chronopassion

. . . is killing me. I washed my car today and noticed three additional paint chips. I know all cars have this problem with the currently used paints, however, it does seem to be a little excessive.

Best regards,

CP

patronus

I have found that the number of paint chips is directly related to how closely you follow other cars and the amount of debris on the road. I have consciously increased my following distance since owning my C240 and notice a dramatic decrease in chips compared to previos cars. Still not zero, though.

I am not trying to put myself on a pedistal, but more to offer a solution to others that has worked for me.

Buellwinkle

Has anyone tried Langka stuff to fix the chips? The theory being you apply touch up paint into the chip and then apply Langka to smooth out the lump into an un-noticible chip?

SoCal240/6

Langka is ok - but its really just a tool and skill is still required - in addition to other materials like thinner.

Fixing paint chips on metallic paint can be done - but is more art than science.

I fixed a couple on my car - very small ones. I probably spent a total of 2 hours, but they are almost invisible now.

With any system, you need the touchup paint, touchup clear, and PAINT THINNER. The thinner is critical, the touch up paint is way, way, way too thick to do a decent repair. Something in the magnitude of 5-10 times too thick.

You also need very fine, tiny, high quality brushes. The brush the comes with the touchup paint is a cruel joke and will only INSURE a bad job.

And, you need very good lighting.

And the willingness to wipe it all off and start over again. Because it takes many attempts, experimenting, etc. to finally get it right.

The paint on these cars does seem very chip prone. IMO, xpel, stongard, etc. is mandatory equipment if you own the car (as opposed to renting) and plan on keeping it for a while.

young

i noticed 2 chips on the hood... and on the front air dam, i noticed some slight scratches (which make me not want to lower the car at all).

i also have a small chip in the windshield... i guess i have to contact a glass person for that or take the glass repair correspondence course

touch it up. they're inevitable. don't let it get you down.

vinmanc32

but unless you stay far behind and never pass, you get hit. And what about people passing you. Nah... And I cant keep this thing behind anyone anyway :p On the highway it has a mind of its own and takes over..... I get hit all the time with rocks and such and my car has a number of small chips in the paint as well. Any tiny pebble makes a big impression when youre moving at 100mph+. I wish I could stay behind the traffic at a safe distance. I just consider it wear and tear and dont get too bothered by it.

DCX Engineer

My front facia and hood are covered with stone chips. Most of the damage comes from construction areas were two lanes are sandwiched between concrete barriers. There is a lot of debris here that is kicked up by trucks.

I do use the auto sharp paint pen. It works quite well, although the Orion Blue is slightly darker than stock.

avlis

I plan on repainting the nose in a few years or before I try to sell it. Anyone wanna guess how much that would cost?

petercrase

By the time you refinish the front bumper, the hood, and possibly the front fenders, or at least blending them in, you are probably talking at least $1K at todays prices, maybe more. I've just been to the body shop 2 different times with mine for different reasons, and that's about what its running.
PC

peet

I just tried Langka this weekend. Total waste of money. Well, let me qualify that...

I have a bright silver - and the metalic paint with the Langka process sucks. You end up removing too much of the metal flake which leaves a darker spot.

It looks to me though, that if you have a solid paint color this would work well - just not the metalics

On a related note, the clear coat that they sell along side the buffing compound is really nice. Perfect thickness - and great buzz while applying

Finally, it seems the process would work well on chips, but not scratches. The chip finished off pretty nicely but the key scratch did not.

P

WebGuyNJ

'nuff said

avlis

Well then I'll start saving up now.

I was one click away from buying clear bra stuff for my car. I've seen it on a few cars and it bothers me for some reason. To me it's very noticable. People are obsessed with removing swirl marks and such. What about the big, dirty, sticker line running around the nose!?

Duffer

for the front of the hood - relatively inexpensive

I had 2 chips, curiously, near the windshield wipers, and used Langka on the Magma Red. It does take some small skill but the job turns out much better with Langka than without it. I actually took off more paint than I wanted. Eventually, I'll get a bit closer to perfection.

The Langka is worth it but there is another product that is touchup paint with a pen - try this

http://www.autovisuals.com/

You can find the code for your color - even comes with paint for metallics

SoCal240/6

Exactly.

With metallics, it can be done, as I described above, but there are no shortcuts if you want a really good job.