I often see this excuse, but it does not match the reality of a 2-3 year old BMW. You won't find many chips on a typical car in their line up.

 

Not exactly true - I walk past them in parking lots all the time and see many dings, nicks and chips... actually they usually seem to have more than my Infiniti(s).
Maybe it's my super-duper electromagnetic rock repeller - just a guess.

 

First you need to upload your pics in a website such as photobucket.com

After uploading the pics into this website, each pic will be given a link. Use that link to put into your post here. Please see sample of other post with pics for the actual syntax.

[IMG] link of pic here [\IMG]

 

I hope you don't wash your car for an hour or so

 

Not my experience.

 

Every BMW i have ever owned (and its been about 7 since the 1970's) have all had really soft paint.

As other posters have noted, all new cars have softer paint, required by law, paint companies can't use harsh chemicals like they used to use.

This thread is nonsense, how can a rusting chip possibly be Infiniti's fault?

Its the owners fault. You should inspect your paint and quickly fill in any chips to prevent this from happening. Your dealer has touch up paint.

 

I thought the body panels were made of Aluminum. I didin't think it would rust because of the low iron content. Any metallurgists out there?

As for the paint, I don't know if it water based either. I have a bottle of Nissan touch up paint in front of me that says I need lacquer thinner to clear the pen if it becomes clogged.

 

I'm not a metallurgist but I have a few degrees in chemistry and materials science, so I'll give this a crack. Aluminum does not rust, it does oxidize readily however. The trick is that aluminum oxide is typically colorless and very hard and somewhat inert so it actually seals itself.

As far as the body panels being Al, I don't know about this, I'm fairly certain the hood is but I'm not sure of the remainder of them. Anyone else know if this is true or not? If the remainder is steel then this would certainly explain the rusting the OP noticed if the paint was compromised. It sucks, but exposed metal will do this especially if exposed to road salt, etc.

 

Our body panels are not aluminum. Our suspension is made from aluminum

 

Fenders are sheet steel. Roof and quarter panels are unibody, therefore solid steel. Hood is aluminum. Bumpers, sideskirts, and pillars are FRP. As previously said, suspension is all aluminum.


Oh yeah, the tires are rubber.

 

The true high end makers (Porsche, true german made Benz etc) do not just spray primer the body panels. They place them in hot immersion zinc plating baths to create a passivation layer several thousandths of an inch deep. This extends the corrosion protection by many years. If you want a totally rust-free car (even on the chips) for 10-15 years, ya gots to pay.

 

if they do, the toyota paint isn't half bad by any means! We have two and one has 80k miles on it in the dark blue and has not one front chip form rocks or anything. Great DD car when each way to work is 1.5 hours!
an old lexus we had was the same way of course.

 

My experience with this car is that the paint is very thin. I'm not sure if it's less durable, but it seems to be. I've noticed that the smallest thing that would not normally penetrate the clear coat goes all the way to the color coat.

My advice, just mine, ask an expert. Take a cue tip and a small amount of muriatic acid / Hydrochloric acid and dip the cue tip. I have never seen it damage paint. Try first on an inconspicous place. When the acid touches the rust it begins to eat it right away. Once it’s clean of rust put a dap of paint, ideally primer first on with a touth pick, then let it dry. I’ve never noticed a well maintained car ever acquire a rust through from a chip. Usually that happen when water sits on the inside of a panel and rust outward. I’m sure you be alright. Good luck. Unprotected steel rusts no matter what brand of car.

 

They are. Today the paints are water based for ecological reasons. That makes them softer.

 

how so?