Hello,

Unfortunately, my 2017 Maxima has a few scratch marks between the side windows on the high-gloss black trim that I see some people refer to as the "pillars." I bought the car three months ago and noticed it almost immediately. Does anyone know if this is under warranty? Otherwise, does anyone know how I could cover up or remove those scratches somewhat easily without wrecking the look of the "trim?" Has anyone else had this problem? I have not done anything to the car that should have caused any scratching yet there are some scratches on each side in those exact areas.

Thanks for any ideas.

 

I'm not sure, have to look at it, but I know on a lot of cars now a days with the black trim on the door pillar it's actually a vinyl sticker, so buffing it out could be a problem. I'm not sure on the Max what it is, but if it's not paint, buffing it is likely not an option.


You should post a picture so everyone can see what you are dealing with.

 

I would try some of the following:

https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G123...plastic+polish

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Magic-75...plastic+polish

 

Thanks, Gizzsdad. I think it may not be a plastic, though. But I will look at those links you sent me.


MadMax07SL, yes, I was told it MIGHT be a "tape" or vinyl sticker, as you call it. It feels hard to the touch, though, so I guess I'd need someone who has a 2016 or 2017 Maxima to tell me what material it is.


I was able to take a few photos, but please excuse the trees reflecting in the black "pillars." You can see the scratches along the side near the window and longer scratches in a few spots. That does not make me happy for a 3 month old car with low miles. I have not taken it through a car wash with bristles, and I noticed them before I went through a touchless carwash, regardless. I do have a snow brush, but it is soft, and I did not use the scraper on my windows yet this winter (relying on defrost with the remote start), so I could not have accidentally slipped while scraping. Basically, I have not touched my car with anything other than a few times lightly with the snow brush. Any ideas after seeing the photos?

Thanks!

 

Very strange. I have never seen scratch marks exactly like this. All these scratches are essentially at the same angle, and not at an angle that would have happened if the car was moving. Not only are there scratches in the middle sections of both pillars, but there are lots of tiny scrapings (with the same angle) right on the very rear edge of the lower portion of the rear rear door pillar.

Because of the same angle on both pillars, and the fact these pillars are not near each other when either door is open, it is clear these scratches happened when both doors were closed. Because the tiny edge scratches on the rear door panel sort of wrap around toward the glass, it may well have been that the rear door window was open at the time this happened.

Usually, I can visualize some way that scratches might have happened. In this case, my only guess is either Sasquatch or Yeti or Bigfoot.

I would not attempt any kind of repair until I knew exactly what that pillar cover is made of.

 

I had a paint issue when I got this car factory-ordered. The place that repaired it said it looked like the original dealership had tried to repair it and failed. Thankfully, the dealership/Nissan paid to fix that. However, I found more scratches that I think they tried to conceal. They had waxed it before I picked it up. Could the wax have washed off and then exposed all these scratches? I feel I got a really bad paint job from the factory as parts of the car (just a few spots) seem to be lacking paint in tiny spots and there are scratches not only on the pillars on each side and other black trim areas but also here and there on the paint. They are difficult to notice unless the light hits it right, but once you find them, you notice them rather easily. Do you know if there is a warranty on the paint? I have contacted my dealer quite a few times; no reply yet. I am going to have to find a contact for Nissan, I think. This should not happen with a factory-ordered car.

 

You are in a difficult position because of not spotting these problems nearer the purchase date. You have to hope the contacts you have already had with your dealer regarding the scratches will be a 'foot in the door' that you may use with the dealer is getting help with this.

This may be a situation where the car has been impacted by a strong storm, but the damage was not immediately spotted by the folks deciding which cars needed repairs to their finish and which ones were OK. This damage could have happened on the back parking lot at the assembly plant in Smyrna, where Maximas are stored until loaded onto rail cars or trucks for shipment. Or it could have happened during shipment if shipped by truck. Railroads use enclosed auto racks for shipment, but trucks do not. Or it could have happened on the railroad unloading facility while the car was awaiting a truck to carry it to the dealer. Or it could have happened on the dealer lot. So many possibilities . . .

The sooner you get things moving with this the better. The longer it takes to get the ball rolling, the more difficulty you may have getting good help from the dealer or Nissan.

 

If it's vinyl, which it likely is, you can probably get a wrap guy (or some tint places will do it) to replace it for $40 if you go to him, a little more if he comes to you. That's just a guess, it might be cheaper considering there's minimal material.

 

That is a thoughtful idea. I covered the painted surfaces inside my wheel wells with black vinyl wrap, thinking it would eventually fail and I would have to come back and use paint. But here we are 17 months later, and the vinyl is still holding fine.

 

The Reminence of some jackass trying to break in my car. It is in fact a vinyl sticker with a clear vinyl on top. I'm having it all replaced by my local dealer and they have sent out the new one to the body shop to have done. Hope this helps

 

Hmmm So it's a vinyl wrap. Good to know. That is a very clean wrap from factory. Clean indeed.

 

lightonthehill, I did notice them very soon after the purchase date, but my dealer selectively replies to e-mails and ignores phone calls. I contacted the Nissan company and was told that all of the car is under warranty for three years or 36,000 miles, and they told me I may be able to get it fixed but I needed to contact a Nissan service department. I contacted another dealer's service department, but they told me they don't want to deal with the warranty issues of another dealership because they are only allowed so many warranty claims per month. That does not make sense to me. I think they may be displeased I bought the car elsewhere. I'm about ready to report this to Consumer Protection, but first I am going to try contacting the owner of the dealership where I bought the car. There was "goop" on my car in both clear and black form that I reported right away, and since the salesman did send one reply telling me to just wax the car to fill in the scratches, I believe they may have used wax and other "goop" to cover those scratches in the first place. Once washed, I think it exposed the scratches, and now I have six panels on my car and the pillars that have scratches that I discovered very near the purchase date with no resolution three months later (other than them fixing the scratches they buffed and did not tell me about hoping I would not notice the buff marks, but I did). I'm very frustrated.

 

PlatMax, thanks for the info about the vinyl wrap and so sorry about your car! Do you know how much it costs to replace the vinyl wrap on each window? So, whatever price you estimate, I'd multiply by four to fix the entire car. Just curious if you got an estimate.

 

Sassy - I was not aware that dealerships are only allowed a certain number of warranty claims per month. I would get back in touch with Nissan and tell them the dealer monthly limit on warranty claims is preventing you from getting a dealer to handle your claim. If he has any sort of brain, he will realize that is an absurd situation that makes Nissan's warranty essentially worthless.

Ask the Nissan representative where you should take your car to have this checked and fixed, and tell him you should have a right to be serviced at a fairly close dealership.

Be sure to keep everything that has transpired in written form. The better your recordkeeping, the better chance you will have of getting this fixed.

Be sure the dealership from which you bought your car has a record of your efforts to get this fixed. Have that same info on hand in your records so you will have it available if you are asked.

Do not give up your efforts to have your car made right. Emphasize that you did not buy a used car, but supposedly bought a new car. And it should look like new.

 

I really doubt that Nissan limits the number of warranty claims a dealer can make.

Nissan does allow a certain amount of what they call "Good Will" claims. These are items that really don't qualify for warranty coverage (wear items, repairs 'just' past the warranty period, etc.). For example, some computer problem that occurs one month after the 3/36 warranty expires. I once had a component failure a year and a half after my 3/36 expired. But the dealer used some of their good will allotment to cover it and keep me happy. The fact that I had purchased 4 or 5 new cars and several used vehicles likely motivated the dealer to keep me from being disappointed.

I don't know their formula for providing this resource, but I'm sure it has to do with how many Nissans the dealer sells, as well as the dealer's service dep't. rating.

 

Sent you a pm bro