Picked up a Rock Chip...

[GovtCheese]

Picked up a rock chip today on a Deep Crystal Blue Mica vehicle today. If it's gray/white in there, is that damaged beyond the paint layer?

 

[paris1]

Of course it is; it's down to the "gray/white" primer.

 

[Lazy2.5]

Just make sure you scan the road you are about to drive down, on foot, for any potential rocks or debris that might hit your paint. Because, you know, it's kind of inevitable.

 

[a69mach1377]

Somebody hit the drivers door on mine and chipped the paint. Besides a professional fix, any ideas to keep it from getting worse?
I was thinking of a small piece of PPF/clear bra material...

 

[Lazy2.5]

Somebody hit the drivers door on mine and chipped the paint. Besides a professional fix, any ideas to keep it from getting worse?
I was thinking of a small piece of PPF/clear bra material...

Touch up pen.

 

[jadmt]

I hope Mazda mica blue paint pens are a closer match than the rhodium white paint pens are...but yes use a paint pen to fill it in as quick as possible.

 

[sm1ke]

If you can run a fingernail over the scratch, and it catches, it's likely too deep to be polished out. However, if you have the tools and products available, or if you want to try polishing it out by hand, you could give that a try. Just be sure to read up on the process and watch a few YouTube vids to learn before you attempt it. At the very least, you can minimize the look of the chip a little bit. Then, if you don't want to get it professionally repaired, use some clear nail polish and fill in the chip with a tooth pick (do not use the nail brush to "paint" it on). Touch up paint often makes the chip look worse because people tend to apply too much, and because the paint is often not a perfect match.

I recently had to polish out a few marks from an errant shopping cart. I didn't think it would come out, but it worked out really well. I used a DA (dual-action) polisher with a foam pad and Meguiar's Ultimate Polish.

 

[a69mach1377]

I've used those paint pens for decades...never been happy with the results.
My original question stands.

 

[jadmt]

I've used those paint pens for decades...never been happy with the results.
My original question stands.

Post a photo of your chip. if it is on the very edge you could use ppf but most places a piece of ppf or vinyl would probably look funny. for me even tho the mazda paint stick doesn't match great I feel it will keep the chip from getting bigger and flaking a bigger piece of paint off. one thing about these mazda special colors ie the red and the white they are thin and chip easy...my sliver jeep has been offroad for many miles in tough conditions and zero chips.

 

[cz5gt]

Mazda pens only work for single color paints. ie black, silver, blue. All the rest the white, red, dark grey a tri-color paint and pen would never match it 100%.

Plus the paint is super thin vs some other cars but thats another topic.

 

[Koko_Bandit]

I have had good luck with Dr. Color chip. It is not perfect but the match is good if you shake the bottle for at least a minute before trying.

 

[a69mach1377]

I tried Dr color chip also, on a previous car. Still not happy with that either.
Here is a pic of the damage, near the drivers door handle. Click to open the pic, the chip/scratch is on the left side.

 

[jadmt]

I have had good luck with Dr. Color chip. It is not perfect but the match is good if you shake the bottle for at least a minute before trying.

I tape the paint pen to a blade on my sawzall and shake it that way..

 

[Koko_Bandit]

I tape the paint pen to a blade on my sawzall and shake it that way..

Very clever. I will have to remember that trick.

 

[jadmt]

I tried Dr color chip also, on a previous car. Still not happy with that either.
Here is a pic of the damage, near the drivers door handle. Click to open the pic, the chip/scratch is on the left side.

I would just do a light coat of touchup paint. really the only one who will ever notice is you. I no longer even notice mine.

 

[paris1]

I tried Dr color chip also, on a previous car. Still not happy with that either.
Here is a pic of the damage, near the drivers door handle. Click to open the pic, the chip/scratch is on the left side.

I had read all the horror stories about Soul Red Crystal Metallic prior to my wife's insisting on having that color on her CX-5. I ordered 2-step touch up paint set from my favorite internet supplier and, sure as s***, found it absolutely impossible to get a decent match. Didn't take me long to give up on using the base coat. Now I just use as little of the color coat as it takes to camouflage the scratch and call it a day (like jadmt says above). It usually ends up looking OK in some light and horrible in others. It's just the nature of the finish!