I just did a really good wash of my new (to me) 2009 and noticed I have a lot of paint chips up over the front of the far, especially the hood but also the forward parts of the car that go up over the doors.

There are quite a few, and my car is Blue Slate, so it's pretty noticeable. They are not down to the metal, they are white looking, like attached. They are definitely chips, they are little divots you can feel are concave.

I do have a touchup paint bottle with a brush and pen (that doesn't work right now) that is a factory match. I am wondering what I should do though? Take it to a body shop? Or try and do it myself? I can get some tools, and I have a Dremel I could use to buff with a cotton wheel, so if there are tutorials or something I bet I could follow. I know just dabbing in paint will leave bumps and not looks good, so how does one fill in the chips and have it look as good as it can afterwards, without having my whole hood repainted and risking it looking slightly different as the car is now 5-6 years old.

But what do most of you do? I've had the car about 3 weeks and it's been snowing/raining the whole time so I am just seeing these. But now that the car is sparkling clean, they are very noticeable, like someone flinged a bunch of spots of white paint across my hood =(

Ideas?

 

Infiniti paint is very chip-prone (as are most low VOC paint jobs). You can put a band-aid product like Dr. Colorchip in teh chips and they'll be less noticeable but aside from a pro re-painting that's about the best you can expect. I used Dr. Colorchip on my black Sedan which was riddled w/ chips and it helped from a distance but still could clearly see all the chips from about 5 feet away.
I was in a T-bone accident last year and had the hood repainted and got a new bumper (when my wife got backed into) so now I just keep much more distance from the car in front, especially on the hwy and that's helped a lot.

 

Not much you can do but to get them to repaint the front end/blend.

 

Sorry to hear about your issues. Aside from the repaint, you're basically looking at touchup paint for the chips. A basic touchup will help hide the chip a bit by filling it with the same color, but if you want a really thorough job you're basically looking at filling up the chip with paint, waiting for it to cure, then sanding and polishing. This will usually give a really good finish but it's very hard to get perfect, so finding a local professional may be your best option. Even pros have a tough time touching up paint chips perfectly as it takes some time, patience and a lot of skill.

One of the best and quickest options is the already mentioned Dr. Colorchip because the paint is less "clumpy" than typical touch up paint, so it simply fills in the chip a bit but doesn't leave the bulge on the paint. This improves the look from 5-10+ feet away, but obviously if you look at it within a few feet you'll be able to tell where the chip was originally.

Hope that helps!

Ivan @ DI

 

That Dr. Colorchip looks perfect, the examples are pretty much what my car looks like.

 

As long as you know going-in that the results are far from perfect but will improve the look from a distance. Also never hurts to put some kind of paint protection in the chips in case some have got through the primer coat.

 

Do a 3m clear bra, if it's getting that bad.
I remember getting my car freshly painted, next thing I see chips galore.
The grill was black it looked like salt & pepper.
Had the grill re painted & all Rock chips on front end / hood were fixed thanks to a nice hit to the front end.

 

I won't have money to repaint the hood, so this will be okay for now. Specks that match the paint color are better than white, the slate blue is dark.

Regarding a clear bra, how far up a hood can they go? The chips go up around 1/3rd of the way. Edit: Oh looks like they can just do whatever you want with huge sheets of film. If the chips are filled and a film is applied, can you really tell it's there or is it just perfectly invisible?

 

If you get the Dr. Colorchip might want to review this thread. I had a bit better luck going w/ that method but still noticeable
Paint Chip Repair--DIY - Rennlist Discussion Forums

 

Yes it's totally invisible. It's just a little expensive.
But way less than repainting & having to match.

Shop around prices vary greatly.

Good luck with getting it fixed, I've been there.

 

I got the Dr. Colorchip kit. The color is exact.

I tried it on 1, and actually did the process twice. It worked as advertised, but I am curious as to how much "fill" it is supposed to do? It didn't really add any fill to the chip. Maybe it's not supposed to.

It did work though, and I thin it will be great. But is it supposed to fill at all, or just do a quick, easy job of coloring the chip to blend it in?

 

Might want to read this thread, this should get you more of a fill, it helped when I went that route but still a band-aid fix, but looks better from a distance for sure.
Paint Chip Repair--DIY - Rennlist Discussion Forums

 

I hear another product to use is Langka. I haven't had the chance to try it yet. Anyone else use this product before and know how it compares to Dr. ColorChip?

 

Just finished doing my whole hood and around the top of my doors. Looks super good. Took a while, but from 5 feet away I doubt anyone would tell there were any chips, and if they got closer they would look like car-colored chips.

I am really pleased. Will probably get a full detail/wax/buff etc in a week or so and look again, but I am pretty happy with the results for probably $20 (I am only 3/4 the way through the $80 kit).

 

I have the same problem. I bought the Color chip kit for another car to test my skill before I do the G. There is definately some good feedback on this site, so I'll be trying the product when it warms up in another week or two.