x-terra paint

we recantly purchased a new xterra and other than the gas mileage we love it... the concern i have is this with the doors closed it looks goregeous but inside the back doors in the hinge area and the lip of the back doors which is covered by the front doors and around the gas fill area and the bottom of the rocker panels and the underneath side of the hood all have very light paint these areas have a goldish tint to them as the color coat in these areas looks more like overspray than anything(the car is black) the clear coat coverage in these areas seems complete. without looking at it my body guy said a lot of manufactures use color mached prime in these areas because it is easy for the robots to screw thease areas up but he doesnt understand why the gold primer if thats what it is on a black car?????????? does any one else notice this problem.also runs and curtains on the rocker panels it makes a otherwise kewl looking vehichle l;ook like its been repainted

If you just bought it new, you might talk to your dealership about it and see if they'll take care of it for you.

Yeah, if that truck is new I'd be back at the dealership pronto. It would help if you had a picture, but from what you're describing I haven't seen anything like that on an Xterra.

My paint is a little thin and dull in the places you mention (cost cutting), but it's all the same color. The way you describe it is almost like there's gold paint under the black paint, which would be very, very bad. Might go look at other black Xterras to see if they look the same way. Let us know what Nissan says.

Originally posted by ChuckH
My paint is a little thin and dull in the places you mention (cost cutting), but it's all the same color. The way you describe it is almost like there's gold paint under the black paint, which would be very, very bad. Might go look at other black Xterras to see if they look the same way. Let us know what Nissan says. ive been to some dealerships and couldnt find another black one but i looked under the doors on the rockers and inside the gas fill area on a green one and a blue one and they had the same goldish color that just looked like the blue and green were oversprayed onto it but was really hard to see on the green car because of closeness of colour. the last thing i want to do is have a dealer do any kind of painting on the car, im sure that would end up a disaster.. when i take it in for a oil change at 3000 miles im going to bring it to there attention. since the vehicle is black im thinking of having the rocker panels from the lip under the doors to the lip underneath covered with (proffessionally done) bed liner spray that would take care of the thin paint on the rockers the runs and the sags on the rockers and all of the nasty scratches that im sure will arise from the kids shoes .... of couse if after it gets broke in if i cant get more than the 9 miles a gallon im getting now im gonna dump it any way

Mine was never 9mpg, but it got MUCH better after about 1000-1200 miles.

I checked my gas fill cover when fueling Wednesday, I have similar appearance that you describe on my 2003 Silver Ice. I have not checked the other areas you mentioned yet as it has been raining here for days.

MPG:
My MPG was horrible at first, maybe 10 MPG. At 10,000 miles now, I just calculated 17.7 MPG for the past 8.654 gallons. That was about 50% of the time with AC on for defrosting reasons, 75% highway driving. I totally baby the throttle and have only done 2 full throttle accelerations to pass other vehicles within this period.
To calculate mileage this way (8.654 gallons only) is not totally accurate but I wanted to offer you hope of better economy. I have gotten as good as 23 MPG....all Highway travelling. I've heard to obtain higher MPG's, avoid topping 3,000 RPM and don't use cruise control ...I usually folow those guidlines.

I replaced my original oil at about 2,400 miles to MOBIL 1 synthetic. Synthetic wheel bearing grease will help as well but I have not gotten to that yet.

i guess after much thought i think the dealer would probably mess it up more than what it is trying to fix it. i may have them repaint under the doors when you open the doors and look up where the drain holes are there is no black paint under the doors only the primer. or does everyone think keeping that area waxed good would be enough protection??

I'll check with my friend that's 20+ yrs in auto body / paint repair and customization. He owns a 2000 4 door NISSAN Frontier (I think that is what it is) and has quite a bit of experience with XTERRA body work. He will be back in town after the weekend so I'll post Sunday or Monday 2/24/03.

I'm very interested in this as well.

I strongly suggest leaving the dealership body shop out of any repairs unless it comes down to it after extensive research. I strongly suggest avoiding dealerships on all matters anyway, occasionally I've been lucky / satisfied there.

OK, Finally back with the answer....

On the rocker panels (door bottom areas) "road gaurd" is applied prior to primer / painting. This is for resistance to road debris impacts and the typical rusting that occurs in those areas after paint is chiped from rocks or other debris. This coating gives the finished paint surfaces a "rough" texture.

The "gold" looking stuff on the back of the gas tank flap and hood is some kind of factory applied protectant that is supposed to be removed during make-ready at the dealership. He did not know much about it as he never applies it nor can he remove it unlike his famililiarity with the rocker panel issue which he is experienced with repair. The "gold" stuff must be removed by "dealer only" supplied solvent that is sprayed on and then they immediately spray water on it and it comes right off.