Nissan paint: I believe it truly sucks

NVSteve · Postby **NVSteve** » Tue Jul 09, 2013 8:40 pm

Okay, so a few of us have noticed our roof gutters have cracking/peeling paint. I fixed mine with bedliner. When we pop our hoods or remove trim to expose the edges of painted panels, we see chipping/peeling paint.

I just happened to be at Nissan today for a service & we had a walk around inspection before I left it with them. Well, the paint on the driver's side front wheel well has bubbled & is coming off. Just like the gutters, it is peeling off from the primed layer underneath (no bare metal). No, I won't be bedlining up that high. When we took the Xterra in for a wheel well dent pull and new paint, the autobody place we took it to did a fantastic job. Since my hood is chock full of dings (some fairly large), I guess I will be stopping by for a quote when I get a chance. Granted, mine is parked outside year round, and is also subjected to temperatures below zero to above 100.

Anyone else have anything like this happen to them?

akley88 · Postby **akley88** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 4:35 am

I haven't noticed this on mine but I feel like this is becoming all to common with cars. My last car was a 4g eclipse. The paint issues were so bad mitsubishi lost a civil case over it.

Calicajun · Postby **Calicajun** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 5:31 am

That's not good to hear. My PF is not even a year old yet, so i haven't noticed any problems with the paint and hope I never do have a problem with paint. I was planning on hand waxing the PF this weekend, your picture just insured that I won't find an excuse not to wax the PF this weekend.

doctahjones · Postby **doctahjones** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 7:13 am

damn that sucks. mine has been fine so far, but it's in a garage or covered parking 90% of the time.

now on that 99 wrangler i picked up, it's paint job is oxidizing like crazy all over and the hood has a whole bunch of cracked and rusted areas. been thinking about my options for the hood, either plastidip'ing it (maybe with a big white star in the middle like an army jeep?) or talking to my neighbor about a vinyl solution (he runs a vinyl shop).

volvite · Postby **volvite** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 7:53 am

Steve,

Did you just notice this after your trip? It looks like it would have been there for some time, but maybe not.

NVSteve · Postby **NVSteve** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:17 am

volvite wrote:Steve,

Did you just notice this after your trip? It looks like it would have been there for some time, but maybe not.

It was pointed out to me only yesterday. Of course I poked my finger through the paint in a few spots, so now it looks worse than when it was discovered yesterday. I'm guessing it had been there a while, but who knows.

It just seems like whatever the primer is underneath is something that was a poor choice. Paint just doesn't adhere to it.

deermjd · Postby **deermjd** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:42 pm

I've got the same issue on my front bumper. I just thought it was poor adhesion to the plastic but apparently it's just crappy paint/primer.

Is that YJ in the reflection yours?

skinny2 · Postby **skinny2** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 5:21 am

No problems like this on my Red. I had the same front fender damaged recently (and bumper) so it was resprayed but my body guy went around and touched up anything that needed it and said it was in very good shape given the age and miles. No problems on my gutters either.

Are you sure that fender was never sprayed? It kind of looks like a bad paint/touch-up job or something to begin with, but maybe that's just shadows.

NVSteve · Postby **NVSteve** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 8:52 am

skinny2 wrote: Are you sure that fender was never sprayed? It kind of looks like a bad paint/touch-up job or something to begin with, but maybe that's just shadows.

It was sprayed at the factory sometime between Dec '06 - Feb '07. Other than that, nothing. It's almost like some chump plant worker f'd up and applied the clearcoat over the primer, then painted over the top of that.

The Silverton Blue color on mine changes color depending on the amount of light/shade, angle, etc. Hard to explain. The Xterra we have is more extreme. It has a Lava Red color that can be bright orange in the garage to absolutely red in the sun.

Oh well, my hood is so full of dings and pitch spots that the fender problem just pushes me to get it fixed now.

NVSteve · Postby **NVSteve** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 9:06 am

deermjd wrote:I've got the same issue on my front bumper. I just thought it was poor adhesion to the plastic but apparently it's just crappy paint/primer.

Even with my OME lift, the approach angles still aren't the best, especially when having to drive into & out of a very steep u-shaped stream crossing. Long story short, I gouged the crap out of one spot on my front bumper, although it is more on the bottom edge of it & isn't really too visible. But, even with the deep gouges, mine looks like it is colored plastic all the way through-no paint. Yeah, I just went out and looked at it again & the grooves are the same color as the paint, just a little lighter (love plastic). If that really is paint on there, then they did a damn fine job on my bumper-maybe to make up for screwing me over on the rest of my paint...

Is that YJ in the reflection yours?

No, that belongs to one of the few renters in our condo complex. Typical stoner looking kid with a drop-dead looker of a girlfriend/wife.

ShipFixer · Postby **ShipFixer** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 6:16 pm

The bumper is a dark plastic underneath. Like a black or dark gray...it's close enough to our color that it fortunately disguises when you're through the paint.

When I killed a deer with my bumper I got to see the color up close in the shattered pieces :-/

Oly 22 · Postby **Oly 22** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 7:31 pm

Hey Steve,

That does suck. With the amount of off roading you do, do you think that there could have been some flex, in the body, around the wheel well that could have caused the paint to separate or pop? I had a 1980 Firebird with HP upgrades and shift kit and when I decided to drive hard and the tranny shifted hard, I would crack the paint, over the rear wheel well. Not un similar to your pictures. Stopped repainting the rear quarter panels after awhile.

My Pathfinder is only 2 years old and beside a number of rock chips, on the front bumper, the paint looks good.

NVSteve · Postby **NVSteve** » Fri Jul 12, 2013 8:28 am

ShipFixer wrote:The bumper is a dark plastic underneath. Like a black or dark gray...it's close enough to our color that it fortunately disguises when you're through the paint.

Very cool to hear. I guess we both picked the perfect color then.

NVSteve · Postby **NVSteve** » Fri Jul 12, 2013 8:36 am

Oly 22 wrote:Hey Steve,

That does suck. With the amount of off roading you do, do you think that there could have been some flex, in the body, around the wheel well that could have caused the paint to separate or pop?

I don't think so, at least not with those panels. I'm fully convinced the primer they used was too slippery for the paint, or that the paint + primer were poor partners all along. I'm sure I'll get a real answer from the body shop, whenever I happen to get this fixed.

NVSteve · Postby **NVSteve** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 3:20 pm

Most of the bubbled paint in the pics I posted is now completely gone & it keeps peeling. I'm getting that panel + the hood painted next week for about $700. Then it will be off to the 3M installer to put about a 12" deep strip of clearbra onto the front of the hood.

Nissan paint: I believe it truly sucks

Nissan paint: I believe it truly sucks

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