On my 2nd G and I'm still thoroughly disgusted w/ the extremely fragile paint. The self-healing clear coat does indeed take car of small scratches & swirls when it sets in the sun, but I've owned many newer cars and none have chipped so easily. I doubt I'll own another one unless they address this issue. I hope they do because I love these cars & the brand.

 

The paint finish looks pretty good, but the durability is awful.

 

agreed... it drives me crazy how careful I have to be with the G, just to see the swirls multiplying anyway...

 

No better or worse than my Volvo S60R. Both suck(ed). Ironically the black Volvo had white primer (explain that one to me) and my white G has grey primer on the hood and black on the bumper. Any small chip can be seen pretty easily. Modern paint techniques are better for the environment but much less durable than the old days.

 

I say "screw the environment and lets get some decent paint on these cars!"

 

The paint on the peace of crap Dodge Caliber I had was a lot more durable than the Gs. I drove the same route for 2 years with it and had no chips. The G on the other hand seems to get new chips if you look at it funny. It is the one thing I really do not like about my car.

 

Nissan/Infiniti paint is lacking... We all know it.

Although, when I compare my 08 paint to my 09 Self Healing Clear, I can tell a worlds of difference.

 

at least the swirls are not there... my altima used to be horrible before i had it completely resprayed.

 

Is the 09 that much better? Or other way around?

 

09 was the only year for the G37 to receive the self-healing clear coat. IMO, it is better. While it is just a prone to rock chips, I think the clear does heal some light swirling.

 

yeah, I've got the 09 (and other than being a little soft I love it) but this is the first experience ever with Infiniti so I just don't have any other years/models to base the "self healing" on...

 

Paint sux. Has swirls and eery little chip is permanent.

 

Just don't wash,dry or wax your car in circular motions. That is the only way that the paint gets swirls in it.

 

....that's not entirely true. at all...

if you look at cars that haven't been properly taken care of (ie never washed/dried/waxed/etc) they are swirled to death...

and detailers use rotary and random orbital buffers to get swirls out...and those both move in circular motions...

 

Circular motion has squat to do with damaging the soft paint.