Slightly rusting stone chips (about to buy my first GTI)

[Hakiroto]

Hi, everyone!

I'm new here as I've (almost) just bought my first GTI. It's a facelift from 03/2017 and at that age I expected a few stone chips on the bonnet but when going to look at it I've actually seen a couple that are fairly big (here's a photo of the biggest and worst) and seem to be showing signs of rust. The guy at the dealership told me they won't respray the bonnet as that'd cost them ~1000€ but that their "smart repair" guy could do some kind of clean up where they remove the rust and add some kind of lacquer protection on them that'd stop further rusting. I've never had paint issues with a car before so don't know how legit this is but does it sound right?

The thing is, the car is a good price, it's the colour I want (white silver metallic), and it has a bunch of nice extras so I don't really want to miss out because of stone chips but I've never seen any small signs of rust on a stone chip before so I'm a little concerned. Even my old Cupra R from 10 years ago, with its ridiculous amount of stone chips on the bonnet, never seemed to have any that looked this deep.

Any advice for a GTI newbie?

Thanks, everyone! Have a nice day.

 

[CarlosCanizares]

I used to operate Dr Colourchip in my area. In Canada, they're now called TouchUp RX.

That ”smart repair” is probably that or a similar product. Rust is removed using a rust converter of some sort. Specially formulated paint is applied to fill the chips and a ”seal-act” product is used to removed the excess. Silvers are usually easy to match depending on the metallic part (forget pearls and tri-coats) and the ”flatness” of the paint compared to the surrounding parts will depend on the skill of the technician. That chip in the photo is par for the course but be thankful, it missed the crease.

If you can live with your paint not being perfect, it's a good way to go. We had a client pay us almost $800 to do chip repair on his white G-Wagen. It was a 4-hour job and was a lot less then what a body shop would be charged especially since the chips were all over the place.

 

[SRGTD]

Get a paint chip repair kit and do it yourself. It won’t be perfect, but you won’t be drawn to the repair, and no one else will notice it.

IMO it‘s not worth paying someone else to repair it with a smart repair, or spending a small fortune on getting a complete bonnet (hood) respray as it‘ll only be a matter of time before you get the next paint chip, and there‘ll be others after that.

 

[sprinks]

Yeah, i'd just seal them myself if i were in your position. If you want to keep it a long time, seal them, get a detail shop to correct them in, and put a clear paint protection film on it and drive happy for years (don't forget to replace the ppf occasionally).

 

[Strange Mud]

chips rust...it's not uncommon at all. +1 on letting them fix it and not worrying about it.

 

[Hakiroto]

Thanks, everyone. I spoke to the guy at the dealership again this morning and after a bit of a back and forth, he said his smart repair guy will fix all of them. There are a couple that seem fairly bad but the other stone chips are the more typical, lighter ones. We'll have to see how it ends up but the fact that he eventually agreed to get them all sorted is a result, I guess. I'm set to pick it up next Friday!

 

[CarlosCanizares]

Thanks, everyone. I spoke to the guy at the dealership again this morning and after a bit of a back and forth, he said his smart repair guy will fix all of them. There are a couple that seem fairly bad but the other stone chips are the more typical, lighter ones. We'll have to see how it ends up but the fact that he eventually agreed to get them all sorted is a result, I guess. I'm set to pick it up next Friday!

As long as you know they really aren't being fixed and you're satisfied.

We were called by dealerships to handle those chips and even minor - moderate correction.

Sometimes, dealerships have those chips taken of first. Once a customer sees the chips, they can't unsee it even after it's ”repaired”.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Hakiroto]

As long as you know they really aren't being fixed and you're satisfied.

We were called by dealerships to handle those chips and even minor - moderate correction.

Sometimes, dealerships have those chips taken of first. Once a customer sees the chips, they can't unsee it even after it's ”repaired”.

Let us know how it goes.

Sure, will do. Thanks for the advice. Yeah, I get that they’re not really being fixed but I just figured I’d let him do them as opposed to just taking the car as is as, despite knowing I would’ve had it anyway.

I’m curious, though, how these little repairs will look. I have a friend who’s had some done and he said he can’t see the repair but I’ve also read elsewhere that people say you can see it if you look for it. I’m not sure how tough it’ll be to match that white silver metallic as it’s a pretty weird colour but I really have no idea about this stuff so guess I’ll see. Thanks again!

 

[CarlosCanizares]

Eattherich, are you by chance an Aerosmith fan? Haha

That was my partner’s truck at Langley Toyota after the rebeand from Dr Colourchip to TouchUp RX.

Your dealership’s ”guy” probably isn't the same brand as I remember DCC was only available in the US, Canada, UK and Russia. Likely not in Germany, unless that's changed.

 

[CarlosCanizares]

I’m curious, though, how these little repairs will look. I have a friend who’s had some done and he said he can’t see the repair but I’ve also read elsewhere that people say you can see it if you look for it. I’m not sure how tough it’ll be to match that white silver metallic as it’s a pretty weird colour but I really have no idea about this stuff so guess I’ll see. Thanks again!

It depends on several factors:

1. The paint match
2. The skill of the tech
3. How big the chips are

On small chips, it's very effective and you really can't see the chips. On larger ones, you'll notice something odd and realize it's been repaired upon closer inspection.

It's worse when it's a big chip and the paint isn't a close match. Our kit came with 200+ paint variations and you could special order to codes if needed (with a cost of course). Silver, white and black are the most easily matched paints, but sometimes there are factors that make it a tough ”match”.

This is why dealerships try to get them repaired first so customers don't see them at first impression.

 

[chillax]

My hood has a ton of tiny chips just above the headlights. I ordered a Dr. ColorChip kit to "fix" them before the warm weather ends. I've watched quite a few videos of the process and it seems very easy and effective.

 

[SRGTD]

My hood has a ton of tiny chips just above the headlights. I ordered a Dr. ColorChip kit to "fix" them before the warm weather ends. I've watched quite a few videos of the process and it seems very easy and effective.

I’ve not used a Dr. ColorChip kit, but in the UK we also have Chipex stone chip paint repair kits, and the Chipex kit is essentially the same as the Dr. ColorChip version. I have used the Chipex kits, and the colour match has been good, and with s little practice, it’s possible to get good results - something I’ve struggled with when using some of the paint pens.

For me, one of the benefits the Dr. ColorChip / Chipex kits is that if you’re not satisfied with your efforts, you can simply and easily remove the paint you’ve applied with the blending solution in the kit and start over again until you do get the result you were hoping for.

Paint chips are an inevitable consequence of owning and driving a car, especially with the (generally poor) condition of many of the roads. So one of the first things I buy when I get a new car (and sometimes before I’ve actually got the car) is a paint chip repair kit, as it’s pretty much a certainty that first paint chip will happen sooner rather than later, and it’ll be followed by others.

 

[chillax]

I’ve not used a Dr. ColorChip kit, but in the UK we also have Chipex stone chip paint repair kits, and the Chipex kit is essentially the same as the Dr. ColorChip version. I have used the Chipex kits, and the colour match has been good, and with s little practice, it’s possible to get good results - something I’ve struggled with when using some of the paint pens.

For me, one of the benefits the Dr. ColorChip / Chipex kits is that if you’re not satisfied with your efforts, you can simply and easily remove the paint you’ve applied with the blending solution in the kit and start over again until you do get the result you were hoping for.

Years ago I used to buy factory touch up paint and Blob Eliminator to essentially do the same thing. The only problem was the bob removal process slightly discolored the paint but it looked much better than using a pen or fine brush.

http://www.langka.com/index.php/featured-products/blob-eliminator

 

[CarlosCanizares]

To prevent blobs, using the squeegee is fine, especially if there are lots of them and they’re small.

On larger ones, my partner used a flat brush but we could never get it to his level of flatness. In our kit, we had this Loew-Cornell paint pen and it worked wonders. So much so that we rarely had to use seal-act afterwards.

Then my wife discovered Larry from Ammo NYC used the same pen for chip repair on a vintage Porsche:

If it’s good enough for Larry...

We also used Rupes polishers like Larry.

 

[CarlosCanizares]

I’ve not used a Dr. ColorChip kit, but in the UK we also have Chipex stone chip paint repair kits, and the Chipex kit is essentially the same as the Dr. ColorChip version. I have used the Chipex kits, and the colour match has been good, and with s little practice, it’s possible to get good results - something I’ve struggled with when using some of the paint pens.

For me, one of the benefits the Dr. ColorChip / Chipex kits is that if you’re not satisfied with your efforts, you can simply and easily remove the paint you’ve applied with the blending solution in the kit and start over again until you do get the result you were hoping for.

Paint chips are an inevitable consequence of owning and driving a car, especially with the (generally poor) condition of many of the roads. So one of the first things I buy when I get a new car (and sometimes before I’ve actually got the car) is a paint chip repair kit, as it’s pretty much a certainty that first paint chip will happen sooner rather than later, and it’ll be followed by others.

I heard great thing about Chipex during our research.

I’m the opposite. I rarely wash my car and don’t really car if it has chips or gashes (as long as they don’t rust). I prefer the used look.

My R has the perfect look right now because I haven’t washed it in almost 3 years and 6000kms of driving. There’s more crap at the front and there’s a dirty gradient towards the back haha!