Caring for exterior piano black parts on two tone 2024 Z’s

[SHUGGAR]

I just cannot seem to do anything right when it comes to caring for the exterior piano black surfaces, mirror caps, b-pillars, roof, and hatch on my 2024 Z. The microscratches just keep on coming. While I did PPF my front bumper, headlights, and hood, I left the black exterior pieces exposed. I’ve tried products like bead maker, SUMA, and ceramic detailers. Any suggestions???

 

[Mugzilla]

HOW are you washing your car? Beater brushes at the car wash? Old wash cloth and a bucket of soapy water? Bathroom towel to dry it?

PAN the Organizer is a pretty neat channel on YT. I follow his guidance:

Pressure washer with a foam cannon. Foam the car (I'm using Meguiar's gold class)

Let it sit for 5 mins. Wash wheels while waiting.

Pressure wash all soap off.

REFOAM car.

Wash with one bucket method, top to bottom. (One bucket method = a clean, fresh microfiber towel. When done washing, set it to the side. Getr another one to continue.

Rinse car w pressure washer.

Towel dry with a quality towel. I dry glass first. THEN wring out towel .THEN dry car.

Air blast out all nooks with a leaf blower or air hose.

I use an inline water filter.

I used Meguiar's hybrid ceramic wax in April. Pic is from 2 weekends ago. Holding up well.

 

[Zenogias]

HOW are you washing your car? Beater brushes at the car wash? Old wash cloth and a bucket of soapy water? Bathroom towel to dry it?

PAN the Organizer is a pretty neat channel on YT. I follow his guidance:

Pressure washer with a foam cannon. Foam the car (I'm using Meguiar's gold class)

Let it sit for 5 mins. Wash wheels while waiting.

Pressure wash all soap off.

REFOAM car.

Wash with one bucket method, top to bottom. (One bucket method = a clean, fresh microfiber towel. When done washing, set it to the side. Getr another one to continue.

Rinse car w pressure washer.

Towel dry with a quality towel. I dry glass first. THEN wring out towel .THEN dry car.

Air blast out all nooks with a leaf blower or air hose.

I use an inline water filter.

I used Meguiar's hybrid ceramic wax in April. Pic is from 2 weekends ago. Holding up well.

Your car does not have the same two-tone paint, so you will never experience the problem he is describing. On two-tone, the black on the roof is totally different than your all-car black paint job.

I just cannot seem to do anything right when it comes to caring for the exterior piano black surfaces, mirror caps, b-pillars, roof, and hatch on my 2024 Z. The microscratches just keep on coming. While I did PPF my front bumper, headlights, and hood, I left the black exterior pieces exposed. I’ve tried products like bead maker, SUMA, and ceramic detailers. Any suggestions???

I don't think there is anything you can do about it. Specifically the the roof and b-pillars. I was insanely careful with my car early on, and I started seeing scratches appear on the B-Pillars almost immediately. Then about 6 months in, I started to see them appear on the roof. This was after meticulous hand-washing only. I'm not sure what material they used for the two-tone paint, but it seems like it was designed to fail and I've pretty much stopped caring at this point. If you do find a legitimate answer to this I'd be very curious to hear about it, but my guess is that nearly every owner of a two-tone Z is having the same problem.

 

[peter]

I just cannot seem to do anything right when it comes to caring for the exterior piano black surfaces, mirror caps, b-pillars, roof, and hatch on my 2024 Z. The microscratches just keep on coming. While I did PPF my front bumper, headlights, and hood, I left the black exterior pieces exposed. I’ve tried products like bead maker, SUMA, and ceramic detailers. Any suggestions???

I wash mine with two buckets, always hose down the car and every spot before washing, car has been Graphene coated and I wash with a graphene shampoo. Have always dried it off with a blower, never hand dry, this seems to working for me

 

[mikecarpage]

I haven't experienced any issues yet. Fingers crossed. The dealer pressure washed my car (no soap) after taking off the plastic, I've washed it 5x at home with a pressure washer/foam cannon and the 2 bucket method. Always clean mits and towels to dry. Garage kept.

Whenever I do wash the car, or feel the hatch, it's clear that the black portion, at least on the hatch is a wrap of some sort. On my car there is a surface difference that can be felt. So I'm curious if they used some vinyl wrap for all the black two tone parts. Anybody with a two tone colored car, please correct if I'm mistaken.

 

[deanhuff]

Your car does not have the same two-tone paint, so you will never experience the problem he is describing. On two-tone, the black on the roof is totally different than your all-car black paint job.




I don't think there is anything you can do about it. Specifically the the roof and b-pillars. I was insanely careful with my car early on, and I started seeing scratches appear on the B-Pillars almost immediately. Then about 6 months in, I started to see them appear on the roof. This was after meticulous hand-washing only. I'm not sure what material they used for the two-tone paint, but it seems like it was designed to fail and I've pretty much stopped caring at this point. If you do find a legitimate answer to this I'd be very curious to hear about it, but my guess is that nearly every owner of a two-tone Z is having the same problem.

Is it paint? The black parts of the roof feel like a vinyl wrap sticker to me.

I haven't experienced any issues yet. Fingers crossed. The dealer pressure washed my car (no soap) after taking off the plastic, I've washed it 5x at home with a pressure washer/foam cannon and the 2 bucket method. Always clean mits and towels to dry. Garage kept.

Whenever I do wash the car, or feel the hatch, it's clear that the black portion, at least on the hatch is a wrap of some sort. On my car there is a surface difference that can be felt. So I'm curious if they used some vinyl wrap for all the black two tone parts. Anybody with a two tone colored car, please correct if I'm mistaken.

The entire black portion feels like a wrap to me.

 

[Zenogias]

Is it paint? The black parts of the roof feel like a vinyl wrap sticker to me.

The entire black portion feels like a wrap to me.

There is definitely a wrap, but I've never been sure if it is a clear wrap on black paint or if it's a black wrap on the base color... Either way, it is absolutely not the same kind of paint on a one-tone Black Z.. I've seen one in person, and it does not look remotely similar to the black roof on my White Z.

 

[bpeckham]

This discussion reminds me of a few older threads.

First: https://www.nissanzclub.com/forum/t...yed-until-summer-2022.1066/page-13#post-30325

Then Later: https://www.nissanzclub.com/forum/threads/is-super-black-a-wrap.1718/

I think back then very few of us had seen a Z in person, and even fewer owned one, so there was a lot of speculation. It's interesting that they're in our hands now, and there's still controversy on this.

(Edit: this topic is even older than I thought. Added another link. Edit again to remove duplicate thread).

 

[Who.Am.Eye.2716]

The best thing to do on the B Pillar is to PPF it. Those Piano Black pillars scratch easily if you look at it wrong. Im going to need to get mine polished, then filmed.

Looks like, and feels like a wrap. If it is a wrap, can anyone confirm underneath is paint matched to the car?

Saw @bpeckham link on the white Z. Still no concrete answer on is it Paint, or is it Wrap

 

[bpeckham]

I was going to share pictures earlier, but the car was covered in rain splattered dust, and she hadn't been washed in five weeks.

She's 1 year 5 months old, and has a little over 8000 miles. I had paint correction and ceramic coating applied after 2 months of ownership, and I wash frequently (except this last time) using my detailer's recommendation.

The super black is still in pristine condition.

Couple of photos after washing today.

Also, my opinion on the whole wrap/paint controversy: I'm a paint-ist. It's paint. Where the black meets the blue you can see some imperfection in the masking, and some of the substrate (primer? IDK) is visible at the microscopically ragged edge. With a wrap, I'd expect a precision, machine cut edge with no substrate showing.

We need a wrap-ist to disprove this by peeling the hatch .

 

[eculley]

I was going to share pictures earlier, but the car was covered in rain splattered dust, and she hadn't been washed in five weeks.

She's 1 year 5 months old, and has a little over 8000 miles. I had paint correction and ceramic coating applied after 2 months of ownership, and I wash frequently (except this last time) using my detailer's recommendation.

The super black is still in pristine condition.

Couple of photos after washing today.

Also, my opinion on the whole wrap/paint controversy: I'm a paint-ist. It's paint. Where the black meets the blue you can see some imperfection in the masking, and some of the substrate (primer? IDK) is visible at the microscopically ragged edge. With a wrap, I'd expect a precision, machine cut edge with no substrate showing.

We need a wrap-ist to disprove this by peeling the hatch .

I tried to polish an area on the rear hatch and I can attest that it's not paint.. at least not paint with a layer of clear coat. If anyone can suggest a way to clear a light scratch on gloss black wrap, let me know.

 

[staying_tuned]

I use Menzerna 3800 on a finish pad with a D/A polisher at delivery to bring them to perfection from the factory. Then PPF on most existing gloss black within reason. It all then gets ceramic (CQuartz Skin on PPF/Vinyl, UK 3.0 on the rest). I literally don't touch them if it can be helped outside of a lush MF mitt at wash time.

The above covers all normal wear and tear, they take a polish (LIGHT compound as stated on a finish pad) very well, in fact I haven't been able to ever actually burn through the gloss. Usually I do it at delivery and then come sale time years down the line to once again bring them back to pristine.

 

[eculley]

I use Menzerna 3800 on a finish pad with a D/A polisher at delivery to bring them to perfection from the factory. Then PPF on most existing gloss black within reason. It all then gets ceramic (CQuartz Skin on PPF/Vinyl, UK 3.0 on the rest). I literally don't touch them if it can be helped outside of a lush MF mitt at wash time.

The above covers all normal wear and tear, they take a polish (LIGHT compound as stated on a finish pad) very well, in fact I haven't been able to ever actually burn through the gloss. Usually I do it at delivery and then come sale time years down the line to once again bring them back to pristine.

To confirm, you're not just referring to the piano black trim behind the door glass, right? I am afraid to take another polishing pad to the gloss black wrap on the hatch area, so I just want to be sure. If you say the black wrap can take a light finish pad then I will give it the ol' college try.

 

[staying_tuned]

To confirm, you're not just referring to the piano black trim behind the door glass, right? I am afraid to take another polishing pad to the gloss black wrap on the hatch area, so I just want to be sure. If you say the black wrap can take a light finish pad then I will give it the ol' college try.

That's the exact process I did on both door pillars and the rear. I'm applying UK Skin now to the front PPF and have my lights out, I'll take a some post-polish & ceramic shots of that area lit up and post here in a few. In my case I had hundreds of incredibly small swirls. Likely from a MF mitt with too much pressure or not enough soap. They were teeny tiny but everywhere.

Gear specifically is Menzerna 3800 Super Finish Plus, Griots 5'5" black finishing pad on a Griots G9 D/A at no higher than 4. Not super high-end but I wouldn't trust any big box store polishes on finicky things and for sure no "scratch fixer".

 

[eculley]

That's the exact process I did on both door pillars and the rear. I'm applying UK Skin now to the front PPF and have my lights out, I'll take a some post-polish & ceramic shots of that area lit up and post here in a few. In my case I had hundreds of incredibly small swirls. Likely from a MF mitt with too much pressure or not enough soap. They were teeny tiny but everywhere.

Gear specifically is Menzerna 3800 Super Finish Plus, Griots 5'5" black finishing pad on a Griots G9 D/A at no higher than 4. Not super high-end but I wouldn't trust any big box store polishes on finicky things and for sure no "scratch fixer".

Glorious! I have the black pads already, so I just ordered the compound. Looking forward to cleaning this up a bit.

Side question- did you go +12 on the rear clubsports?