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How's your factory paint holding up?

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Old Sep 21, 2010 | 01:46 AM
  #1  
ineedamaxima's Avatar
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How's your factory paint holding up?

Hey Guys,

Was looking over my car today and found a TON of chips and other issues

Obviously our 4th gens are no spring chickens anymore, especially those of us with rides above 200K. So I was wondering how is your paint holding up and what do you do/use to keep it looking good?
Old Sep 21, 2010 | 01:49 AM
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...Friday Washes. Anything to keep her clean and satisfied
Old Sep 21, 2010 | 01:56 AM
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My paint is holding up just fine, I put the elbow work in and polish and wax that car once in a while.
Old Sep 21, 2010 | 04:14 AM
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good i guess, for my car "black" its a constant battle
Old Sep 21, 2010 | 10:13 AM
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Mine had a lot of rock chips from all the highway driving. But with 156,xxx miles original paint it still look alright.

Old Sep 21, 2010 | 10:19 AM
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My paint is still good. Wash and wax my friend
Old Sep 21, 2010 | 11:43 AM
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Paint is holding up just as expected. The front is full of chips and road rash, the bumper showing the worst of it. The rest of the car shines very nicely, very little acid rain damage. My buddy was just over this past weekend with his 2009 Black Maxima. We did a full detail on it. At just over 28K miles his front end paint is really taking a beating!
Old Sep 21, 2010 | 05:50 PM
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road rash and chips, the normal stuff... paint still shine like new though due to lots of washes and waxes
Old Sep 21, 2010 | 06:13 PM
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Mine is holding up great, minues a few scrapes from people hitting my car with doors, buggies, etc.

Have had a number of ppl ask me how much my paint job cost, and who did it

Wash once or twice a week, Wax once a month, and buff every few months
Old Sep 21, 2010 | 06:55 PM
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terrible.

had the front clip re-painted and that seems to have fixed the issue.
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 05:49 AM
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The front bumper and hood has chips. Driving thru the snowy Berkshire Mountains for over a decade rusted out the back side of both rear wheel hubs. I recently had that autobodied.
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 07:25 AM
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mine is awesome, ( i had 50% of the car repainted tho )
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 07:38 AM
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For the most part alright, but the rear of the car is getting worse and worse.

The spoiler is fading outside in, and that little area on top of the rear bumper is fading outside in also.
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 10:50 AM
  #14  
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I have huge sections of clear coat coming off on my front clip. Hood, both fenders, and front bumper cover all look like ****. I think the front of the car was repainted previously though.
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 12:04 PM
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my fourth gens paint took a beating lol and my 3rd gen is sun faded on the roof and trunk. great looking 4th gen max ride 41. nice retrofits too
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 02:00 PM
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Mine is holding up nicely concidering its age minus the chips in the front. Weekly washing and polish and waxing every 3-6 months keeps the ride looking spiffy.
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 02:14 PM
  #17  
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:S I have no idea why nothing I try gets my max looking good as new. Maybe it's my paint!

Last edited by Lyoko; Oct 2, 2010 at 07:06 AM.
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 05:01 PM
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Originally Posted by dj tes
my fourth gens paint took a beating lol and my 3rd gen is sun faded on the roof and trunk. great looking 4th gen max ride 41. nice retrofits too
thanks man, i have to say she is my favorite out of all my cars so i detail the shiz out of her and polish her every 2 days or so. the retro's were a pain, finally got em where i like the output and everything.
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 05:14 PM
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i think most 4th gens hold up pretty well other then the reds and blacks.
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 05:50 PM
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Mine has a lot of road rash up front and desperately needs a good compounding job. Not too bad overall. My rear window trim moldings are oxidized and are starting to just barely show signs of surface rust. This car is a never ending project...
Old Sep 22, 2010 | 07:53 PM
  #21  
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I have a handful of chips. Clearcoat is fading on the hood and literally flaking off of the top of the passenger fender
Old Sep 23, 2010 | 12:49 PM
  #22  
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my paint is ok, few little things from the car being so old, just needs a polish
Old Sep 23, 2010 | 01:53 PM
  #23  
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hmm paint... front not so good, lots of road wear and of course the area that had the license frame won't seem to come clean, I have a keyed mark down my passenger side - fender, both doors... if not for that my paint would look good - but I'm running 72 miles a day in this car (well currently my wife is putting the miles on it...)
Old Sep 23, 2010 | 05:49 PM
  #24  
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My 98 Max just has rock chips in the hood and fenders. The pearl white still shines when washed.
Old Sep 24, 2010 | 10:09 AM
  #25  
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Clear coat is chipping (no doubt from lack of maint - waxing), but mainly in areas where there was dents and such.
Old Sep 24, 2010 | 10:22 AM
  #26  
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It's holding up like Jello nailed to a tree.
Old Sep 24, 2010 | 10:56 AM
  #27  
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Paints doing alright, has chips as usual do to snowy winter and lots of rock on the road, but a good wax job and biweekly washes keep it ship shape the rocker panels are the worste for chips:/....and being black...neverending job to keep it spotless
Old Sep 24, 2010 | 11:57 AM
  #28  
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not to bad ,except the back of the roof by the back window is starting to fade.
Old Sep 24, 2010 | 12:45 PM
  #29  
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Anyone who personally saw my old Maxima knows the condition it was in.

All original paint, smooth as glass and shiny as hell. I took care of that car. I took more care of it than I take care of my M. Black is just a ****ty color. I will never own another dark colored car again. White or silver for me from now on.

(The Maxima was Sunlit Sand)
Old Sep 24, 2010 | 01:01 PM
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My max is a new color. Literally at night shes described by every officer to be silver (tickets to prove it), but during the day shes peb bei.

Chips and scrapes on the front bumper cover, the pass side front quarter is peeling from a crappy paint job at the top right near the windshield, and the rear bumper cover is chipped a small amount... the rear quarters both have some rust and i said **** it and sprayed undercoating on them to protect them.

Lots of dings and dents.

But.. shes 13 years old now.. with 310,000 miles what do you expect?
Old Sep 24, 2010 | 02:23 PM
  #31  
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Not so good, front bumper is faded and chipped, and hood has many chips as well. My 06 Altima's bumper is even worse with the chips, definitely getting repainted in the near future. It happens, a lot of it is location related.
Old Sep 24, 2010 | 07:50 PM
  #32  
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clear coat is clouding big time on the roof and it is gone off the spoiler. I have the Deep Forest Green, DPO color code. It looks black when its cleaned and more green the dirtier it gets lol.
Old Sep 26, 2010 | 09:52 AM
  #33  
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Florida sun beat mine down.. no more clear on rooftop..minor dents and dings.. with it all being faded. If it was kept up from the earlier owner stages, it be mint.. lol

can't tell from the pic in my sig.. But am shopping around looking @ similar paint color gold/bronze issshh.. Preferably infiniti, mercedes color codes...this color is horrible, but a slight shade difference willl make it look nice, and won't have to worry too much about engine bay and door jams.
Old Sep 26, 2010 | 08:14 PM
  #34  
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my paint is doing great....hey that rhymes. Anyway I use to wash the car at least once a week and polish and wax my max at least once a month so it has held up really well....I neglected the hard to reach places like the rocker panels which take the most damage and being that my max was my daily driver for 6 years through snow salt and rain the rockers took a major hit and have pretty much rotted out. No worries its going into the shop and being all replaced and the cost will far exceed the value of the car but being my first car it has sentimental value and I feel the cost is worth it. But that is neither here nor there the rest of the paint is in fine shape for nearly 11 years old.
Old Sep 26, 2010 | 09:06 PM
  #35  
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Mine is sorta fading, thinking about repainting it black, not feeling the burgundy color anymore.
Old Sep 29, 2010 | 04:56 PM
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my 95 is getting some bad sun fade but i am sittin on 180k. trying to decide if i want to repaint it factory color. if i do that i want to keep it for as long as possible. but dont know how it will hold up when i get above 200k how is yours holding up?

if there are any suggestions hit me up with them i am open to them all and i dont want to do a 3.5 swap wont have money for that anytime soon
Old Sep 29, 2010 | 05:00 PM
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The paint on my 99' is decent. The front bumper and hood have a fair share of rock chips. The rear wheel well lips needed some rust maintenance this spring. It just got its first dent last weekend. My mom grazed the front fender with her MDX and dented it slightly. Should be able to fix it.
Old Oct 1, 2010 | 12:02 PM
  #38  
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Lets just say I've seen better. HK3
Old Oct 1, 2010 | 04:06 PM
  #39  
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No fading, But chips and dings here and there. The bumpers are an entirely different story, paint is just flaking off. It's like dried wax. Makes me all kinds of sad.
Old Oct 1, 2010 | 05:09 PM
  #40  
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Mine looks terrific...but only because it was just repainted. It looked like crap for the previous five years. The first owner didn't take care of it at all. I plan on keeping it perfect for the next five years. Weekly washes and monthly wax-jobs should do it.






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