Odd Paint Issues

Read T

UPDATE: SEE POST 22 FOR HIGH QUALITY PICS

2011 black cherry 370z

Today I noticed my car had multiple dark transparent spots all over the hood, fenders, and trunk ranging in size from 5mm to 10mm. These spots were raised and appeared to have a "cracking" texture on the surface, similar to dried sap. Additionally, some of these spots seemed to streak across the paint linearly following swirl marks or what appeared to be light scratches in the clear.

I did not park under any trees today and the only other cars I parked near did not have this on them either. From what I have read, the OEM Paint Defects are generally not raised as they are under the clear coat. I'm not sure what else this could be.

I treated one of the spots with goo gone, and another one with hand sanitizer (which has done wonders on my 240). The goo gone didn't do anything and the hand sanitizer discoulored the paint surrounding the spot. Havn't tried peanut butter yet. I've had the car for 5 days and it has a new coat of wax on it (product unknown) and this paint issue has come up over the past 24h. I will try to get pictures, but it is very hard to see on a black cherry anyways.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me to try?
Thanks, Read

Read T

Before I went to the dealer I tried a clay bar and sap remover. Neither worked.

At the dealer I was told these spots were tree sap and the one near a scratch was touch up paint (that I guess a gnome put on overnight to a scratch just through the clearcoat not into the paint ). The two techs who looked at it shrugged it off and made me feel like an idiot. They suggested trying ethanol/methanol to get it off.

I went home and tried hand sani again (70% ethanol) with no success.

Then I went to Advance Auto where I know a few of the guys who work there. Two of them came and checked it out and said that it was NOT sap because a) it is perfectly clear and transparent b) it did not come off yet c) it was much harder than sap should be.

Anyways, I am moving 3 hours away in 3 weeks so I will probably just go to a dealer once I move. The car is still under warranty at least. Can't believe an auto manufacturer would overlook this. I also know that there is a thread already started relating to this matter so if I should post there let me know, otehrwise I will update this thread.

On a side note about nissan techs:
I dont normally like other people working on my car unless I know them previously and trust them. The last time I went to a Nissan dealership (2005) two of the techs complimented me on my nissan skyline (I was driving my STOCK 97 NISSAN 240sx) and once I corrected them one of the techs asked me why I put the skyline front end on my 240sx For some reason I let those Nissan technicians install a waterpump in my 240. Picked it up an hour later and started driving down the road and it overheated. They had fogot to refill the coolant they put coolant back in it for me and I finally got it home. The next day the main belt that goes around the waterpump shredded. This is why I do not trust Nissan and honestly would rather have my nissans serviced at my local Toyota dealership. So, wish me luck in dealing with Nissan on this one.

Read T

Forgot to add, I started a written log of everything I have done (with dates) for the paint and will be taking measurements and pictures of all of the spots to see if they change. Sap doesn't grow.

cheshirecat

take pics and post them on here.

Read T

^ Will do, have to recharge camera. Maybe I can borrow a friend's SLR

Read T

These are crappy ipod pictures. It was really sunny but raining and I couldn't get it to focus. These are raised and darker/redder than the surrounding paint. Ignore my house and the sky

kenchan

mosquito bite.

Read T

^ I wish. The pics don't do it justice. They are all over the hood, pass side fender and boot.

Read T

When the sun hits it they stand out pretty bad from a distance.

kenchan

are you talking about the dots or the big mosquito hump?

if dots, then it could be rail dust. claybar and lube can take care of that. if that's a hump, that will be a warranty repair. that looks like contamination under the paint.

Read T

dots are rain, mosuito humps (those are actually pics of 3 different ones. should have include a penny for scale). Humps are all over hood and body.

MattP725

Next time I would do some research before putting all sorts of crazy things on your paint...

Try claybar with the addition of a light compound... I had some similiar dark spots on my paint and that did it...

Read T

^
I've used alcohol/hand sani on paint before and normally it works great to remove things. The dealership guys also told me today to use methanol/ethanol. Which is the same thing.

I've used goo gone in the past to help debadge or destripe cars with no problems. The other products I used are automotive products (Meguiars). Except for peanut butter which I don't think would hurt the paint too much. (unless my car was allergic).

I have tried claybar and compound already, I guess I can try them at the same time though. If you have any other suggestions on places to do "research" could you enlighten me.

Read T

<Forgot to add that I have been reading all the "paint/clearcoat defect" threads on the site. I'm 99% sure this is my problem>

LakeShow

This looks like its under the paint. Now did you point this out to the dealer and what was their response? Please speak to the manager and not any techs. Trust me been and still going through something similar. Do you have better pics? Was it there when you purchased the car?

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