Magnetic Black Paint: Is It TOO Soft?
 

Alright if you guys have been noticing, I've been a little more active on the forums because I'm getting a little more aggressive with the purchase now. My situation now is picking a car that is the color I want, but for $1000 more than the other dealership wants to offer the secondary color I like.

So it would be either pearl white or magnetic black... Maybe even Brilliant Silver.

I've only read from other members that the paint is really easy to scratch and there have been some random paint issues occurring. I know black is hard to maintain from the get-go, but is Nissan's black paint more difficult to deal with and to maintain than other black cars? Is it softer / more thin in comparison to the 350z paint?

The point I'm trying to get to is if I buy the magnetic black 370z, am I going to be seeing scratches all over the car to no end? I'll be putting a clearbra on some spots, but it might not help the doors and other unguarded spots. I will be keeping covered with a car cover and garage though when it's at home. So that brings up another question, if it does scratch and blemish easily... will I be happier with a brighter color like pearl white, silver, or even monterey blue?

Thanks for any feedback guys.

It depends on you.
Will you be able to take care of the car?
If your a neat freak, black won't hurt so won't white.
But if your not gonna take time to wash and wax you shouldn't cause you will see how dirty black can be.

this is my first black z so i cant comment.
I do know bug guts can eat through the clear coat with ease.
Mine came with dealership installed spider webbing, not to bad but its noticable some times. I cant really tell if i am increaseing. But after 6 months of ownership with 5,000 miles its not any more progressivly worse.

I have the metallic black and yes it is more work to keep clean. I put a ventureshield cover on the front of the car (bumper, hood, headlights, and fenders) immediately after I bought it to prevent the scratches and chips and it works fine and has a lifetime warranty. Regardless of what color you choose, I would recommend you put some type of protective covering on it such as Clearbra just to give you the added protection and also to make it easier to maintain. I live in a condo and I use a car cover on mine and it works just fine. Keep it waxed regardless and you'll have fewer problems. Just my two cents for your consideration. Good Luck whatever you decide!

I definitely plan on getting ventureshield done on the car as soon as I purchase it.

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.

Do you feel the rock chips could have been managed with a clear bra?

Maybe. I live in a tiny farm town in the middle of a corn field (Iowa). There's not even a tint shop within 60 miles. I have read that some people have had good luck with the durability of the clear bras, but i personally have never seen one. I can't imagine it making things worse. I think if i had known about the paint issues ahead of time, i would have taken my car straight to a good paint shop and had them lay on a few coats of clear.

Black shows everything. It's why I wanted platinum. But, I got a killer deal on a black one that had the options I wanted, except it had a 7AT. After I drove it, I was fine with the AT. It's nice being able to focus completely on driving than having to watch my RPM's, and, when I want it to act like a manual, I can do that too.


I keep mine uncovered in the garage 99% of the time. The other 1% of the time, I'm driving it.

The paint already has etched spots from bugs. Apparently, even a good wax job doesn't help...or a re-cleared hood (just pointing out it's not the paint at fault)

Smaller bugs (flies and smaller) = OK
Bigger bugs = paint etch

I have another theory.

This car is low to the ground and cuts through the air, instead of pushing it's way through it.

Another "tip" - don't tailgate anyone, ever. That's how you end up with spotted bumper syndrome. :)

And with this car...it's also spotted hood, A-pillars, fenders, and potentially windshield.

I've decided that I'll either have the car repainted in about 10 years, or I'm not going to drive it. Either way. lol...

I've got a nick in my fascia from a rock or something...<sigh> - new bumper when I get enough of 'em.

My favorite color is black and I have had many black cars and trucks.So I purchased a black 09 Z.There is nothing in my opinion better looking when detailed then a black car.
As to the quality of the paint job it sure leaves alot to desire.I have never ever had such difficulty with a black car as with this one.The paint on this car it the worst I have ever seen and had to deal with.It chips very very easily and the clear coat is worthless.Any bird droppings etch into the clear immediately.Regardless of wax.Believe me I detail and wax my car always.Garaged all the time when not driving.Even if I'am just stopping home for 10 minutes it is pulled into the garage.
The clear is etched in many spots from the bird droppings.Now I don't have any different birds then I've had for 30 years here so it is definetly the paint.
I also own a Toyota suv that I have had for 7 years now and have only maybe waxed 3 times.Always washed and kept clean but parked outside.Not ONE mark ever from bird droppings!
This is my first Nissan and have no experience before with this but have had GM vehicles also and never anything like this.
I bought for the wife and naturally I take care of it always and enjoy keeping it detalied.Just that this is the worst experience I have ever had with a black car.
By reading the posts on this forum regarding the paint it seems to be the general consensus that the paint is an issue.It just isn't black from what I read also.
As for the car itself we love it and have no complaints other then the paint issue.Some issue with the rear hatch releasing but all vehicles will have some small issues.
First oil change at 2800 miles and was a half a qt. low then.Of course we don't know where it was filled to from the factory but we monitor it now. Switched to Mobil 1 at that point and filled to the top level on the dipstick and now a 1000 miles later and level hasn't moved.
For a sports car with all the features and detail Nissan put into the new design it is a great car.Would of been nice if they didn't pinch on the paint quality.Maybe they have caught on to how easy and gullable we are in the US?

Welcome to 1995. Nissan Paint, and other manufactures due to environmental changes are using thinner coats of paint on cars, so they chip and scratch easier.

Yeah, eventually, I'll probably not care.

That, or I'll get a custom paint job done, and it'll be robust enough to handle chips.

SUV vs a Sports car you can't compare. SUV is way higher and has no paint on the front exposed that is low to the ground.

As I stated in my post it is a given as far as paint chips in the front of the Z because of being low.Was talking about the paint on the suv compared to the paint on the Z.Much better paint on the Toyota and many other makes compared to the cheap paint on our Z.
We can make all the excuses we want as far as this or that.The paint is junk!

So far the only colors they can allocate are Magnetic Black and Brilliant Silver... I like the black a LOT, but I'll feel mortified if I see scratches all over the car. Car cover and clear bra are a must...

If I keep a california car duster with me and just wipe the dust off... will I be happy until I get a chance to wash it the next sunday?

No matter what colour you choose, paint chips, scuffs, scratches, etc are inevitable. Black just shows it off better unfortunately. Mine is MB and the only other black car I've owned was also high maintenance to keep it clean. That said, I feel black is the best colour for the deepest shine and is worth the extra time and effort in keeping it that way.

I really want to feel that way!

BTW, does anyone in here have an estimate as to how much a 1 stage and 2 stage clear over the car would cost? Forgive my ignorance if it's going to be the price of painting a car.

It'll be expensive. Probably about 2/3rd what it'd cost to have it repainted, since most of it goes into prep.

In the first few days of ownership I had a nice chunk taken out of my paint, about a quarter of the way up the hood... It didn't bother me much as I had a 350z for 5 years and the front of that thing was like a cheese grater... so I'm used to it. You'll want some touch up paint regardless of what color you get.

i live in an area with an exceptionally high amount of bugs in the air.. and i have so many marks on the hood within the first month. its horrible.

black by the way.

Any bug guts **** up the clear coat on black. Even if you wipe them off 10 minutes later. Its horrible.

I agree that the paint is crap. I have had a black 370 for 2 months and have at least 10 significant rock chips and numerous marks from bird crap. I check the car daily to wipe off any marks but it is always too late, they leave marks immediately. I had a black ACURA TL for 3 yrs with 45k miles and had none of the issues with the paint that I have had in 2 months. In retrospect I probably wouldnt have bought the car if I had realized how bad the paint is.

i have come to the conclusion once my paint job is all jacked up, i will get a quality paint job done with a more clear coats than normal.