I had a 2014 Accord in Silver metallic and it was awful. The front had small chips showing the black primer on the bumper. Panels had different shades of silver. I ended up flipping that accord to Beepi back in the day lol
Take a look at any used Honda and pay attention to their panels (especially white/silver) and you’ll notice what I’m talking about after awhile.
Agree with black. Took the frontier in black (not by choice) and it’s extremely difficult to keep clean. Constant washing, maintaining etc and still looks dirty after a day or two. Won’t do black again anytime soon.
every time I see a post like this, theres always a couple “_____ is known for shitty paint”. that and/or someone mentions how their 1998 whatever never had one scratch lol.
my 21 Infiniti Q60 has about 10 rock chips after 1 year/12,000 miles. my last Infiniti 2018 q50 had maybe two or three in three years time. both were majestic white.
if you paid an upcharge for paint color, protect the paint
any multi-process color (eg tri-coat white) is impossible to touch up
The only way I’d ever own black again is if it were a wrap, for all the reasons mentioned.
Maybe this was a touchless (I hope), and you checked the manufacture date. But just like an engine had a break-in period, new paint shouldn’t go through a car wash. Any any non-touchless wash has the potential to scratch the clear-coat, or paint, or both.
good stuff, yes touchless. Thought breakin periods were thing of past – but never heard of the car wash thing.
my black RAV4 was never like this thats why it’s hitting different.
Maybe it’s changed recently but I leased / bought / serviced cars in NY, DE, MD, VA, OH, NV, and CA - they all made it a point they hand wash, and people will still decline the free wash.
Also, just to chime in, touchless car washes tend to use very harsh chemicals (because you’re substituting something physically removing the dirt) which can in turn be very hard in any existing ceramic coating, sealants, and even damage PPF in the long run.
When I do a self service car wash, I do a soap-y pre-soak, rinse, then soap-y soak again. If I use the brush, I hose off the bristles, ad then rinse. I use high-pressure rinse to get off tree sap and such. I’m not super anal about my car, but, as far as I can tell, I have done a decent job of not introducing much in the way of swirl marks. Previous car was dark blue, current car is black.
Fastest is to use a shoe-wetter to bust off most of the bugs and grime, followed with a spotless rinse (if they offer it and keep their resin filter fresh), and a blow dry (use an EGO 765 sans nozzle and a 5AH battery). Drive home, and proceed to do a very minimal No Rinse bucket wash if there’s too much remaining dirt for a simple No Rinse squirt and shine.
Counter Point: 99% of people wash their cars weekly at the local car wash and go on with their lives. The funniest and most insane version of this fear of car washes I’ve seen is in Porsche forums where people talk about using diapers to soak up water after washing their cars. Yes really they do that.
I’ve adopted the ridiculousness on my Panamera. I bought an electric leaf blower that I bring to the self serve carwash and blow dry my entire car. The only area that gets microfiber dried is the door jamb area and glass.
My car is ceramic coated and it virtually dries itself with a leaf blower. I am a member of a local car wash facility (DIY washing) and they have a $500 leaf blower that is basically a handheld hurricane. I get any left over water with a towel and use a ceramic boost drying agent so there isn’t marring. Then I use one of those pressure washer guns to blow water out of all the cracks and crevices. It is very therapeutic.
Would not be surprised if there was a Dry Bar for Porsches in the works (or should I say werks)…
Water-based paints especially on Honda and Toyota seem to be inferior to German jobs in my experiences. Wonder if US-built BMWs’ paint jobs are different than the German ones. I’ve only owned German-built so far.