a few swirls on close examination but on the car you show they are actual scratches from what I can see.

[His_name_is_robertpaulson]

If it was the one at John Banks Honda Colchester, the paint work was in really poor condition 

[guest9236]

Who is the dealer please to ensure I do not go there.

[iprefertheblues]

Thank you everyone for your help. What a kind group this is!

As a result of your advice I’ve rejected the car.

I have been advised not to name the dealership, however all of the cars that I looked at in the showroom on collection day were also scratched. Seems wise to look very carefully at showroom cars before you select a dealer.

Thanks again everyone!

[shufty]

...I have been advised not to name the dealership...

...Was that by the dealership themselves?

[Rory]

The dealer says that all Hondas come like this from the factory.

Few years ago I collected a silver Golf and was giving it a good looking at when the salesman said "I'm glad it's not black, they come with scratches in the paint from the factory".

I said, "you mean swirl marks?"   He said, "no, they're actually mixed into the paint". 

[Westy36]

Thank you everyone for your help. What a kind group this is!

As a result of your advice I’ve rejected the car.

I think you've done the right thing there. I hope the dealer handled it well.

I've had to reject a couple of used cars relatively recently, and the dealers have been stroppy about it to say the least. Marshall Peugeot were frankly terrible with one of their Approved Used 308's. Shame, it was a nice car, but I don't think it had had 1 check done, let alone the 100+ as per Peugeot scheme.

[HertsHonda]

Send the vehicle back!!

I was told that gramophone records** were pigmented black, so that imperfections were easier to see.

** Note for readers under 40, these were round plastic(or shellac) disks with a small hole at the centre, each face had a spiral groove.

[mitchelln]

I'm finding the paint on my black MK4 is very easily damaged. An insect splat that I removed as soon as I saw it has left a permanent mark, for example.
When I first bought it, I was hoovering out the back seats and the hose on the vacuum rubbed the paint on the step down to the primer. I was absolutely mortified! Never had any damage at all before on other vehicles with the same vacuum.
The car now has lots of other fine scratches as well after just a year of pretty light use. It also just doesn't seem to hold polish. I use Meguiars ceramic wax and on my 18 year old Mazda it comes up like a mirror and stays clean for weeks. Water and dirt just run off it. My Jazz simply doesn't come up anywhere near as well and water just doesn't seem bead to the same degree. It'll looks like I haven't cleaned it after a few days.

My Mazda is also black and still looks amazing for it's age. You can tell just by examining the paintwork that it's clearly far superior. I'd also say the MK4 paint is noticeably inferior to the 2009 Jazz it replaced. So I asked my neighbour, who is a very experienced car detailer, for advice. He has a gadget for measuring paint thickness. The paint on my Jazz is about half the thickness of that on my old Mazda. This will severely limit the number of times the paint can be machine polished to rid it of marks and scratches. He says that all manufacturers are really scrimping on the paint since Covid, especially the lacquer layers. It can also take modern paint a couple of months to fully harden off. So you have to take extra careful in the first weeks of ownership.

[Westy36]

** Note for readers under 40, these were round plastic(or shellac) disks with a small hole at the centre, each face had a spiral groove.

You should find them next to your C90 cassettes on top of the VHS machine! 

[5thcivic]

You should find them next to your C90 cassettes on top of the VHS machine!

Surely by the 8 track cartridge and top loading betamax!