I posted this over at the freshally forum but thought I'd repost it here as well:

After an unfortunate encounter just before Labor Day in a friend's garage (he was driving), my coupe's front bumper was punctured by an object below his sightline as he pulled the car in. He graciously offered to pay for the damage, and the car now has a new bumper cover with a well matched paint job done by Ramsey Infiniti in NJ where I bought the car.

Before the incident I had been absolutely stunned at the number of paint chips that had accumulated on the bumper in the mere 3K miles I had driven the car since taking delivery in early June. It was nearly ruining my enjoyment of the car since virtually EVERY TIME I drove it new chips would appear. The first ones appeared on the 25 mile drive home from the dealership!

Extrapolating out to 4 years or so, it seemed that the front bumper would probably look like it had been in the crossfire of a shotgun battle by then. I was about to have a clear bra installed when the damage occurred, so I postponed it while the new paint cures. At least I'd only have 30-60 days of paint chips to deal with this time I thought, and I'd started assiduously avoiding interstates in favor of truck-free parkways whenever possible.

Flash forward to the present...750 miles later. The are NO paint chips on the new bumper. Zero...zippo...nada. Just checked yesterday, in bright sun, up close, after thoroughly cleaning off all dirt, bugs etc. It is PRISTINE. So much so that I'm considering not putting the bra on (allthough I probably will anyway).

This unequivocally proves to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that like the title of this post suggests, "It's the paint, stupid". It's as though the factory paint is made of glass! My old bumper had perhaps 6 or 7 major chips (areas of at least 3/16" in diameter where there was either NO paint (the black primer was clearly visible) or the paint had been sort of "smushed" or pushed aside by a rock. These could be easily seen at distances of 6-8 feet away. Not good. In addition, there were almost countless (perhaps 25-30 or so) smaller chips that could only be seen within a couple of feet.

The difference between "before and after" here couldn't be more dramatic. It's clear that the "right" kind of paint (the kind used by the body shop, presumably oil based?) will withstand the rock assault exceptionally well and the "wrong" (factory) kind has about the durabilty of an eggshell in the hands of a caffeined-up chimp.

I know this pronblem is not specific to just Infiniti or Nissan, and that it's basically an EPA (or whatever it's called in Japan) situation, but COME ON HERE! This is ridiculous! Paint manufacturers MUST be able to come up with a paint formulation that does better than this, right? Plastic additives, silicone, teflon...God knows what but SOMETHING.

For me, the "silver lining" in my unfortunate incident is the much better chip resistance of the new paint, but that's small consolation for other owners less "fortunate" than me (and for my hood and mirrors).

Sorry for the venting, but I though I'd share my comparative experience here for those who are still wondering what the chipping problem is about. It's funny...a good case could be made to have these cars' bumpers, hoods and mirrors REPAINTED rather than installing a clear bra! A crazy sounding idea for sure, but I don't know...it may actually be a viable alternative.

 

By the way, what color was your car? I also believe it's a better alternative to repaint the bumper than to install a clear bra. If it's just paint, it will cost less or equivalent to covering the bumper with the bra. Unfortunately, this does not help the hood. I am not planning on the bra, have 600+ miles on my 04 Ivory Pearl with one tiny chip on the bottom of the front bumper. If and when it gets that bad, I will repaint it. No bra for me. It's like putting plastic seat covers over living room furniture.

04 G35C/white pearl/5AT/Premium

 

Yes, the overall paint job, especially the nose, does have a certain "Nissan quality" to it!

I brought this up to my dealer on my last service visit (12k), and showed them the sandblasted front end, complete with paint crazing cracks! They insist this is "normal wear and tear" and I'm stuck with it.

Given the car is a lease and I have no intention of buying it, as long I don't get charged for this excessive wear, I guess I can live with it (nothing a little color-wax can't hide). On the other hand, if I owned this car and intended to keep it for 100k miles, I'd be pissed!

 

My coupe is Diamond Graphite. As far as the hood is concerned, there's no reason why it couldn't be repainted too.

 

Yes the chips are crazy. Every time I wash my car I fiind a few more of these. They aren't even chips. It's like a rock hit a clay bumper. Looks horrific. Dents in plastic I mean common. I do agree that it is poorly done from the factory and regret not putting on the clear bra. i guess it's a trip to the touch up place next spring.