Chipsaway and others

[johno2004]

Hi,
Have a post going on at moment about touch up methods and there are so many methods its getting beyond me and i dont want to bodge it, has anyone had experiance with the likes of Chipsaway or anyother chip and scratch repairer.

Would like to know there pricing structure eg. as a job lot or per chip repair, and more importently the quality.

Want to get done now as i would hate the thought of the rust bubbles appearing.

Thanks

 

[whitenemesis]

I notced a Chipsaway van in the work car park last summer so had a quick chat. He was working on a silver Merc, I asked how much to touch in a few bonnet chips.
He said silver Mercs are all but impossible to do well. Yours is blue so perhaps easier. It was costing his customer, who was having a nasty scrape sorted, £150. The technician said he would do mine for a tenner as he had the paint mixed but it wouldn't look any better than if I had used an MB touch-up pen!
I thanked him and walked away.....

 

[Xtractorfan]

If you are selling your car and want to disguise a few marks etc. by all means use these guys.. any I have seen have never been up to standard, most of the operators have been on a weeks training course, few will have any indepth experience. most of the good guys are doing PDR. that is the dent removal, now they generally do a good job. Tho at £120 for a bumper scratch then they aint cheap either.. there should be no problems matching colours, Merc silver or any silver for that matter isn't a problem, the reason those guys find it a problem is because they mix so little paint and tend to overthin it, and the more you thin paint, especially metallics the harder it is to get a colour blend/ match.

 

[johno2004]

Thanks for the info

Where do i find my car colour so i can take into Halfords and get them to match my colour for the chip repair kit.
CLK320 1997

Also im going in to recomended body shop that do a lot of MB Jag and BMW for the insurance companys to quote for small rust bubble on rear wheel arch so could ask them to do chips as well and a good body polish n wax.

Thanks

Johno

 

[whitenemesis]

I think the code is in the back of your service book.

 

[johno2004]

have looked in back and on vehicle data card it says paint code is number 31 on card, this reading is 366 does that tell them the colour ?

 

[whitenemesis]

That's the MB paint identifier. There will be a name to that as well but the code number should be all they need.

A quick search gives; (From http://www.landiss.com/paintcodes.htm)

366 azurite blue (azuritblue)*

 

[johno2004]

Thanks yes it is that blue was sure thats what it said on v5 when i sent it for cherished plate transfer.

 

[jberks]

my experience of the halfords paint match wasn't good. I sprayed a renault metallic blue filler cap cover for my sister. If it had been mine it wouldn't have gone on. The colour match was awful.
For touch up, get the proper MB touch up stick from your dealer. They're cheap enough and the paint match is perfect. I really can't see the point of after market paint sticks.

Chips away did a nice job on my 202 but the paint aged differently so after a couple of years you could see the difference. I have a small scratch on my door( chip in the laquer) but whilst I'm confident they could lose it for me in the short term, I suspect longer term it would look a dog. No alternative to the proper body shop with their ovens and panel fading for a permanent repair IMHO.
The dent remover side of that industry however, excellent.

 

[s999sws]

I used Chipsaway on a sratch on my 15 month old E280 CDi, Iridum silver metallic, (£60), after he had finished he showed me that the paint reflection was the same as the rest of the car by looking at a piece of rag reflected in the new paint. I showed him that I could see the reflection of my watch, and tell the time, on the rest of the paint but not his stuff. He said I was being fussy and that it would get better in a few days. I paid him and he went. After a week I called his office and he came back and redid it. No difference, no charge. I told him to just finish off and go. I took it to an MB authorised paint shop, Hall Graves and Lee in Plympton, who redid the whole tail gate. A lot more expensive, BUT, no problems whatsoever, a fantastic finish and proper application of the clear coat. The reflection is now the same as the rest of the car and you cannot see the difference between the old and the new. I would not touch Chipsaway with a barge pole.
Stephen W-S

 

[television]

I used Chipsaway on a sratch on my 15 month old E280 CDi, Iridum silver metallic, (£60), after he had finished he showed me that the paint reflection was the same as the rest of the car by looking at a piece of rag reflected in the new paint. I showed him that I could see the reflection of my watch, and tell the time, on the rest of the paint but not his stuff. He said I was being fussy and that it would get better in a few days. I paid him and he went. After a week I called his office and he came back and redid it. No difference, no charge. I told him to just finish off and go. I took it to an MB authorised paint shop, Hall Graves and Lee in Plympton, who redid the whole tail gate. A lot more expensive, BUT, no problems whatsoever, a fantastic finish and proper application of the clear coat. The reflection is now the same as the rest of the car and you cannot see the difference between the old and the new. I would not touch Chipsaway with a barge pole.
Stephen W-S

What you say is correct, you really have to understand car paints and know the limits of what can be blended,and what cannot.

It takes years to learn the art of spraying and touching up