twister

Last night on a way home I heard something hit my roof. When I came home, didn't have a chance to look at it; and this morning after the rain here is what I found (different close ups):







This is right at the front edge of the roof above the windshield on the drivers side. This gotta be one hell of a rock chip as you can see all the layers down to the metal which already rusted overnight

I'm planning to take the car to dealership to see what they can suggest. But, what do you guys think? How easy would it be to fix it? Just my luck, ah? I guess I should be thankful it didn't crack the windshield, but this looks pretty bad to me. Another proof how soft the paint is. And just with a little bit of rain its rusting already?!?

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

yep thats a pretty bad rock chip lol, went down to the metal too. rain + air = rust and the northeast had ALOT of rain. i have a chip like that on my gas cover because some girl on a bike wasnt looking and ran into my car while in motion....but imagine that chip but the whole thing down to the metal. actually its a little bit bigger than that. im guessing the dealer should be able to warranty it but if not, its gonna be a costly chip.

twister

Forgot to mention, this rock chip is about the size of a dime. I just keeping my fingers crossed they will be able to take care of it like they did with some of my scratches. Otherwise, if they will send me to a body shop, I can smell $200-$300 fix...

How would you even fix this? What are the steps?

2thfixr

Ouch! That's ugly!

twister

Thanks, Robert That's what happens when your work gets relocated and your typical 30 mile round-trip commute turns into 100 mile commute. Than, your $50k car turns into a daily beater driven through NJ Turnpike among 18-wheelers. Its still one damn comfy ride with a spirit at 80+mph but now I have to deal with this crap

smalldog

That looks bad. I had a chip place like that on my driver door. (hit the metal pole at the gas pump) I used touch-up paint and M3 fine cut compound to fix it.

Bushwack

It's not my field of expertise, but some touch-up paint (probably need a base coat). masking tape and fine grit sandpaper should help. A chip that size is worth experimenting with (once you're through, it couldn't look any worse, right?!).

I'm sure there are some DIY websites that offer step-step instructions.

2thfixr

Don't bother. Take it to your dealership and have the bumper repair guy fix it. I have a patient that does that stuff and he charges about $150-250 depending on the size of the chip or scuff. He has done some stuff on my mother in law's old Camry and it perfect. Some dealerships also have guys that do rock chips so ask before you attempt it yourself or take it to a body shop. They will want to respray the entire roof and will end up blending the paint at the C-pillars anyways.

SKA430

That IS one heck of a chip. I'd say about $425 to fix perfectly at a high end shop, or like 2thfixr said you can find someone who can do a cheaper blend that will look good except for some haziness over time wherever the guy stops the clear coat. A hand touch up would always bother me since that chip is so large.

At least with the roof mldgs on the GS, there is no additional blending outside of just painting the roof panel itself. Good luck with it.

dunnojack

no way that's a dime size
that's small, relatively.
touch it up yourself. like the dude above said, masking tape and fine grit sand paper.
your car is silver, so the touch up paint shouldn't stand out too much. it could be a good project for just $10. paint on thin layers after masking it.

but the most important thing is getting that rust off with some WD-40, then wipe off with rubbing alcohol, and then applying at least one layer of touch up paint to cover the metal. Protection first.

twister

Actually, when I look at it up close in the morning, I realized that its not even a size of a dime. Maybe half of it. I did a good macro zoom with my camera to take the picture (don't you just love the visual of all the cracked layers?), so it looks bigger than you might think.

Now, I am at dealership. Their detailing guy is taking care of it. Like it was mentioned above, treatment of rust and a touch up. I'm leaving this up to pros... I might think of getting custom VentureShield clear bra piece on front edge of the roof and a-pillar.

dunnojack

if you wanna get clearbra for those areas, you can even do it yourself for cheap! Those areas are flat and easy.

buy some 3m at stickercity.com

use the saved $$$ for a nice meal

Jace7

ya, it's bad but I have a few of those as well. I just used their touchup paint with their brush and it's fine.

remember this is still just a car, stuff happens, oh well.

But I do feel your pain.

lexuslover

i have had chips there also. no way the size of a dime, only a few millimeters in diameter. i just use the paint pen from autovisuals to get a really nice clean touch up and call it a day. i'm over the days where i baby the car to death - lease is up soon so it gets the DIY treatment only

and yes, the paint is soft. i noticed it is really bad around the metal edges, like where yours is. i have one on my hood like that right where the hood meets the grill. and i think another one on my pillar right at the edge.