Ok due to my own stupidity, I backed into someones car today.

I did not real damage to theirs...

But my 2009 G37x now has some damage to the rear bumper, which needs to be repaired.

Basically a small section needs to be repainted just around the license plate area on my car. First estimate was just over $500.

Do dealers use the proper scratch shield paint to repair, or is that a factory only thing?

I can't seem to find any information on it online.

Thanks

 

I have a better question...

Did you leave a note on the other car?

 

lol

I realized after posting that I should have stated the rest of the story.

It happened in front of a restaurant where there there is a huge glass facade (just windows from floor to ceiling really)...

A woman didn't see/hear what happened but she saw me get out and check her car. She came out, noticed that really no damage was done... I offered to give her my info, but it wasn't needed.

She works where I do too... (Although a couple thousand people do, but still that was kinda funny)

So the good news is that it is all me. I'm pretty sure my deductible is $500 (I'll check later tonight), and the cost to repair at one reputable place is just over that... So it's really just the hassle of not having a car for two days, and the money.

Although if my dealer can do scratch shield repairs, I'd probably be able to get a loaner from them. (Although their price might be higher)

 

Far as I know, the scratch shield is from the factory only. Infiniti doesn't actually do body repairs. best they can do at a dealership is touch up or polishing via rubbing compound. which means whatever body repair they can do is contracted with a body shop and they'll use whatever they use. I don't think it'd be the scratch shield

your deductible is = to your cost of damage. so yeah you're right it's going to be entirely out of pocket and not worth the insurance hike.

sorry to hear man. There are some places that do area touch ups. from experience, the scratch i got looks like new. although the clear coat does feel a little different just have to polish the area a couple times to get it nice and mirror with the rest of the car.

 

you can't really touch up a scratch shield paint car.... it has to get repainted. even if u put touch up paint, it will look darker b/c it doesn't have the scratch shield coat

 

Are you saying that any real paint damage to a car that there is no way to make it right? Actually I don't think you're saying that - I think you're saying it can't be "touched up". I have no intention of doing touch up. I want it fixed right...

I had one autobody place basically blow off that it is anything special - sort of a "paint is paint" thing... That we use 'awesome' paint so don't worry about it.

I had another place pass on it because they just haven't played with it yet.

Kinda ridiculous that there is nothing in the owners manual about this.

 

scratch shield paint only lasts so long... in a couple of years it'll harden any old clear coat..

the thing that sucks is that there is no perfect match for paint so once you re-paint the UV affect the two areas at different rates.

but i mean 10 years later, you probably won't notice unless you buffed off the clear coat.

 

I've had body work done before on other cars, and I'm not at all worried about whether people can match paint.

I am concerned when one body shop says "I'll pass". Another says "paint is paint", and Infiniti stands around saying not a damn thing. (Meaning there is no published information available to customers to state how to do body work on this type of paint)

 

yeah that does suck to not have any information from Nissan about how to match their factory product...

 

Ok just to update everyone (for future reference / searches)

I spoke with my service advisor last week. They called their body shop.

What I was told is:

1) As long as my body shop vendor uses "factory paint", it can be painted like any other car. I asked for what they meant by that, they suggested that if the body shop puts in the VIN, and the paint code, and buys the paint that any body shop would according to that information, they can paint it like any other car.

2) Scratch shield supposedly is only on metal surfaces. So my bumper doesn't even have the scratch shield paint on it. (This is what I was told, have no idea if it is true or not.)

 

I would suggest you google "scratch shield paint repair" and read up. What they told you is total BS.

 

Well I previously had done quite a bit of searching, but this time I came up with a post that referenced a PPG document.

I found it at:

https://corporateportal.ppg.com/NR/r...chShieldNA.pdf

The text of it does seem to confirm though, based on the places where it mentions "substrate", and the lack of anything resembling plastic substrates, that maybe it is true that scratch shield is NOT on plastic parts. (I happened to damage my bumper)

 

FYI, the Scratch Shield is in the clear-coat layer, not the paint.

 

What color do you have? A good body shop can do a pretty good match job these days on a well maintained finish because the clear coat doesnt allow the paint to fade/oxidate like they used to back in "the old days." Metallic colors are very tricky and usually body shops have to blend the colors into surrounding panels and then re-clear the painted panels to make the slight color difference unnoticeable. On a solid color car it is pretty easy to match.....especially on a black car. Anyhow, I am pretty sure you cant tell the difference from looking at a panel whether or not it has the scratch shield clear coat, so just take it to the best body shop around and have them remove and paint your bumper.

 

I've got Moonlight White.

I'm not so concerned about perfect matches. I know any decent body shop will do a good enough job that I won't notice anything wrong.

Still rather annoyed at Infiniti for not making information readily available on how to do body work on these cars. I mean look - apparently even my dealer gave me information that isn't quite correct.