evening folks,
i bought my first ever car in november, clio 1.4 16v dynamique, delighted with the car and its performance but have noticed tonight a load of small chip marks on the bonnet and have to be honest and say gutted at the moment, only done 500 miles in her,
i guess my query is can i apply any product to the car to stop this from happening? what do i do with the chip marks can any one recommend a good product for fixing them? the car is mettalic black and i truely would appreciate any assistance.
the car is to go in next month to have supaguard applied to it so i was thinking of asking dealer whether he would fix chips for me? anyone know if a dealer would do this?
thanks
Ally
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How much are they charging for the Supaguard? I'd save this and put it towards a bonnet respray, assuming that the dealer doesn't want anything to do with a warranty claim (not entirely their fault, but it sounds like the paint is unduly delicate).
Polishing your car with Autoglym is just as effective as the more expensive 'official' treatments, but leave the bonnet alone if you will be having it painted - it just makes it more difficult to prepare.
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whoa, hold on there we are talking about a brand new car here surely we do not want the bonnet resprayed already ,for one thing the end result might be more noticable than the stone chips depending who has the spraygun in their hand and another it it does not matter how good it is it will be detectable and devalue the car.
Are you driving too close to the cars in front, there is a lot of rubbish on he roads at this time of year with all the salt etc.
As for the superguard it has been discussed many times before in this forum a good wax finish is more cost effective and I am told by a source in the trade that there is a massive mark-up in it for them!.
As for what to do with the stone chips only you know how bad they are and whether you want to just touch them in or at the extreme have it resprayed.
Mal.
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If you realy want protection look at www.armourfend.com
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Alymac.
You've only driven 500 miles from new? That's not a lot of miles to pick up "loads of small chip marks", unless you've been tailgating a gritter? :-)
I would suggest having a go at the dealer and see if you can have it done under warranty, as the paint may be faulty. But decide first if it's worth the hassle and downside of respray work. I had a 93 Astra that chipped very badly on the bonnet, but that was after 44000 miles in 2 years! I just polished regularly with colour polish, it just made me feel better!
Baz
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chips-away or another other stone chip painting company will be able to solve the problem without resorting to a respray. Try asking at the dealership to see if they have a man that comes and does their cars (a vw dealership did this for me). They normally charge per panel about £100.
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When I worked in a paintshop 8 or 9 years ago, half the work we did was "blowing in" the leading edge of the bonnet and the tops of the wings on 6-12 month old cars before they were put on (main) dealer forecourts. Obviously with a newer car the bodyshop should take much more care over the work.
We even had a brand new Fiesta in on July 30th, with its M-registration number plates still laying in the back seat, needing a 6" scratch repairing on the tailgate before midnight on the 31st, when its owner was going to collect it! We managed it, and you honestly couldn't tell any work had been done on the car.
I should try not to follow other vehicles too closely though, apart from the "two-second rule" being for braking distance it also keeps you far enough behind to avoid most of the debris that is thrown up from the roads. If you *are* following other traffic too closely, sooner or later you're going to crack a headlight or windscreen, which would need replacing before either an MoT test or if you were to sell the car.
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Not wanting to stray off thread, re. Dave's comment in the stone chip thread.
[Obviously with a newer car the bodyshop should take much more care over the work]
Is this the normal practice in all garages , should it make any difference what age the car is or does it also depend on how well the car has been looked after.
If so then am I right in always giving my car a good wax and valet before it goes in for service in the belief that if you demonstrate that you care about your car then they might also.
Mal.
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Yes definitely mal, make the car absolutely spotless before you take it in, and spend at least 10 minutes inspecting the job when it's finished. Peel back rubbers, peer closely at glass for overspray, look up inside wheelarches, under sills, everywhere near the repair and everywhere else on the car too for that matter. It annoys the hell out of the bodyshop manager the first time you do it, and if you do find anything and request it be put right then they'll make certain it's fixed first time, if only to get you off their case.
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Definitely should NOT be spending your own money on respraying in my opinion. If it's gone bad after 500 miles, a respray will cover it up but not necessarily last longer, and you wouldn't want to be respraying every 500 miles...
However you should be able to persuade the dealer that there is a manufacturing fault of some sort - or if not the dealer, contact the manufacturer direct. And do it quickly, before many more miles go on the clock.
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".. it does not matter how good it is it will be detectable and devalue the car"
I think a few re-finishers might take issue with you there! I've seen some excellent work that I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't known the owner, including a metallic Boxster that had the inevitable key scratch all down one side.
Anyway, how does a respray devalue the car more than touching the chips in? Surely what matters, especially to Ally, is how the end result looks...
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>>Anyway, how does a respray devalue the car more than touching the chips in? Surely what matters, especially to Ally, is how the end result looks...
[1] New car!
[2]I already have said that only he knows how bad it is and whether he wants to touch in the chips or respray....same thing!
(:-)
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Smokie is absolutely correct.
Current waterbased paint is unacceptably poorer than the old leaded finishes,elastomers are removed with resultant embrittlement.
paint thickness is reduced by 40% & the lacquer is as bad.
All leading edges of my vehicle are protected with Armourfend type product(3M tape). I no longer suffer from such chips.
Simon T.
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Simon,
How long does this tape last? I was half thinking about getting it when my Skoda was new, but at the rate I rack the miles up I didn't want it becoming all feathered and tatty after a year.
I've already resprayed the front bumper once, and it will need doing again before the end of April when its 2nd year test is due.
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Alymac
Have you tried surfing the American Web for vehicles front mufflers (I thinks thats what they call them)?.
It was all the vogue across there to have the front bonnet covered with cloth hairnets to prevent such damage.
The old VW Beetle was a prime example.
DVD
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Aren't mufflers exhaust silencers? They're also known as 'car bras' but I would be amazed if you could get them for the Octavia.
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"Current waterbased paint is unacceptably poorer.."
It's the manufacturers who use waterbased paint (for environmental reasons) - most refinishers use 2-pack (epoxy) which is superior all round. We had a minor repair done a while back and I asked for the chipped area in front of the bonnet to be done at the same time. Not only has this improved the overall appearance noticeably, but it seems to be resisting further chipping extremely well.
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Aly, have you decided on what course of action you are taking.
Is it to be touched in, resprayed, or what?.
Update please.
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Are the chips caused by stones or is the paint faulty I have seen that before. Peter
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Modern cars should have anti-chip coatings in vlunerable areas (e.g. bonnet leading areas and sills). This is actually not a hard finish but quite the opposite, a springy coating (internediate coat between primer and topcoat) which should absorb impact energy and cause (small!) stones to bounce off without damage, or at worst, reveal bare metal just at the point of impact.
If the paint system (finish plus coatings below) doesn't include such an intermediate coat, stone strikes are likely to go through to reveal bare metal and also take out a significant chip of paint.
If your topcoat is a metallic, a localised touchup is unlikely to reproduce the colour effect achieved on the production line (check it from all angles!). This is down to the orientation of the tiny aluminium flakes which give the metallic effect, which in turn depends on how the paint was thinned, applied, at what temperature and air flow, etc. You'll probably need a complete bonnet re-spray. Sometimes it's even necessary to apply minimal coating thickness at the panel edges ('feather' the topcoat) to help blend in with adjacent panels.
Oz (as was)
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Dave(Taxi),The tape lasts for years & can be easily removed without harm when required.It is used by Porsche,Aston Martin,
BMW owners etc.It is also widely used in USA. Mercedes owners (who do not treat their cars like lawnmowers)have been forced to use it. Two pack resprays are expensive, 3M tape is not & just as durable.
Simon T.
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"Two pack resprays are expensive.."
Depends who you go to. We had a wing and nose (front of bonnet area) for £150, and that included making good the damage in the wing that had prompted the whole thing! I imagine a simple rub-down and respray of a clearly defined area like a bonnet should cost half that, and then you can polish it like the rest of the car...
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