Whats everyones attitude toward scratches/chips in new paint?

[paironines]

I know they are undesirable but I didn't invest this much into my car to just drive around the block! I really liked building the car but it seems like things were a little more carefree before the fresh B5. I just worry. If it gets scratched I guess I just need to grin and bear it. Excuse my rant.

[Ghoste]

Think of them as character traits?  (and get a touch up bottle)

[Dans 68]

To "grin and bear it" is about all you can do. Enjoy the car. And get a touch up bottle.... 

Dan

[Drache]

My cousin Jody when she got married received a nice crystal bowl for a wedding gift from our grandfather. Now one day she was all upset because the bowl had a small chip in it. Our grandfather looked at her and simply said "now that there is one chip you no longer have to treat it all special with kid gloves. It's already got a chip so what's to worry, treat it how it's supposed to be treated and used."

He said the same thing to me with my first car when I got a dent and chipped the paint.

Simply put he was saying that not that it's already got a small imperfection you can stop worrying about babying the thing and use it for what it was built for.

The Dart I bought has many small imperfections. But I wanted a driver not a show car. Only wish I could keep the thing running right.... 

[bill440rt]

Chips suck. 

But, it's gonna happen. It's inevitable. I try to take care if it as soon as possible. Just like coloring, when touching up a chip be sure to stay WITHIN the lines of the chip. Keep it small. Otherwise, it may look worse then the chip itself. If your car is a solid color, you can build up the touch up paint within the chip, lightly sand it smooth, & polish it out so it will be less noticeable.
Most surface scratches can also be polished out.

I try to avoid roads that have potholes or that I know are rough to begin with. Intersections on backroads are a treasure trove for gravel, if you encounter it try to make your turns to avoid going thru it. Gravel WILL get embedded in your tires & ultimately get slung up on your car. Also, before driving check out your tires. If you see gravel stuck in the treads pull any stones out before driving, that'll eliminate the chance of those rocks causing chips.

[Cooter]

Just got the General Lee painted, and in the back yard it was no easy feat. Worked on it for about three days. Finally got to drive it out to show it off..What's the FIRST thing that happens? Yep, a Buddy stumbles (Drunk) into the right rear piece over the tail lights and his jeans had those little "Buttons" on the side and sure enough, chipped the paint..it wasn't ONE DAMN DAY OLD....I commenced to having a few beers and i decided to stumble arounf HIS car and chipped HIS paint as well..Tit for tat...They will happen, but when stupid people do stupid things, it really pisses me off...


I tell all my customers after their car has been painted, "you will become a complete ass over your car now you know this right?" They look as if I've lost my mind, but usually come back in about a month or so and tell me how right I was.

[Topher]

My advice for fresh paint on a driver: Take your pocket knife out, open it up, pick a hidden spot(door jam, somewhere under the hood, the trunk, etc) and scratch it. You may as well be the first person to scratch it!

[moparguy01]

I guess I'm supersticious. When I paint my own cars first I won't drive it for 8 days. Everytime I've painted a car and it's been driven within the first 7 days it's got in a wreck. And I also do as topher said and put thefirst scratch in it myself.

Ok so I'm alittle odd.

[greenpigs]

This is one of the reasons why I will never have a $5000 paint job, the first being I could never afford one.

[moparstuart]

 I drive the hell out of my cars and enjoy them , yeah scuffs and chips suck but it just adds memories and charater to the cars for me .

[BlueSS454]

I can't stand chips in paint.  I repair them so no one would ever know it was there  .  Helps to have the leftover paint after I'm done painting the car  .

[pipeliner]

Hmmm,what about painting your car with Gel Coat.Wonder what that would cost?

[moparguy01]

There is a selfhealing clear coat. I don't have any experience with it however.

[jeryst]

We all have to make the same decision: Drive it, or look at it.

To me its all relative. If someone buys a $300k car, with a $30k paint job, then every chip reduces the value by a large amount.

On the other hand, if, like me, your car is work $10k and you have a $1500 paint job, then the chips dont mean crap,
and its much more fun to drive than to look at.

[Old Moparz]

My advice for fresh paint on a driver: Take your pocket knife out, open it up, pick a hidden spot(door jam, somewhere under the hood, the trunk, etc) and scratch it. You may as well be the first person to scratch it!

I was the first one to chip the paint on my Scamp when I was putting the trunk lock back on. I'm sure if anyone was standing nearby they'd have heard a bunch of 4 letter words. Well, they probably wouldn't have to have been nearby. 

Like Greenpigs said, can't afford $5000 paint, & sure as hell don't want to worry about a $5000 paint job while driving it or parking it somewhere.

[Vainglory, Esq.]

I put the first scratch in my paint too.  Hood pins.

I'm okay with it.  Like someone said above, you make the choice to either use your car or look at it.  I figure that if I drive it enough - which is absolutely the plan - I'll have plenty more scratches by the time I have to re-restore it.  It's really no big deal.

[twodko]

Eastwood now sells this clear wrap stuff in 100 foot rolls in either 6" or 12" widths. It can stay on the car for several days no worries. I bought some to paste on the leading edges of the hood/front fenders and the lower quarter panels in route to & from cars shows. Check it out.

[aussiemuscle]

my Ford had a few chips in the front edge of the hood, but a couple went right through to the metal, so i ended up getting the paint shop to repaint the entire hood. i no longer have the hood stripes (have to buy them soon).