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?

SouthArk370Z

See Junkman2008's videos on paint care.

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kball5

Thank you! I'll take a look and see if I can learn a bit

Junkman2008

Fingernails are overrated.

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FireDan50

I've had CQuartz ceramic coating on my Z for over a year and love it. Prep and application takes a lot of time but I think its worth the protection.

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kball5

Have you noticed a tangible difference in the durability before and after? I have yet to meet anyone who actually had it on their car.

FireDan50

I can definitely tell that there is a difference. I don't get any micro swirls from using a California Car Duster, washing, or detailing. Also light scratches from door dings/etc are easily buffed out. I only know of a couple people in person who have it on their cars and they love it.

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POS VETT

That's odd. There is a sticker on the underside of my hood that states hard clear coat.

Regardless, mine has 22PLE applied almost a year ago.

kenchan

i think it just means 'hard' to take care...

dP3NGU1N

Opticoat 2.0 on mine. No issues and water still beads like crazy.

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FireDan50

Having some sort of additional protection beyond wax like a ceramic coating (CQuartz/Opticoat/etc) definitely makes a difference. I was so impressed that I even put CQuartz on my wife's Juke. The black paint on here Juke was easily blemished and I can really tell the difference in paint durability with the black color.

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VSR Single-turbo kit: 611hp/517tq @ 10psi (Q16 race gas)
Dan's VSR top-mount turbo 370z

kball5

Sweet! I'll definitely be looking into a ceramic coating of some kind. My car sleeps outside, so I have a lot to contend with if I intend to keep it looking as good as possible.

Cmike2780

It's an uphill battle. Best way to keep it looking new is diligence in washing, waxing & polishing. Used the two bucket method and make sure all your washing supplies are clean. Spend the money on a quality wax, polish and polishing equipment. A good wax or synthetic coating will help protect the paint from the elements, but it will do nothing to avoid swirls and scratches. Above all, don't let anything sit on the surface that shouldn't be these. Bird droppings, tree sap etc...destroys the paint. The only thing I can think of that would work is a clear wrap and it can get pretty expensive. A clear bra is good compromise since it's usually the part that gets chewed up the most from daily driving.

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Ryan998

I decided to wrap my hole car with Xpel. It seems to be self healing when there are small scratches. I got black car so it was worse than any other color. I can easily left scratch on my car with a touch by my finger when my car is covered by dust.

danegrey

That sounds real interesting, since I have had many problems with my paint... Like some others, it just seems to scratch itself....

Especially concern, since Nissan just repainted the roof, because of a paint defect under warranty..

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