I give up! I'm selling my G before I lose my temper and take a sledgehammer to it. This piece of cr*p is only eight months old and it already has so many paint chips that I can't even count them all.
You think a bra will help, do you? Well, how will it prevent chips on the center of the hood, the A-pillars, roof, doors and rear fenders? I can't even wax the thing without wanting to throw up. And please, no more "water based paint" excuses. I surveyed the cars in the parking lot where I work and no other 2004 had even one-tenth the number of chips that mine has. I looked at Corollas, Civics, Accords, Jettas, Audis, you name it. And, no, I don't live on a gravel road.
When are you guys going to face facts: the paint on our cars is garbage. It's not that it's too thin. The color coat is not adhering to the primer. How anyone finds this acceptable on a $36,000 car is beyond belief. I'm getting tired of reading posts that defend Nissan (Infiniti). I've read replies in this forum that suggest: A) we are driving too fast (duh!), B) we are driving too close to the guy in front of us (what planet do you drive on? As soon as I leave space in front of me, someone fills it), C) use a bra (see above), and D) put more wax on it (let's not even go there). In my opinion the finish on this product is indefensible. If I knew how to start a class action lawsuit, I would do it, that's how p*ssed off I am.
Hasn't anyone considered what this will do to the car's resale value when it comes time to sell it? Have you thought what it will look like after you're caught in few hail storms? Or stuck driving behind a salt spreader? If my G is this bad after eight months, I don't even to think about what it will look like in five years. I'm getting out now while I can still get a decent price for it.
BTW, thanks to all the members of the forum who continously downplayed this problem. When a potential buyer is reading the posts looking for honest criticism of this vehicle, I think we owe it to them to give them more than "my sunglasses don't fit in the holder" and "the amber turnsignals are ugly".

 

Where do you live? My best friend and I both own G's and have had no problems.

 

I feel your pain Bosco. Everytime I wash my LR coupe I just see more and more chips everywhere. My 1986 944 Turbo has less paint chips and its 18 years old on original paint!!! Alas, I am keeping my G35, but I certainly wish that there was something that can be done.

Good luck with your future automobile purchases.

2003 Laser Red Infiniti G35 Coupe
1986 Guard's Red Porsche 951

 

bosco: would you like some cheese?

get over it, it happens

Jeff - Look for me in the black G
2004.5 G35 Coupe
5AT / Black on Black / Premium / Splash

 

B, you've got a total of three posts on this site and supposedly are for real, right? You are an actual g owner? Not trying to tick you off, but it does seem just a bit unusual to some of us.

That said, the paint issue has been detailed (no pun intended) in other threads, endlessly. There is a vast difference of opinion altho most would agree the paint is not good. Not even fair. Looks great but doesn't tend to stay that way.

I'm one of the advocates for "clear bra", and yes, it does work and yes, it does work on almost all of the car. Since I've driven in about twenty different states with my g coupe, I'm not sure where you live, what your driving conditons are, or how many miles you have on your car. Mine has 19K. And I got the clear bra four days after I picked up the car in sandy, gritty, stuff-all-over-the-highway, SoCal. And I've driven it cross country twice, so I do know highways. And cities, which is where I live and drive the car other then going cross country.

In all that time, my very close scrutiny of the desert plat paint showed only one small chip on the pass. mirror above the clear bra strip. Nothing on the rear fenders, above the center line of the hood which is not covered by clear bra, and nothing on the roof.

Not denying you may have those chips, but something is amiss. And if you think leaving extra space between cars on the highway gets filled up, yes, it does----sometimes. But then you just drop back some more. Trust me: you won't be going in reverse, you'll still get wherever you're going, but it'll be a little slower.

Maybe it is the paint. And maybe it's the lack of protectors. And maybe it's your driving style. And maybe it's the particular environment that you drive in (which has lots of grit, gravel, dirt, etc.). Or some combo of the above. But don't deny that some methods work, either by themselves or in concert with each other, to PREVENT paint chipping.

From your perspective, however, and with nothing else changing (your driving methods, the car or the environment), I'd sell the car, too, or you'll be down to bare metal!

BONDg35c

 

I drive a OB in southern cali, with only 3 chips. tell me there isn't a problem here. why don't you go buy a honda civic and get some high hp mods on it like altezza tail lights and a fart can exhaust. it will definitely walk our G's every race, from a roll or from a stop or even from a roll .. BACKWARDS.

Black / Black 2004 GcoupeMT. Premium. Splash Guardz.

 

I've had my g for a month w/2000 miles. Haven't had a single paint chip yet.

04 Coupe Auto/DG/Prem/Nav/Perf

 

Yes, I'm for real. VIN #JNKCV54E34M308262, laser red, auto.

No one who owns a silver G could understand just how bad a red one looks once it's riddled with paint chips. The undercoat is white and the contrast between the red paint and the white spots magnifies the problem. Try to picture standing 20' in front of the car with a spattering paint gun loaded with white paint. Scary thought, huh? Well that's what it looks like.
Just for the record I live in New York State, commute 40 miles each way to work on the Palisades Parkway, and the roads around my house are smooth asphalt. At home it's garaged. Nothing out of the ordinary. Previous to this car, I owned a black 1987 535is that I put 200,000 miles on. That car commuted on the BQE between Queens and Brooklyn. It was parked on the street both at home and work for 8 years and after all that it never looked as bad as this car does after only 8 months..

 

I'm with ya Bosco. I have a Laser red 6MT that is one year old and has 6900 miles on it. On a trip to Boston in May, I picked up three chips that show white primer through the chip on the hood above my clear bra. My old Acura CL-S was almost as bad though. I had the hood repainted before I got rid if it. I have 2 chips on the front bumper and one on the right side door and one on the left side door. The paint truly does suck but what're ya gonna do?

 

I have 21,000 miles on my car in about 15 months of ownership. I have 2 chips on my hood & 4-5 on my front bumper. This doesn't seem to be much of a problem for me. Good luck to you!

 

Hmm ive had my OB coupe for about 2 months 2000 miles and i have no chips and i live all over gravel roads and behind dump trucks quite often, i even hear rocks hitting me every now and then. I was wondering did you get that teflon protective coating that the dealership offers? it helped a lot with keeping the paint quality good on my car. But i do agree about the paint, when i was doing my research before buying the car i read many many reviews where people complained about paint chipping too easily, but if you cant help it i guess selling it would be the best option, other than that im happy with my car and i have no complaints about my paint.

 

I have to agree the paint is sub-par on our G's, no excuses. There are options such as clear bra, drive it like its made of glass, gobs of wax, etc. But these are all band-aids to cover up the fact that the paint is below standard. What we all do in response to this, that being ignore it, accept it, deny and defend our G's, or sell, is up to the individual. Hell, the guy sells the guy doesn't don't get so bent on it. Besides what the hell are we doing on our comps anyways, its the 4th, time to drink another sixer!

 

I hear ya loud and clear. As my G is also Laser Red, it was riddled with tiny chips all over the hood, but not so much on the bumper??? Anyway, I just got her back from the body shop. My whole front end, and rear end, was repainted perfectly. When I got home, just 24 miles later, I noticed 3 new chips. 2 on my hood, and one on my lower right bumper, that weren't there when I left.
I'm like you though, there's not a whole lot we can do about it. Since mine was in an accident, I consider her "gone" when my lease is up. [img]/w3timages/icons/frown.gif[/img] It is a shame, but what can a guy do? I guess just live with it.

 

There's no excuse for there to be chips on your newly-painted front and rear, unless your body shop skimped on you. I've had mine repainted, and that has made it 10x stronger than it ever was. The sole product that I found that has reduced chips, hands down, is crystal guard. It won't fill in swirls, but it'll make your paint harder than pretty much anything out there...

If you had your bumper repainted with better paint, it'd be cheaper than the financial hit you'd take on the car by selling it now. Just letting you know.

G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow G35
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint
<font color=blue>Z-tube, Pop-charger, Borla True-Dual Exhaust, Eibach Pro Kit, GroundingGear</font color=blue>

 

I just read your post regarding your newly painted G having chips just 24 miles later. I'm the original poster of the thread and I'm sorry to hear about your outcome. I would like to ask you a question. Was your car repainted with the factory paint? From the replies of my post (many of them maintaining that their G shows almost no chips), I'm wondering if the Infiniti paint problem
is limited to just certain colors. I have always thought that the problem is not due to thin coats of paint, but instead poor adhesion between the color coat and the undercoat. It may be that chips in the Laser Red not only show up more, but that the red paint is in fact more succeptable to chipping. Any thoughts?