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Stone Chip Repair
 


Paint Chip Touch-in

    Stone chips are the most common kind of damage, especially for cars that do lots of motorway miles. Each chip in it's self is usually so small that people tend to overlook this kind of damage and just accept it as inevitable. But having stone chips repaired with the correctly matched paint can make a dramatic difference to the appearance of your car, especially on dark coloured paintwork. Click here for example.

Stone chips can be a major cause of rust, especially along the bottom of the doors and around the grill and lights as lower areas are more exposed to road salts. Once rust starts, it's almost impossible to stop, so it's worth having your paint chips seen to on a regular basis. (See note 1b)

Becky touching in stone chips with an artists brush

Using colour matched paint and an artists brush, our practiced staff can fill chips and scratches which are little wider than a hair. (See note 2)

Clean Image offers a stone chip touch-in service in conjunction with any of our valet services (Gold, Silver, Bronze and Exterior Valet, prices start at £19.95 and can be redeemed against your Free Extra), If you already have a touch-in paint, bring it with you when you have your car valeted. If not, we can mix up or order one for you.
Important: Clean Image can only provide this service when purchased with a valet as the car needs to be cleaned to a very high standard to be sure the car is clear of squashed flies and road tar.

Scratch Proof Film ...because prevention is better than cure!
Most cars will accumulate accidental scratches as well as stone chips, these will range from the kind of scuffs you get around the door ledges and the edge of the boot. And around the locks and handles. We can repair this kind of damage as part of our Paint Chip Repair Service, but prevention is far better than cure. For New and nearly new cars, we can supply and fit an special rubberised clear vinyl which when fitted is almost invisible from just a couple of feet away.
Diagram showing areas covered one a Porsche Carrera
Many car manufacturers such as TVR already fit this as standard on vulnerable parts of their vehicles, but if your vehicle does not come with stone chip films already fitted, kits are available for most vehicles.

Kits cost between £300 and £600 pounds, which is less that the amount that stone chips can devalue your car, it's less than the cost of a front-end-respray, in fact, it's a lot less than the cost of a replacement headlight unit on some vehicles!

This is a new service for Clean Image (2006), so until we can put more detailed information on the website, please call 01245 350035 and ask for Gary.



Cosmetic Repair/Artwork 

    As an alternative to our Scuff Repair Service, some scrapes and scuffs can often be rectified without the need for filling, priming and spraying. Most commonly this is used for people who have hit curb stones while parking, or run over bricks and other road debris, damaging the seals and underside sections of the car. Because these areas are not as noticeable as the main body panels, often it is good enough to colour the effected area, protecting it from corrosion and making it far less noticeable.

Touching in a key scratch. On this car, several coats were built up to fill in the scratch. This was then flattened, polished and waxed. (See note 1a)

Touching in a key scratch

In cases, where a cars body work has become scratched, it is possible to fill the scratch with many layers of paint. We then flatten, buff and polish the area.
Depending on the colour of the paintwork, position and the severity of the damage, this will often produce a 60-95% improvement. While not invisible, this is a very cost effective way of dealing with some kinds of damage and cheaper alternative to scuff repair.

Note 1a- While this kind of repair is nearly an invisible repair for key scratches and large chips, it is extremely labour intensive. This means that it is not practical or economically viable for large numbers of stone chips. Note 1b - Please note that our normal stone chip repair service consists of painting the chips either with an artists brush or an airbrush. While this provides adequate protection against rust, and significantly improves the appearance of your car, it is not an invisible repair.

Note 2 - Please also note that the colour of some metallic paints depends very much on the method of application. Although we provide an exact colour match paint, it may dry a slightly different shade due to the way the metallic particles settle .

 

Is your car a Lease Car due for return?
Guide:
Lease Car Guide
A complete guide full of useful advice and tips about how to care for and return your leased car. Including stone chips and scratch advice!

 

 

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car care and car valeting articles Valeting Articles: Index Page
A list of articles on various car care and car valeting subjects

Article: Stone Chip & Scratch Repair Advice
Due to popular demand, I have answered one of the most commonly asked questions - how to go about taking care of stone chips.

Article: Why Valet?
Find out all the benefits of a valet, why and when you should have it done.

 

 

  
This page was last updated on Fri, 4 January, 2008
 
valeting 
 

Since Dec 2003

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