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Almost at my breaking point
I'm getting very close to just selling my 370. I love everything about the car, but the paint issue is just driving me crazy. I did a full detail about 2 months ago and it did help minimize some of the scratches, but I can't remove them fully. There are rampant water spots that won't come off, tiny annoying chips, among other things. Everyone told me I was too OCD for a black car and I should have listened. Problem is I don't know if things would be betteror worse with a different color. As Ive heard paint issue stories for all colors. What really put me over the top was when I was wiping a spot on the trunk with a brand new microfiber towel and it put several scratches in the paint that I can't buff out!
Sorry to vent guys and it breaks my heart to do it, but I think I might have to get rid of her. |
have the car repainted with the stock paint color but at a good painter for a decent price and it be all good.
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I suggest metallic paints for you, ahah. you rarely notice the scratches and chips
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I'm pretty OCD about that stuff as well, but if you love the car you shouldn't let something like that keep you down. Trade it for a white one if you don't want to worry about the paint. The car I traded for the Z ('08 Altima) was white and I took it through regular carwashes all the time and it looked the same 2 years later as the day I bought it. |
If you're so ocd why didn't you get silver? You need someone like this guy to detail your black z. This is before any waxing, takes him a couple of days to detail the car. http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...ladsgtr/49.jpghttp://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...ladsgtr/51.jpghttp://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...ladsgtr/52.jpg
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Find a reputable paint or repair shop and get it painted the color of your choice. If you want and have(or save up)the money, get multi layers of paint and clear coat.
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For the people saying get it repainted...it would be cheaper for him to just get a new car in a different color.
Good point jobs are a lootttt of money. |
Buy a porter cable buffer and some supplies. Do the detailing on your own. The cost of one full detail is the price of a whole detailing kit including the buffer and you'll have enough supplies for many detailings. You'll enjoy doing it because the end result is amazing.
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also go to a paint shop for your chemicals. They have items not carried by auto parts store. In most cases they are very knowledgeable about detailing. I painted 2 cars in my garage with their guidance. |
Btw investigate the respray recommendation. A good respray of same color may be a little bit.
Be warned though. A good paint job can cost a lot. |
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taking the mirrors/glasses off. Taking down lights door handles rubber moldings side mirrors basically very minimal (or no) taping around parts. For reference, at least in Los Angeles, a paint job for a Porsche 911 cost between $8,000 and $12,000. At this price, it will have a mirror finish. It will have no 'orange peel' finish. All cars that I have seen recently straight from the factory all have the orange peel finish. This includes Mercedes, porsches, BMW, etc. |
Cheap, but suitable-$2,500.00, expensive-$8,000.00
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After 10 hours of detailing, all the chemical smell was fun :bowrofl: |
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A low quality paint job will be around 2500, this may still be better than the factory paint though...i'm not sure because i don't have a nissan. a good paint job will be around 4000-5000 depending on the shop. an excellent paint job will be around 8000-10000 but this is usually for a complete color change say from dark-something to light-something. Still, even if you spend 2500, i'm sure you could sell your black z, and buy a new(ish) one with what you got for yours + 2500 just to swap colors. this way you won't be out of a car for a few days either |
I have black. I obsessed for a couple months. Now I just let it go, and I'm a much happier person. If you don't let it go, you will be miserable every time you look at your car - and that defeats the purpose of owning it.
So you get it repainted, spend all that money and get a new scratch...then what? |
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Is it really like this for all colors, or is black just especially bad? |
Oh you can detail our cars to death. But much like physics, if the paint is too thin, then chipping will occur again. Catch 22!
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Invest in some yoga sessions to calm yourself and your OCD. It's car... and a black one at that. It's going to show just about everything. It's just how the cookie crumbles.
Enjoy the car! |
what is this orange peel effect people speak of?
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Look at the skin of an orange fruit. Then look at the finish of your car. There should be some similarities (ie orange peel)
a professional hand-made paint would be almost like mirror (glass-like) in smoothness/finish. I feel sad when people who just spent big bucks on their bimmers and mbs with orange peel finish. |
Btw don't be fooled by the clear coat finish. On robot-sprayed cars try to look at base coat; that would the paint underneath the clear coat.
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Disclaimer:
I am by no means a professional painter. Yes, I painted 2 cars in my garage without blowing up the house and the cars turned out great. I made $$ out of them. What I would like to share is what I remembered when reading a painter's book: "The paint actually does not dry.....and it should not. If it dries, it becomes dull. Thus, the other purpose of 'waxing cars' is to supplement to oil that the paint needs to remain wet. Keeping the paint 'oiled/wet' makes it shine." This info/theory blows me away up to today. It is similar to welding: Do you guys know that metal actually evaporates? :) |
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Correction: audi does have this effect and due to the dark colour looks worse than my Nissan |
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In all seriousness, you aren't going to find a "new" car these days that doesn't have paint issues somewhere. It's just the way the industry has gone with new regulations and what have you. I know it is annoying and it sucks to see it happen to your car, but it happens. |
guy I went to for my rims and advise on mods said it would be cheaper to get my car color stickered which is something like clear bra but colored. He said you can hardly see the difference and if your tired of the color you can just take it off. supposed to be alot cheaper
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How much research did you do before buying a black car and cleaning it?
I have a black 370Z that I bought 15 months ago. I don't have any waterspots and no scratches (well, you'll probably find a few tiny scratches if you look real hard but not many at all). I have a couple of rock chips and a scratch where a mini cooper bumped me in a parking lot, thats it. I am NOT ocd about my car either, but I regularly wash and wax it. Strip all the wax from your car with dawn. Use P21S paint cleaner to get the waterspots off (don't know how successful that will be, I haven't had to remove any, but P21S is real good stuff). Once you get the surface clean, use Zaino Z6 for black cars. It will keep the waterspots away. Apply 3 coats initially. Wax it every 4-6 weeks with a couple of coats. It last and last and you never have to strip it. Do not use microfiber, some are good most are cheap. Use 100% cotton terry cloth towels MADE IN THE USA. 100% cotton terry cloth will NOT scratch your car. Its all I use. 100% terry cloth towels from other countries are usually NOT 100% terry cloth. Get towels from detailed image or some other reputable vendor. My car gets filthy, and then cleans up beautifully with no scratches or watermarks. If you are so OCD you should be able to keep your clean with the right products. |
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^^ I agree
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One grain of sand on the sponge or fancy towel is going to snatch the ego!
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The best way to avoid that is small towels. I don't use any big towels, just have a stack of small ones. |
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I agree……it’s just a car, eventually you will have another new and better one and hopefully you will learn not to stress on that one!! |
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He bought a black Z after his friends warned him not to 'cause of his OCD-ness. His friends know him well. :icon14: |
^^ He has friends!
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