Yahoo breaks news about scratch resistant paint

[ayap888]

Felt like tellin them that we already have it in our car. It's like they've never heard of it before.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/...ating

[jonkarn]

I've been meaning to ask this question about the paint. Will the paint heal scratches if it hasn't been exposed to heat or sunlight for a while? Lets say I got my car in December, and it is garaged. I dont drive much, it has been frigid, and there are swirls from the car wash. Will those swirls "heal" once the warm weather comes around and the car is out in the heat/sun more? Or does the healing need to take place sooner after the scratches occur? Don't know how anyone would answer this especially since I dont really see any straight answers from Infiniti about the paint. Seems as though its almost experimental and they dont really know how well it will work in the real world

[ayap888]

As I know it, once it heats up, it's gonna heal fast. Just like thawing frozen food.

[kamiguy]

Sounds like it's only good for scratches and not swirl marks from repeated car washings since they admit it can only heal itself in the same spot once. If our paint is good for small scratches also, then we have the best of both worlds!

[stickface]

http://www.nissan-global.com/E...RATCH/

You can see in the diagram it doesn't "spring back" all the way, so it reduces the depth of the scratch, not eliminate it entirely.

[BrokenTiller]

The Globe & Mail (Canada's national newspaper) had a large article on page 2 of the Saturday paper about this mysterious new paint discovery. No mention that we have had it for over a year. In the interest of science and to satisfy everyone's curiosity, I will drive from Toronto to Florida tomorrow and let you know what happens on a holiday from the Great White North.

Skiing yesterday and on the beach in two days. First REAL road trip for the EX besides skiing every weekend. Family of four (2 teenage daughters) and we can't fit everything in the EX, so I am using our Yakima SkyBox Pro to add some roof storage. My wife would prefer we take the larger Saab 9-5 Combi Wagon but I can't resist taking the newer toy. 2500 kilometers to Naples, so good opportunity to really test everything but the spare tire (I hope). Also hope to avoid "smokey" on the US highways.

[ayap888]

http://www.nissan-global.com/E...RATCH/

You can see in the diagram it doesn't "spring back" all the way, so it reduces the depth of the scratch, not eliminate it entirely.

Well ... the article said "The paint also repairs fine scratches, restoring a vehicle's surface close to its original state." So, while maybe not entire ... it's going to be almost like new ... like 95% - 98%.

If you're 8 feet away, you're probably not going to notice that 5%-3% difference.

[RCHarris]

YMMV - I have been testing this "scratch resistant" paint for almost a year. My car has received a few minor scuffs, not enough to cut through clear coat but enough to notice. The self healing paint does not work on these scuffs.The car also had some buffing marks and towel spiders from hand washing. The self healing paint does work to some degree (not totally) to fix these problems, eventually.

A thorough clay, wash and hand wax will do the same job however. I am concerned about the paint's ability to handle a detailer's buffing machine though. The paint is very soft as a result of the added components. Buffers work by heat transfer. Heating up this particular paint with friction makes me uncomfortable.

In my opinion, this product is not yet ready for prime time. At this point it's mostly a sales gimmick. I hope they continue to develop this paint and really perfect it for all applications. My belief is that if it was truly revolutionary, every car company would have adopted it already. I think we EX owners are beta-test mules. Just my opinion.Randy

[cjre1]

Does any one know for a fact that a buffer machine will damage the paint?

[jonkarn]

I agree that it may be somewhat of a gimmick. I seem to have many fine scratches that haven't "healed", and besides that the paint is soooooo soft, that i can run my hand lightly over the surface and cause small scratches. Very sensitive paint, which seems to counter any positive effect it has from "healing" scratches.