devil2k

What's worse is that Canadians pay $50k.

indycase

The good thing about our car is that the front bumper almost completely covers the front vertical end of the car. In the old gen, which I used to have, the hood curves down a bit to where the grille is. Therefore, in the old gen, the front edge of the hood is prone to stone chips. Obviously, a chip on the plastic bumper is better than a chip on the metal. So I put the VentureShield just on the bumper when I had my car for three months (should have done it right after I got the car because I had two tiny chips under there but oh well you can barely see it). I didn't want a line on the hood and a slight colour difference on the front edge of the hood (and to put in more money into my car which is leased) so I didn't put the VentureShield on the hood. I must say I'm pretty happy that I did it on the bumper because you can see how it protected the bumper from many chips as I do mostly highway driving. Also, some punk kids grafiti-ed my front bumper with a marker one time by a skater park and THANK GOD I had the film on ... removed with Mr. Clean MagicEraser like a white board.

So, a year later and after a brutal winter, the front bumper still has no chip. The hood, with no film protection, has a few minor nicks which is very superficial and because my car is white, you can barely see it. BUT there is a lot of cleaning to do on the film over the bumper because it is a tiny bit harder to wash clean than the plastic bumper with no film because of the surface and because of the edges of the film which collected a bit of dirt.

The body on the other hand is another story. I never go to softcloth car washes and I always use micro towels to clean my car when I'm not getting it hand washed at a detailer and what do I see yesterday? A billion swirl marks plus a few light scratches on the front passenger door where someone probably walked by and scratched it with their bags or something!! Good thing my car is white! Time to go to a deatailer! Sealant, Wax, or Highspeed polish? Suggestions?

bitNine

Coming from a Mitsubishi with the worst paint on a car I've ever seen, the Infiniti paint is a different world of quality. I got my truck painted by Maaco a couple years ago, and its paint has held up better than the paint job I had on my 08 Evo. I'll give the G a year before I make any statement as to how the paint holds up.

Bigred0942

I put 10K miles on my 11 G37, the dealer washed it once when I picked it up, and the second time when I got an oil change (after I asked them not to). My paint is a disaster!!! Looks like someone took a brillo pad to it. I absolutly hate my paint. I dont want to even touch my car it is soo bad.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Yep, pretty much what I've dealt w/ my last 2 Gs, really sucks that in order to keep your $40k car looking decent you've gotta shell out another 5-700bucks for additional protection. There's really no excuse except Infiniti/Nissan have paint as a very, very low priority on these cars. I'm keeping my eyes open for brands that are working to improve their paint for sure.

15951

Getting it washed by a "detailer" doesn't mean it's being washed correctly. They could be reusing media or wash water, or doing any number of other things wrong. It's not impossible to keep the paint on these cars nice. I just spent the winter doing ONR washes in a heated garage, often cleaning dried salt off the paint without a hose. The car is still swirl free.

If you have swirls, wax and sealants with fillers will only hide them. My guess is that you had the swirls all along, but probably had a heavy sealant with a ton of fillers that has worn off. The only way to remove swirls is to level the clear to the depth of the swirls with an abrasive polish.

Find a good detailer on autopia or a similar site, and pay the $$ to get the car polished and protected correctly. After that, wash it yourself, or don't bother trying to avoid swirls.

Good luck!

15951

I don't think it's fair to say that paint is a low priority on Nissans. They are working within the constants that the EPA has issued regarding low VOC paints. Technology hasn't caught up to these requirements yet, so paint is fragile. If you want the world to "go green", there will be growing pains.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

I'm fully aware that it's much harder to get a quality paint process w/ the very rigid constraints that have been placed on the auto industry. Several manufacturers have been able to keep their paint quality strong such as the German makes, and I know Hyundai has completely redesigned it's paint process to get similar German quality paint finishes. I know I keep harping on the weak Infiniti paint, but I just find it unacceptable in a brand that's supposed to be competing w/ other upscale brands. From the various paint threads throughout Infiniti forums it seems that a good majority of Infiniti owners feel the same way.

devil2k

Other manufacturers also have to meet these requirements, so it's really can't be an excuse.

financeman

Take a look at a new Hyundai Sonata....the paint on that car is sooo much better than what we have on the G. The paint issue is nothing more than blatant cost cutting by Infiniti. Its not just a durability concern....look at the horrible orange peel many of our cars have....that problem could be remedied by sanding between coats. Somehow other manufactures have figured this out....just look at a new Camaro or Mustang...the paint on those cars are also better than our Gs.

15951

It sounds like the conversation has moved from durability to appearance, which are two completely different topics. Head on over to a Hyundai board, and you'll find people bitching about paint chipping as well. My comments were directed in that regard.

roots4x

You should have reported that issue right away. That type of issue is not at all common and would have been repaired by warranty fully. Any car would rust with that type of damage.