Myrv

Hi,

The following is my experience in getting the paint on my Maxima fixed.

As a lot of 5th gen owners have noted the paint quality on the Max can be disappointing at best and downright aweful at worst. Unfortunately my AE Max seems to be leaning toward the aweful end of the spectrum. After only 5000 km (3000 miles) the front of my Max is covered in tiny stone chips. The infuriating thing is 2/3 of those miles have been on open paved country roads (nobody in front of me throwing up any stones). And no, I don't tailgate trucks the rest of the time. Anyway, while the hood and front bumper have taken their share of damage the most disturbing problem was the area where the rear wheel arches meet the rear doors. The entire edge of the door opening looked like it was getting sandblasted (see pic below). It was also chipping in several places. This just wasn't right so I decided to bring my car in and have a chat with my dealer. The result was both better than I expected but worse than I had hoped for. This is what he said:

The bumper and hood were normal wear and tear (we all know it isn't but I didn't really expect him to say elsewise). He suggested I get a wind/bug deflector for the hood which I have (still have to install it) but this still won't save my bumper. Oh well, I'll see what happens this summer when I actually drive the thing (I kinda stowed it for the winter).

The rear door openings though were a problem. Apparently one he's seen before because he took one look and immediately said it wasn't right and they would have to fix it. Apparently my rear doors are set too far into the frame when they close. You'll note the rear doors have a little flare along their rear edge which is suppose protect the edge of the opening. Well, mine sat too far in to protect the edge and so the edge took the brunt of the air flowing along the side of the car and caught every stone, grain of sand, whatever. Anyway, my car is now in their body department getting the doors adjusted (hopefully this won't introduce windnoise) and having the paint on the rear quarter panels redone (stone chips and all). All under warranty. Anyone having excessive wear in this area should definitely take their car in.

Oh, and one last thing I talked to my dealer about was the missing splash guard that is suppose to cover the fuel tube assembly inside the rear wheel well (mine is missing it as well). This problem was discussed in this thread .Well, according to my dealer this is not a mistake. Nissan apparently removed the cover on purpose because it was found to collect salt and dirt in northern climates that have to deal with snow. This caused the parts it was suppose to protect to actually corride faster. This is born out by the fact that while the 2K cars on his lot had the guard, none of the 2K1's or 2K2's did. I doubt they would prepetuate this into current cars unless it was done on purpose. The brackets for the cover though are still on my car and it's my suspicion the reason for this is that the cover is infact used on cars destined for southern climates. This could explain why some dealers have cars both with and without it. Particularly if they are in a transition zone for climate.



This is a rather nasty chip I received (poorly repaired by me) on the drivers side rear wheel arch (where it meets the rear door) Click the image for a medium version or click here for the image in all its glory (big)



This is passenger side rear wheel arch where it meets the rear door. Note the sandblasting that has occurred along the edge. Also note how the door sits in from the edge. Click the image for a medium version or click here for the image in all its glory (big)


This is my front bumper. All the white flecks are chips (car has just been washed). The swirl marks were there when I picked it up. Click the image for a medium version or click here for the image in all its glory (big)

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

That's just an example of what Dave B.(Nissan parts guy) calls decontenting. Nissan seems to keep eliminating parts as the model years "progress".

Decontenting from 2K-2K2:
1)Power steering cooler. Look behind the grill at the nice rubber U-bend, that's where 2K actually had a cooler.
2)Headlamp packs and rubber stop.Reason for hood wobble at higher speeds(hence Hood TSB) and tons of bug guts splattered a few inches under the hood.
3)Fuel filler tube guard.Reason for dust ALWAYS around gas cap
4)Fuel flap INSIDE fuel tube opening.Who knows if the gas cap blocks everything.

Any more?

melteye

What exactly is the Fuell Filler Tube Guard... What does it look like.

02MaXiMa_GLE

If you look under your wheel well, you'll notice the fuel lines exposed, where the 2ks would have a plastic piece along the wheel well to cover the lines from road debris.

G

paulescience

Technical Service Bulletins Summary


Make: NISSAN
Model: MAXIMA
Year: 2001
Service Bulletin Number: NTB01032
Bulletin Sequence Number: 625




Summary Description:

INFORMATION REGARDING NEW PAINT GUARD FILM INFORMATION. *YD



Does anyone know what this TSB is about? I came across it on this site

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/proble...hTopic=Vehicle

Myrv

The only thing I can think of is the protecting film along the bottom "running board" area and rear edge of the rear doors (the area I was having problems with). I had to take my car back in today because they screwed up the repaint (lots of dirt in the finish, a hair/piece of lint was painted in, and bad overspray problems). Anyway, they had to also replace the protecting film at the bottom of the door (see my previous pics, you can see the edge of the original strip at the bottom of the middle pic). They just cut their own piece of plastic (basically 3M clearbra material) and stuck it on. Unfortunately it already started peeling off so I pointed it out as well. The paint shop manager didn't think the strip was part of the original equipment so we went over to another Maxima and there it was. Thing is, it was a lot larger than my original had been. It cover'd a lot more. This could be a notice about the larger protector but I can't be sure.

At least the manager was good enough to agree the paint job sucked and I'm taking it back in to get properly wetsanded and buffed. They've also ordered the new proper (and larger) film protectors. Hopefully they get it right this time.

MaxSEima

But when I contacted my dealer and Nissan, they told me that it's normal tear and wear....where in CA are you located? Maybe I should visit your dealer.

Myrv

Well he told me my hood was normal wear and tear (which it really isn't) so I ended up getting a deflector and living with the chips already there. The sides though were technically because of miss-alignment of the rear doors and the subsequent paint damage was covered. Compare the alignment of back edge of your rear doors with that of other Maximas. The door edge and the frame should be flush. If the door is inset at all it becomes a manufacturing problem and thus a warranty issue. Or at least that's the excuse my dealers using to get money out of Nissan Aside from the bad repaint of the rear quarter panels (which they graciously agreed to fix) my dealer has proven to be fairly responsive to my problems. They've actually won the regional service award for the last 9 years. Problem is, for you it'll be a bit of a hike to visit them. That CA was my flimsy attempt to indicate Canada and not California (that's why most of my info is missing, maxima.org seems to have a prejudice against us Canucks ). I actually live in Ottawa, Ontario.

The problem I have now though, is with the doors moved out slightly they're starting to show signs of wear near the bottom corner. At least they aren't chipping like the wheel arch was but it is disconcerting (lots of little white scuf marks on the bottom corner). The dealer has now agreed to put a small piece of plastic film over the corner of the door as well to help protect it. Apparently the Pathfinder already does this on their rear doors. It's unfortunate the paint on my Max sucks so much, otherwise I would really love the car. As it stands it's just no fun finding new chips every time I come back from an otherwise fun drive.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

I feel EXACTLY the same.