paint garbage??
 

I am just not happy with this paint. I have an 09 with 8k miles on it. Tonight i spent 3 hours waxing and detailing my car for the 2nd time this year since i brought her out of hybernation. I just notice swirls and scratches all over it. The paint seems to scratch and chip so easily. Is this just me or is this paint and clear coat just total garbage. I have an svt countour thats a 2000 and i dont have as many swirl marks in it. wtf?

That is one thing that is known on the Z poor paint, It's something your going to have to live with, Or hit up a paint booth and get ready to drop $5,000 - $10,000 easy. And to fix your scratches and swirls watch this,http://www.the370z.com/detailing-was...ge-videos.html and http://www.the370z.com/detailing-was...-zs-paint.html The Junkman knows all. GL:tiphat:

Welcome to THE WORST paint quality in the industry :tiphat:

This

I also have a 13 year old Ford that has better paint than my old 09 370. That's just the way it is.

To keep myself sane I focus on making my Z look good from 10 feet away. If you spend too much time looking at the paint up close you will just be disappointed.

Most people dont know how to do paint correction correctly then blame the industry! I have a Black Z and its flawless after my 2 days of correction.

washing and drying techniques (and using proper gear) make a huge difference.

The clear is soft, but it's manageable. Swirls will be noticeable on darker colors no matter what. I find that you can greatly reduce swirls by using the correct washing techniques and proper paint correction. Seeing as you only spent 3 hours waxing & detailing, I'm gonna assume you're not really using true polishing techniques. Wax is a protectant and the only way to "remove" swirls or scratched is to polish with a rotary or dual action polisher. I can get it perfect or near perfect but I usually spend about two days detailing....same with most cars that need paint correction. If you're using cheap-o microfiber clothes from Walmart or Autozone, you're probably doing more damage. Those things are trash.

Agreed. The two bucket method along with a grit guard will do wonders for keeping the paint free of swirls.

To the op- don't expect a good wash and wax to ever fix your swirls. Certain products, including waxes, have "fillers" that try to fill in those gaps and give you a more uniform paint surface and therefore a better "shine".

The issue is that these fillers are temporary and will end up coming off in a short amount of time and you'll be back at square one.

The only way to fix this is through "paint correction" via use of a dual-action polisher (the aforementioned PC7424XP is a good starting point) along with some pads and compounds. This will *very* lightly "sand down" the clear and eliminate the swirls, setting you up for a paint surface that looks great even before you add product.

Unfortunately for Nissan owners, the clear coat on most all their paints is very soft, which means it can be damaged very easily. I've had a poor quality, brand new microfiber towel leave streaks in the clear, which may not happen on paints with harder clear coats.

Junkman's videos are a great resource to learn about what swirls are and how they can be fixed- check them out and subscribe to his channel. :)

100% true. I will be honest and say the paint seems to chip a little easier then other non Nissan cars I or my family has owned but other then that my paint it perfect except for a few minor scratches or swirls that I have yet to get rid of.

Bottom line is just you have to be extra careful with this car. Other clears are MUCH more forgiving. With the Nissan if you forget to do a double bucket wash or wash your new MF towels multiple times before use... you're asking for a world of hurt.

Oh and you should always carry some cleaner and towels with you. Bird sh!t MUST be removed ASAP otherwise it eats through the clear in no time.

yep. keep disposable gloves, soft paper towels, and polymer based QD in your trunk.

sure the paper towel could haze your finish if you're not careful, but 10000X better than the crap etching your paint permanently.

after your done with the clean up, ball up the towel in your palm, and peel off the glove and flip it over to cover the towel. then tie it like a balloon. then you wont touch the crap at all and just toss it.

hmmm.....sounds like you're either familiar with the medical field or possibly a cleaner/murderer who's done this before.

You should see the front of my Z. It has white dots all over it from rock chips. I sure wish I had done a clear bra. No matter what anyone says this paint chips flippin easy. Right after I bought the car I took a road trip from Vegas to Albuquerque and by the time I got back I couldn't believe the way the front of my car looked. I even tried to get it warrantied as it had less than 1,500 miles. Now it just looks like there is white paint splattered all over the front of my car. Oh well I knew about it before I bought the Z and didn't get the clear bra which was a mistake.


Edit:
Mine is a Gun Metal 2011 sport.

Sounds like a good time to buy Dr. Color Chip.

my monterey blue z had pretty bad orange peel. I've heard nissan skimps on the paint job to keep costs down :/ anyway, my next z will be pearl white :tup:

I have thought about giving that a try, at worst I still would need to get it repainted at some point, at best it would look decent. Can't hurt at this point.

It's great stuff.

The orange peel issue has become more apparent with all manufacturers over the last decade+

That doesn't have to do with poor paint technique as much as the modernization of fleet painting in regard to environmental impact. Without getting too technical, paint (both colored and clear) can't atomize as well as it could before these large companies embraced environmentally-friendly painting chemicals and techniques.

The sad thing is that it's very difficult to fix orange peel on factory paint as it's a surface flaw in a very, very thin clear coat. My Z had it all over the rear fenders, but luckily the rest of the car was pretty decent.

Orange peel is caused by incorrect painting technique. There are many factors on how it is caused.

9 month bump? :ugh2: :icon17:

FWIW, my DD 2011 Gun Metallic Z looks incredible ... from 10+ feet away :tup:

That may have been the case before manufacturers had to change their paint to conform with environmental regulations, but it is simply not the case now.

The orange peel phenomenon plagues entire ranges of brand new cars from many manufacturers due to the requirement that they use non-toxic paints that don't atomize or cure as well as older paint blends.

Couple that lower-quality paint with the thinnest paint layers that the manufacturer can get away with and you'll see orange peel. It happens on many volume manufacturers from Ford to BMW.

Other manufacturers such as Porsche, MB, Audi, Aston Martin, and other higher-end/marquee brands tend to experience less orange peel due to more liberal application of these newer paints which are usually water-based.

Technique can only go so far when your materials and cost need to meet a certain specification.

part of the problem might be the soft paint, the other part is the person washing and drying it.

Yep. Thanks, EPA. Water based ********. :mad:

:ugh:

That crap wont work tried it already.

Couldnt agree more.

Also mentioned about cheap microfibres avoid them as they do mark the paint when used.

It is possible to improve the paint by hand with the right products (and alot of man hours) but using a machine polisher is much easier and less time consuming.

Unfortunately, OEM orange peel can rarely be corrected due to the extremely thin clear coat. By the time you've sanded the "high spots" of the peel down, you have very, very little clear left (if you've done it properly).

It's much easier on aftermarket spray jobs, as the paint is typically much thicker.

On a different note, Dr. Colorchip is pretty well regarded, but it'll do nothing for orange peel.

for me, i dont mind mild orange peel because i can hide my PDR repairs within the recess itself.

I've been using Dr. Colorchip for years. You just need to learn how to use it. The first thing is patience.

This, x1000. Paint care and maintenance is fundamental. A $3 bottle of a Turtle Wax and some old T-shirts just isn't going to cut it.

Agreed. I did a full detail a few weeks back - clay bar, Griot's #2 polish, #3 polish, glaze, sealer, and then carnuba wax. No way to really remove the orange peel, that I can see in my wife's Honda, and my DD Toyota (as well as my neighbors's Volvo and Audi).

There are no swirl marks or scratches, and then shine is pretty impressive. What I've started to do after a quick detail is to first hit the car with some spray wax followed by a coat of glaze. Glaze doesn't last very long, but my car stays garaged, so that isn't a problem. The glaze gives a really nice shine. :tup: