I have a 2009 Fit with 5k miles. I wash this car once a week. Every week I find a new chip OR ding in the paint on the front bumper cover or on the hood. This is ridiculous! I have never had a car do this! I have got other cars with bumper covers like most cars today and I don't have this problem. I have about 10 dings OR chips already. I take "out of the ordinary" care of my vehicles and notice everything.

Has anybody else noticed this?

 

Have had mine since 2/18/09 w/ 3600 miles and far too many rock chips. Very disappointed in quality of the paint.

 

yeah i've seriously got >300 of these on my '07 fit. and i NEVER tailgate anybody. it seems pretty much unavoidable so i don't beat myself up over it.

 

im in the same boat, i take obsessive care of the paint.... and have tins of chips.... cheap car crappy paint..... eventually ill get a repaint when it pisses me off enough

 

From my understanding, the paint on newer cars are more bio-degradable, therefore softer, which leads to easier dings, chips and scratches. The only solution that I can come up with is to layer my Fit with 3-4 coats of waxes and sealants.

 

Get your bumper re painted then get 3m clear bra.. You cant even tell its on there and protects from chips.

3M Protective Film Clear Bra Test - Automotive Articles .com Magazine

 

That works fine until it starts to yellow then you can't peel it off and it looks worst than before and now you have to paint the car and maybe replace the bumper cover....not good.

 

So glad my cars white and doesnt show any rock ships

 

I just realized that 99.99% car owners don't have time, are too lazy, or don't have the resources to detail their cars. To which, I provide a simple remedy:

2009 Honda FIT Touch-Up Paint

 

Yes, i got my 08 fit used with 9k miles. Paint was perfect, must have been redone, cause within 1 week i noticed many chips on the front bumper and hood. And within 2 weeks, tons of chips on the bottom lip.

Thankfully i got some touch up paint. But still... the cheap paint pisses me off.

 

Does the touch up paint show once its dried?

I love black cars but I think Im going to go with 1 of my least fav. colors, white, so chips wont show as bad. I had a black neon and the chips in that bumper stuck out like a soar thumb.

Thats the only real downside to have a low grounded car

 

Unfortunately, touch up paint will always show if you look closely enough, even if done correctly. I use touch up paint all the time on my Fit, but you'll have to apply it in stages and be patient with the application. I'm sure you can google on how to apply touch up paint.

 

I wonder if this is indeed the case. On just about every forum that I'm an active participant on, people complain about their paint. This includes Toyotas/Scions, Hondas, Suzukis, and more.

I have an '09 Suzuki SX4 AWD which I frequently take up Mt. Hood skiing, and it's got a TON of chips. My '07 Yaris, which does not see mountain use, also has a ton of chips. Our last Civic (a 1998 which I sold about a month ago) seemed to have better paint that my last three new cars.

 

Japanese imports are known to have the softest paint/clear coat which swirl/scratch easily. Especially Honda and Toyota.
American cars have tougher paint/clear coats.
European cars have the toughest paint/clear coats. Especially BMW's with the ceramic in the clear coat... I hate detailing BMWs

 

@OP, do you think you have all those dings from road debris?

I have 1 very minor round ding on the forward edge of my hood, but that's it. And I'm not sure where that came from. Could've come from a tech working on my car.

As far as chipping, sadly the water-based paint is the truth. It will chip easily. But what I noticed on this car that I haven't experienced in my previous cars is the easily scratchable clear coat. You can lightly rub your finger on a clean surface of the paint and you'll see swirl marks. I quickly accepted this and don't care since it's "normal" and you can't do anything about it.

 

Actually there's lots of stuff you can do to prevent swirls. 95% of swirls are caused by improper washing technique. My car has no swirls. Although there's nothing you can do about rock chips besides getting a bra.

 

No, no, no...did you read what I said? Even if the car is freshly cleaned and you lightly rub your finger on the paint, you can see swirl marks.

 

The swirls got there from washing the car the wrong way. Not using 2 buckets, not using a good wash mitt, not drying with microfiber waffle weaves, and applying wax in a circular motion with an old rag will cause swirls. They'll really show in direct sunlight. Rubbing your finger on the paint doesn't make them just show up. And washing the car won't remove them.

 

Wrong! What makes you think you know how I wash my car? And you STILL don't seem to have the insight as to my description. Maybe it's because I have a black car, but you can see your finger making the scratches.

 

Relax buddy. I was just describing the most common ways our cars get swirl marks so that other people can avoid it. It wouldn't suprise me if touching the paint will swirl it. Hell I never touch my paint. I close the door using the plastic trim. Close the hatch using the handle and license plate. And just letting the hood drop from a reasonable height rather than pushing it down.