I know it's been beat to death, but I am truly dissappointed/disgusted with the quality of the Infiniti paint. It's the softest, most fragile paint I have ever seen.

I had the chance to detail the car yesterday, and could not believe the number of chips, even on the side of the car. The front bumper has some really nasty gouges.

I realize not having a bra or other protection is a problem, but compared to the wife's '07 Acura MDX, it's outrageous. The MDX has 30K of mostly highway miles (it's the family road trip ride), while my G has 13K miles of mostly commuting on secondary roads.

While at the Acura dealer yesterday getting the MDX serviced, I took a look at the new TL's. I have to admit I'm tempted based on how the paint is holding-up on my G. Factor in the whole ester oil thing now ($12/quart for an oil change?), and I'm getting pretty depressed.

The sad part is that I really love my car. It's gorgeous and drives great. I love the power and handling. The negatives are just starting to add up. I can get a new SH-AWD TL for $9,000 and my car. Sadly, the trade-in value of the G is only $30,000. That's life.

I guess I'm worried about where the whole engine thing is going. This is the first car I haven't run Mobil 1 because of all the contradictory comments here.

Am I over-reacting to the engine issue? I admit to not even really understanding the problem. If I'm going to unload this thing, now's the time to do it. The paint is only going to get worse, and the chance of the engine developing the knocking problem (?) exists. Also, I'm starting to finally hear the roof creaking. What's next?

Cheer me up guys!

 

Cheer you up? I'm all kinds of depressed now. I need cheering up too. I don't know much about this specific oil issue yet either but I do know that the more advanced engines are dependant on certain oils (and for different reasons).

The paint issue is really depressing.

 

I had a clear bra installed shortly after buying.... drive a lot on the freeway and have 0 issues with my front bumper/hood/fenders (in regards to chips).... i took advantage of every package infiniti offered (wheel/tire, dent, paint/enviro, leather) and its completely covered with bumper to bumper warranty. I mean WTF if anything happens to it, its covered.

Heres a tissue.

 

Its not just Infiniti having issues with soft paint... its pretty much everyone. The EPA laws enacted over the last several years prevent many of the hardeners and chemicals from being used any more. I have a clear bra business so I am in many different forums ands hear the same thing over and over. I guess its good for my business but I think its ridiculous that the EPA is as out of control as it is. Well our entire government for that matter.

 

The paint on these cars suck, my Cadillac has 85k highway miles, and I drive it in the snow, rain, ect, and it has NO chips on the hood or front bumper.

 

I've got to agree with Tom. My wife's MDX has hardly any chips with more than twice the mileage.

 

you have to realize that the mdx is higher up.... i only had a few dings on my pilot and that has 88k miles on it my 37..... its like a christmas tree white on black on white on gray blsah blah

 

Sorry folks, but another vote for the "G" paint SUCKING. I have had 5 Lexus in the past and I thought the Lexus was soft paint... it's 500% harder than this stuff - I feel like my car was painted with my kids watecolors or a coat of my wife's fingernail polish (she's always complaining of chips). This is definitely the softest paint I've ever seen... I have 20k miles on my and all 5 Lexus had at least 4x this with little to no chips/dings.

Lee

 

Your G sits closer to the ground than your MDX.

Don't forget that.

 

im interested in seeing how my "self-healing" 09 clear coat holds up. i decided not to go with a clear bra this time around.

as far as the oil, just go with a quality full synthetic. ester oil isnt any better for the engine.

 

^ The self healing is only for swirls. It will not heal/prevent/remove chips.

 

+1, the self healing paint won't do much when it chips off.

 

true. i guess after having a beat up clear bra on for over 3 years, i decided this time id just repaint if it got bad enough. might even start taping my front for long road trips lol.

 

the reason for our rock chips are that our cars are pretty LOW!

 

^^^ i thought it was because of the rocks