Hey guys i was detailing my car last week and notice that the paint was peeling away on the driver side front wheel well where the body meets the plastic...so i take it in to nissan and the guy looks at it and says that he doubt that nissan will repair it because it looks like i had hit something causing the paint to peel away...now keep in mind i have only had the car since 9-23-03 and i have babied it ever since and the car had 440 miles on it when i purchased it...but anyway he says hes going to put it in the computer and wait for nissan to get back to him...

So he calls today and said that Nissan refused the claim and gave me a refernce number if i wanted to persue it..

Is it possible for the underbody to rust that quickly if i did hit something and cause it to peel or am i getttin jerked around and if so what should i do about it...

I am going to try and post some pics of the area: 1 is where the paint has peeled and if you look close you can see the rust on the underbody. 2 and 3 are marks that the nissan dealer said that looked like i had hit something causing the damage..

Thanks in advance for any help or advice

 

heres another pic

 

and one more

 

Damn, that's bad. When you picked up the car, did you notice that this section of the car was flawless? Was this a preorder or a car off the lot?

 

No i didnt notice, and i got the car from the lot, it was a dealer trade for a maxima the guy told me! and it had 440 miles on it! Any ideas!

 

looks like road debris got kicked up causing the damage to me. is that gravel or is it paved where the car is park in that pic?

 

its gravel in my parking area, but i doubt that is it cuz i pull right onto a paved surface and make sure i dont have any gravel in my tires before i leave and i would think it would take some real force of an impact to cause the paint to peel away like that!

 

Yea something hit that when that Z was on the road. I'm betting it was debris as mentioned. If you didnt run over anything, someone else did.

Very hard to prove that you didn't cause it though. If you feel like they arent going to help you out, fight them. Just remember to take your Z somewhere else for warranty work afterwards though. They probably won't be too fond of you

 

well i know i didnt hit anything, and the fact that it has rust on the underbody makes me believe that it has been that way for more than a month but im not an expert on corrosion or metals???

 

if anyone has and ideas on what to do pls. post....also if anyone here has any metal or engineering experience and has any ideas on the damage and rust pls post or pm me...thanks

 

your right. It happened long before you picked it up. I forgot all about the rust. Take it to a good bodyshop ASAP. Get their opinion. Tell them your story and get a quote for repair. Take it to dealer, show them. yell at them. Scream out loud in the showroom

 

thanks for the advice i will do that tomorrow morning! any other advice

 

that sucks, man. Someone must have hit you, or you just didn't notice it when you bought it

 

yeh i think i just didnt notice it when i picked it up, to excited to give it a really good look over....let this be a lesson

 

anyone know what type of steel the z is made of??

 

Don't feel bad. I was way to excited to look mine over too. It had some minor flaws like yours. Honestly, it's a very minute thing. I think getting your first scratch is a lot harder.

The most important thing is that you enjoy your new Z. I made the mistake of hanging out in the "repair" forum during the first week of ownership stressing.

Go start it up and drive right now

 

lol wish i could but its under cover, late and cold as hell...the only thing that really worries me is that rust and getting it taken care of!

 

It looks like surface rust,not to worry.I would sand it with 400 wet and dry, apply metal conditioner a little gray primer then some touch up paint.You can't prove where it was done,rather than get annoyed pay someone or do it yourself.I doubt the dealer will take care of you,good luck with what ever you decide.

 

ive made that mistake before........bought a pathfinder at a dealership once....it was still dirty (supposedly they had just took it in).......so i go back to pick it up after they cleaned it and get it home and notice big long *** scratched on the roof
gotta look em over close

 

yeh true coyote i learned my lesson on that one too. and znuts you right i just have to bite the bullet and fix it myself but thanks for the advice on how to do it i appreciate it alot from all you guys...thanks