The swirls I can deal with, it's the chips that really get me. I have none on the front bumper and just a few on the hood. The majority of them are in the wheel arches and on the fenders.

I'm glad you posted this thread man. I picked up my black 370 just a few months ago and I already have several chips. Nothing huge, more like tiny little specks, but they are almost in the exact same spots you mentioned. It's crazy how easily this car chips. Now I'm not as OCD as you, haha, but it still bothers me. Crazy thing is there are some owners on here who couldn't care less howany chips they get.

I was going to say the paint is annoying but I can live with it

after reading through this thread I think OP should just bubble wrap the car

It really sounds like you should never buy a black car. My 350Z was black, so I can speak from experience. Get a clear bra or just accept the paint chips will happen. The swirl marks will need to buff out every few months. If you are really serious about selling the car because of this, then maybe you should think about getting a new paint job.

Nissan paint sucks, I've accepted that for a while now. My 6 month old 370 has more paint chips than my bro's IS250 which is 2-3 years old.

Not a single chip on mine at 5200 miles, but mine has also been repainted from the doors forward including some quality clear coat.... The Black does seem to be the worst for this according to anecdotes here...

http://images53.fotki.com/v425/photo...MG_1930-vi.jpg

The OP forgot to mention that this is the road in front of his house.....


http://www.ganeshafoundation.org/ima...%20Darmaji.jpg

well I have 17K miles on mine and a 3 day trip from GA to TX in it. Ihave maybe 2 or 3 very small chips on the hood and thats it. I had maybe 2 on the bumper but that was repainted cuz a large piece of road debrie hit and scratch it. The bumper looks much better now after the new paint than it did before in stock paint. So I guess it depends on the type of roads you drive on and I think my bumper and Modshacks paint proves that a paint job done by someone good looks better than stock. $120 for my bumper to fix and paint.

But if you are not satidifed throw the car down and cliff and be done with it.

I also have none on my bumper and only a few on the hood. The main area is the arches/wheel well area. I'm mainly trying to determine if that's normal and if they are worth fixing.

Of course it's normal! Don't you hear the cacophony of rocks and other crap that gets picked up and thrown at the wheel wells/rocker panels by the sticky summer tires? You seriously need to let go. This isn't a Maserati you're driving, it's a Nissan for cripe sakes. Sure, it makes sense to do all you can to keep the car looking good, but chips and scrapes are gonna happen if you drive the car.

If you really want to make your head explode look under the car closely at the rocker panels. I have about 1300 miles on my Z and mine are already chipped all to hell. Once it becomes noticeable at more than five feet away I'll just get 'em repainted.

Remember, everything can be fixed. Just wait until it's worth it to do the fixing!

I just love the fact that you used the word, cacophony! you word smith you! Also if you could work in the word padantic in your next post I would lose my sh*t! :tup:

Here is a pic of what I'm talking about, you can see the white specs.

http://www.the370z.com/members/z-whi...3285-photo.jpg

I wonder that myself. I'm not sure about other Nissan vehicles, but piss poor paint quality has been an issue on the Zs for years going back to the 350.

Its actually quite common in the detailing community to measure paint thickness prior to doing heavy paint correction...

Check out autopia.org if you want detailing tips Z-WHIZ. Plenty of profressional detailers, and enthusiasts. Some extremely OCD with their car detailing. :hello:

Don't get a budget paint job...you won't be happy. First lesson learned, Don't ever buy a black car!

Photoshopped!

Doktor, vee are makingz zee progress! Be ready for dinner! Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup!