my bumper is snowing! if possible, SB owners please post pictures of your bumper.

 

Same thing here, including the hood, fenders, and around the wheels. I might post some pics later.

Luke

 

RE-PAINTING TIME!!!

 

Is it because we don't have that much debris on road here in Vancouver or something? my car's at 11000km and not one single chip yet!!! (knock on wood)

(and no clear bra)

 

I just finished waxing my car and even though I've only got ~7000 miles on it I have way to many chips inlcuding a nice new one on the front guard.

I'm not happy with the paint quality of the front or rear bumpers to be honest. Even visually the paint just doesn't look good. When it gets too bad just repaint it. Not only will it look better but it'll probably be more hardy as well.

 

my PPW with only 4,600 miles has a bunch of rock chips too. Looks so nasty that I've given up trying to use touch up paint and decided to just have the thing repainted once a year or so.

I hope the new paint will wear better. I got a quote from a body shop for $399 for the front bumper alone. Is that a fair price or do you think I could find a cheaper price? He also said that there is NO WAY that anyone can re-paint the bumper and have the paint stick as well to the plastic as they can do at the factory. Please tell me he's wrong! The paint on the Z is crap and I refuse to believe it can't be improved!

On a side note: My mothers 03 Toyota Camry with 11,000 miles has like 2 chips. Lucky her.

 

i just have a couple chips here and there... not as much as in the pics. 8,600K

 

I just hit 24,000 on my '03 Super Black. My front bumber looks beautiful.... (Of course, if you take off the OEM nose mask you can see all the nicks, chips, and scratches...)

Personally, I just don't like the clear bra, but with a SB Z, the OEM Nose Mask looks great!

 

Just curious, do you drive relatively close the vehicle in front of you on the freeway? I had a similar problem on my previous car and i think it was because i used to drive too close to the vehicle in front of me and all the debris would get kicked up and chip my paint (especially true for the 18 wheelers! Stay well back of those!)

I wasnt tailgating but i think leaving more space between you and the car in front makes a world of a difference to the amount of paint chips you get (not ignoring the safety factor as well)

 

$399 seems a bit high. I'm a claims adjuster for an auto insurance company & I deal w/ body shop's everyday. It really shouldn't cost more than $300 & that's including tax. Now if they paint an adjacent panel as well (like the hood or fenders), the price will go down for overlap. Where I live, body shop's get $36/hour for paint time & labor.

As for the paint not sticking, that's BS. A good painter will prep the bumper properly & the paint will stick. They put what's called flex additive in the paint so it can bend w/out cracking.

 

The reason for this is the bumpers on nissan are not clear coated they're very soft

 

Since you have so many chips in your paint now.. It really wouldnt be worth it to get a clear bra now right ? You will probably have to have the hood and bumber repainted, then get a clear bra.

My SB has 5500 miles on it, and it is starting to look like yours....

 

30,000 . . .welcome to the peppered bumper club

 

This is absolutely true. The closer you are to the car in front of you, the more likely you are to catch everything it's kicking up with the front of your car. I too drive too close to the car in front of me most of the time, but I am aware of the consequences.

 

mines not that bad. those are the small chips, as they didnt get through the primer. the bumper is black, so if its big debris it wouldnt show.

Id say back off the car in front of you as well, get all that sandy dirt kicking up.

I donno about not being clearcoated, never heard that before, whered you get that info? if it wasnt clearcoated I would assume the zaino for clear coats that we all use would be taking off the paint or something.

 

Front 'bumper' (and 'back bumper' for that matter) are plastic and we all know this.

New owner myself, but we also know the vehicle sits pretty low to the road. Anything thrown up or even thrown / tossed by any vehicle in front of you --- guess who more than likely will catch it!

Have lots of freeway here in my neck of the woods with lots of vehicles and now with the SUV and high as 'hell' trucks being the latest 'American rage'--- these specific vehicles do not use 'mud guards/flaps'! And they are just tossing rocks/pebbles - you name it!

I agree... it's painting time!

 

I have 30K and my front bumper and lower part of the hood are fuked! Nissan paint sucks. Nismo front and repaint the hood, along with a clearbra this summer....I should have gotten the clearbra.

 

looks just like mine. I'm thinking of buying the bra too.

 

no i do not drive close to the car in front of me. however, this is my commuter car. the freeway i drive do have small rocks and very sandy here and there. also, there are tons of SUVs and big truck transporters here in So. Calif. I HATEEEEEEE those garbge trucks on the freeway, their trash or small tiny things always fly out!

 

My paint has the same problem and it started early on. The Japanese have removed the chromates and lead from their paint too. So, there is nothing that is going to stick like the old paint they used to use. So, I would go for the repaint too. I am going to wait until it gets worse and then I will go for the repaint.