I bought my maxima back in May 03 and did not notice any problems with my paint. About 2 months ago, I noticed a big color difference the bumpers (f/r) and spoiler and the main body of the car. The car is pearl and the other pieces have a yellow tint. I talked with my sales person and he noticed too. The service manager and the paint and body shop at nissan noticed the color difference too. I jumped through the hoops to get a paint inspection and the guy denied the claim, saying that it was within normal limits. He said that paint adheres to metal and plastic differently. However, I have seen a dozen or so other maximas with the same color, with no difference at all. This does not include the aggravation I have had to deal with the dealership and the nissan customer service 800 number. Anybody have any ideas or help to offer???

 

sorry, i tried to keep it short, but this hits home with me...

start writing registered letters to the president of the dealership, head of public relations (for your state), the president of your state nissan corporation (go to your state's nissan website and look for president's message), and this address: Nissan Consumer Affairs P.O. Box 191, Gardena, CA 90248 (this will differ if you are not on the west coast)

document all conversations with dates and what was said...open your letter with exactly what you want nissan to do for you, eg. "The purpose of this letter is to inform you that i would like nissan corporation to repaint my car and take care of any additional costs that may arise from repairing the paint." the key is: you need to know exactly what you want.

describe your problem and list down all interactions with any nissan employee. include that you are disappointed with nissan.

let them know that you expect a response within 10 working days.

see what happens...

you'd be surprised at how nissan responds...i was a nissan hater for a while, because it took a long time for me to get what i wanted and i had to get nasty with everybody that i dealt with, but they came through for little old me...

that is exactly what you are to them--little...you gotta make yourself 'big' and they will respond with something good...

it is going to take time, and you are going to be frustrated, but remember what your end goal is: to get your car repainted (or whatever it may be)...

refund is almost impossible...i got a brand new car, which is close to impossible...that was my initial goal, and i stuck to it...(my situation was different, b/c they acknowledged the problem, but couldn't fix the problem, b/c they couldn't get parts (skyview))

i am sure they could paint your car...

i said it once, i say it again, you will be frustrated, and it will seem that what you are asking is so outlandish to them, but they will work with you...

btw- i didn't get a formal response from anybody, except the president of the dealership and the head of my state's public relations...but the more letters i wrote to everybody listed above, the more these two guys would call me...

bbtw-i wrote a letter to the president every week, and cc'd everybody mentioned above, describing what had been done in the previous week...it lasted for a total of 5 wks...

bbbtw- like i said, i was a nissan hater, but nextel (wireless) pales nissan in comparison...i won't get into it, but if you want, go to google and type nextel sucks...i don't want to promote the site, but it will be the first thing listed, and look at all of those complaints that go unanswered...

hope this helps

 

I bought a majestic blue AE and it was the same way. In certain low light situations, I can see some difference on my '04 between the poly parts and the metal ones.
On the '01 it was pure ugly, on the '04 not as bad.
I've noticed it on lots of other cars but certainly not all. It bites.
FWIW, most people either don't notice it or are too polite to say anything about it. Like I said the AE bumpers were pure ugly but people raved about how the car looked.

 

hire an attorney if you don't get anywhere soon.

 

Unfortunately this is an inherent problem with many pearl white paints, amongst a number of manufacturers... the paint tends to discolor on the polymer peices. I've seen brandy new white Max's on the showroom floor with a perceptible color difference! Not only Nissan, I've seen the same issue on the new '04 Acura TL.
I personally love white, and very much wanted to get my Max in Winter Frost, but stayed away from it for just these reasons.

I wish you luck in getting it repaired.

 

Also if they repainted it may still be off as the "Tri-Coat" pearl white colors are hard to match.

 

Fireseeker - If you are seriously going to follow through with this problem (and I definitely would; we aren't talking about a $10,000 econobox), you might want to have the terminology exactly correct.

There is no 'pearl white' available on the '04 Maxima. Had there been, that would have been the color I chose. The color is called 'winter frost' by Nissan. I would call it 'arctic frost'. There is no hint of pearlescence or even of a metallic finish. It is just a flat, cold, snow white. My wife refers to it as 'delivery truck white'.

Maybe you can talk the Nissan folks into at least painting the bumpers and spoiler to match the rest of the car. That would be the least I feel would be acceptable.

 

It has Pearl just not as much as the previous years, look at it in the sun. According to several sites it also is a 3 stage tri thing just like th eprevious years.

 

Thanks for the messages,

It is so frustrating to know that I bought the flag ship of a car company and I have paint issues. I had a pearl white 2000 Maxima and did not have any problems. I could see if it were a $12000 car. I am writing a letter to a few people and I will not forget this when I buy a new car. This is my 3rd Max and I owned a 2003 Altima. As far as them painting the car, it won' match and it might look worse. The paint/body manager on site said they would (if approved) have to blend in the bumpers, fenders and part of the 'A' and 'C' posts. A 9 month old car with a 85% paint job? Doesn't sound right.

 

monte - What you say may be true, but I was simply meaning when he writes his letter of complaint, the hierarchy at Nissan might be more impressed if he uses the name they gave the color. But white is white . . .

fireseeker - You are so correct about painting. I remember a car going the other direction on a dark road hitting a deer and having the deer land on the grill and hood of my '00 Maxima. A hoof scratched thru the paint on the top edge of the door, and because of that scratch, they took all the upholstry and hardware from both doors on that side and repainted the entire right half of the car. Took several weeks. I was both stunned and steamed.

 

Sucks doesnt I just had that issue with my Glacier Pearl 03, the basket guy at Alberstons rammed my front fender with 4 baskets was I pis*ed. I took it to 5 reputable body shops and they all wanted to blend the fender with the hood, front door, and bumper and did say that this color is going to be hard to match totally. Alberstons payed me 1,600 which was the lowest estimate and when that happened my mind starting thinking, I thougnt about what my brother did a year ago. he found a fender his exact color on a site called car-part.com purchased it and mounted it exact match. I salvage company thier found one for me for 150.00 purchased it and mounted it and had it stripped for 20.00, after I waxed it it matched my car perfectly and took the rest to the bank. In your case although I wouldnt let them touch my bumper,I did all of this because of fear of paint not matching on my less than year old Max.

 

A clear coat is not used on plastic surfaces, correct me if I'm wrong. In any case, the bumper should be "color-matched" to the rest of the body, not exactly the same shade. I bet the reason why other cars' bumpers appear the same shade is that they had been detailed.

 

I would take the car to a couple of auto body shops and ask them to determine if the car has been damaged/repaired/repainted. If so, then you have a dealer fraud case which a lawyer should take on a contingency basis (if you don't win, you don't pay). It is a Federal Law (Moss-Magnuson, I think) which required that a car dealer disclose any body damage/repairs on a form attached to the window of the car. If you can prove that car was damaged/repaired, go for it. . .SemperFi

 

Good advice. The only caveat being that dealers by law do not have to disclose any repainting or damage if it's less than a certain percentage of MSRP. I don't remember what that percentage is. An attorney could tell you. It's something horrendous though, like 15%. LOTS of "new" cars have been partially re-painted before they hit the showroom floor.