Repairing Car Paint Chips

If you’ve owned your vehicle for an extended amount of time, you know well enough that sometimes stuff happens. Scrapes, bumps, hail damage, and things entirely out of our control can impact the aesthetic of your car. One issue that most vehicle owners run into eventually is chipping paint. Luckily, repairing car paint chips is easy to fix, but if you’re not sure what to do to take care of those chips, we have you covered. Note, however, that if you have serious hail damage and paint damage, you should bring your car to professional car painting and matching experts…such as us!

Clean it Up

Before repairing car paint chips, give your vehicle a quick wash with some warm soap and water to clean up the chip area, then grab some automotive body polish and a soft cotton cloth. Rub a small dab of polish over the chipped area to soften up any jagged edges. Be careful not to over-polish, or you could damage the clear coat on the rest of the vehicle, leaving you with a cloudy paint job that’s more of an eyesore than the chip itself.

Prime Time

Once you’ve softened up the edges, you’ll want to prime the area so it’s ready for a fresh coat of paint. Choosing a quality primer will set your repair job up for success, so make sure not to go the cheapest route or you may find yourself facing the same chip in just a short while. Before applying primer, swipe the area with denatured alcohol to make sure it’s truly clean and ready to hold the primer and paint.

Grab the Right Paint

Head to an auto parts store and you’ll find a book with paints from different makes, models, and years. Look up the information that matches your car and you’ll likely see a list of paint colors used that year on vehicles with that make and model. Find the one that matches yours and buy a small bottle of touch-up paint. Make sure not to apply the paint in direct sunlight or if the temperature is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Apply a layer of paint over the primed area (we always recommend testing the paint on a piece of paper first to make sure it’s the right color) and let it dry. Apply a second coat about an hour later and let that coat cure for several days.

Good as New

Once the second coat has had a chance to cure, there’s just one more step for repairing car paint chips. Take the polishing compound you used to soften up the jagged edges of the chip in the first step and reapply a small amount here to help feather the edges of the repair job and make the new coat of paint look seamless – and your vehicle look like it’s new all over again.