Could someone please give me sound advice....of how to deal with rock chips....I have about 2-3 already.....only 3600 miles...........do I repaint .....does tocuh work if applied by professionals?

 

First, get the touch up paint from Mazda, and second get the The Blob Eliminator kit from Langka

I have both and will be doing a repair soon.

 

thanks....any other options ?

 

This car has soft paint on the bumper but I have been lucky thus far. Mazda Wayne NJ sent me a free bottle of paint in the mail so hold off for a couple of weeks to see if the dealership does it for you. Either way it's 2 or 3 bucks.

 

My chips are on the aluminum hood, where are yours?

 

You can use the touch up paint and the end of a match (the end without the flint) dabb a little on the end of the match and steadily touch up the chips. I've done this and it works really well. Keep a warm water damp rag in case you mess up you can rub it out or some nail polish remover will get off the newly applied touch up paint without damaging anything else. If you get really ambitious, you can do the same over the touch up paint with clear coat nail polish, just to protect it more.

 

i have 2 chips on the bumper and 1 on the hood very small......

 

eat them with dip

 

get the clearguard for the front...you won't be sorry.

 

Where? How much? DIY or Prof.?

 

I have quite a few everywhere....along the fenders beind the eadlight, on the hood, and a huge one on the front spoiler that looks like someone stuck their finger in clay....Michigan roads suck.

 

I have to totally agree with you on that. I travel all over the country, and when I am in Michigan, I'm amazed at the amount of crappy roads there - sorry for your luck. There is a road up going to Traverse City that is really sweet, and I'm sure the 8 would love a little drive :D

 

i think for a 30k car...having rock chips so early in a cars life is crazy. my infiniti I30 took about 40k miles before i noticed any rock chips.........what is up with mazda's paint? think i am going to try and get the entire bumper repainted...........then i am going to get the 3m.....

 

Rock chips on all new cars are a problem. The new enviromentally friendly paints do not have lead in them and chip very easily.

I just got mine repainted (repaired) from hitting a deer and the body shop (Performance Autobody in Manassas VA) did a PERFECT job on matching the paint (Titanium Gray). This also took care of the dozen or so rock chips I had acquired and I have now bought the Mazda front end mask to use during the week when I commute.

Someone mentioned using fingernail polish remover to take off excess amounts of touch-up paint. My only experience with true acetone based fingernail polish remover is that it will literally EAT the paint right to the metal in a matter of seconds. If it has acetone in it DO NOT get it near paint!

 

I mentioned the fingernail paint. You are right about it eating through paint, but only on older model cars, when the factory was still using lead based, and acrylics. From what I have heard, the manufacturers are using a rubber type paint that is made to flex easy when hit. And there is clear coat. I wouldn't suggest rubbing nail polish or acetone on an open wound in the paint, but if it is around it where there is clear coat then it shouln't be a problem. I rubbed nail polish remover all over the back end of my car to get off over spray that I found, and it's been a month, no problems, damn I had to rub hard too!

 

There are a bunch of posts around here discussing this (search!) - it's a clear vinyl film called Scotchcal, manufactured by 3M, that is applied to the nose of the car. Front of hood, front bumper, side mirrors. It's pretty much invisible from more than 3 feet away, and even then close up you have to be looking for it. Pre-cut templates are offered by XPEL, Stoneguard, and a few others. You can see the template and find a local dealer/installer at www.xpel.com . I had the RX-8 template applied in July 03, the very first week they had the pattern available, and I have the clear bra on another car as well. They prevent the small stone chips completely, and major rocks will perhaps tear the clear bra rather than put dents in the hood. Very highly recommended.

Regards,
Gordon

 

What a coincidence--I sent an email to my wife this morning saying the same thing. On my way to work this morning on Michigan Ave, a car in the next lane over must have kicked up a rather large rock. I heard a very loud metallic impact against the driver's side door. Sure enough, when I inspected the car when I got to work, there was a very noticeable scrape / series of scratches just below the crease in the sheet metal on the door. I am very upset. We work so hard to keep our cars looking nice, but some things like this are just unpreventable. This is by far the worst road debris damage the car has sustained.

Does anyone have any recommendations for repairing this area of scratches on the door? They don't appear to be extremely deep, but they cover an area of roughly 1 square inch and are very noticeable. Is there a particular product that is suited for taking care of these types of scrapes? I don't want to use a rubbing compound since I have had bad experiences in the past with it significantly dulling the paint.