little rust spots color.
-I have a Icelandic Pearl color & washed my car very detailed today. Lookly closely @ my paint it looks like the paint has little rust spots color? Anybody else have this?

 

I have the same color 2000 SE and have noticed those spots too, specially in the lower part of the car.....

 

I got those suckers all over the hood man
.Same color, same year.I noticed mine about 6 months ago.I"m starting to run out of touch- up paint.I wonder if the dealership can do something about it?

 

Same problems here. I'm truely disappointed with the maxima's paint quality.

 

I have an inside connection at a dealership. I've been meaning to find out if they can do anything about this. I will let you know if they can do anything about it.

 

i have an icelandic pearl max too. i fully detailed mine tuesday, and today i dropped another coat of klasse on it. beautiful.

well back to the topic. can you feel the spots?? if you can, i'm pretty sure it's just a matter of cleaning the paint. even if you can't feel it, you might be able to take the spots off using a clay bar. my paint looks very very white, i claybarred mine tuesday, it's amazing. if you need more details on detailing, let me know. i can go on and on.

 

Take your car to the dealer.. I had a white spot about the size of an apple under the paint on my hood. I took my car to the dealer and they had a paint inspector come to the dealership a couple days later and look at my car. Two days later my car was in the body shop getting the hood repainted under warrenty (I had 13000 miles at the time).

The whole process was about 1 week to 10 days. I was very happy with the service. They will cover defects with the paint without a problem. Things like paint chips happen to every car and are not covered of course. Good luck!

 

i dont have the white but my super black even after its washed and waxed; ive got these funny looking white spots that appear to be under the clear coat. i know the paint is weak in general but its most noticeable on the sides. its like the paint didnt bake properly.

 

sloppy can you feel the spots??

 

2000 GLE Icelandic pearl same damn problem.

 

Have the dealer put a heat gun up to the white spots... I bet they go away

 

The man knows what he's talking about!! What you are seeing, especially on the white color is rail dust. 90% of the vehicles in this country are transported by rail at one point in their lifetime. It has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Nissan's paint quality.

A clay bar will take that and every other possible paint contaminant out of your car's finish. After claying your car's finish will be as smooth as glass. Clay bars are a detailer's best friend and should be considered MANDATORY for any car freak!!

 

no. they are real visible but you cant feel anything. i was going to try a clay bar but i figured it wouldnt help since i cant feel them. maybe ill try anyways. any other suggestions?

 

How do you use that "claybar"? I am sorry, I am very very new to all this. Is it hard to use? How does it work?
Thanks for the help

 

Who do I get this "claybar"? (pep boys?)...also is it a actually bar & how does it work? Also is there only 1 brand that makes this?

Thanks so far for the responses...

 

Yes you can get them at Pep Boys. I am positive both Meguiars and Mother's both make them. Also I am pretty sure Zaino Bros makes one. For more details read info in the Cleaning Your Max thread at the top of "5th Generation (2000+) page, many people in there have discussed them. The directions will also be on the clay bar packaging itself I'm sure.

 

you can get mother's clay bar at walmart. i think that's where i've seen it the cheapest. try to stay away from meguire's bar, cause it tends to leave residue behind if it isn't used correctly.

clay bar is easy to use. you wet the surface (a supplied lube comes with the clay bar or you can use car wash mix) then just pass the clay bar with medium pressure over the paint. if you drop the bar, you should throw it away. so cut the bar into pieces before you start. keep on going over the paint till it's smooth as a baby's but.

here's my procedure to detail the car when it feels not so smooth. wash the car with DAWN to strip all old wax, then clay bar, then wash with normal car wash to get all Dawn and clay residue off. then i go ahead with the polish and then the wax or in my case klasse all in one, then klasse sealant glaze.

 

Victor,what brand of clay bar are you using?

 

i use mothers. i used to use meguirs, and it did a good job also, it just left some residue behind when the surface wasn't lubed enough. and the residue was a pain to get off.

 

ok I went to wal-mart today & bought the clay bar-- now it came w/ a wax I believe & spray bottle of something (sorry I forgot the bag in the garage & dont feel like going to get it this late).

My question Victor since you seemed very experienced-- how do you begin or proceed w/ this procedure of using the clay bar? (do you wash or wax car first?) thanks--

p.s.-- this month & i will have my car about a year-- should i wax my car b/c i never did? if so what brand should i get? also whats the best way to wax? w/ the buffer machine or by hand? Thanks alot

 

You definitely don't want to wax the car before you clay bar. The clay bar will remove wax. If you really want to detail your car and get it looking sharp here's what you need to do:
1) Wash the car with Dawn dishwashing liquid. Don't make a habit of this, but it won't harm the finish to do it occasionally. Dawn will strip any wax off the car. I know you said you've never waxed it but sometimes the dealers put crap on the cars. It's best to start with a clean slate so I'd use Dawn this first time even if you don't think there's any wax on the car.
2) Clay bar the car. Use Dawn or regular car wash as a lubricant. Make sure the surface is lubed up (really soapy) or the clay bar will streak (called tracking) on the finish and I've heard it's a pain to get it off. Clay it in small sections using moderate pressure. You don't have to rub real hard but don't go too light either. You can actually feel the finish getting smoother when you clay it. It'll remove tree sap, those little rust dots and even take out some tiny scratches. After you've done a little section you'll see all the crap that the clay bar takes out.
3) After you're done with the claying I usually wash the car once more just to get all the water spots off. Claying will probably take you 2-3 hours.
4) Apply your favorite wax. There's tons of good ones out there.... Zaino, Blackfire, Finish First, etc.

 

golden said everything that i would say. except when you clay used the enclosed spray to lube the car's paint surface. do small sections at a time.

so do this:
1. wash with dawn.
2. then clay bar (no need to dry the car fromt he dawn washing).
3. then i'd wash the car with a car wash, not dawn (dawn will leave a thin residue).
4. dry the car.
5. apply wax.

regarding the best wax, a lot of people have their opinions, and most of them on this board like zaino. zaino is a bit expensive and it's supposed to look great on darker colors. i myself went with klasse. i got in on a group deal on the autopia forum, both parts for $35.00. great stuff. blackfire is also very good. these are all synthetic waxes, not carnuba's.

if you want to get your wax local, i don't think you'll be able to find any of these, but i might be wrong. if you want to avoid ordering online and get something local, i think the meguire's proffesional series of waxes and polishes is good. they are natural carnuba waxes. make sure you get the proffesional series though, they come in the beige bottles, not the red ones.

 

How often should you claybar your car??

 

If you haven't clayed your car since you got it, its probably fallout. It's basically the metals off the Railroad when being shipped got burnt into the paint from the brakes on the trains. Alot of dealers do not remove this, and its very noticeable on white.

 

only claybar when neccessary. once you clay bar, and feel how smooth it is after clay-barring. then you'll know when you have to, it's a big difference.