Dilemma: If I get the 19" sport rims, will installing snow chains scratch up the black finish?

Proposed answer: if it will scratch it up, I'll likely get them with summer tires and keep the 18" stock rims for winter driving. I'd hate the two snow days a year to ruin a nice set of rims. If they should be good, I'll put all seasons on them part ways with the stock 18"s.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Living in Canada, I have never used chains on a vehicle, even when I lived in a city that averaged 14 feet of snow a season. I just opt for winter tires with an aggressive tread. If you are interested in winter tires, this months Car and Driver magazine has a comparison test of tires and the Nokian R2 was the winner. I have run this tire on my Maxima's for 7 winters with awesome results

 

Chains is not recommended if you have a very low clearance between the tire and the fender, since if the chain does break apart , which will hit the fender or worse, tangle up in the cv axle. which I have seen that happened. You have FWD and it's a pretty heavy car, so I don't think necessarily need snow chain, however if you have summer tires but not all season, then I think it's ideal to invest in set of snow tires as a back up for the winter then you can switch back to your 19inch tires.