The thread about paint chips reminded me of something my dealer told me when trying to sell me the 3M Scotchgard paint protector. He told me that the paint that they used to use on the front grill and hoods of the Nissans was impregnated with lead and that made it more resistant to road rash.

Apparently, they no longer use this type of "lead paint" and therefore, the cars are more susceptible to nicks/chips in the paint.

Sounded like a line to me at the time, and as I type, I find it somewhat unbelievable. Does anyone have any info on this?

 

Dunno about that... but, I've had numerous dings on my hood from flying who-knows-what (mostly rocks I think), and some had hit hard enough to make a ding in the metal while others just pecked away the clear coat.

Anyway, I'm taking my car in tomorrow to have the body shop repair some issues with the paint (I used too agressive a polisher I think and stripped off some clear coat ). Anyway, I wpoke with them last week and the lady there just bought a 2004 3 weeks ago and she said that she babies it, but even then she has huge 'tears' in the paint... she showed me and I was apalled (like dme-size nicks in the paint where the paint is sticking up and seems to 'peel' away from the point of impact). I never really babied mine (I drive too fast), and I don't have this issue (just small craters from rock dings).

Did your dealer say that they have recently changed this formula, or perhaps this lady has a defective paint job?

 

The way he made it sound is that they changed it in the last few years. Perhaps starting with 6th gens, but it was across the fleet of vehicles and perhaps other manufacturers as well.

Again, it could have just been a sales pitch/scare tactic.

 

You guys have no idea how bad my chips are. I am pretty **** with the car I admit, but cmon over 100 chips on the front bumper and hood in 1 year. My wifes toyota is 3 years old and has barely any. Corrolla too. It's almost laughable. I will just repaint the whole car next spring.

 

I agree... I stopped counting at 20, and that was only about 1/5th of the hood (albeit towards the front...).

I even have a paint drip on the underside of my hood... is that normal? Did they user too much paint?

 

Um lead was discontined for paint about a long time ago. As usual, dealer salesmen are the biggest idiots on the this planet earth

 

You said it. There hasn't been lead in automotive paint for a long long time.
Car Dealers are such @ssholes. We would be in a much better place if we had direct buying and repair depots.

Matter of fact, the only toxic automotive paint I know of is DuPont's Imron. And that is harmful when being sanded, mixed, applied (respirator is MANDATORY). Check its MSDS..scary ....

 

Monotaur - the lady in your repair shop may well have a bad paint job on her '04. If she bought it new, and has not used any preparation on the finish, then she probably got a 'bad one'.

I hesitate to bring gender into any discussion, but, although women are generally much safer drivers overall, and generally take less risks, it has been my observation that their one cardinal indiscretion is they often tend to follow much too closely. Dingo bingo!

The government took lead out of paint, gasoline, and just about everything else, many years ago. Through the 1960s and '70s, Dutch Boy house paint (my favorite; lead-based) was rated the best. Since removing the lead (around 1980), Dutch Boy paints have never been rated as good.

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Not only do I have no dings on the front of my '04 SL, I have none anywhere on my '00, either. Several years of driving on gravel roads in southern Arizona fifty years ago broke me from the habit of following other vehicles closely. I always try to stay some distance behind the vehicle in front of me. I realize this can sometimes be difficult, but I do it anyway.

I never ever drive close behind work equipment such as dump trucks, flatbeds hauling bulldozers or frontloaders, large trucks, or any vehicle that looks like it may have been driven offroad or on a gravel road/driveway (little tan/white rocks lodged in the tread show up against the black rubber).

Even then, there isn't much one can do when travelling at speed and things fall from/off a vehicle you are passing, or debris is thrown up against your vehicle by one travelling in the opposite direction. Maybe I was just due a few ding-free years because of the bad 'ding luck' I have had in past
years . . .


edit - could the rakish tilt of the front of the '04 Maxima be involved in this plethora of dings? This might result in vehicle-thrown objects on their downward flight hitting the car at nearer a ninety degree angle (maximum impact angle). Because of the design, there appears to be more 'angled surface' for debris to hit on the front of the Maxima than many other vehicles. But then we may just be talking about a paint that is not as ding-resistant.

 

Just the design of the front though, it is kinda square and you have to be prepared for it to be a bug and rock magnet. Yes, it is kinda frustrating, but went through the same thing with all my cars. Only thing you can do is put a bra on it that helps for highway driving. Man, I cringe driving behind a semi that is throwing up crap you can hear hitting your car. Hearing the rocks smack on the windshield.....anyone else know what I mean? I would like to buy just a hood bra that is removable just for the freeway for that issue. Normal around town driving in traffic, this is not a problem. After evacuating for Hurricane Ivan and driving the I-10 to Texas......I picked up quite a few battle scars. I think the paint we have is fine, no quality issue. Want to talk about paint, I had a 93 Mustang that Ford used too much hardner in the painting process that year and had a recall due to spider cracking all over of the paint, that sucked. Paint has come along way over the years.....lead based paint is no longer used, and causes a health issue. Just my 2 cents, but again, look at the front of our cars and they you can see why it collects so much chips. Front is like a brick wall.