# Paint chips



## OldNESJunkie (Oct 13, 2017)

Is it me or does the paint on the Cruze scratch and chip easily? On my 2017 LT I already have multiple scratches on the driver and passenger door and chips in the paint on the hood. I stay back a good ways even on the interstate so I dunno where those chips on the hood came from. This thing isn't 6 months old yet, my last car (Dodge Avenger) was about 10 years old and had less paint damage, WTH??? I forgot to add that mine is the Kinetic Blue Metallic if that matters....
EDIT:
Sorry, venting....:dry:


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## whitecruzersturbo (Feb 26, 2015)

My 2014 has more rock chips than my wife's (now sold) 2007 Cobalt. The paint is garbage, I have chips everywhere(doors, roof, even the trunk)


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## OldNESJunkie (Oct 13, 2017)

Does anyone know if the hood on the Cruze is sheet metal or aluminum like on my old Avenger? I assume sheet metal, but curious....


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

As the epa keeps forcing paint manufacturers to change the formulations, I agree.....the finish is getting very brittle with each year.

It is happening across the board.....all manufacturers.

Rob


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## xbazzarex (Jun 5, 2016)

my 2014 has the same issue with the paint, ive also noticed an unusually large amount of chips in my windshield as well. My previous car, a 2002 Grand prix GTP, had next to no chips in the paint and very few chips in the windshield. it just seems like the cruze was made with sub par materials in quite a few areas, having said that there are a few nice things about these cars, like the brake lines being coated and the gas tank being plastic.


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## OldNESJunkie (Oct 13, 2017)

Yes, there are some nice things, but the paint is a big selling point IMHO. I don't want to have to get it repainted in like 2 years, but eh.... The windshield in my 2017 was made by Fuyao Glass, should've been Carlex, much higher quality in both optics and toughness..... One thing I do't like about the rear brake lines on the 2017 I have is they have like no protection, it seems like they could be cut by road debris easily.

Maybe this will push me to get the car body wrapped in chameleon carbon fiber


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## Mccallum42 (Feb 2, 2018)

I recently bought a used 2016, and it seemed to have an unusual amount of chips and scratches for only being 2 years old. Thankfully I found an OEM paint pen on eBay for $15.


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## KenH (Aug 27, 2017)

My 2014 Lt has but one small rock chip on the lip of my hood, now covered, other than that the paint is flawless. Same for my windshield... zero chips and looks like new. Car has 37,000 miles and still looks like brand new.
Could it be you are using the wrong paint protection? The only 'non-wax' that I use on my paint and windshield is the same paint protection used on airplanes. Which is said to be a also chip inhibitor.
The makers of Liquid Glass®, while generally an automotive product also supplies the aerospace industry.

Check out a company called Aero Cosmetics.


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## BlakeCary (Jan 11, 2017)

My 14 has several chips, some I know how they got there (6 year old) and others I have no idea. A few are in a spot that I dont think could have been from rocks picked up from other cars.


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## kaylaeik (Mar 13, 2018)

My '13 looks like it has been in a war, unfortunately. My ex husband would brush his gym bag by my car and there are lines the whole length of the car from where his bag dragged against it. He would also put it on top of my trunk and the clear coat seems to be non existent, with all of these little scratches. That could probably be buffed out. There are a couple of more things he did to my car that would be to anyone's surprise as to why the paint is cracked. I have not had any issues with my windshield, thankfully, but I did notice that someone door dinged my car and there is a chunk of paint missing.  My car has been through a lot, but she's still going strong!


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## OldNESJunkie (Oct 13, 2017)

I can also safely say the windshield is cheap crap as well, already has some chips out of it. I guess Fuyao got the glass too hard during the laminating phase.....


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## neile300c (Jul 8, 2014)

My 14 didn't look bad after 36000 miles. My 16, Gen 2, has several after 37000 miles. But it could be the color making it more noticeable. My 16 is black, my 14 was Champagne Silver


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## SilverCruzer (Nov 30, 2010)

Same chip issues here with my Cajun Red. It took me a while, but I finally found touch up paint that is the traditional bottle with brush. Those markers with one being paint, the other clear coat did not work well at all. I could use the paint, but then I would come back later with the clear coat and it would just goop things up, or pull the newly applied paint back off.


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## OldNESJunkie (Oct 13, 2017)

Anyone ever use this stuff?

https://www.drcolorchip.com/

I went ahead and ordered some, figured WTF, can't make it look any worse, hopefully...


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## OldNESJunkie (Oct 13, 2017)

Well, I received my kit from Dr. Colorchip Thursday and I decided to use it today, not bad. I would say it's better than those factory touch-up pens, from about a foot away you cannot see the chips, have to get up close to see them so a good color match (even with having the metal flake) and really easy to apply. For me it was definitely worth the cost.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

OldNESJunkie said:


> Well, I received my kit from Dr. Colorchip Thursday and I decided to use it today, not bad. I would say it's better than those factory touch-up pens, from about a foot away you cannot see the chips, have to get up close to see them so a good color match (even with having the metal flake) and really easy to apply. For me it was definitely worth the cost.



Pictures???


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## OldNESJunkie (Oct 13, 2017)

I'll get some pics when the weather clears up again...if it ever does....


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## HBCRUZE2017 (Jan 25, 2018)

i got the gm touch up paint from chevy for some of my minor flaws since the car was bought by me used but havent had the time to mess with it yet lol


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## damey (May 8, 2018)

I also have a 17 LT RS and I have noticed a lot of paint chips on the driver door


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## 91794 (Mar 25, 2015)

So many chips on my cajun red 017 too. 16001 miles now.
All forward facing edges especially. 

Do some color have worse chipping problem than others? 

Instead of touchup paint for the chips it may be easier to paint the nonchipped portions of the car with the primer color.


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## Cruzen18 (Jan 28, 2018)

eli said:


> Do some color have worse chipping problem than others?



I wouldn't say that some colors are worse for chipping than others; it's just that they are more noticeable on some colors, due to the contrast between metal/primer and finish coat.


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## IPhantom (Aug 22, 2017)

Mine has now only almost 3000 km on the clock and is only city driven. I know every scratch on the car. Particularly i noticed one chip on the roof and one above the driver side tail light. I can only imagine little branches falling onto it, but then again they shouldn't be hard enough to chip the paint like rocks on the front fascia. Really odd and annoying.

I recently stumbled over the this review of drcolorchip/chipfixx:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VHqwazq9xY

Looks amazing!


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## OldNESJunkie (Oct 13, 2017)

Like he showed in the video the smaller chips you cannot see at all, but the larger ones still have a divot. I may try a second/third coat to see if that will work though as others have said it does...


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## bpl0807 (Feb 5, 2018)

My Gen 2 16' has quite a lot of chips on the front bumper, more than I usually see on cars that are ten years old let alone two. However the car does have 45K miles and is an ex rental car from AZ before I owned it so that is probably mostly to blame for any chips anywhere except the front.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

I generally ignore small chips. Larger ones I'll paint over.










This one you can only really see at an angle where the paint starts.

My method is to.

1. Sand the chip area down. This cleans the surface and makes the touch up paint hold on longer. I think i use p400. It doesn't really matter all that much just dont sand over the chip.

2. Brush your touch up on. Go slightly over the area. Put a lot on but dont let it drop. Let it sit for a few hours before driving.

3. Wait 3 weeks. Yep. Do not wax that spot or anything.

4. Use some elbow grease or I use langka blob removal to remove excess paint. Wet sanding with p2000 is also okay. If you didn't do step 1 the touch up paint will just fall off. I would avoid sanding unless its on a flat surface.

5. Polish it using your favorite polishing. Preferably by hand since you want a lot of pressure on that touch up.

6. If you want clear coat. You can apply that here. Just start at step 2.

That's how I do it. Not gonna say it's the best method, but it gets you close to OEM color. The transition is a bit noticeable, as you see from my picture, but that's about it.


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