2009 Rogue paint is flimsy ?

[rouge-rogue]

My pants have plastic buttons at the back pocket and yesterday I parked very close to a parking lot wall, I opened the door and not wanting to hit the wall, I only opened it enough to get out but the button hit the inside door paint job close to where the door latch is beside the seat and I heard a scraping noise which made me open the door wider and the door hit the wall DAMN !!! I looked at the paint at the edge of the door and at the paint at the door latch and both are scratched, I have a red Rogue and I can see white. I cant believe how flimsy the paint are.

[philipa_240sx]

This has been a common complaint with a lot of newer cars. Due to tightening paint emission requirements, many auto mfg's are switching to water borne paint/process. The Rogue is built in Kyushu, Japan that just recently converted to water borne paints.

It seems the newer paint is very soft compared to the older solvent based paints. Hence easier scratching. Unfortunately this is going to be more commonplace as water borne paints are becoming the norm for a lot of mfg's. Hopefully the process will improve and the paints will be come more durable. A good example is the 'self healing' paint Nissan introduced on Infiniti models. Hopefully this paint will become standard on many more Nissan's in the future.

[kerrton]

My Rogue paint is in perfect condition after 1.5 years and one hard winter on sanded roads, but perhaps I've just been lucky.

I really wonder if this paint takes a year or more to fully cure and harden up. My wife bought a new Mazda 3 and in the first year that car was COVERED in rock chips, I couldn't believe it. I touched most of them up, and since that first year the pain has been great, barely any scratches or pits in the last 3.5 years, the paint seems to have all of a sudden become very durable!!! Just some observations and a thought, perhaps your Rogue paint will get better over time too, and also perhaps paint care will play a role (pain sealant, wax).

[metabo]

When I bought my Rogue, the dealer mentioned something about recent car paints being flimsy due to EPA standards and recommended I get some paint sealer treatment, which I declined.

I guess he was right about the recent paint delicacy / EPA issues, but I can't imagine what the paint sealer treatment would be, sounds like a just fancy name for car wax. Are there any actual permanant car paint sealants around?

[ncsu]

Even sealants are not perminant - they should be used as a base to wax over. Nothing will protect the shine better than proper washing, drying, and waxing.

I have been using Liquid Glass. You can get it OTC at many auto stores for between 20-25 http://www.shopmpt.com/liquidg....html

The shine is great. It is a stackable product which allows you to build up multiple coats to give a deep shine with. Below is a pic of my S with about 5-6 coats of LG on it.



One other plug for it. When I was back in NC visiting my parents last year we addressed the much neglected finish on my mom's car, and my dad's. We went out to run a errand and ran into one of his golf buddies. He asked when my dad got a new car. He said we had just washed and LGed it. By the end of the weekend all of his golf pals had run out and gotten LG and every store was sold out. I should have been charging the company for advertisement.

[crayb]

Love that S, I'm so sad to see it being d/c'ed.

I can vouch for the thin paint. I have 4 newer cars with chips all over the hoods and front bumper covers. My 92 Miata has less paint dings/chips than my RX. I have the clear protection film on the G and it has nicks/chips in it so there is no easy solution.

Rogue-rogue, maybe you could buy some of the door edge guards, black plastic edging found at most auto parts stores that just slip on with a little finger pressure. You can trim it to fit your door. I'd add a pic but that is beyond my level of patience here.

Ray


Modified by crayb at 7:01 PM 10/2/2009

[rouge-rogue]

Hi Crayb, Yes thats what I did, I bought the transparent door edge guard from Canadian tire for $4.99 which comes with 2 slivers of plastic protector, each sliver is good for almost 70% of the whole door edge, so I had to buy 3 of those to protect all 4 doors. But still it sucks that the paint is so flimsy. Makes you wonder if its worth waxing it often vs repainting the whole thing (might be cool to get a color that is unique too).

[crayb]

Got my Rogue in June, haven't waxed it yet. Old school think waiting on the paint to cure. It's definitely on my "to do" list though. Thoroughly enjoying the cooler weather.. perfect for car detailing.

Ray

[Nissannate25]

I agree, and have found the same things with my Rogue. I have an '08. I haven't even had it for a year and it already has a couple nice rock chips in the front bumper and a scuff on the edge of the driver's side door not too mention a nick or two in the rear bumper. The paint just seems to be very soft and easy to scratch. The few other Nissan's I have had in the past ('04 or previous years) had much more durable paint and scratched much less.

[lou from ny]

Rogue,i've also got the venom....today my wife showed me 2 spots on the rear passenger door where there is a long strip of metal showing. the paint is totally gone. yes door edge guard will cover the bare metal, but i certainly didn't expect this from a car that is 5 months old. what crappy quality. i wonder what my dealer will say....probably that it's not covered and i did it myselfgood lucklou

[casperfun]

I must agree, rock hit my hood and I see a very very tiny chip with white on my 2 month old rogue. While my family's 2009 Lancer. Year old purchase last year has no rock damage like mine. In process of ordering a hood/bug deflector.

[rouge-rogue]

Well, I am planning to start a new paint fund for my Rogue, basically I will put extra change/ rewards from credit card into a high interest savings account. I suppose in 5 years or so when the paint looks all chipped and stuff I can use the fund to get a new coat of paint. I dont think buying a hood deflector is worth the investment since that will only protect your hood. Anyone know approx how much would it cost to repaint the whole car ?

[kerrton]

It'll cost way more than it's worth to re-paint the car. Cars just don't hold their value long enough and something like a paint job on a car that's 6-8 years old just isn't worth it since it costs a ton and you'll never recoupe much in resale value.

My paint is in great condition (don't know why I'm different, we have harsh winters here and I get pelted with sand and rocks all the time), but I did add a hood deflector which I installed myself and it was a great investment, like 100 bucks for the part and free install (very easy) and my paint and windshield is very well protected - good return on investment for 100 bucks. When I do get nicks I'll use the Nissan two phase paint repair system, costs 20 bucks which again will give me a good return on investment. Once the car is 10 years old it'll be sure to have quite a few nicks but that shouldn't affect the resale value too bad because that's to be expected on a 10 year old vehicle, and to be honest once a car is over 10 years old it's not worth a whole ton of money anyway, and to drop $3 or 4 grand on a quality paint job would be money down the drain, since the whole car will be worth under $10 grand by then for sure.

Just my two cents.

[rouge-rogue]

Not really all concerned about the resale value, we plan to own this car for a long time and drive it till it drops. However you do bring up a good point. maybe after 5 years I can evaluate how much a new coat of paint would cost vs just selling the car and getting a new one. My guess is that it might be cheaper to just repaint the car. I dont expect the paint job to cost more than 2k, besides I know a couple of auto body schools that would do the paint job for just the price of paint and shop materials.