Hot Guy No Lie

Well, it's been one week since my case was opened for my chipping and nobody has contacted me. (yawn...) I'll be following up this week, obviously, but I was hoping I would hear something by now...

I do not want a bra, not my thing, and I surely won't change my taste because Nissan didn't put kilz between the metal of my car and the paint/clearcoat

But honestly, considering the problems I've had... Call me crazy
, but doing it all over, I'd still have bought this car. You buy a new car, you get a warranty, which even sometimes painful, will help you out in the end.

VaZee

I contacted Nissan and got a case number, they told me to set up an service appointment with my Dealer and will check with them about these issues.

Paint chipping
Grease Streaks
Seat Clicking or moving

ZGone

I got the Colgan nose mask after one nose chip. But hey it isn't a factor of the paint or car, all cars get rocks bouncing off the nose. It is just a fact of life. My wife has a Land Rover, which is only 1 yr old, and even though the nose is about 4 ft off the ground it still has nicks in the hood. Just stay as far away from those gravel haulers as possible.

Cheers.

Ez350

Oh sure....if it were just rock chips, I don't think we would be having this discussion. My daily drive has about 140000 miles on it. It has rock chips galore. But none of them go clear through past the primer.

I just opened a ticket with NNA myself. I will keep you posted.

MIShield

If 5 Z's plan on getting clear bras on their cars, I can give you a smoking deal on a group buy. The more cars the cheaper.

www.mishield.com

Hot Guy No Lie

Okay, my case working on my paint chipping called me yesterday. After speaking with me he stated that every case so far on paint chipping has determined that the paint on the 350Z is NOT defective. Has anyone gotten feedback on their cases

We need participation here, I am afraid, to get anything done here. I fear they will do everything they can to avoid a very costly recall related to paint chipping. Let's do it, folks!

labshark7

Just curious,

You all are aware that rock chips come from other vehicles right?

You also are aware that when a rock hits your car at 75 mph, the rock is actually striking your car with an impact speed upwards of 100+mph, as the rock has a velocity of its own.

Your speed= 75 mph
Rock's Speed 40+ mph
-------------------------------
Impact speed 110 mph.
Weight of rock= 2-3 grams

If you calculate the force at which the rock is striking the paint, which comes close to 3-4 pounds of force with a jagged object, there is no way what so ever that any type of paint with sustain such a blow. (this would even scuff and scratch an unpainted steel surface.

(one gram is the approx weight of a small paper clip)

Have any of you tried leaving upwards of 75-100 feet between you and the car in front of you?

You all are aware that this car is many inches if not several feet lower than a traditional automobile. The aerodynamics of this car also "flow" most objects directly into the front facia.

Thus, I do not expect that any type of paint would withstand a rock chip under such circumstances, mentioned above.


Not trying to start an argument, but just putting some simple facts on the table that are unavoidable, and have not been mentioned anywhere in this thread,
Eric

Ez350

Let me break it down for you. I have been working with cars for close to 20 years. I started working with a professional detailing team 15 years ago. My other vehicles have 140,000 miles and 60,000 miles respectively. Which is to say, I have seen my share of rock chips. I know what a rock chip looks like. In twenty years, I have never seen paint as fragile as the paint on my 350. A pebble may hit your car, and it may nick the paint, but on the 100's of vehicles that I have worked on it typically takes a pretty sizable rock to go all the way through to the primer. Not on this car (350Z). The slightest pebble goes through the clear coat, through the color coat and straight to primer and in some cases straight to frame.

You can say what you want, and you can give driving lessons all day long (don't drive too close to other vehicles, don't drive behind dump trucks, etc) but at the end of the day, paint is not supposed to be this fragile. Paint when properly dried and cured is not supposed to react this way. Some 350Z owners do not have this problem. My car was manufactured in the first 3000 to hit the streets and it does have a problem. I know paint and I know how to take care of it. Nissan may very well look at this and say this is how ALL of our cars are painted. That may very well be. And if it is then your paint process is defective.

labshark7

Like I said,

I will not get into an argument with you about this, but I will defend my position.

You fail to acknoledge that rock chips are caused, not by your own car, but by other cars.

If you are not in the vicinity of a flying rock 75-100 feet, you will not have rock chips! This is very simple to understand.

Being in the Detail Business, you also are aware that the likelyhood of paint contamination is slim if not a non-issue.

The likelyhood of the paint not being cured upon delivery 2-3 months is also far fetched. I will agree that some paint jobs can take upwards of 1 year to cure, however this would be unheard of for a modern water based factory paint job.

You also must admit that, with users complaining of spider webs, and attributing such damage to paint jobs quality, is also not
plausible. I can show you many, a, BMW in which spider webs are present. This is caused by synthetic or chemically laiden buffing towels.

Like I said I am not trying to start an argument with a fellow 350z owner. I do realize you'r plight and I respect your professional opinion. However, you should also acknowledge that such damage is:

1) avoidable, even if the steps are drastic
2) if an impact does take place at the force previously mentioned, such an impact would create a chip.

In any case, this post has atleast given us something to argue / talk about!

haha,
Eric
350z Touring/SS/NAV/AERO

Ez350

I will grant you all of that. In this particular case, the problem is being caused by the drying methods involved. The manufacturer is adding chemicals to the process to cause the paint to catalyze quicker and thus, dry more quickly. The result is that they can push more cars through the line faster, but it also results in an overly brittle paint job. The rocks are expected. Even the wind can propel something into the air and if you are traveling 60 mph, you are going to get nicked. No question. But at this rate, I'll have a salt and pepper paint job instead of a Super Black paint job. Not what I paid for.....not at all.

OP Z

iTrader: (1)

With 1300 miles I have a very small chip on the hood and another one on the bumper. The primer on Brickyard is a dark color, so they are not that noticable.

Nonetheless, the paint job quality does seem to be very poor. In my opinion, the paint job is the biggest problem with the new Z.

Hot Guy No Lie

Okay, I have an appointment with the dealer on Tuesday, 04/15/2003 to look at my paint. They are telling me once they look at it, they will need to call in a specialist. I will keep you informed...

deltaboxr1

I have 1500 miles on my CS,1 chip on the hood and one on the bumper!I had 16,000. miles on my 2000 Honda Prelude with only one chip on the leading edge of the hood.This is my first and last Nissan.I wish I could turn back time and get my Prelude back,with my $5000. down payment!!!

Zmoney

I still think the 350Z with bad paint is better than a Prelude. To each his own...

daking350

I was the proud owner of a redline red 350 I bought on november 20th and had repainted by nissan on January 2nd....There were an abnormal amount of "chips" on the paint at the time for a car with 1000miles on it and several on the side door where it may have been caused by a salt spreader..Salt should not chip paint down to the metal..But of course nissan denied a problem with the paint so heres the way to get it painted free of charge....
"ORANGE PEEL"!!!!!complain that the paint has orange peel "especially the red and blue ones which have been acnowleged by the dealer I went to...Be persistant...be courtious...but demand action..Of course they opted to "buff" the paint prior to painting it so I got a real shiny redline red 350 z with shiny orange peeled paint..so finally they painted it ...dont take it from them..Especially those of you who paid a premium for the first z's to hit the road..All the hype and anticipation for nissan to take it,stick up your a$* , twist it around, make you smell it and then pay a "premium" for it??? I think not..Screw them get your car painted by them and send them a message that we paid for a quality product and we demand it!!!!

LouZ

:icon9
I will take delivery of my silver Z in early May and am concerned about the reports of paint chips and orange peel.. Is the orange peel a problem with this color? and info on the clear bra would be helpful...thanks all...

Zmoney

I sent an email stating the abnormal amount of chips I have for only having 2400miles. Waiting on someone to contact me. Its been about 4 days.

devaraj

My 350Z just hit 1,000 miles yesterday and already I have a good sized chip on the bumper just below the right headlight. It is a deep chip that seems to go right down to the primer. I used a Nissan paint pen (Daytona Blue), but the darn paint does not seem very durable. It just comes off when I try to add a second coat.

If I get any more chips like this, I will certainly contact Nissan. We should all subscribe to this thread and refer to it often. This could wind up being the most serious flaw with the new Z.

Hot Guy No Lie

My Redline Z is presently at the Nissan dealership and they have looked at the chips and got a Nissan rep to look at them, too. They say there is nothing they can do and referred me back to my Z specialist. All they could do was buff some spider lines... I'm ready to take this fight all the way. Any advice/assistance/moral support is encouraged! I'm ready to duke it out with Nissan.

AllUZ

Just turned 3000 miles with my sunset Z. I noticed that it might be thought that this problem is found on the earlier Z's...to shoot that one down, my vin is 106909...and I've got a few wicked paint chips (if you consider down to the metal a chip). After reading this I desided to call Nissan Corp. Nice rep, but she said she'd need to contact my nissan dealership and then get back to me. She also metioned a paint specialist...could be promising! Anyhow, I complained on the other persistant problems...seat click, window track leaving grease, alignment pulling to the right...and so on, and so on. I really love my car, but for a "flagship" vehical, I feel Nissan needs to step it up and cut thier loss, because I'm seriously considering trading my Z in. <sigh> Please as stated, make a formal complaint with Nissan. Power is found in the people, and people are counted by numbers.
Thank You,
Johnathon