My first stonechip on the incredibly soft GTI's paintwork :(

[Mr Savage]

So I was driving home from work the other night when a car drove past on the other side of the road. I heard the horrid sound of a stone flicking up and hitting somewhere near the drivers door. I got home, got out and saw a chip that appears to have gone straight through the clear coat at the top of the drivers door before it reaches the roof

The paint around it seems incredibly thin and soft....

I'm not sure what to do for the best? Do I use touch up paint and make an even bigger mess or do I take it to a company?

It's in a very unsightly place so can anyone recommend a top stone chip repair company in the midlands?

[rick2b]

I have three of the suckers on the bonnet, one of them a real soul destroyer.

[monkeyhanger]

Self-repair depends on your skill and patience. If it's just the clear coat and a small chip, you can get a modelling paint brush and dab the clear coat into the cleaned chip, just proud of the surface (there will be some shrinkage as the paint dries). If the paint is a little thick to nicely apply, you can thin some down with alcohol in a bottle cap or similar and apply a few layers (thinner paint leads to more drying shrinkage as the solvents evaporate, so maybe make it a little prouder with a few more layers).

Give a week for the paint to not only harden, but cure as well and give the painted surface a hand polish with some slight abrasive polish (like Mer) until it is smooth and level with the surface. Gloss it all back up with some wax afterwards.

If the chip is tiny then a wooden toothpick may serve you as well as a modelling brush.

[Mark V GTD]

Or buy a Chippex kit - thats the next step up from a blob of paint..

[Darlo]

Discovered my first chip yesterday 

Will be using a modelling paint brush to apply a touch up when i have a few more. The car only has 1300 miles on it so god knows how bad it will be after more miles

[monkeyhanger]

Discovered my first chip yesterday 

Will be using a modelling paint brush to apply a touch up when i have a few more. The car only has 1300 miles on it so god knows how bad it will be after more miles

I had 1 after a week - unusually, up on the top of the wing, an inch higher than the "knife" badges. The paint looked especially thin. I have another one - almost in the exact same place on the opposite wing, but this time it hasn't gone beyond the pigment layer (TR).

[Mr Savage]

Has anyone had experience of these Chipex kits? Are they better than the Paints4u kits? They seem quite handy to have around. My paint is TR so none metallic and I would imagine it being much easier to blend this colour.

[Munrohuna]

Well now covered 2000 miles in the gti and can honestly say although the car is fantastic the paint is the most chip prone I have ever seen.
I have been incredibly careful whilst driving behind other cars keeping a good distance and even pulled off the road while a road gritter passed however I have 7 or so chips on the bonnet, 2 large chips on the o/s wing and one in the door!!
How is everyone else finding there cars with regard to stone chips? My mk5 had less chips on it and it was 8 years old!

[Mr Savage]

Yep the paint is very very thin. I think if you sneezed hard enough it would strip the paint down to the metal. The arches are pretty poor too.

[davyk31]

A cocktail stick is great for gently applying small amounts of paint into a stone chip, very delicate.