Most of the damage a car's paint job suffers comes in the form of tiny scratches. Historically, automakers sought to solve this problem by creating tougher finishes. But Nissan recently unveiled a radically different approach: a finish that doesn't try to prevent everyday scrapes but rather accepts and heals them. The secret is a highly resilient resin that when added to a basic acrylic clear coat maintains its state as a flexible solid. When a car is scratched, the resin slowly seeps back into the gouge, virtually erasing the scrape in days. The Scratch Guard Coat is currently available on the Nissan X-Trail in Japan for $420 and will be an option on an unspecified Infiniti model in the U.S. later this year.