I have 21,000miles on my DP sedan, and it still looks good. nothing abnormal about the chips on the bumper cover. I have NO chips on the hood itself.

I had a $6000 paint job on my old '90 GT Mustang... It was flawless since the day i picked it up - until 3 yrs later when I sold it.

I would say that 90% of the body shops don't know how to do a quality (better than OEM) paint job... But the 10% who do, really know what they are doing....

I think the key in a third-party paint job is the amount of prep work before the paint is applied and the number of days they want to see each layer cure... The paint process for my completely gutted Stang was like 10 days total (from primer to clear).

Astounding finish though... Well worth the 2.5 months it took from start to finish...

---------------------------------
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I have a crazy amount of rock chips on the front of my G, and it only has 7k miles! I mean with the rock chips on the nose of my G, it looks like it has 100k miles, not 7k!! [img]/w3timages/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

It's rather alarming how soft the paint is on these cars.

2003 G35C, 6MT, DG/G, Aero/Nav/Premium
2002 Corvette Z06, Electron Blue/Black

 

oem doesnt wet sand and buff like most painters thats why there is sometimes orange peel. I see none on my g35. I had my old prelude painted 4 times. They all came out bad. Never as good as stock.I paid 2500 for a paint job

 

I have so many chips, I stopped counting after 15...SIGH !

 

The clear bra does work. I had it installed a week after I got my G and I have no rock chips at all. I have had my G since Nov 03. About a month ago I was driving down the highway doing about 85 mph. An 18 wheeler in front of me lifted a flat can of the ground. I thought it had chipped my car but all it did was rip out a small chip of the clear bra, no damage to the paint. This product really does work.

 

I agree... The clear bra definitely works. After installing my clear bra last December, I have been bombarded with a Zillion bugs and some pebbles on my front bumper. To date.. No chips.

2004 G35C/IvoryPearl/Graphite/5AT/Premium/Clear Bra

 

Agreed the paint suks big time, I also have maybe 3 small chips in the front bumber. I also opened the passenger door ever so lightly and it barely hit the garage door I mean even hardly touched it and I coud see the paint just crack and fall off , yikes. My G has never been driven in the rain, I also avoid driving close to trucks, SUVS, and other cars. has only been drive on the freeway once. also is hardly driven only 2500 miles since purchased in December. I can tell that the paint would look like crap if it was driven every day. Mercedes , VW, Toyota, Lexus, all have way better paint.

 

My car just turned one year old in April. But not one chip anywhere in the paint so far.

(But a couple curb scuffs in my rims probably make up for that!)

It only has about 7k miles, mainly because I did not drive it much in the Winter. But it has seen several road trips out of state, in addition to more frequent Summer commuting. So it gets around. I don't have a clear bra, just plenty of Zaino so far. I had planned to get the bra right away, but I never could find a good installer in my area.

If you drive on the open road, chips are inevitable. It's just a fact of life you learn to live with. It's unrealistic to expect to totally avoid them, unless you only tow your car to car shows.

I am not unhappy with the paint, especially considering that pretty much every car I've ever owned has usually been chipped by now ... and I've now owned 9 of them. I just consider myself lucky thus far. But I'm personally not seeing where this paint is particularly "defective."

I guess the moral of the story is "your mileage may vary."

<font color=blue>2003 G35 Coupe 6MT - diamond graphite / graphite leather - premium - nav</font color=blue>

 

Got my "G" about 60 days ago, have just turned 3,000 miles. Noticed a chip on the front of the hood - touched it up, then had Clear Bra installed. Never had experience with this product before, but my friend's Lexus SC430 has had one for 2 years and 23,000 miles, and no rock chips, while another friend with a Lexus LS430 drives the same commute daily (approx. 120 miles round-trip, combination rural/freeway/city driving) and has approx. same mileage over same period, and she has LOTS of chips, especially on the mirrors.

So I'd say - get a Clear Bra as your first "mod", and factor it into your purchase price & get it done IMMEDIATELY. (Dealership wanted $800 without headlight coverage, Jeremy with "Invisiguard" did me right today with his install at my home for $570, including the headlights & mirrors - find yourself a "Jeremy", unless you live in NorCal Bay Area, then PM Jeremy at Invisiguard, he'll do you right!).

NOTE: Not affiliated or compensated in any way for my endorsement, just a happy camper who appreciates professsionalism and excellent service & spreadin' the word to fellow "G" owners.

Sport Sedan Fan
2004 6MT Sedan/Sport/Navigation/Premium/Aero

 

damn!
wash my car today...
spot a chip on my front bumper!
my car is only 2000km
only 1 month old... i need to cry.!!!

 

GR8T - I hear ya man. I hit 10,000 two days ago....and my front end is f'n disgusting. Every time I wash my car, I make it a point not to look at the front bumper when I'm done, it makes me sick. A 35K car that has more paint problems than anything I've ever seen before. Thank god a friend of mine owns a detailing shop and my car will be there as soon as the Nismo front end comes in to replace the other eye sore, a 4 inch crack across the bumper right over the side marker. Doing 70-80 on jersey roads (same speeds I do) is ruining my car. Give it 2-3 weeks, I'll be able to take my bumper off and really use it as sand paper.

2003.5 G Coupe premium. 6MT Black/black
Come join the G35Driver chat on EFnet. Channel name is #G35Driver. Catch me on aim (Xtreme03s10) if you need help setting up mIRC.

 

i have 550 miles on my car and it doesn't necessarily look like a rock chip, but there are three white dots lined up on my hood right by my left headlight. it looks too smoothly cut to be a chip but damn it's annoying. its hardly noticeable but i know there are white dots on a black car. i don't know how much CG will help but i hope to be putting on a lot of that.

[ 2004 G35 coupe ] - | 6MT | Black/Graphite | Premium |