jtrue28

I've got a 2008 GS350...purchased new. I've only got about 6300 miles on it, with no interstate/freeway driving. The other day I noticed a somewhat disturbing rock chip on the hood...right above where the hood meets the grille. Normally rock chips are part of owning the car, but I noticed that the paint has cracked and with any amount of rubbing or touching the "hole" will become 3x the size it is now. I went up to a local Toyota dealer that has their own body shop and they said they can either spot repair it, or re-paint the entire hood (bit drastic for one chip). My question, will the repair work be as good as the original in either method? He said they don't remove the hood to do the painting, which would limit the amount of heat required for curing. He also said they use water based paints and all but assured me that most if not all factories are going that route now and that the current paint from the factory was probably water based. Does any of that sound correct?

With it being a pearl paint, he said it will be a 3 step process. Painting the entire hood will cost $460 and spot repairing will cost $274. The money doesn't bother me. I more want to know if repainting the entire hood will be bad in the long run because the paint they will use won't be as good as the original. What are your thoughts? Sorry I don't have any pics...may try to take some today and post. Thanks in advance.

Also, the spot repair can be done in 1 day whereas the whole hood would need 2 days.

BinaryJay

Too much money for a paint chip. Just save yourself a lot of money and get the touchup paint, remove as much paint as is cracking off that comes off easily, put a big old blob of touchup paint onto it.

Then go out and purchase yourself the langka blob remover stuff (search google).

With that kind of paint, it may or may not be an invisible repair but hoods get chipped and if it were my hood I would just live with it. Nobody will notice your repair unless they have their nose up to the hood and before long you'll forget all about it.

Unless you're prepared to pay hundreds of dollars a year to keep your hood chip free? The real kicker is that the laws of the universe dictate that a week after you pay to get it repaired you'll get another big rock in your nose.

IXI187IXI

iTrader: (3)

any type of paint work on a pearl car is a *****. how big is this spot? if its fairly small then i would agree with a dab of touch up paint followed by a dab of the clear that they give you. it wont be 100% pefect but it will be less noticable.

if its a fairly decent size (which i assume it is) and the fact that its cracked and not chipped could lead to more cracking depending how long the crack is. i would say just get the hood repainted. it may be a little extra money but it could possibly save you a headache in the long run. also if they paint the hood ask them about blending. there is no way they will match the hood up to the car without blending.

jtrue28

I asked him about the blending. He didn't seem to think they would need to blend it to the fenders. If that's what you mean.

Why is repairing a pearl color so much more difficult? Asking totally out of curiosity.

By the way, he also said once they sand the original spot down they would have to add filler..then sand that down...then primer...sand that down. I'm assuming once they get to that point, then it's the black base coat, the blue pearl coat and then clear. Am I thinking the steps through clearly? Obviously with sanding, buffing and heat in between coats probably.

BinaryJay

I say just pick at the chip and see just how much comes off. Leaving loose paint on isn't doing the hood any good anyway so... do some probing to see just how much is loose before you decide anything.

I'm going to guess that it will only flake so far and then the remainder of the paint will be stuck onto the hood pretty good. You can then judge just how much touching up is required but I really doubt the paint will keep cracking and take over your whole hood.

In either case, you won't be in any worse of a situation than you are now.

MelYW

This is a tough one as I can understand how hard it is to have discovered such a chip...but I would agree with Binaryjay in that I would try to clean it up as best as possible, apply some paint, then use Langka to smooth it out. If the results are less than you desire, then try the professional step.

Here is an alternative, ask the dealer if they can throw in a clear bra at a significantly reduced price since they will have to prep the area anyway. That way you will get long term protection.

IXI187IXI

iTrader: (3)

if its cracked it will only keep cracking more and more. it may stop for a few days or so but over time it will just keep getting worse.

pearl is a pain to do because of how many layers and how much pearl you have to add to get it to match exactly right.

Bavaria

Murphy will intervene - when you leave the body shop after getting the hood repainted, you'll get another stone chip on the way home. I have several on the hood and fenders, and have used touch-up paint on them. I don't know where you live, therefore don't know if rust would be a concern. If I have any repainting done, it will be just before I sell the car, which I don't anticipate happening for a long time.

jtrue28

thanks guys. probably will try to get a picture at lunch so you all can get a better idea what I'm dealing with. it's not a "huge" chip...but the potential is there with the way the paint is spider webbing out from it. the paint is loose...just a matter of time before it comes off from washing/polishing/catching on a towel.

HomieG

Have you gotten any references for local independent body shops? Many of them do excellent work (at least where I am), and may be less expensive, and do as good or better job than the Toyota place, whether it be the smaller or full hood paint job. Just a thought...

lkapimp216

iTrader: (2)

Get the hood repainted and put the clear bra on the front of the car it covers the bumper, front of hood and fenders, mirrors. If they paint the whole hood make sure they take it off the car to avoid overspray on the rest of the car and they can then cook it to cure faster, also make sure they wetsand and buff and fill all imperfections or they will look like fisheyes if they paint over them. Good luck! Make sure they wetsand!!!

*Batman*

A lot of local detailing and body shops will do chip repair. Go for that instead of repainting it.

Black Sapphire Pearl is such a misleading name for a gorgeous midnight blue.

I wish I had black saphire pearl/gray. But I got a great deal on my second favorite: Obsidian/Cashmere.

I8ABMR

I just used a bit of touch paint to fix a couple of rock chips in my car. Its not perfect but you honestly can not see the chip unless you are within 12-14" of the chip and even then its faint

ivanz

I have the same thing in the same area, and I have no clue how it came to be either. I am beginning to think its a paint issue, as I have nothing similar where there are deeper dents on the doors or anywhere else on the hood. It is as if somebody took a knife and cut out the paint but left the white undercoat.