Caring for our soft paint

kball5

I do my best to practice good methods when washing/maintaining the appearance of my cars. However, this is easily the first car I've owned where I can lightly knick the paint with my fingernail (no real force downward) while washing it and dig completely through the clear coat with my fingernail. Now, I know Nissan is known for soft paint and all that, but this seems a bit insane to me.

Anyway, I haven't had this car too terribly long (~6mo). I was wondering if you guys have learned some good methods to keep these delicately painted cars looking, at least, fairly good.

Additionally, are there any good ways to harden up the exterior a bit to protect leaves, dandelions and other soft objects from scratching the car in the future?