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We were ordering a couple of options at our dealership the other day (our SS Touring/Nav will be delivered in several weeks, and we've already gotten a bunch of stuff from Tim that we're not afraid to install ourselves), and when we inquired about body side moldings, our salesperson observed that while they hadn't sold any yet this model year, the ones that are offered by Volkswagen don't stay on too well. Apparently, they have had some customers come back after 18 months or so complaining that the adhesive wasn't sticking too well. The salesperson said the service people think it has to do with our climate here in the midwest--harsh winters AND summers. (we won't count THIS winter yet). We are reluctant to try BSMs only to have them delaminate over time. Can anyone comment about this, or is it just too early to tell??

To clarify, our dealer carries VW, Audi and Infiniti as well as Acura, though the largest portionof their sales is Acura.

 

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Thanks for all the input. Gee, Worm, you're right. The 3M plant in Ames, IA makes stuff like that (not that it means the BSM strips'd stick any better). I agree with all of you who commented that you'd like to see the BSM as a permanent feature. Someone posted in another thread that they don't think the current moldings are wide enough to do an effective job. It's a bit of a Catch-22. If they were wider, they would surely compromise the looks.

I don't really think our salesperson was trying to steer us to something different-- he was merely being honest (or naive). The BSMs haven't been available all that long. We are at the point where we think we'd like them, but are wary about putting them on ourselves-- applying adhesive to a gorgous, expensive new vehicle is a daunting prospect! Our thinking was that if the dealership did it, they'd be applied accurately, yaddayaddayada.

Interestingly, when our salesperson handed us the price list of all the goodies, he commented that they had reduced their prices to match those listed on the Acura web page.... you know, the "Build Your Own" feature, where they show a typical installed price. He siad that customers would note the prices on the web and come to the dealershp and complain if the figures didn't match. Heh heh. Of course, we all know that Tim's prices are WAY lower than that. In fact, we sat at the computer and copied down Tim's prices right next to the dealer's prices-- pretty scary what their markups are! In any event, they didn't push any add-ons at us, and certainly didn't offer any freebies or incentives. I have no complaint with that, I guess.