Hello. I'm new here and this is my first post. I've a question about the body paint. I purchased a 2008 Pathfinder SE 4x4 in CA (white) about 3 weeks ago. It has 28000 miles and 6 month original warranty left. Last week, I purchased extended warranty (84mo/100k) at local Nissan dealer at $1890 (Gold Plus).
My wife and I went on the first road trip last weekend and have driven about 1k miles. During the trip, I was driving the vehicle normally and didn't go to any extreme places nor off road. Just normal driving and no abuse.
After the long road trip, I washed the car today and tried to wax it. Then, I noticed that on the bottom rear corner of both right and left rear doors, and the bottom frame of the car (right bellow the rear edge of the door) showed many tiny spots. I first thought they were tar or some kind of oil from the road, but as I closely looked at it, those were actually the paint come off and showed silver metal of the body. Seems like small rocks hit the bottom of door and paints came off. I've owned 94' Pathfinder, 99' 4Runner, 04' Highlander...and other SUVs in the past and had gone to more extreme places. However, I've never had such a thing before.
So, I'm curious if my vehicle came with defective paint which might be covered under warranty? Or is this sort of normal for recent Nissan trucks? After I read other people's similar posts online, I've a feeling that Nissan will deny for warranty re-paint job. So, should I just re-paint it at the body shop and pay that by myself? Or is it worth bringing the vehicle to the Nissan dealership?
I would appreciate for any professional advice.
Thank you for your time.
2008 SE possible defective paint question
Moderator: volvite
I've had paint issues since day one, peeling, spotting, fading. Nissan will unlikely do an entire respray but said due to it's history and clearly defective paint work from the factory they will repair that "section" EVERY TIME provided the vehicle is serviced by them. I'm ok with that. It's been in 6 times in 2 years.
COOL..
if your paint issue is due to a defect, and you have warranty coverage for it, they should repair it for you.
the sticky part is the term "defect".
if the paint issue can be attributed to any kind of damage (sand, gravel, rock chips, corrosion, etc.), your warranty (or warrantees) may exclude it.
you have to read your warranty policies very carefully, and perhaps consult a body shop (a good & reputable one) to determine the cause of the problem.
with all this info, if you feel that the paint is defective, you can approach the Nissan dealer for warranty consideration.
dealerships will notoriously avoid a warranty repair in this sort of situation, which is why it's best to do your homework first.
the sticky part is the term "defect".
if the paint issue can be attributed to any kind of damage (sand, gravel, rock chips, corrosion, etc.), your warranty (or warrantees) may exclude it.
you have to read your warranty policies very carefully, and perhaps consult a body shop (a good & reputable one) to determine the cause of the problem.
with all this info, if you feel that the paint is defective, you can approach the Nissan dealer for warranty consideration.
dealerships will notoriously avoid a warranty repair in this sort of situation, which is why it's best to do your homework first.
Seems Nissan in the US are too sticky, here in SA they gave me NO hassles, although chances are by the time we're done they'd have resprayed the whole car...point being they reckon even 5 years down the line I can bring it FREE of charge.
I've found with all my warranty claims honesty is best. It's for this reason I have 3 other Nissans. Attitude to claims.
Perhaps let them know what Nissan do in other countries re poor paint work - it happens.
If you don't win you could go the legal route and argue that the paint work is "Not fit for purpose"
I've found with all my warranty claims honesty is best. It's for this reason I have 3 other Nissans. Attitude to claims.
Perhaps let them know what Nissan do in other countries re poor paint work - it happens.
If you don't win you could go the legal route and argue that the paint work is "Not fit for purpose"
Thank you for your reply. I greatly appreciate your time and advice. I've visited 3 local Nissan dealers in SF bay area and a few more body shops today. As expected, all Nissan dealers said the paint damage seems like rock chips so it will not be covered under warranty. One body shop said, the layers of paint looks very thin and it doesn't look normal. Even after going to off road, paint shouldn't come off this easily. (This is what I thought)
So, called 800-Nissan-1 for customer service. After the long conversation, they took my case, and told me that areal manager will be contacting me within a day, and inspecting the vehicle. However, I had a feeling that the result would be the same.
Therefore, although I didn't want to do this, I decided to contact Nissan headquarter in Japan. I wasn't sure if they would take my claim since Pathfinder is no longer sold in Japan. But I got talked to customer service person, and he took my claim. I've sent him pictures of damage, and I did communicate with him by email. Now Nissan of North America will take over the case, and be contacting me within the next few days. They started the investigation from the previous ownership of the vehicle. As I purchased this Pathfinder, CarFax report indicated no damage or bodywork was done, but just in case, Nissan is investigating its repair history. They said there may have been a chance that the report was missing some repair history and the part of the car may have been repainted. Nissan wants to make sure the quality of paint passed their standard.
I'm not sure what they will decide to do, but I at least feel I was treated right at the end. I feel much better now compare to the previous conversations at dealerships and national customer service folks kept on telling me "it's your fault, and there is nothing we can do". So, I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I'll keep on posting what happens on my case.
Thanks again for sharing your opinions. Appreciate it.
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So, called 800-Nissan-1 for customer service. After the long conversation, they took my case, and told me that areal manager will be contacting me within a day, and inspecting the vehicle. However, I had a feeling that the result would be the same.
Therefore, although I didn't want to do this, I decided to contact Nissan headquarter in Japan. I wasn't sure if they would take my claim since Pathfinder is no longer sold in Japan. But I got talked to customer service person, and he took my claim. I've sent him pictures of damage, and I did communicate with him by email. Now Nissan of North America will take over the case, and be contacting me within the next few days. They started the investigation from the previous ownership of the vehicle. As I purchased this Pathfinder, CarFax report indicated no damage or bodywork was done, but just in case, Nissan is investigating its repair history. They said there may have been a chance that the report was missing some repair history and the part of the car may have been repainted. Nissan wants to make sure the quality of paint passed their standard.
I'm not sure what they will decide to do, but I at least feel I was treated right at the end. I feel much better now compare to the previous conversations at dealerships and national customer service folks kept on telling me "it's your fault, and there is nothing we can do". So, I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I'll keep on posting what happens on my case.
Thanks again for sharing your opinions. Appreciate it.
Assuming the want to assist they will ask what you expect form them
- Respray the vehicle
- Fix said section
- Swop vehicle
Some things for you to ponder.
On the second option you don't quite know if another panel will have those spots... Can you post a picture of the spots, I can try find mine somewhere.
In my case, it was
- rear right panel above door - spots
- Peeling paint front passenger door
- Mud stained the door after a trail but ONLY where it was "fixed" from the peeling time above
- Front right fender, clear coat peeling
The 6 or so times was when the panel beater didn't do a good job...now I noticed "someone" put touch up paint on my boot...must've scratched it and kept quiet.
The reason I've "accepted" it is I've seen what hassles my buddies have with their BMW, Isuzu and Toyota claims - more arrogance less "listening". So either I have crap with Nissan who has "entertained" me or I run the risk of my words falling on deaf ears.
Good luck mine's a dark green and it shows ALL the marks
but it looks cool when clean 
- Respray the vehicle
- Fix said section
- Swop vehicle
Some things for you to ponder.
On the second option you don't quite know if another panel will have those spots... Can you post a picture of the spots, I can try find mine somewhere.
In my case, it was
- rear right panel above door - spots
- Peeling paint front passenger door
- Mud stained the door after a trail but ONLY where it was "fixed" from the peeling time above
- Front right fender, clear coat peeling
The 6 or so times was when the panel beater didn't do a good job...now I noticed "someone" put touch up paint on my boot...must've scratched it and kept quiet.
The reason I've "accepted" it is I've seen what hassles my buddies have with their BMW, Isuzu and Toyota claims - more arrogance less "listening". So either I have crap with Nissan who has "entertained" me or I run the risk of my words falling on deaf ears.
Good luck mine's a dark green and it shows ALL the marks
but it looks cool when clean 
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