Paint Scratches, chips, dulling after only 5 months!!!!!

[acepero]

I've had my Black 2004 G35 coupe for about 5 months now and I'm deeply disappointed. I've had several black cars in the past that even after 3 or 4 years didn't look half as bad as this one does now after only 5 months. I have tons of paint chips and dulling, and the paint on the sides by the rear wheels is permanently damaged from rocks and salt. I've even had the car hand waxed twice and polished once. At first, I thought it was just me and my terrible luck, but I found many others that have had the same problem. Of course, those of you with silver and white G35's won't notice this if you don't search for it. I made some inquiries and found out that Nissan decided to use a different kind of paint mixture on some of their cars that has less protection and is far more susceptible to scratches. It's obvious too. The car gets scratched from anything. Even the dealer scratched my car in several places when they were cleaning it up after repairing my defective cd player. They ruined a perfectly good polish job I had paid for to eliminate the scratches they put on the first time I went for service. How could Infiniti do this? I spent alot of money on this car and I feel robbed, and the Customer Service department basically brushed me off. I'm filing a formal complaint and may even pursue legal action to remedy the situation. If you would like to be included in my complaint, email me at acepero@startingpointllc.com ...We can't allow car companies to get away with these kind of deceptions. When we buy something, especially something that costs as much as a G35, we expect to ge what we paid for!

Here is the 800 number for consumer complaints at Nissan/Infiniti:

1-800-662-6200

Give them a call and select the last option for general concerns. It only takes 5 minutes and have your VIN ready. We need to show them we're serious! Mention that you will most likely be pursuing legal action when they refuse to fix your problem, which is what they will do. I'm going to be writing a formal letter to them with an attached petition for some sort of monetary reimbursement. Personally, I see this as a violation of my lease - I was misled. If I had known about this problem prior to my purchase I would have stayed away from the G35[/b]

[GZire]

I haven't gotten any chips yet, but I haven't put a lot of miles on my G so far.

Yes I have heard of the numerous problems that others are having with the new paints. The problems are not just restricted to Nissan, from what I've heard this is a growing issue due to new regulations being placed on car manufacturers.

If you have other information your research has turned up, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

[Jaylin]

I get small rock chips on my front bumper, but when your doing an average of 90mph on the interstate you expect to get some. Should have gotten the clear bra.

[acepero]

For a high end car, I am throughly appalled with its paint quality. It doesn't fully adhere to the primer causing chips and scratches to occur with little or no effort. This is a common problem when a particular chemical is neglected from the paint mix - I believe the gentleman told me it was "plexor" or something like that. Nissan left this out for unknown reasons but some speculate that it was omitted to increase the cars shine.

[spekterg35]

My family has been working in the autobody industry for about 30 years. It is well known that nissan doesnt exactly have the best paint. Ive noticed faster paint deterioration on nissans than any other vehicle. their paint is also very susceptible to stains from foreign substance (bird crap, tar, etc..). On my 04 6mt the paint on my hood is already getting ruff. Even though i live in arizona, my car is garage kept. My buddys 03 sedan has the same problem. This is why when i bought the car i already had plans to repaint it.

[Hot Foot]

Brilliant Silver, Purchased September 17, 2003

11,500 miles, only about 25% of the miles were on the highway. Several very small chips on front bumper area. The rest of the paint is in very good condtions at this point.

No snow and very little sanding done in the Houston area.

[DanG35]

I just got my G last friday and I am taking it back to the dealer so they can fix scatches I didn't catch when I bought it. But they are fixing them free of charge. I have a small nick in the driver side rocker and some significant scratches on the front bumper. Significant to me is almost any scratch though. I am meticulous about my car and the way it looks all the time. I detail spray it atleast 3 times a week. If I didn't detail spray it I wouldn't have noticed the scratches though.

[Orlando333]

Why don't you use Zaino; you will not have dulling problems if you apply the product.

I have had my Ivory Pearl G for over a year, applying a coat of Zaino about every 2 weeks, with no problem. My car continues to sparkle like it is a show room quality car.

[acepero]

hmmm...haven't used that. Thanks for the input. Maybe then I'll be able to sleep.

[ironrice]

I have heard of these horror stories of paint chips and dulling but for my DG coupe I don't have that problem. Yes I do have small chips from rocks and hillybillies but thats expected, it's not a big problem. I had a big dent in my quarter panel from a flying rock and the paint was still there but the dent was huge. I had to go get it out but the paint was still there. I guess they did the DG paint right. I'm sorry that the blacks are having such a hard time with their color. :P

[acepero]

In the 5 months I've had it, I've spent about $800 on maintenance - primarily the exterior. I put about $4000 in extras into the car when I first got it and now I'm regretting my investment altogether. It's a shame that after 5 months the car looks like it's 2 or 3 years old. Car washes rarely give it that original shine and sometimes I prefer for it to be dirty so at least I can't see the swirls the dealer left on it.

[ironrice]

Wow your problem really sounds bad. What wax were you using before to keep your baby clean? I had my car for about 10 months now and it still looks new. I used Crystal Guard initially when I got the car and then I started to use CG and then a coat of Meguair NXT and I still get a showroom shine. I'm just thinking maybe it's the wax you've been using that might affect the paint dullness, not the paint chips, but probably not though.

[AZ-G35]

Originally Posted by ironrice

I have heard of these horror stories of paint chips and dulling but for my DG coupe I don't have that problem. Yes I do have small chips from rocks and hillybillies but thats expected, it's not a big problem. I had a big dent in my quarter panel from a flying rock and the paint was still there but the dent was huge. I had to go get it out but the paint was still there. I guess they did the DG paint right. I'm sorry that the blacks are having such a hard time with their color. :P

Nice.......

[acepero]

Actually I'm using turtle wax, which I've used for all my cars in the past, for my own application but most of the time I have it proffessionally waxed and polished by a well-known detailing shop in my area, but the problem is that there's no paint on the dull sections...It's all chipped off and beyond the repair of wax or polish. As for the swirls, the wax helps it but the paint is permanently damaged. Maybe it was the original dealer wax that was garbage, but the paint does have problems.

[timeattack]

Originally Posted by spekterg35

My family has been working in the autobody industry for about 30 years. It is well known that nissan doesnt exactly have the best paint. Ive noticed faster paint deterioration on nissans than any other vehicle. their paint is also very susceptible to stains from foreign substance (bird crap, tar, etc..).

I second that. I noticed that bird crap stains the paint easily. On my
previous car, I could leave bird crap on the car for weeks, and then it
washes off with a little effort. But the smallest bird crap on the G will
stain the paint, even if I wipe it off the same day. It leaves behind a
yellowish residue. Even waxing it will not remove it completely.

Also, someone hit my bumper recently, and I noticed that the paint
was very thin. It easily scraped off and revealed the black plastic
bumper underneath.