A few months ago, I noticed little chips of paint all over my trunk staright down to the primer. There were about 30-40 little chips that looked like a small rock chip on your hood. So I took it to a body shop and he said that it was the result of a poor paint job and that something must have happend to the trunk at the dealer when it was new and they quickly repainted it (apparently not doing a good job by leaving bubbles in the paint) and after some time, they would chip away. So, he said to just wax it up from now and then and it should be fine.

Well, two weeks ago, I detailed my whole car and took it on some long road trips. Today, I washed it up and discovered thatthe entire hood and roof is covered with hundreds of little small chips!!! OMG, it looks terrible in the light because I have a black car. So I took it back to a body shop and asked their opinion and he was dumbfounded. He said that it looks like someone spackled paint thinner all over my hood, roof and trunk! WTF? Fortunatly, from what I can see, none of the chips are down to the metal.

Has this happened to anyone? My car looks like it is painted black with white speckles. Man.......

 

Nissan's paint formulation is very hard...but brittle. It resists scratching very well, but because of it's "brittleness", chips easily.

I'm in the same boat as you are. I'm at the point where I'm trying to decide whether I should fix my rippled fender and other doors dings while I get the hood re-sprayed.

 

As your car gets older the chips will increase. It's common and there's nothing you can do to stop it. You can put an bra on to prevent chips, but it's ugly.

I say don't worry about it. My cousin's 2k2 M3 that he has for about 5 months already has chips too. You'd figure a $60k car would be resistant to that stuff, but they chip all the same.

 

The best defense against paint chips is....buy a car that's light in color

Both me and a friend's black acuras (one 91 integ, one 92 legend coupe) were horribly chewed up by the time we bought 'em three years ago. The front ends were practically more white than black. I used a bra selectively until I could get the hood resprayed.

I always thought it was especially bad around here because they leave salt/sand/etc on the roads for so long, and put so much down in the winter. Saw the same thing happen on a lot of newer cars that came through the car wash I used to work at.

 

But, chips on the roof and trunk? I don't recall driving in reverse at high speeds. Seriuosly, there are litterally hundreds in places where rocks can't even hit. I'm thinking heat damage on a poor pant job?

 

You must have some enemies. It's so easy to ruin someone's paint with over the counter chemicals. Call your insurance see if they will cover it under your comprehenive policy. Report is as if your car was vandalize.

 

Yea, the trunk ones get me. I have a few nicks on my rear that puzzle me, but then again, with beige, you can't see anything until you get up close.

 

Mine is chipped too, the hood and it's pretty bad. The sad thing is that my old man's '95 saturn has not a single scratch on it!!!

 

Yep, I do think that body shop is correct, if you are the original owner. When my car was new I noticed some bumps under the front fenders, at the wheel arches. When I went back to the dealer, they said must have been repainted but not by us, the car came from another Nissan dealer (yeah right). They said if you want us to repaint the fenders we will, but it will be much worse, because all bodywork is worse than original.

If I ever get another new car, I will inspect it in braod daylight, and look it over with a magnifying glass before agreeing to buy it. I often see new cars at the local body shops with their stickers in the windows.