I have a black sedan 2003.5 less than 1500 miles, I washed it yesterday. After I dried it I was doing a little detailing to it. I noticed some water dripping from the door handle, so I took a clean dry paper towel and wiped up the drops. IT NOW HAS SCRATCHES FROM THE PAPER TOWEL. This the softest paint I have ever had on a car. It is also the most expensive car I have ever purchased, I love the car but come on! I also scratched the plastic face that covers the compass and AC display ( with a cotton cloth)
What can we do as consumers, I feel there should be a recall of the paint. Please let me know if I am just being to picky.

Thanks

 

I feel ya, Nissans paint is quit soft and scratches and chips easily and they want do anything about, several Maxima guys complained to them to no avail, My Z and Max are the same way.

 

well boys you can thank the EPA for this one.
I wish we could use led based pain

 

I'm sorry to hear this. Anyway, all clear coat paints are scratched very easily and not just Nissan. Paper towel is very abrasive, they should never be used on car finishes.

 

Only, ever, and I do mean ALWAYS, dry your car with the properly tanned skin of a tender young Vancouver Island marmot! No other marmot will do. Use anything else and the scratches your paint will suffer are upon your own head!!

 

Unfortunately, I think, black shows scratches and swirls more readily than other colors. My wife's old black Audi and black BMW each had the same problem. My Desert Platinum sedan and the Garnet Red loaner car hardly show any scratches.

Never use paper towels on paint and chrome. They are very abrasive. Use only well-washed terry-cloth towels or a real chamois.

<font color=blue>Dan</font color=blue>

 

Well I for one agree with you. I have a black 2003.5 and the day I brought it home, I reached back in my drivers door to grab my purse and my sunglass fell off my head, it hit the door and put a scratch in it! I couldn't believe it. I had a new Nissan 240 SX years ago when they first came out and my biggest complaint was the paint quality, I had hoped that infiniti would have made some improvments but it doesn't look like it. I also tend to disagree with some of the other posts that maybe this is caused by the new EPA standards for paint. I have a 2002 Expedition as well and it is a dark blue, close to black and it's paint holds up awesome.... So good luck if you do make a complaint and keep us posted!

2003.5 Black/willow/sports &premium/navigation

 

Thanks for advice on the paper towels, but I have owned other cars that have dark paint and never seen anything scratch this easy. My girlfriends dark grey 2003 silverado has a much more duable paint job. There is no doubt in my mind that the paint they are using is sub standard for a lux car. If you check out other cars site you will never see the amount of posts about clear bars, and paint chips. I know GM recalled a lot of red paints jobs in the 90's for fading. I think Infiniti should think about doing the same for scrathes and chips.

 

I completely agree. I have to repaint my front bumper cover with only 1200 miles on the car. I tried getting away without a clear bra and inevitably, I ended up with a few chips on the front end. I've had more than 10 other vehicles, none of which had such a thin/shoddy quality of paint. I ended up putting some touch up paint on one of the chips, and tried later to buff it out. Within about 30 seconds of rubbing, the clear coat was completely burned through. I've done minor touch ups including color sanding on many other cars, and never had this happen. I wish someone would come by and key my car so I can have it repainted.

 

Since auto manufacturers are no longer permitted to use lead based paint, they use a cross-linking polymer based paint. These paints are very soft in the beginning, but as they are exposed to more and more UV, they become harder. If your car is always indoors except for when you drive it, it may take a while for the paint to cure completely. You should definitely avoid any UV blocking waxes for the first few months. Some petroleum based waxes can even soften uncured paint.

2003.5 6MT Sedan. Carribean Blue / Graphite

 

Man!!

I had a small scratch on the roof over the drivers side door. A friend of mine who does paint and body work for the last 20 years for a living came to my house to buff it out. He used a foam pad (the softest) and a very mild buffing compound and in a VERY short time he had burned thru the clear AND paint down to the primer. He says in 20 years this is the first time that has EVER happened to him.

He felt like crap cause he knows how crazy I am about my G. He took it to his shop and repainted that area for free. He did an amazing job - you can not tell where his work is.

This paint must be paper thin. I would advise anyone to use great caution if buffing, or probably don't buff at all!!

 

I discovered a couple of years ago that the best way to dry your
car after washing is to use the leaf blower. It will blow all the
water out of the door handles, trim moldings, sun roof etc.
When finished, the car looks new! Try it, you will never use a
towel or chamois again!

 

Thank you, now hear this horror story. If your pissed I'm balistic. I took my car to the beach last friday and spent the night. Overnight seagulls or pelicans pooped on my G-35s hood. The very next moring when I noticed it I washed it off immediatlly (no rubbing bird crap has seed and sand in it!) Too late however, The droppings had EATEN INTO THE CLEAR COAT. I'm outraged. The dealer said they could buff it out (for a 100 bucks) but what about next time? They stammered somthing about new EPA regs, no flourocarbons, soft paint ect. I think its just another way to keep the consumer coming out of pocket with the cash. Either buying new cars because the old one looks like crap or in service fees. I want a recall and someones head as well. This is just unreal. I feel like taking a dump on new car showroom floor just to see if it messes up the wax shine!

 

well .. if you do .. make sure you eat something really acidic...

drink alot of orange juice ... and vinegar .. say all day ..that'll fix em..

buggers

you know what ...??/

when I was negotiating my car I was gonna get this diamond kote protectant paint sealant protection stuff for free... and if crap or something like that ever hosed it ... they'd fix it for free .. for life.

for the money ask you dealer about that ...as opposed to paying 100 bones for every crap on the ride... cause you know its gonna happen .. may be worth it..

I dunno.