sprmario

After 7 months, the only complaint I have w/ my Z is that it has the worst paint in the history of automobiles. I have about 7,500 miles on the car and the front bumber is completely pock marked w/ chips of all sorts from crap in the road. I also pick up all sorts of blemishes in the paint from people just looking at it funny. There are also more swirl marks in it after 7 months than in my 10 year old mustang (and both are black cars).

The bumper is the worst part. I had almost no chips in my mustang's bumper and the Z is totally obliterated w/ chips. I literally fear being anywhere near dump trucks.

I need to get a new bumper anyways, so i'm not crying over not getting a clear bra but seriously how can they put these things out the door w/ such crappy paint?

Low J.

I've never owned a car in my life that withstood rock chips....and I've owned somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 of them. There is NO paint that deflects rocks....period.

aznmojo

From past experience, german paint holds up the best. I agree there are some flaws in Nissan's paint, but it is definitely not to the point where it is ridiculous.

slowxturtle

iTrader: (3)

Maybe that particular Z bumper was repainted after it got damaged during the shipping. That happens. Which would make the paint more weak.

doodeitstom

iTrader: (1)

true, so true

DougJones

It's a Nissan issue. Both of my Maxima's ('02 and '04) prior to my Z had bumpers that chipped and pitted whenever I got withing 10 feet of a rock, bug, cotton ball, etc

Eddie1979

Only paint chips my 10 year old Integra has is where it physically hit another object of its own volition i.e. not a single rock chip. My one year old 350Z has more rock chips than I can count on two hands.

Bah.

SvR350z

iTrader: (1)

They make a great product that will stop this from happening.
I hate to beat a dead horse but a clear bra = the solution to this problem.
I put one on right after i drove my car home from the dealership ( had about 300 miles)
when i put it on.
No chips on the car at all.
Well worth the money.

Art Vandaleigh

iTrader: (16)

I'm gonna have to agree on the poor paint quality. My previous 98 integra R never showed any chips like this Z seems to suck up, and not really from rocks but everything in general. From the touch, seems like nissan cut costs by using very few coats of paint, it just seems thin to the touch unlike other cars. I only have 1700 miles on my car, and already have 4-5 marks on the hood and bumper.

nbdyfcnsqnc

>> After 7 months, the only complaint I have w/ my Z is that it has the worst paint in the history of automobiles.

There's no way you could possibly know that!

(But you might be right.)


>> From past experience, german paint holds up the best.

I don't think it's a matter of what country it's from. My parents BMW M had really similar paint to my Z, in both chip-ability and orange peel. Plus it varies, because my O.P. isn't nearly as bad as many Z's.

You also have to consider how much paint is exposed on the front of the Z. It's got almost a flat wall of painted area on the front.

SB Track

Germans use a harder clear coat. This is a fact. Nissan's paint isn't the best, this is also a fact. All cars will get rock chips, this is the final fact.

Solution: get a clear bra.

yobri

iTrader: (2)

Yup, soft paint... I put my headlight housing back in and bumped the corner of the front quarter panel where the headlight sits. Paint chip to the metal

MirZa w da Z

i just did a repaint of my front bumper . spent 300 bucks .
hopefully there will be no chips for the next 1 month then i could install a clear bra .
ne1 use this kinda paint on your Z ?
how was the quality ?

nbdyfcnsqnc

>> Germans use a harder clear coat. This is a fact.

German companies might, or cars painted in Germany might due to different environmental restrictions, but "Germans use a harder clear coat" is non-sequitur. If you have any evidence of similar things, it might be nice to know.

I think the Z's worst problem is a thin clearcoat rather than the pain itself. That's just based on close examination.

sprmario

All I can tell you is that after 7,500 miles I have about a dozen to 15 chips in my front bumper. My 10 year old Mustang with 110,000 miles sitting right next to it has about 7 or 8.

I didn't get the clearbra when i got my car because the only guy in s. florida that I got a great recommendation on was up in West Palm (a good 70 miles north of me) and would take a minimum of 6 hrs to do. He's supposedly amazing. Since my car is black he even spends extra time on it to get it just right since black shows up any inperfections in the application that there might be. But he charged a lot of money. He's done a lot of Z's but he usually does high end cars so he's very pricey. Anyway I need a new bumper at some point for another reason, so its a moot point for me.

Regardless the paint sucks. My parents have a new Mercedes that they bought a couple of months before my Z and it has zero chips in the paint.

doodeitstom

iTrader: (1)

My accord looked like it was sandblasted in the front and I am wary when I drive on the highway and in construction areas. Does that make honda paint bad? My civic suffers from rock chips also. I drive very conservatively.

bknezevic

Nobody can even know that Napoleon.

Balthazar

"Like anyone could even know that Napoleon."

EatMyZ

I hate washing the front, rock chips all over the front bumper, hood, and even the fenders.... damn it sucks.. most of them were there when I bought it though.

OneFast944Turbo

My Porsche is almost 15 years old and the org. paint is flawless. This is true german and italian paint for some reason holds up more. I had a maxima and you could tell the diff a mile away..