Just when I am ready to get a new 2002 SE Max a friend told me about poor paint quality on the new max. Paint runs, or oxidation or chips etc. I searched the net and found many references in usenet Nissan groups bashing the Max's paint quality.

Can I hear it from the expert? Is this a general problem for all Nissans or just the Max? I have a 99.5 Pathfinder and have no problem with the paint. If it is just Max then I may consider the Altima now.

Thanks in advance.

 

I have a 99 and the paint is awsome. BUT the overall concessus on this board is that the new models (5th gen) have poor paint. It chips easily is the biggest complaint.

 

Poor paint / paint chips is one of the long outstanding issues/complaints of the Gen5 Maxima owners

Tip: Get a nose mask or the 3M Clear Bra.

 

Or just repaint it like I did. No more chips

 

You have got to be kidding me! You have a 2000 Max and you have repainted it already? Does anyone know if this is the same problem with the 2K2 Altima? I know I should not ask Altima questions on a Max forum... but...

 

I really think the problems are specific to certain colors. I don't have a single chip on the front of my car and have nearly 35K miles on it. I too have been known to tailgate on occassion.

I think black Maximas has been the biggest issue. Too bad because it is my favorite color!

 

Our pearl white 2K GXE had several stone chips on the hood in the 18 months before we traded it for the 2K2 SE, plus chips or flakes off the door guards. The new blue 2K2 SE got it's first stone chip on the hood on its 4th day. But I'm good at touching them up, so something like that was not even a factor for me when buying them. This car offers too much other great stuff at its price to worry about a few stone chips that can easily be touched up.

 

read the thread with 12,000+ views..
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=25984

 

i got a paint chip on my 2k2 spoiler

 

i have the same problem with mine... i have about 20 chips on my bumper and hood..

 

lol

 

I have a 2001 SE AE with the grey lustre finish, and I've noticed a few chips myself. When I picked it up from Pallone Nissan in Springfield, VA, it had scratches on the hood, 3 of them, each about 6 inches long. They buffed them out, but I'm not satisfied with the results. If you pick up your new car and it has scratches, MAKE SURE the dealer sends it to a BODY SHOP to be taken care of!

I don't like the look of a bra, but I realize it can save the paint. Does anyone have a link to a pic of the clear bra?

JV

 

Clear bra installed on a 2001 Maxima:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=88022

 

I saw a sunlit sand 5th gen Maxima in the parking lot and its hood and front bumper was riddled in small chips. It looked horrible. I'm thinking about the 3M clear bra again.

 

Heres a old pic{beofre drop and cleared headlights} of my 2002 with a clear bra.



Now you know why it's called a clear bra

 

Wow it took me several hours to read through many of those posts on the original thread to get an idea what is going on. I am not interested to start the same thread again here.

So let me rephrase a different question - is the same paint chip problem exhibited on 2002 Max Sterling Mist? Who else has a 2002 model with paint chip problems?

 

Black 2002 Max owner here. One stonechip in the driver side door. IMO, the paint is definitely more prone to get easily damaged (chips, marks, scratches) than in any of the other cars I have owned. This is my first black car though.

 

My new 2002 Sterling Mist Maxima GXE unfortunately came w/a small chip (that was touched up) on the hood. The dealer I bought it from had to have it driven up (since GXEs are rare) from another dealer in Oregon (about 150 miles away) so either the the Oregon dealer got it that way (and touched it up) or it was as result of the drive up.

I bought the car on 11/30/01 and so far have only about 1400 miles on it and I've got another chip now. If I get another soon, I'm gonna get a clear bra.

Yeah, it seems like it chips pretty easily to me. I almost no chips on my old car (a white 91 Toyota Camry w/91.5k miles) which I just sold recently. I used to drive a white 93 Dodge Caravan (don't laugh) for about a 1.5 years and it didn't chip easily either.

The worst car paint we've had in my family was on our family's light blue 78 Chevy Malibu Classic. The paint would peel off in pretty large splotches.

 

I've had my 2k2 for two days now...Friday morning, I made an appointment for Saturday to have my tint and clear bra done. Friday evening, I come out of the Dairy Queen with my family, and as I'm walking up to the car, I see this white spot on my hood. Yep, my first chip...with a grand total of 90 miles on the car. Even worse, it was right on the borderline of where the bra was going to go.

So, I had to stop by the local Nissan dealer first thing this morning and pick up a bottle of Super Black touchup so that the bra installer could touch up the chip before applying the material. Very, very annoying.

On the plus side, the tint and bra looks great. I had the entire front end completely wrapped, and the headlights/foglights, not just the normal hood/mirrors coverage that most of those guys do.