:iagree:

Any resolution on this? Just curious becasue...

This weekend I was washing my truck and I had let it sit under a tree (stupid me). It had marks on that look EXACTLY like the bubbles you have. If I didn't know it was sap I would have thought it was bubbled. Washing didn't touch them. So I tried some Stoner's B&T remover and a microfiber. Didn't touch them. Now I'm beginning to get worried. Tried the B&T again and let it dwell for about 5 minutes. Finally softened it up a bit. Each time I'd spray it, got maybe 10% of it off. I've never seen stuff this tough. After about a dozen applications I got the majority of it off and then cleaned off the last of the residue with some polish.

Had I not known it was sap I would have given up and assumed it was a defect. I've been detailing cars for 20+ years and I've never seen stuff like this. Don't know what kind of tree it is, but I'll never park under it again!

Havn't gotten by the dealer any to discuss further. I'm in the process of moving and just drove the Z 1600mi round trip to go visit a friend in the hospital so I've been kinda busy. Fun car to roadtrip in though!

Update:
I went by the dealership today (East Charlotte Nissan further referred to as ECN), called beforehand and they told me to come in and that their service director Rich DeBusk would help me out. Rich went over the car with me and I pointed the spots out. He said that it was something they would try to correct, and could tell that the paint was not right and that they would need to contact Nissan NA (NNA). I brought a bunch of printed off copies of other threads I had found on this forum to ECN and he said he would not need to see those but that he would be contacting NNA and his service manager Tony Panno. He said that warranty stuff is a little different for paint/finish and that Tony would have to be there to handle it and being a saturday, he was not there. Since Tony was not there today I am also going to go by later this week to have them take pictures to send to NNA. Overall I was really pleased with my experience there SO FAR, but I think it's going to be a long process after I got the wheels rolling today. Wish I had known thattheir Service manager wasn't there today too but oh well.
RT

Went Back by dealership today and spoke with Tony Panno. He read through all the threads I had printed off and looked at the car. Asked me to forward pictures I had taken to him since the only camera he had was a smart phone. He also referred me over to the shop that does bodywork for most of the dealerships in the area. I met with the bodyshop service writer Steve Kling at Wilburn Auto Body. He looked at the paint and got one of the other men from the shop to look at it. They informed me that it appeared that while the car was at carmax (whom I bought it from) it had:

1) multiple areas of paintless dent repair
2) multiple areas of touchup paint
3) many areas where fallout (bird crap or acid rain) had sat on it for an extended period of time and had damaged the paint to the point where the clear coat is cracking

Basically that for the year the car was with carmax it hadn't been washed. I'm quite pissed off right now at carmax, as there were 1 or 2 of these spots when the car was purchased but now there are dozens (at least 50) spots where the clear coat is bubbling, cracking, or the paint under the clearcoat looks roughened (like a pumice stone under the paint). I just called back to the bodyshop to get them to write everything down for me. I will also go to another bodyshop to see what they say. Basically the diagnosis is that the car was not cared for at carmax, so nissan will not cover anything with warranty work. I need the hood, fenders, doors, roof, back deck, and back fenders repainted to resolve the issue. FML and F*ck you carmax. the car was bought from carmax and the PO was the dealer so I am the first person on the title of a year old car - that has paint that is cracking and bubbling off.

If I were you, I'd get it detailed and polished, then trade it in for a newer model. Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't want to have to worry about the paint getting worse and worse as time goes on.

I wish that were an option but I'm not in a spot financially to do that (I'm an intern). And it is getting worse. I first noticed a few spots that were raised. Now there is cracking paint on multiple spots on just about every body panel, and more spots have popped up that arn't yet raised or cracking but I'm guessing will progress that way.

I don't have the thousands of dollars to repaint the car, and if I did it would show up on carfax and the car would be worth thousands less on top of that. My little brother who paints cars in a tent in his friends driveway has much better looking paint than my car.

Sorry to hear that OP! :confused: I would be pissed off too!

I just cannot believe you did not catch this when you first looked at the car. Did you purchase the car at night? dim light conditions? These dealers really do a great job a concealing cosmetic deficiencies to make the car look practially brand new. However these are only meant to keep the car looking new for a few months after purchase.

I remember my personal expirience when I purchased a used CLK 350. it was blue with the really light tan leather. When I looked at the car from the dealer it looked BRAND NEW! the leather looked absolutely amazing. come to find out several months after there was some sort of spray on paint that masked the leather wrinkles that were pretty bad in some parts. It was only through continued seating and usage that the spray paint wore off and I noticed this. I said to my self this would be the last time I would ever buy a used car again.

I was not the one who purchased the vehicle, it was a gift for my grad school graduation. Also there were only about 2 spots at the time it was purchased, they are spreading.

I just noticed the same spots on my 40th. I went about two months without washing it. Did your spots have a sticky texture to them? Maybe mine is just sap.

The ones on my car are not sticky in the least, they feel like paint. (and wax that is overtop of them). The bodyshop sanded one down and it looked like paint the whole way through and didn't soften - so not sap. Hope you can get yours sorted out

If it is sap a claybar should remove it right?

If it is sap I'd just use a bug/tar/sap remover. Clay bar is better for picking up little pieces of stuff in the paint, not gobs of crap.

I am about to buy a 370z Nismo from carmax - key word: About.

I plan to go over the pain HEAVLY before I do after reading all of this.

Question: Did you have the CarMax Warrenty on your car? Does anyone know if they cover this type of stuff.

Given that you have some proof that carmax sold the car in this state, have you tried to contact them?

They have a 30 day warranty. It has been like 60 days for me so I didn't even bother. Personally I wouldn't have bought a car from carmax as I've had bad experiences with them in the past. Look it over very well before you buy.