2002 Infinity QX4 Factory Paint Quality

[NPhinitty]

Hello, everyone -

I'm a newbie here, am contemplating the purchase of a 2002 Infinity QX4 and am hoping to get some opinions.

I consider myself to be somewhat of paint/body guru, but am having some serious trouble determining if this particular QX4 has had paint work. The owner, whom I (so far) feel I can trust, has assured me it's the original paint. My concern stems from the amount of orange peel visible all over the body. I realize that newer cars show more orange peel because of paint requirements and the process, but the QX4's paint is definitely exhibits a bit more orange peel than normal. There are no signs of overspray, sand marks, tape lines, blending or anything like that.

So, my question to you all is, has anyone experienced anything similar with their Nissan products? Also, the hood fluttered a little bit at highway speeds. I'm not sure if that's common with QX4/Pathfinders, or if the bump stops needed adjustment.

Anyway, thanks for any responses/help!

- Matt -

[Buzzman]

Sounds a little fishy to me.Mine is original, and even with the bad winters here, my 02 Pathy doesn't exhibit the symptoms you describe.Good luck.

[joestrummer77]

Hi:

The paint issue sounds iffy to me.....I have a black 2002 with great paint, and the other QX4's running around town exhibit none of the type of "peel" you refer to. I'd look at the OEM sticker that lists the paint type/name/code and verify thru Nissan that there are no reported issues with that run. Sticker better match the current color!!!!!! Also do a wide sweep search of internet, not thru forums, but thru google, yahoo, whatever, to see if even one other reported /documented case has occurred with you particular color. Also check TSB's thru edmunds dot com. What color (Nissan's exact nomenclature) are we referring to here?

The hood issue is typical of 2001/2s...but I do not believe it can be rectified without significant modification. Just one of those little quirks!

Hope this helps alleviate any fears you may have,

Nick

[fueler]

my 99 hood lifts up and shakes a little bit at speed... some people think its popped when they sit shotgun and i do have a little bit of orange peel on both bumpers and the step rails, but not on any metal of the car

actually, upon closer inspection, i guess if you look close enough you might see SOME orange peel.... (and a lot of dust - i live by a freeway)

Modified by fueler at 10:14 PM 7/13/2008
Modified by fueler at 10:15 PM 7/13/2008

[slickroger]

whats this orange peel you are all refering to?

[NPhinitty]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I did perform research using a few search engines to determine if this was an issue from the factory, and I found quite a few articles around how Nissan had some issues with paint quality around '02 and '03. Premature/unnecessary chipping and orange peel were amongst the most prevalent complaints.

joestrummer77, I don't know the paint code off hand, as the car is approximately 4 hours away from me right now (I viewed it while out of town over the weekend). It appeared to be a standard black color option (no metallic or special paint variations of the color).

slickroger, 'orange peel' is what the automotive industry refers to when the surface of your paint has slightly textured finish that somewhat resembles the surface of an orange peel. Several manufacturers' cars have SOME orange peel from the factory, and it's often a byproduct of a poor aftermarket paint job.

Does anyone know what this paint code might be? I'll try a search later today.

Thanks, again, for all the input!

[carnal_c30]

Nissan Black is KH3 Superblack

what I would suggest to you is go to a nissan dealer and check out the paint on their new cars. There is a bit of orange peel on them new from the factory if you look carefully but nothing too bad.even better would be to find a super clean Qx4 at a local infiniti dealer or a similar year nissan/infiniti and check it out.

the hood thing, for me in crosswinds on the freeway I can see the hood move a bit and the hood is a pretty thin piece of metal.

if it is moving alot it could mean that it has been adjusted improperly and is not resting on the bumpstops.

[NPhinitty]

I bought it! I was confident enough in the paint being original that I purchased it and picked it up Tuesday evening. I've already taken it to a Nissan / Infinity dealer who confirmed it's never had ANY body work.

So far, I love the car!

[fueler]

ive had mine for over 4 years and still love it... ive never loved one vehicle for this long, i used to buy and sell every 2 years....

youll be very happy