mister__p

Hi all

After picking up my new W213 14 days ago, I have been suffering quite a lot from anxiety. Living in HK where the roads have been pot holed badly with debris everywhere from a recent monsoon and where traffic is always bad, I have been driving my car in a very nervous state petrified of stones instead of enjoying it. In the past 14 days, I've already heard and found 3 chips on my ceramic coated paint. The problem is made worse as I am being gentle on my car running it in but surrounded by aggressive drivers who cut in which is where stones get flicked up the most. Wreckless trucks and lorries being the worst

I don't recall ever having this issue with my previous new car but maybe that was because it was much cheaper ( 3 x cheaper to be exact ). Is this anxiety normal?

Part of me wishes I got a clear bra for the front of the car before getting it ceramic coated. Would this have been better? However, the other part of me says chips are inevitable so spending money on bras to keep the car looking new is money down the drain?

Are bras worth it ?

c4004matic

The easiest way to solve your issue is to take Paxil. In six months or so your OCD will solve itself when your car gets a good door ding or you split a rim in a pothole thus reminding you its just a frigging car.

Cao Black

Clear bra is probably cheaper and more effective than Paxil. "Just a car" is a used Kia.

Long Islander

If you're referring to a regular vinyl bra, it will leave tiny scratches as you drive down the highway. A "clear bra" is better because it's stuck onto your hood.

c4004matic

After owning 18 cars, any car you drive every day is just a car....If you own a Duesenberg or something that only leaves the garage to go to a show somewhere then anxiety is warranted.😀

Mbracer26

take a hammer to it and ding it, then it wont be a new car anymore and you wont care. its just like a new toy a kid gets, nice and shiny for the first few weeks only...

c4004matic

+1

tonecas

i would agree with this in a rational stance. but these things aren't rational. you can't simply shut off.

i tend to be an OCD guy, and more prone to be picky with my stuff as they get more expensive. and that is because i know the value of money and how hard it is to get it. even if one day it gets pretty easy i still will not forget how it is not having it and will have great respect for it.
also, i give very importance to private ownership and i'l be damned if i accept another person show no respect for my property or other's people property. sure it's just a car, but for the owner it is HIS car, his little precious thing. it can even has some other emotional value to him, like a gift from a closed family member, a car that he always wanted to get, etc. who has the right to decide that this is a minor thing and just go trashing other people's property? let him enjoy the maximum he can of the immaculate property as long as it can, without anyone injuring his property in bad faith or by mere indifference to others property.

i'm sympathetic with OP. every car I had, cheap or expensive (at each time i bought them) i treated all the same: with care, and hoping to delay the inevitable door ding, scratch or stone chips that will come. from that point on part of the aura of the car goes away but i still care for it but it gets more rational. never got obsessed though as the OP seems to be getting. for instance, i never even put any coat on any car. but i'm going to use full PPF wrap with my coming E63 S, because it is the most expensive car that i had bought and because it is a gift to myself, so i want to have that great feeling of a new immaculate car for as long as I can. it is simply part of the experience.

it seems OP is getting too extreme in his obsession with it however. you simply have to loosen up a little and relativize things. everything is temporary. you will want to keep you car as brand new but not get too much attached to that objective.
from what I have been learning by myself, the best way is to spend some money in a PPF wrap, at least for the front. the minimum would be the first half of the hood, the front bumper and side rockers. and eventually cover all up with some ceramic coating. this will let you keep that new car vibe for longer, even after the first minor scratches or dings because it will be hard to spot and less pronounced. vinyl wrap is not an option for this.

ua549

Just be very careful where you park and do not let a valet take your car. Stay away from trucks and gravel roads. You'll be OK. I've not had a paint chip since my 1996 W210 - the last time I let a valet park my car.

rbrylaw

The C300 I traded recently, had not a single ding or paint chip. It was protected with a ceramic coat and received regular waxing. But that wouldn't necessarily prevent a road chip. I drove carefully, staying a reasonable distance from cars in front of me and never parked in spaces where a door ding would be more likely.

I do get the OP though. I'm OCD to the max. I wipe my car down if it gets rain or road spray. Bug residue it wiped immediately to avoid damaging the paint. I also keep the windows perfectly cleaned, inside and out and I routinely wipe the brake dust on all 4 wheels.

Starshield

Hello mister p!

Congrats on the new car! Getting your car wrapped in paint protection film is defiantly the way to go! You can find a list of certified 3M Paint Protection installers here: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/post-fac...-an-installer/

You can also ask for information on the 3M 5-Year/$3500 Paint Protection service agreement. If anything chips the paint through the film (barring collision/body damage), 3M will cover the costs of repair/repainting up to $3500.

And don't forget you can always get the ceramic coating over your paint protection film!

Let us know if we can help!

parkwood

Worst thing is how paint chips are just unavoidable. The screen on the loaner I have had a huge chunk knocked out today and will need a repair or probably replacement. Quiet well surfaced wide road no obvious gravel debris I was doing the speed limit 80kph and a lorry passed also at the speed limit and wham. So I really understand how the OP feels and I share his anxiety. Also indulge in searching for the wide parking spaces avoid street parking (important here in france) but damage from stray gravel being thrown up is i think impossible to prevent.

ua549

I'd rather replace the windscreen than repair a paint chip. In Florida under law windscreen replacement/repairs are free for insured vehicles - no deductibles, no premium increases.

rbrylaw

I am so with you on this. And I've had my windshield replaced for free a couple times during the last 10 years.

ua549

My BMW gets a new windshield almost every year. It is my highway car and it gets stone hits on the interstate regularly.

rbrylaw

I don't do a lot of highway driving, fortunately. But every windshield replacement has happened from a time I did do highway driving. Big trucks petrify me.

parkwood

Same here 're no excess or loss of no claims but the overall claims history is not as good and frequent windscreen claims indicate a type of higher risk (my profession is insurance) so base premiums are adjustable for example in the way where you live affects the premium or the type or model of car.
as a loaner a chip on the bonnet (hood) might have saved me a claim or might have cost me more if it was really badly noticeable.
only good thing it was not my new still awaited e class.

ua549

In Florida one doesn't even go through the insurance company for a windscreen replacement. There is a statewide phone number one calls, then selects a shop to do the work. That's it! (no paperwork) By law the replacement event cannot be used by an insurance company for any purpose. Of course, in Florida it is not legal to drive with a damaged windscreen. Get it fixed or get a citation.

DFWdude

On the last visit to my dealer, one of the techs backed the car into a space in the carpark and cracked the paint on the rear bumper. Two days later, I got the car back with a shiny, freshly refinished bumper, corner to corner.

Normally, I park head first into the garage, but that day I brought the car home and backed into the garage (don't remember why). I got out, slammed the driver door, and an open end wrench fell from a shelf and put a healthy ding in the top of that freshly refinished bumper. A 1/4" long chip in the paint, through 2-3 layers of paint.

Oh well...

hyperion667

This was from 2018 LOL

Hundens

Same rule in Arizona. In Illinois some carriers offer a glass rider and some don't. The rider brings the deductible down to $50. My Insurance agent remarked that a windshield on a pick-up can go $700.