Dealer says No Clear Coat On My Car - Is this true?
 

Hi all, waiting to take delivery of my new Z. Dealership said they applied a fresh coat of clear coat on the paint. Why would they have to do this? I always thought the cars get their clear coat after painting in the factory.

I got to see the pre-delivery state of my car last week and it was covered with some sort of sticky substance that had attracted a layer of dust. Also, there were pieces of white film covering some vulnerable areas. It has sat in this state in a warehouse for a year since it was shipped here.

I don't know why the dealer would add clear coat. They come from the factory with clear.
The white film is standard. Look at a new car transport truck the next time you see one on the road.

They're full of it. They may slap a quick coat of wax on a car, but they're not going to spray it. Don't let them try to charge you for it.

The sticky residue is from the protective wrap - usually it's just around the edges, but if it's been on there for too long it could be everywhere. A good bug & tar remover will take it off - just be sure to use a microfiber towel and wipe gently-don't scrub-the residue could have particles embedded in it.

After you get all the dust / sticky residue off, you'll probably need to clay it - especially if it's been sitting in an industrial area / warehouse.

Personally, I don't let the dealer prep my car. They can take all the plastic off for inspection, but that's it. You never know what their 'detailer' is going to do. I've seen dealers scrape wrap residue off with a plastic razor blade and leave scratches all over the car. Or hit it with an orbital to take it off - nothing better than swirled paint straight from the dealer's lot!

:iagree::iagree:
Just take your time and do a good walk around the car before you sign!!!:tup:

Sounds like they put on some kind of anti-rust sealant or something. Don't pay for it if you didn't ask for it.

Make sure the car was not in some kind of accident, I have heard horror stories of people finding out there brand new car was involved in some kind of incident while shipping or something.

just an fyi, factory paint is a single stage paint. there isn't an actual "clear coat" as this would imply a basecoat, color coat, and finally a clear coat. the factory paint is paper thin single stage over a basecoat or "sealer". this is a more cost efficient way of spraying cars in a factory rather than the 3 step process.

Are you sure? I've never heard of a modern car being a mixed color / clear. I've polished a few Nissans and I can say 100% they were color / cleared - my pad didn't turn the paint color.

i am 100% sure. i used to work at a body shop :tiphat:

be VERY careful if you polish the factory paint as it takes away from the surface and can alter the color if it wears too thin

as for the no color on your pad, there is a difference in the type/quality of single stage they use. sherwin williams has a new single stage that looks so perfect that you would be hard pressed to find the difference in them.

Just went out and tested my Mom's Maxima - it has a CC. Are you saying that Nissan paints 370Z's different from all their other cars? I've been detailing for 20+ years and though I've never done a 370Z, I've never seen a car newer than the last decade that was SS / no CC (even repaints are cleared nowadays). If you're not getting color on your pad - it's cleared. If you get color, it's SS. Pretty easy to tell.

there's clear coat on my Z...

I dont know much about painting cars so thats what I kept my mouth shut... But I'm pretty sure all Nissan products have at least one coat of CC.

There is clear coat on the Z. It's just that the clear coat is softer and thinner than alot of other car brands.

Are you sure the dealer installed clear coat and not clear bra?

Alot of dealerships install clear bra right away.

Wait... is clearcoat an option??

No, our cars already come with clear coat. However, in other countries they do have a factory option to get a self healing clear coat.

Man they sure do screw you over, don't they?


:shakes head:

Update
 

Hi all, thanks for your replies. I took delivery of my car yesterday. I did a once over (well, many times over actually) and found that it was glossy and nothing at all like the week earlier when it was still in film and that dirty dull sticky stuff. There was leftover fine white powder residue visible on some areas which was indicative that they probably machine-polished off some wax or sealant. I was intending to have the paint protected in a clear wrap - Llumar paint protection film... so I asked the sales person to confirm if clear coat had been sprayed on the paint work. I told the sales person that my understanding is that cars get a layer of primer followed by color and clear coat at the factory. So, why would a layer of clear coat need to be applied?

The sales person reconfirmed with the workshop manager and apparently they ship the cars in bulk from Japan and yes they do come with clear coat from the factory. Sometimes they are left for a year or more before someone buys one. During the period of being exposed to the elements, if they find that they cannot polish the car back to a factory lustre, they send it for a layer of clear coat. All this is free. For the life of me, I couldn't find any evidence of a recent application of clear coat. I checked the edges, panel lines, under the weather seals, around corners and joints such as the side skirts, bumper-to-body gaps etc. and found no evidence of recent clear coat. Also, there was no smell of paint which you normally get if you re-spray or clear coat the body. I think at the end of the day, something was lost in translation. Not everyone speaks English here... Perhaps they meant they applied a layer of sealant on the clear coat.

sounds good. that's smart to look at the edges and corners and smell for paint. you will DEFINITELY be able to smell paint if they sprayed something over which I highly doubt they do. they probably just polish a little bit and apply polymer sealant.