About a week ago a landscaper at work decided it was a great idea to weedwhack the grass on the parking island in front of my car.

He ended up peppering the hood of my car causing a LOT of paint chips. Looks like I followed a sand and gravel truck. They are not huge chips but when you get close you can see them

Talked with my maintenance guy who called landscaping place. Told me to go to body shop and get an estimate and they will take care of it

Will be using body shop for AutoFair Honda......,how good and close do you think they can match the Milano Red? Any downsides to doing this especially since not a clear coat? I just don't want to have a mismatched hood. If car was a few years old I might accept it but not 3 monthdone

would you have it done?

 

Not sure of the question re clear coat? I see no reason the color could not be matched 'perfectly'. What would be another option??

 

plus most bodyshops are giving "lifetime" guarantees to the original owner for things like fading.

I'd get it painted and if it's not right take it back to the shop that did it. Make sure they've been in business a while and offer a guarantee.

 

OP is correct in non- clearcoat on the MR and TW. Ask the type of paint they will be using. Poly-urathane is bullit proof like Imron from Dupont.
Good Luck w/ repair.

 

I didn't know the MR and TW weren't clear coated, looks like I learned something today.

 

if it's minor chips that can be polished out i would polish it out instead of re-paint.

but if your nails can catch the chips then get it repainted. they can match the red if the tech is good enough. most high-end body shops use state of the art color matching machines too...

 

Yep you can feel the chips.......want to strangle that idiot. Tried to buff them out with a good cleaner wax to no avail. Some look like white specks. Too small to use touchup paint....how would these polish out?

 

They wouldn't polish out if they're deep enought to hold wax or compound in them. I had a run of bad luck with my Fit which has resulted in a replaced hood and front fender, and a repainted rear passenger door, in 3 separate incidents. In all three cases, the body shop matched the original paint perfectly. Modern computer matching seems to work quite well.

 

I had to have the front bumper and lip repainted because of a problem with the paint peeling in the seam. It was a perfect match! You can go to most tinting placing to get the clear cover put on top if you want true protections. That was one reason I went with the CF hood because it will not show paint chips! Hope you get it fixed as good as new.

 

Ahhhhhrrrrrrrgh!!!!*^@!!! Makes ya wonder whaaaaat is rattling around inside some people's skulls.

As far as color match I've been told that factory-original compositions are available to painting shops, so a new unfaded car should come out matching perfectly. On an old car they can use various color-match technology but then the new paint and the old paint may age/fade differently.

The skill of the painter is another variable, but sounds like you have a good shop. Personally I'd go for the repaint.

geo

 

They will likely pay off the estimate, since they appear to have admitted their liability in this incident. Get the check, and if the damage isnt too bad (i.e. livable), hold onto the cash until the rock chips get really bad, like this:



then repaint.

 

Go to a body shop that has been around for some time. I use a good friend. Match should be undetectable to the common person IF you use a good shop. FYI - My guy pointed out to me that the OEM fit bumpers don't match the rest of the car. He was right. Was shocking to see, but I hadn't noticed it in 30,000 miles because I'm not a bodyshop guy. They don't work as hard to match paint on OEM entry level cars like the Fit.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about paint chips with the Milano Red, it's notorious for turning pink eventually. I've seen pink RSX's, Preludes, etc all Milano Red. Pocket the money and use it on something more worthwhile.

 

Probably ain't gonna do anything now except to get the Zeta Hood deflector....picked up a nice size rock that left not only 1 but 2 nice dings /creases with paint loss to the lower front passenger side of the hood.

Talked to body shop and he quoted something like a grand because they would have to paint the hood and fenders and take the whole front end apart

Ummmm that isn't going to happen I gotta just chalk shit up that it is a 15k commuter car that gets fantastic mpg that is gonna get beat to shit on the highway (drive 10 miles a day, 99% highway) with a front end designed to get abused by anything, even a grain of rice it seems

Sort of pissed but whatever...clown at body shop insisted that there is a clearcoat on the MR as well and stated that no car in the last 15 years does not have a clearcoat

 

I like the appearance of my Magnetbra hood protector. It might be an option to use one to hide some of the damage on your hood if you like the look.

 

That actually looks like it goes up high enough to where the damage from the rock hits are. I had a magnetic bra for my 2000 Maxima way back when and I think it was sort of a pita to keep in place or get it lined up correctly

Is that a plastic trim ring to keep it in place?

How often do you have to adjust or take it off? Can you go through a touchless car wash with it?

 

I like the appearance of carrying timbers around on the roof. Makes it seem manly even if it is wearing a bra.

 

Blackberry - do a search for a thread I put up titled "Magnetbra Hood Protector", it has lot more info. That is a flexible edging piece that holds the edges down. I make sure my car is very clean with a fresh application of silicon paint protectant before putting the bra on. Doing that, I've left the bra on for a couple of months at a time and see no signs it's harming the hood, and it hasn't needed any adjustment. The photo was taken after the bra was on for a few weeks, and after an 850 mile highway trip (and after a wash).

I've only hand washed the car with the bra on, but I think a well directed touchless sprayer might be able to lift the back edge off the hood. And so far I've removed the bra during winter, but fortunately I mostly drive an older car during winter anyway so the Fit isn't at too much risk then.

On a red car, you may have to be more worried about paint fade. I've seen no signs that my silver paint is any different under the bra versus the rest of the car - maybe my paint protectant is helping with that too.

Steve - note the skinny little rope holding the biggest timbers - that was a half mile, low speed haul to get some free wood from a neighbor. Great photo op though.

 

I might try to find a body shop that wil paint just the hood and do the body work to take the 2 crease/dents/dings out. I find it friggin crazy to totally take apart the front end of the car just to paint the hood. Car is new enough that the fenders should not need to be painted to get a good match.


Seems like that body shop is just gouging once I said that the landscaper would be paying for the work. Too bad as they did great work on my last vehicle that had a very hard to match paint. (Golden Teal on my HHR)