First Black Car - Help!
 

Hey guys, the 370 is my first black car and I love it so far. My question is, it seems like my car has a lot of "hidden" scratches if that makes sense. These scratches only appear in certain lights and at certain angles. I also have a lot of tiny chips here and there, not to mention water spots on certain parts of the car.

I apologize for my ignorance on the subject, but is this kind of stuff normal with a black car and just something I'm going to have to live with? All my cars previous to this have been silver, so this is a whole new ballgame to me.

Thanks

those are called swirls. when ever you drag your towel or washmitt it creates that. only way is to polish it out or use some filler like Prima Amigo.

learn the 2 bucket wash method, blot drying techniques, etc. that alone will save you from a lot of polishing. first step is prevention.

You probably had similar issues with Silver, only you didn't notice it because silver hides it better. Black brings out every flaw, especially with Nissan paint (apparently). As mentioned before, use the 2 bucket w/ grit guard wash method to reduce bringing dirt onto the vehicle with fresh suds. I'm using Meguiar's products on my black Nismo and couldn't be happier. Be careful when washing/drying/polishing/waxing and you should be fine.

There are some great write-ups on autopia.org in how to deal with a black car. Good Luck!

YES, black cars will show everything..especially through the crappy Nissan's paint. Regular wash, wax and polish will keep it pertty :)

dude this Z is my 5th black car and im telling whatever wholesale concoction bucket of mess nissan used to paint this thing is horrible
this is the worst black paint i have ever had...

that being said, yes what you are seeing is swirl marks

my z was manufactured in august 2009 i purchased i march 2010 and my car already had swirl marks galore just from dealer washes

but not to worry my friend my pain will be your gain

you have two options to get rid of them and each will last months depending on the sealant/wax you use

1. go to a detailer and tell them you want a polish it has to be applied via an orbital and requires a bit of skill that will fill in the fine scratches and swirl marks as the polish is broken down via the orbital

he will then follow with a glaze/shiner polish and finish with a strong wax/ sealant

2.go to autogeek.net and purchase a porter cable dual action orbital polisher

there are a lot of videos and tutorials on how to polish and seal your car your self

Very true Kenchan, but I've actually been practicing those methods since I first picked up the car. That's why I'm wondering if these sorts of things are just inherent to having a black car. I noticed most of the scratches are on the front and back of the car.

I owned a 2003 black Pathfinder... paint was great on it not sure how Nissan dropped the ball with the current paint on the 370's.

I hand wash all my vehicles 90% of the time or a touch less car wash in the winters, biggest hate I had for my black Pathfinder was water spots on a hot day, I could never shammy it fast enough to get a clean spot free car.

A friend told me about a product called , Mr. Clean AutoDry™ Pro-Series,basically it ionizes the water through filtering so the water molecules cant stick to one another for a spot free rinse ,the water cant sit in puddles and form spots.

Depending on how hard your towns water is,the filters last anywhere from 5-15 washes before you replace them

I never replaced the shampoo in the system, I have my preferences as to shampoos but the filter system was the high point of washing and drying a black vehicle ,no more shammys , no more water spots ,best $25 I ever spent.