As a back story, I have come 1-3 in various car shows in my life....that take into account obviously attention to cleanliness and detail. That being said, I know how to properly clean a car.

My '08 is only 8 months old and there are a myriad of clear coat scrathes all over the car from a simple hand wash with a microfiber sponge and bugs eat through the clear coat and paint in less than 12 hours. Paint chipped off of the roof somehow and I have rust now. I thought perhaps this is my fault, so I buy top of the line 3M scratch and swirl remover with a professional variable speed buffer and microfiber buffer pads.

MOTHER EFFING SWIRLS.....all over. So now I'm starting to wonder if its something to do with the clear coat, the dealer tells me its because, "Its a black car." bastards....

Then as a last ditch effort, I try 4 different kinds of swirl-scratch remover products. Looks a little better but still pretty ****ty. But then, I see, on the hood of my car, two spots that look as though the clear coat is oxidizing.

THE PROOF I NEED......so I bring it back to the dealer and they try to tell me its a black car again. I wouldnt hear it, so I think they are trying to stall and appease me by saying they will look at it and take pictures to send to infiniti and ****.

What gives? anyone else had issues with black? or any other color?

 

From what others have mentioned on this site Infiniti paint sucks a$$. On top of that you have black which is a unique color and as most know will show swirls. If its that big of a deal to you and the dealership is shutting the door calling it a "non issue" then the only thing to do is get the car repainted the color/quality you want or leave as is. Most people have stated Infiniti paint is very soft and can scratch or come off very easily.

I am very nit picky about paint as well....but after 10k miles i dont worry about it anymore..the sun/elements/bugs/dirt will all take its toll...only thing to do is proper clean and maintenance every so often to keep it as new as possible.

What other cars have you owned in the past?

 

What exact products did you use? Exactly what "buffer" did you use? What speeds did you use while buffing? What was your technique when buffing (how fast did you move the buffer, how long did you polish each area, etc)? I have black and using proper products and techniques, my paint is in very good condition, even with 93k miles on it.

 

I have a black 07 G35X so I understand where you are coming from. I don't find it difficult to keep clean (like some on this forum think) with regular maintenance. One wash and a couple quick details per week is all it takes for me. (I use two bucket with grit guard, sheep mitt, car soap, micro drying towels)
That being said, it's a well known fact the the G clear coat is soft and therefore very susceptible to swirls, oxidation and other contaminants. I had a bird bomb the hood one day while at work so when I got home I washed it right away and could still see where the damage had been done in less than 10 hours. I had on three coats of wax at the time.
These things always appear to be worse on dark colours which is probably what the dealer meant. The dealer isn't likely to admit that the clear coat is soft nor do they likely even know. BTW I thought the new G had some type of "self healing" clear coat.

I notice that you bought a polisher. Is this the first time you have ever used one because if it is it may not have been a good idea to try learning to use it on your new G.
I have had my G's finish professionally polished once and I expect and accept that I will likely need it done at least once a year to keep away the swirls. I think thats just the way it is if you are finicky and want to keep a showroom finish.
Good luck with Infiniti!

 

dam you have the same car as him and in black with 93k miles on it??

 

...and have not had any real problems. Last year, a bird did poop on the door, I didn't clean it off until maybe 8 hours later, and ended up with some clear coat etching. This will happen with pretty much any car, and is especially noticeable on black cars.

Aside from that, I have zero scratches, zero swirl marks. Twice a year, I use Klasse AIO followed by Klasse SG. I also apply Klasse SG 3-4 times a year in between. I use microfiber cloths for hand application and removal of the Klasse. I'm **** about the paint on my car and even looking at it from all different angles in all kinds of lighting, there are no problems. Note that I've never used a conventional polish or wax at all.

That said, my car is garage kept, has never seen snow, and is often left at home when storms are expected.

 

Well, i also have black 07 for over a year now and i have no serious gripes about the paint and i dont wax it everyday or take care of it that so much, however i do wax and polish it every now and then. I have no rsut, paint chips or swirls or noticable scratches considering its black. Hope it helps.

 

Bird poop doesn't etch in 8 hours on "any car." It only does it on cars with a crappy clear coat and thin paint.

My wife has an 01 Infiniti G20. She never washes the thing. (including love bugs and bird poop).

Her front end paint is in better shape than my 07 G35. And I DO wash and wax the car. This paint sux.

I never had lovebug or bird poop problems with my last two Pontiacs.

 

As you can read from my post above, I agree regarding the finish on our G35. Very poor, soft easily damage clear coat. There are a ton of posts regarding the soft clear coat. The only thing OK about it is that because it's soft, it polishes a bit easier with a PC.
I just Googled 'lovebugs'. i don't think we have them up here. What do they do to the paint.
Curious.

 

yeah.. i should have went with white :\

black is hard to maintain

 

white aint that easy to keep clean either brotha

 

but your swirls are harder to see :\ also when you wash your car and if you don't completely dry off the water.. you won't get hard water streaks/marks that can be seen from miles away

 

Do a google search on bird droppings etching BMW paint and see how many hits you get. You will see the same thing as here with people complaining about bird poop messing up the paint, often with only a few hours contact time in the sun. It happens with all types of cars.

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=bird+poop+etch+bmw
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=bird+poop+etching
All kinds of folks with BMW, lexus, vette, Mazda, etc. complain about this.

Maybe you didn't see it on a lighter car or one with metallic paint.

 

I totally agree

Some people (and I'm not saying anyone here) think a car is clean if it just looks less dirty when the same amount of dust/dirt is not as noticeable on light as it is on dark. The fact is that if you take a clean black car and a clean white car and drive them both down the same dusty, dirty road together then they are both equally dirty but they don't appear to be. Some people don't see it this way. It's the old 'out of sight out of mind' mentality
For example, it makes me think of no-touch car washes. I used to use them many years ago and have friends who use them all the time (I have a friend who swears buy the touch drive-thru too... you should see that black paint). They try to tell me what a good job the no-touch wash does until I show them by touching the paint (in an inconspicuous spot) that there is still a dirty film over the entire vehicle. It's just not clean.
The point is that there are many opinions about what clean truly means to each individual.