Another (useless/FYI) paint rant. :)

spearfish25

Plenty of manufacturers use plastic and metal panels and can make the car look the same. My neighbor's 911 looks fantastic.

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

TypeOne

Ask any body shop... anyone that has been painting any decent amount of time will tell you that there is a definitely a difference in what material you paint.

The metallic flake will lay differently on a metal surface compared to plastic, carbon, fiberglass..ect

I'm not saying that it happens in every single case where metallic flake is used, but I'm saying it happens. If you have the skills to work with it and the experience to know how to lay it so that the affect is reduced then you won't notice it... but otherwise you'll see it.

I've been involved with body work and paint shops for a long time and have painted a few things myself. I've had about 4 cars completely repainted inside and out.. I know because I'm super anal when it comes to paint.

In the case of a Porsche being perfect, I'm sure it is. You pay for it when you buy the car, but being the Z is a less expensive car made with less expensive materials this type of issue seems more likely.

To the OP, are you sure your bumper was never painted after the factory?

And as Cab83_750 said, painting parts in separate batches or even changing the direction of your spray pattern can cause flake to settle differently.

Even though you paint two parts with the same material at the same time, spray them differently and they can have two different affect when they dry.

cab83_750

I am almost positive as I am the first owner.....though I guess you will never know that I was sold a brand new car (but crashed/repainted bumper).

When I have the time, I should probably look and see if the dealer repainted the car. However, you are beginning to worry me.....can someone look at their magnetic black car and see (in sunlight) if they have the same issue?


I am almost 90%+ sure this is common.

m4a1mustang

This. The plastic and metal parts on my Fjord match perfectly. I'm pretty sure cab is right that the differences have more to do with different groups painting the parts resulting in the differences. There are inconsistencies in the painting process which results in these differences.

We have seen a few other 370s that have had some severely mis-matched panels that have required warranty attention while there are others that match perfectly (my Solid Red was a perfect match).

Given the overall quality of the paint and clear I think it's pretty safe to say that Nissan has issues when it comes to paint that will hopefully be resolved in the future.

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- Steve

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