My car’s paint is chipped. What’s the best way to repair it?
One of the most common questions we get is from car owners who notice that their car’s paint is chipped. They want to know the best way to repair car paint chips. They often wonder if they can do it themselves or if they should have the chipped paint repaired professionally.
Car paint was never designed to last forever. On a daily basis, it is assaulted by environmental pollutants, chemicals, and rocks. All of this results in the paint getting chipped and peeling off. The absence of paint on a spot on the car’s surface is known as a paint chip or a stone chip.
We highly recommend repairing stone chips during regular detailing services and before applying a ceramic coating. You’ll want the surface to look as good as possible before applying the coating, so it’s worth it to take the extra step to repair the paint chips beforehand.
What Causes Paint Chips in a Vehicle?
Paint chips on a vehicle develop from a number of factors. Age and wear are perhaps the biggest culprits, as paint starts to become brittle, road debris becomes a bigger risk. Years of exposure to the elements eventually weaken your car’s layers of paint. Gravel and other similarly sized sharp objects on the road will impact vehicles at higher speeds, often resulting in paint chips appearing across parts of the bodywork.
In general, older vehicles with a lack of protective coating or those with extended exposure to direct sunlight are more prone to suffering paint chips than newer models with high-quality clear coats or ceramic coatings.
When Should I Fix My Car Paint Chips?
Car paint chips are no laughing matter. In Brevard County or elsewhere, they can be an unpleasant surprise on an otherwise perfect vehicle, and can ultimately lead to costly damages such as rust. When it comes to your car’s paint job, the sooner you address any chipped areas, the better.
Can I Repair the Chipped Paint on My Car?
Various paint chip repair kits are available on the market that promise to reduce the visibility of chips. The process of chip repair involves filling in the empty spots on the car’s surface with paint and then blending the new paint with the old paint surrounding it, as much as possible. This method is effective for paint chips up to the size of a pencil eraser.
Sometimes, car owners try to get around the problem of fixing a paint chip using cheaper methods, like using a dealership paint pen or touch-up paint to fill in the spot. The result looks messy and ultimately spoils the appearance of the car, just like the paint chip did in the first place.
The goal is to repair the rock chip so it looks closer to the original condition before the chip happened.
How Do I Get the Best Results?
Using a Professional Product
To get the best results from a paint chip repair job, it’s important that you use a professional-grade product that provides the perfect color match. Dr. Color Chip is one such product on the market that has an established reputation for providing an effective repair for rock chips. Here’s the rundown of how a professional detailer can use the repair kit to make the paint on your car look good:
- First, the correct paint code is confirmed to ensure an exact match when repairing a chipped area.
- Next, the area which needs the new paint is treated by removing any traces of the old or loose paint or rust.
- The next step is to use an applicator brush or other applicator tool is used to apply a new layer of paint over the empty spot on the car
- Then a blending solution removes any excess paint that may have gathered at the spot being treated as well as rough edges left from the application.
*It’s important to note that this repair process is not recommended for an area with a larger chip or deep scratch.
The entire process gets finished quickly and yields professional results. So try the service out next time you have your car detailed. We’re confident you will be happy with the results! And consider applying a ceramic coating to your car to help minimize paint chipping.
Details Matter provides rock chip and paint chip repair. When you’re looking for the best way to repair car paint chips, contact us for prestige auto detailing and ceramic coating installation in the Melbourne, FL area.
This post was originally published on March 30, 2017 but has been updated for accuracy and freshness.