AIX

if you've seen my other posts - you know that I have a nasty paint chip on my driver's side door due to annoying jerks who wanted my HIDs. Anyhow, I'm now left to fix the paint chip before any more rainy weather. But should I just pick up some Nissan touch-up paint and do it myself? Or should I leave it to the service dept to handle? Anyone have any insight on this? thanks~

SupaFly

iTrader: (2)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by AIX
if you've seen my other posts - you know that I have a nasty paint chip on my driver's side door due to annoying jerks who wanted my HIDs. Anyhow, I'm now left to fix the paint chip before any more rainy weather. But should I just pick up some Nissan touch-up paint and do it myself? Or should I leave it to the service dept to handle? Anyone have any insight on this? thanks~ [/QUOTE

I've touched up so many little scratches that waxing couldn't get out. I have a lot of scratches on my rear bumper from nyc parking. What i think i'm going to do next is use touch up paint on the major scratches and get a shop to wetsand the entire bumper to just smooth it all out. It should come out nice adn it's cheaper than repainting hte entire bumper.

AIX

well - it's more of a deep screwdriver-made paint chip, so I'm assuming it would cost a lot more to get it done @ the service dept. hMm..about the paint chips on the bumper from nyc parking - tell me about it. Someone I know has a 2k1 w/ a bumper that is speckled with paint chips everywhere - i'm afraid that this is what my bumper will become of soon...

MaximaMan77

I have never had any luck with touchup paint. I would either let the service dept. handle it or find a company that sepcializes in touchup painting. Here in Atlanta there is a place called Southern Colors they do great work, in most cases you'd never know it was done. I would think there should be a company like this in New York.

Good Luck,
Adam

AIX

i just checked out that site - they have some impressive before-and-after pictures up, but who knows if that's all due to Photoshop, etc. haha - but yeah, I need to find out if there is something like this up here in nyc - which I'm sure there is - is this covered by my insurance? I know someone posted earlier that it goes under "vandalism." And I highly doubt nissan will cover this .. righT?

asu174

iTrader: (11)

What color do you have? I have pearl white and the touch up paint looks awesome. I use a two part paint, just like the factory, which I bought it an auto paint specialty store. I put on the base coat first, let it dry and then put on the coat that you buy at the dealership.

Also, I use these specialty touch up Q-Tip thingys that are 3 for a dollar. They are extremely precise and accurate because they are so small.

AIX

i have an icelandic pearl max. - so let me get this straight. You bought a clear base coat from the local car store and those q-tip things? and then you bought the touch up paint from the dealership? hMm..sounds good to me - what kind of clear coat did you buy? And did you get the touch-up paint with the brush or the paint pen?

asu174

iTrader: (11)

I got the following:
1. Base coat for paint at auto paint store. All they need is the paint code and they will be able to look it up.
2. Touch up paint from Nissan dealership- the brush- but don't use the actual brush- you can also buy this at the auto paint store.
3. Q-Tip thingys. They are teeny yellow sticks with a wee bit of fur at the end. Use the q-tip thingys for BOTH coats.

No clear coat. The biggest thing I have touched up is about the size of a pencil eraser. But it was pure black and completely stripped to the bone. I can't even tell anymore.

DON'T TRY IT WITHOUT THE BASE COAT. YOU WILL FAIL. And wait for it to dry for a while........otherwise you have to start all over.

Nyc2kMax

touch paint "SUCKS" my car is sterling mist and the touch paint the dealer give me did not match the color of the car. I like an even worst eye sore now

MaximaMan77

I know for a fact the do good work. I have use them once with my 99 and some of my customers take thier $50k+ cars there. That is how I found out about them. The guy that told me about them has been driving several different Mercedes for a while, his current car is a loaded 01 C32 AMG. He is very **** and raves about there work.
It should be covered under your insurance.
No nissan does not cover vandalism.

drudawg888

yup, i have the same problem here. looks like the side of my max has chicken pox. i try not to look at it closeup anymore.. but looks great from far away! :

AIX

is everyone dealing with these "chicken pox" problem? I havent experienced any paint chips due to gravel and stuff while driving..

undercvr

I'd think your insurance would cover it, if you want to go that route. We had several instances of vandalism (including having the Jeep & 626 stolen) on our cars. We finally moved out of Balto City into the county. Insurance always took care of it. If the insurance company will cover it, I'd have a professional take care of it since it sounds like more than just some scratches or paint chips. Good luck!

Pmm3rd

Touch up paint is always a bit tricky. If its only some small dings the tip Ive gotten on the Speed Channel was this---> Take the touch up paint and pour some out on whatever (paper plate, napkin, anything...) then apply it with a toothpick. It goes on a lot easier than with the little brush and doesnt leave blots. (Ive tried it and works pretty good.)

AIX

thanks for the detailed info asu174~ it was very helpful - i'm going to be heading over to the service dept today to pick up the touch-up paint as well as the base coat. !!

asu174

iTrader: (11)

Good luck! I didn't know the service dept had the base coat.... Don't attempt it without it.

TimW

iTrader: (6)

you have to argue with the parts department, they have to look alittle closer.. but they do sell both the white base and pearl clear touchup. I have the numbers at home if you cant find them.

AIX

sorry, it was a typo - i'm going to get the base coat at my local autozone - I'm going to pick up the paint itself @ the service dept - thanks~

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Personally I dont like it, I would only use it on the edge of the door type chips.

AIX

if not touch-up paint what with you do

asu174

iTrader: (11)

Did you try a base coat? Or just the dealership stuff? You NEED a base coat. The dealership stuff is the second coat. The base coat is actually what makes the car white. The stuff that the dealership sells is the OVERCOAT that gives it the shiny pearl white shade.

Bgohan

Courtesy sells touch up paint.
FYI: Artic white Pearl, Paint code QNO, requires code QT1 top coat, then clear coat to get it to match.
To make it blend in and get rid of blob or high spot, try a product called Langka.

Check it out here:
http://www.langka.com/index.htm#top

Langka Corporation • 2525 E. 29th St., Ste. 10B • Spokane, WA 99223
(509)747-3607 Phone • (509)455-4557 Fax • info@langka.com, use

http://www.courtesyparts.com/paint/maxima.html

vito1281

I'm also looking to do some touch-up in the near future (basically, as soon as it gets warmer in Boston). I got a few chips on my front bumper from little pebbles (I guess). I posted here, and got some great tips. Basically, here's the procedure that I was given:

1. Apply base coat. Let it dry. Apply actual touch-up paint with a small toothpick or sharpened match. Do this several times, laying down a small layer each time, waiting an hour or so for it to dry up, and then putting down another layer. Do this enough times until the paint chip is "built up" to match the surround paint level.

2. Then you can use a 1000 or 2000 grit sand paper (gently) to smooth out the paint levels.

3. Use rubbing compound (I guess 3M makes a good one) to futher smooth and blend in the area.

4. Wax the paint chip area, and if steps 1-3 were done carefully and the touch-up paint matches, you should be left with little to no signs of a pre-existing chip.

I'm going to try this method, and I'll post my results (hopefully will be good).

Good luck.

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

I bought the Paint Pen thingy from Courtesy, and I'm not sure it was worth it.

I've used it once so far on a gouge in my rear bumper that some dic-smoke deposited in the first month of ownership....damn license-plate bolts!

It worked well at first - but one coat of WAX later, and it was filled with gunk and WHITE again....thus rendering my cover-up useless. (My Max is Black)

I haven't tried re-applying again yet, but I'm not optimisitc.

I'm worried the same thing will result when I tackle the battle wounds I've suffered on my front end for the ONE WEEK I had my nose mask off while it was raining...****e.

More to follow --- Anybody have any suggestions????

g.r.

Maximax2

I'm going to try this too, I just have to find a chip that I'm willing to (gulp) use sandpaper on. I bought the 2000 grit, so...

One thing I noticed is that the chips look much worse if you don't fill the entire hole. This sounds obvious, but when I took it to the dealer (long story) and made them fix the chips, they just painted the hole without filling it. And the sides catch the light and reflect, making it look much worse. Once I figured this out, I fixed them level with the paint and the look better (not perfect, but better).

ICELANDIC MAX

iTrader: (1)

i have to get the base coat b/c the touch up paint by itself is worthless. how much was the bottle of base coat? so we just give the clerk the paint code and we'll be set? can we also get it at the dealer?

MaxJag

Has anyone tried the 2000 Grit Sand Paper on a BLACK car???
I have alot of paint chips and would like to fix them myself.
I've got the touch up paint, 2000 grit and some Zymol Wax.
I don't want the sand paper to make it worse.

MaxJag

BUMP. I would really like to know.

MaxJag

BUMP up the JAM!!!!!!

philpoe

iTrader: (4)

May have an option for you to go along with touch up paint