Chedeng_05

Is it me or is the paint quality on the new c230's really bad. I mean, i've had the car not for a couple of months, and i've noticed that the paint is so prone to chips and nicks. Last week my in-law was loading his handcarry luggage on the trunk and he inadvertantly rested his luggage on the rear trunk bumper and left a big *** gouge on it. Shot, my previous cars never had this kind of problem.

I thought i read somewhere in the brochure that the paint they used is state of the art, blah blah... and how come the paint seems to be too soft

nlpamg

I concur, I had a black 1997 w202, and in using it for seven years, it didn't have as many paint chips as I now have on my less than a year old 2005... It's ****ing horse****. Nanopaint is a joke.

GDawgC220

I hear the newer german car paints are all much softer than the past which means easier to chip and crap

Kenzmbz

That is why i bought a white car. I had a 2001 c320 before. I hated the rock chips. i only have to deal with dirt now,but all i have to do is wash the car,not get a new paint job.

ctC230K

probably a good color is blue or red to avoid this bs. i thought i saw some spider webbing on my hood last time i waxed it and the car is 3 months old!!!

ayilar

Have not noticed any chip or swirls on my 8-month old silver coupe, which goes to the carwash every two weeks (or more frequently). Quite happy, but perhaps I need good glasses :-)

mbny

actually white will show them pretty good. my bmw was white and i had a bunch of gray looking dots on the hood from rock chips. i've noticed a few on my silver sedan, blends in abit better, but i'd guess gray would hide it best

nlpamg

I love how MB touted the nanopaint as being longer lasting and having a greater shine and luster. However, they failed to take into account that it longer lasting means that there needs to be paint left for it to last longer and be shiny...

Chedeng_05

I too have a silver color and you really don't notice the chips on the hood from afar. I only noticed them cause i dust my car every day.

Swirl marks are not a problem to me too, it's just that i've noticed too many chips on the paint and it's pissing me off.

1Lop2K5C

This is why theres a thick clear bra molded my entire front bumper

nlpamg

I hate the way that looks when you see it up close, also, what happens when you take it off? pics please? thanks!

Chedeng_05

I AGREE.... not my cup of tea, but i was always curious how these things looked like.

Pictures please.

ctC230K

you could always coat your car in truck bed liner LOLOL!!

nlpamg

exactly.

Buellwinkle

The new Nano paint on the 2004.5 and newer is great, very few rock chips after a year compared with my 2002 C230. Also, it goes to the dealer for car washes at least 2-3 times/month and zero swirls. Even at a Meguiars event where they went car by car describing paint defects they were surprised mine was flawless even though at that point I have never even waxed the car. You can tell if you car has the Nano paint by the paint code starting with C, for example, black is 040, nano black is C40.

nlpamg

maybe it's the design of the w203 that sucks up all the paint chips? or that the paint back in 1997 on the w202's were more resilient, but faded more, I still can't say that nano is better. I have quite a few rock chips, and I haven't driven this car in the **** that I drove my w202...

mbny

i've noticed that rock chips seem to be missing my bumper and hitting the hood more often. i currently have no chips on the bumper but 3 on my hood and 1 on my passenger side fender by the headlight on my 5 week old car.

ctC230K

wtf is this bs??? you don't notice these little things until you take pictures. my paint appears to be swirling and spider webbing all over and i already have one door mark. the car is 3 months old!!

taylor192

60 paint chips and counting.

I haven't heard too many great stories about the nano-paint yet. I'm considering an upgrade to a newer car (nano-paint, iPod, 350 engine) yet haven't heard enough good reviews of the nano-paint to convince me.

bahnbrnr

1Lop2k5c,

Have you had good results with the invisabl bra? I was thinking about getting one put on but am afraid of water getting under it and discoloring the paint. Car has no chips,swirls or anything and I want to keep it that way.

drexappeal

Buellwinkle, how do you pull this off? You just go to the dealer and ask if you could have the car washed or do you just find some reason for them to check over the car 2/3 times/ month?

ctC230K

i was under the impression that you could get the car washed 5 times a day if you wanted, whenever you feel like it. the dealer will wash it and the service dept. will wash it. maybe you could go to the dealer 5 times and the service dept. 5 times and get different people each time and you could have your car washed every hour all day if you wanted.
downside is they hire newbies to wash it with the same towel all day on every car. thats where the swirls and scratching come from.

Burnt Toast

most dealers will give you free car washes you just have to ask for it. my dealer uses a presher washer though so i tell them not to wash my car.

drexappeal

LOL...Man, I feel pretty dumb right now if I haven't been taking my car to the dealership for a free wash. If this is true, I'm gonna look into it soon. There's a dealership 2 miles away from my office, so I'm gonna look into it.

Thanks guys.

Kenzmbz

Dealership wash sucks. I rather pay the extra 7 dollars and tip to get a real wash. These guys dont clean your interior and they just do a quick spray and let mother nature dry your car.