Vehicle paint repair
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Vehicle paint repair
What is a vehicle paint repair?
The paintwork on your vehicle is designed to make it look great, but that’s not it’s only job. It’s also there to protect the panels underneath it from the harsh environments they are subjected to.
Unfortunately, the paintwork can become damaged over time from stone chips, scratches, environmental fallout and bird bombs and may require repairs. Vehicle paint repairs can start with something as simple as a full detail and polish, and range right up to having the affected panels completely repainted to restore them to a factory level finish.
How to tell if you need a paint repair
Looking at your vehicles paintwork under a bright lighting source is the easiest way to see if your vehicle needs a paint repair. Any scratches, swirls, rock chips, bird bomb etching or other damage will be visible under this lighting, and it may show up some issues you may not have noticed under normal lighting.
How important is it to repair vehicle paintwork?
If you’re not too worried how your vehicle looks, and just use it to get from A to B or drive in conditions where repairs will need to be carried out frequently, having the paintwork repaired may not be the best choice for you.
However, if you take pride in how your vehicle looks and want the paintwork to look its best for as long as possible, having paint repairs carried out whenever you notice a problem will keep the panels underneath protected and looking their best.
How is the vehicle paint repaired?
The repairs carried out on your vehicles paintwork largely depends on the type of defect present, and how damaged the affected area is.
Light Scratches and Swirls:
Light scratches and swirl marks can be the most simple paintwork defects in regards to repair, often only requiring the paintwork to be cleaned and polished to remove these marks. The polishing requires the use of an electrical or air-powered polisher, which smoothes the surface of the paintwork using specially designed foam pads and different grades of polish. This flattens down any scratches and returns the paintwork to a glossy finish.
Deep Scratches and Stone Chip:
Scratches that penetrate through the clear coat down to the colour or primer layers, or directly down to the metal underneath are more difficult to repair, often requiring touch up paint to be applied, or for the entire panel to be repainted to prevent rust from forming. Each deep scratch will need to be inspected before repairs can be carried out.
Stone chips are often handled in the same way, with touch up paint being used to ‘fill’ the chip, before being flattened out and polished to hide the repair as best as possible.
Other Damage:
Depending on the type of damage that has occurred, a panel repair centre will be able to carry out the necessary repairs to return the damaged panels to their factory finish.
How much does a vehicle paint repair cost?
Pricing varies depending on the type of repair that is needed, the location of the repair, and the type of vehicle you drive. Most repairers will want to inspect the damage before providing a quote to repair, but an estimated guideline can be found below.
Light scratches and swirls: $150 - $600+
Deep scratches and stone chips: $300 - $900+
Other damage: $300 and up, depending on the type of damage and repairs required.
Where can you get your vehicle paint repaired?
Small scratches and swirl marks may be able to be repaired by a mobile detailing service, which can come to your home or workplace to carry out these paintwork repairs.
Larger scratches and stone chips are usually handled by specialty panel repair businesses, who will paint match the repairs, making them virtually undetectable, returning your vehicle back to an as-new appearance.
