My 370Z is Magnetic Black. Currently i have around 5500 miles on it (my office is 2 miles from my house). I've only taken it on a long drive twice. Once about 400 miles and recently about 1000 miles. Right now, the front of my car has more rock chips in it than my wife's Chevy Trailblazer with 78k miles. I found another big chip on the hood near the windshield this weekend.
I have heard two theory's on why this paint chips so bad. One is the paint just isn't very durable. I haven't looked up the factory paint in any books yet, but it appears to be fairly thin, like a simple single stage paint.
The second is that the base material, mostly aluminum and urethane, doesn't offer enough support to the paint. This allows the paint to flex too much and chip easily.
I make a point to leave myself plenty of room between me and the vehicle in front on me, but somehow i still get these rock chips.
Now, if i had known this 3 months ago would it have affected my buying decision? Probably not. I love the car and love the color. I'm sure in the future it will get repainted (the factory color), but with a more durable two stage paint with several coats of clear.
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