I was wondering..why is it so bad? My mom has an 03 expedition. We have a cat we kind of adopted and he lives in the garage with my moms truck. He jumps on the hood scratching the hell out if it but it's not that deep and can be buffed out..no white lines with some scratches. He did the same to my car and it went deep. I have a few other scratches on the back of my car as well from nails it looks like opening the trunk...i hope they can be buffed out but they look much deeper than the ones from a cat constantly digging his claws in my moms vehicle..what gives?

 

I've heard speculation about # of coats, environmental laws in Japan, water based paints, etc...

 

It's also in Cali. that uses that water base paint. I have a friend that goes to Nevada to buy his paint and brings it back to cali. One reason why his cost is high then other shops, but you also get what you pay for.

 

^ wts, water based paint with only one layer CC which is not ceramic like the mercs which hold up nicely.

 

Blame the treehuggers

 

i know what you mean, my car has scratches from cats as well, and for the previous owner who was a female with some nice nails, all over the door handle outside lol

 

All manufacturer are skimpy with paint apllication, they all put around the same amount of paint on cars. I remember in 2000 I was in BNCOC in sheet metal class and the instructor was going over this very issue and discussing how many MM of paint different manufacturers use. I can't remember any specifics but was suprised on who I thought were good car companies, yet used very minimum paint. Bottom line is they all suck, and if you're buying used and have no idea how PO took care of exterior, you really can't judge that X carmaker paint is $hitty.

Most of are referring to rock chips in Hood Bumpers etc, name one car manufaturer whose paint stands up to rock chips, from flying debris on the road

 

Your car probably looks just like mine then lol

All my finger lines are of the trunk lid however.

I have lots of swirls all over my car..when i get it back i need a solid detail with swirl remover..

 

It seems soft, mine has gotten a lot of swirls and I hand wash mostly, probably water based or VOC free paint etc etc. Get tree sap off ASAP if any falls on there, some burned a little white rough spot on my roof.

 

My family has owned my g35 since day 1 and i've been the one taking care of it since day 1 so the paint is perfect I get asked if its a new car and when i say no its an 03 they ask if i repainted it lol

 

Ummmm ford....


This is some seriously hardcore test, way beyond any abuse your car would see in the real world at a given time. Do this same test on the Infiniti and you'll see your black bumper turn white! lol I love my G, first owner take care of it beyond imagination as you can see some of my pics in my profile, bi-yearly details etc, but i will not hide the fact taht the paint on these cars are well quite pathetic! If its any consolation, it seems lexus is on the same track.

 

EPA helped banned lead based paint years ago.
The car paints now are "tree-hugger" friendly but don't hold up for ****.

 

If that test was done on a G and put under the same light..that thing would be a christmas tree

 

haha tell me about it, my brother just went from a M6 bmw to a infiniti m45, both cars were black...

his first car wash with the M45, his paint gets fcked and swirly, he's like wtf this never happened with my bimmer... ya that's because nissan paint sucks i told him, it's a known issue

 

I don't believe any test of the sort. Who made the test? Ford? I will believe when we can find that stats, on how thick (MM) the paint on your car is. I will bet you all manufacturer (everday car not limited production Porcchse etc) are right within a fraction of a mm of each other. No company is going way above and beyond of their competitor, because it costs.