Paint chips every trip!

New C4S, low miles on normal roads - every journey and there is a new stone chip either on the bumper, bonnet or rear arches. Porsche have checked the paint and say it is OK. Any similar experiences? Migration info. Legacy thread was 2245

was getting mine armourfended to prevent that but porsche warned against saying just to touch up any chips I get and get it annually repaired. Now worried! Migration info. Legacy thread was 2246

Time for a silly looking colgan bra? Personally I prefer the chips!! Gregsy Migration info. Legacy thread was 2247

Thanks to both of you. I looked at Armourfend (and a self fit version using the same material - Invincashield) but by the time I had looked at it more chips had appeared! Porsche told me not to touch in the chips as they show up even more then. They also advised against annual repair as it would show up on their system at trade in (assuming Porsche did the job - you would probably want them too) and devalue the car!!! Can't win I guess. Migration info. Legacy thread was 2250

I aggree on the effect a pant job will have on the value of the car. So touch up if you wish, and explain to any buyers the reason for not having resprays. Migration info. Legacy thread was 2260

I am still thinking about having the amourfend just on the front bumper especially over winter - the bas**** gritting trucks have been out and about, don't they know the c4 has 4 wheel drive. Regards Looking for a Stone chip solution. Migration info. Legacy thread was 2264

I'm sure there are always non-Porsche body shops who will do a good job if you are worried about appearance of stone chips and I guess this will not show up on Porsche database. His. Migration info. Legacy thread was 2272

Costapacket.......like you I have a C4S - now with 1500 miles showing on clock. To my dismay I noticed 2 or 3 stone chips !!! Curiously, I am not "having kittens" like I once would have. I guess because I now (@ 43 yrs of age) have determined that it's gonna happen regardless of however much I don't want it to happen !! I am planning to get one repair (new paint) done prior to disposal (some day.) I'd be pleased to see what others think....... Migration info. Legacy thread was 2273

Blimey, I am older than 43 (just a few years) and I certainly have kittens. I think I need to calm down a bit!!! Migration info. Legacy thread was 2375

Just to wake up this thread a bit, I was wondering whether to Armourfend my new 993 which at the mo is immaculate but won't stay that way for long. Can it look as good as a properly waxed and polished paint job? Will it affect resale value? What does the team think? Migration info. Legacy thread was 3562

Apparently you can see the edges of the film up close, especially if wax has been allowed to build up along the edges but from a distance it is invisible. Personnally I would take my chances with stone chips and resprays (at non-OPC body centres if you want to staff off the computers). James Migration info. Legacy thread was 3566

Don't have the respray in any paint shop other than Porsche approved ones. I learned the hard way when I thought how hard is it to repair some minor srone chip, and had it done by a fairly reputable paint shop. The finish was comparable to my BMW's but nowhere near as good as the rest of the car. Later I had a slight damage to the front end, Porsche approved paint shop did a much better job. I had the front end Armourfend fitted by their own staff. They did a wonderful job of it. The only place you can see it is the top line of the bonnet piece, and the Armourfend is obviously not as shiny. The bumper piece is not noticable at all as it goes all the wayround the bumper. When one comes to sell the car, the Armourfend can always be removed. I'm sure the Armourfend will also get damaged by stone chip large enough, but to replace Armourfend is much better, easier and cheaper than a new paint job. I'm now wondering whether or not to change the rear wheel arche guard to Armourfend. Any one had it done? Migration info. Legacy thread was 3712

what did it cost you Butzi to get the front bib Armourfended Migration info. Legacy thread was 3714

i hate to say but live with it. You buy a low, fast monster sports car and you worry about stone chips. I cant even count the stone chips on mine and I think the paint jobs are good enough and expected once a car is of a certain age as there will be lots of stone chips. I will probably get mine repainted in a few years and start counting the chips again Migration info. Legacy thread was 3723

Johnboy, It cost around £400 for the front end, it depends on what you want to cover. Check on their web site, they can e-mail you the price list and product diagram. Worth the money I think. It feels good not to have to see/feel the chips every time you wash/wax the car. Migration info. Legacy thread was 3840

you could try this product and let us all know how you get on stonechip treatment in the left hand menu click 'painting' , then click 'Chips, Drips & Touch-up Repair' Migration info. Legacy thread was 3900

I have a porsche C4s 12mths old 10,000 miles on the clock Stone chips are unavoidable, if you don't want them do not use your car but what is point in that the fun comes from driving a fantastic pice of kit. Migration info. Legacy thread was 3901

I agree with Smudger in that stone chip is unavoidable. However, if you like your car to be clean and shiny every so often as well as going fast and driven hard, stone chips can be annoying. I can't help but feel every stone chip everytime I try to polish the car, it just takes the "shine" off the car when the whole front end is covered in stone chips, or touch up paint "spots". Armourfend can help to a certain extend. It's not too intrusive/noticable, and it's a reversible/renewable protection. If cost is not a big problem, then why not? Migration info. Legacy thread was 4056

I have a patient who is a sprayer at OPC West London's bodyshop and when I moaned about stone chips to him, his very helpful advice was to go slowly or only drive fast if there is nobody in front of you. :roll: In other words it's going happen whatever you do, just try not to cry too hard when you wax it. By the way has anyone decided what's the worst colour is for showing up the chips or are they all as bad as each other? Mine's ocean blue and it seems to be a nightmare for it. Migration info. Legacy thread was 4090

The front of my car is stoned to hell.. it's honest though - the car's done 76k I've a local body shop that I've used in the past - they have looked it over and are doing me a good deal. I use mine daily so I expect them to return! Migration info. Legacy thread was 4255

My metallic black 993 has me gasping every time I wash as I seem to find more marks. Just have to accept it though - the car is used when I need to use it and when I feel the urge! Getting some paint done soon by a local paintshop (who often have Porkers, Lambos and max power flipped corsas in) so I'll see how they get on with fixing chips. Migration info. Legacy thread was 4281

Dark cars will show up the chips worse. Beware if using an OPC, I had my 964 repaired and resprayed by HR Owen in Willesden, London. They were crap, they tried to fob me off with a fully resprayed front wing and no blend on the bonnet. Then they rsprayed the whole bonnet and refused to blend the next wing, said they can't keep chasing around the car. If they had blended the first wing it wouldn't be necessary to respray the bonnet. I only needed a new door skin. The workshop manager was a rude ignorant w*nker who told me the reason he could not match the paint was that I had bought an old car and that it was my fault for buying it and crashing it. I complained to Porsche, but got nowhere. My mate owns his own company (small garage) and he did a much better job respraying and repairing my rear bumper and new teardrops on my old 964. Anyone else got feedback on good and bad OPC's and Official Porsche Repair Centres, maybe we could build up a database of the good the bad and the ugly. Or rate them like e-bay. What do you think Phil? Migration info. Legacy thread was 4307

Poon .....H.R. Owen....... this is my experience ; about 3 years ago a man driving a lawnmower damaged the passenger side rear wing of my very tidy '78 SC . I claimed through my insurance company . I drove to H.R. Owen near Wembley and felt pretty good about the place when I espied Bentleys and Rollers everywhere . I felt less good when the intelligence and politeness of the staff appeared to be somewhat lacking . However I left the car there for repair . Imagine my surprise when a week later they deliver the car back to me with an immaculately finished wing but with paint now flaking off the rear bumper they had to remove to paint the wing! I protested slightly at this and was told that the paint was old and 'of course' it would flake off . I told the driver I wasn't accepting the car till the job was repaired to a standard representative of a Porsche and told him to 'flake off' back to Wembley . After a brief but terse 'discussion' with a H.R Owen representative it was agreed that the work would be inspected by my insurance company and we would go from there . eventually the job was completed to satisfaction . My conclusion was whenever anyone asks if I know of a good body shop I firstly steer them away from H.R. Owen . I have no idea how they stay in business with such a disrespectful attitude to their customers and no sense of pride in their workmanship. People like this are essentially 'Rogue traders' and if anyone from H.R. Owen wants to dispute this , feel free the facts of my case are Documented . Luckily I had the backing of my insurer , not everybody has . Migration info. Legacy thread was 4342

Poon - I reckon discussions like this probably do the job better as it's easy for people to join in and share their experiences. Migration info. Legacy thread was 4343

Even if it isn't Porsche I have always had problems with repairers even those approved by major insurance companies. I guess the best thing to do is search around the various forums and see what other people have to say. The attitude of the workshop managers I think is a good guage of what you might expect if you are dissatisfied with the job. His Migration info. Legacy thread was 4344

Unless you can find an independent bodyshop you will always be taking a risk in my experience, its about the craftsmanship and if it's just the guys job and not his interest or passion he won't go the extra mile. People who have had Armourfend fitted that I know have had no problems, and I'd get it fitted to my car without any worry, the full job will stop stone chips dead, apart from the one that you always seem to get in the middle of the roof ! Migration info. Legacy thread was 4432

I got my first stone chip between the dealer and my first rest stop after collecting my car. Black car so chips are worse but I HATE them. I've given up toughing them in with paint. I just use a black perminant marker and plan to have the front end done evey two years. Fortunately one of my friends is a car dealer principal and has access to wonderful paint shop facilities. He did my friends yellow C4 front end and it's perfect. Armourfend looks crap - worse than chips in my view - and don't even get me started on bras! If you don't want chips don't drive it - but then you probably wouldn't be on this forum. Migration info. Legacy thread was 4439

I used to have a black Golf VR6 and before selling it tried to sort out the chips at the front in a cost effective manner. Found a chipstick kit from Turtle wax that sort of did the trick. It was basically a crayon in a lipstick holder. You rubbed the black crayon on the paint and it filled in the chip. Then you buffed off the excess leaving only the wax in the "hole". Did the job, may try it on the porker as my 993 is black. Will report a b4 and after. Migration info. Legacy thread was 4441

Oh yeah, Glad someone else hates HR Owen in Willesden, my junior manager at work told me how crap they were the day I went to see how bad a job they had done. I nearly wringed his little neck, especially as he knew I was using them. Sadly HR Owen were not a company approved by my insurance company, so they refused to enter into discussion with HR Owen and just paid them. So I had no bargaining power and did not realise this would hapen until too late. Beware. So the moral is use the approved company that the insurer recommends. Migration info. Legacy thread was 4442

Guess what? My insurers at the time , Norwich Union , recommended them! They were good in making sure that the job was completed to my satisfaction though . Migration info. Legacy thread was 4443

I am sure they would be, as NU's approved insurers they would not get paid until you were happy or the job was inspected by NU. My insurers Royal and Sun Alliance would not even inspect. It is still making my blood boil, 18 months later!!!!!!! Migration info. Legacy thread was 4444

There is really nothing to gert worked up about, you follow to close or not, there are a million stones out there, just waiting to hurl themselves at us, i had bird strike at 130+ on M45 last month, and i can tell you the odd stone is nothing to worry about, i even had one appear on top of the back bumper last week WTF? Migration info. Legacy thread was 6527

Too much time polishing and not enough time playing makes costapacket a very dull boy! No one can see your stone chips except you. Just enjoy it. Lifes too short. Migration info. Legacy thread was 6528

Ah yes, but what about his residuals? (he said. not entirely seriously). Migration info. Legacy thread was 6531

Not enough that I have stone chips on the bumper/bonnet already, but having given the beast a good clean this weekend I have noticed the Carrera wheels are really taking a bashing - loads of stone chips all over. Never noticed this on the Boxster with 18" GT2 wheels (a ***** to clean - my advice is to avoid them at all costs) - I am begining to live with all of my problems and not worry about them..... Here's to the next chip Migration info. Legacy thread was 6550

Costapacket sold his C4S didn't he? Migration info. Legacy thread was 6551

Ownership period September 02 - April 03. 1500 miles on the clock. 1. 15 chips on the front end. 2. 4 serious chips on the bonnet 3. 1 major chip on the roof which was resprayed by Dick Lovett Swindon. Paint job fine apart from a hair in the lacquer! 4. Rear wheel arches 21 chips nearside, 19 offside. Second car : Mercedes, higher miles, worse driving conditions. Total chips to date : 3 Third car : Lexus, higher miles, worse conditions. Total chips to date : 6 So yes, I did sell the C4S at a loss of £3k And please don't tell me it is acceptable 'because it is a Porsche' because it is'nt acceptable under any circumstances. Porsche cannot afford to continue this complacent attitude to their customers because they no longer have the lead they used to and the cars are not that much better than many others now available. What is happening to them in America will no doubt happen here if they are not careful. Still, every cloud has a silver lining - the car I now have to replace the 4S is twice the car in every respect (except the price) so I see it as a narrow escape from years of disappointment in the vehicle and the dealers. Migration info. Legacy thread was 7019

Gas. What have you replaced it with then? Migration info. Legacy thread was 7021