Every time I take the cover off and before putting it on I give the XKR a once over, looking for damage or grit or pollen that managed to stick to the seemingly magnetic paint, gently removing blemishes with a microfiber cloth and detailing spray.

Somehow, mysteriously, between leaving yesterday morning to head downtown and returning home an hour later, I picked up two paint chips on the hood. Bad times. They are close to each other, maybe a bit less than half the size of a pinkie fingernail each, small but noticeable (especially now that I know they are there ))

I guess a rock must've got kicked up and hit the hood as I was driving, but I was only driving around town and would like to think I'd have noticed something that hit hard enough to go clear through the paint.

Does anyone have any advice regarding repairs? I hear that there are paint chip repair specialists that can do amazing things, but don't have any personal reference to back this up. And I know that if I take it to a body shop, they'll want to spray the entire freaking hood and charge me thousands of dollars. The damage is completely through the paint; there is no way to 'restore' what's still there...

Is there any reasonably priced solution to my problem? I keep kicking myself for not having the front and hood 3M'd, but between the cost, hassle, and the fear that it will make the paint less shiny I keep putting it off.

Car is black, btw. Oh, and anyone with a local referral to someone good in the S.F. Bay Area would be huge...

Thanks all,

Skeeter

 

Skeeter:

I think no matter what kind of car anyone owns or drives it is going to be subject to chips from rocks and debris. Here in the southwest deserts we also have to live with sand. Sand blasts the windshields.

It's a fact of driving. Personally if every little paint chip bothers you, it may not be worth owning a premium car. I think it is somethng we all have to live with.

I am NOT a fan of the 3M film shield. There should be a touch up paint kit that you can buy from Jaguar to get a perfect color match, and perhaps you can touch up the chip nicks.

Rock chips are impossible to predict or avoid. It's a fact of driving. I understand your feelings as I go thru the same experiences. When I bought my XKR there were a few rock chips, but were well repaired using the matching touch up paint.

Don't expect perfection on the paint. If you continuously take the car to a paint shop for repairs, you might be making a visit to the paint shop every month or so.

I think we must come to the conclusion that getting a few rock chips in the paint of our premium luxury rides are just a part of owning a car. The more you drive the car, and dependent upon traffic, some owners may end up with more or less possibility of rock chips. Our US highways are not very clean, thus causing more potential for paint damage.

 

Go to www.drcolorchip.com. They can supply you with a complete kit. All you need do is to supply them with paid code which you can find on the rear door jam of your XK. Each kit which is good for many chips costs about $50 delivered.

 

I hear you, richzak. I won't chase every chip, but am a bit compulsive about keeping the noticeable stuff under control every so often. So once I get a few things lined up in terms of storing the care in a safer location, etc., I'll take on all the paint problems at once and repeat every six months or so (depending, of course...). Believe me, if they were in the plastic behind the rear wheels I'd be cool, but almost dead center of the hood, interrupting the gloss black... Yes, it's a disease, I know.

As far as repair kits go, do I take it that the consensus is that hiring a high level detail/paint chip repair guy isn't necessary to make a quality repair? I'm lousy with art type skills (handwriting, painting, etc.), so I hesitate to take on those types of projects. I over-apply and lack patience to work slowly in layers. But if the results will be substantially the same buying a kit as paying someone to do it, I'll get a buddy who is a skilled worker to help.

Given the general amazing quality of the paint, though, I'm inclined to have a professional do it, if it can be done short of re-shooting the entire hood... If I don't get any solid leads I'll call the Jag dealer in SF and ask if their detail guy does this kind of thing. Might be more than he handles, but he did an amazing job removing the swirl marks that had worked their way into my paint. Came back looking like a different car, just incredible. Hopefully he fixes this type of thing as well...

Thanks & keep 'em coming,

Skeeter

 

Had the same problem I tried to do it myself with a touch up kit ended up looking worse so had to have the whole bonnet(hood) done. Was told by the painter because of the location of chip and the size of the bonnet a local repair would always be noticeable especially with pearl mettalic paint

 

Had the whole ENTIRE front of the XKR done and done right... Along with the lower side sills. Nobody can tell its even on there, it's the same shine as the rest of the car, and protected from most chips. Very glad I had it done but it was very expensive.

 

Unless you have had lots of practice on other people's cars, don't even think of using one of the DIY paint chip kits.

Check in your area for "chip and paint repair" specialists or "painless dent removal" services. These guys can work miracles.

Graham

 

I don't think there's any way of touching up a chip on the hood. It' going to show, maybe not to everyone but certainly to you. I'd go with having the hood painted. I'll bet it's not as much as you think. I'm betting $400 to $500.

 

Here is what i found while looking for the same issue with my kids Audi. I play golf with a Nissan tech and asked him how the dealer handles this. This is common in the industry . They have a paint chip expert service that most of the dealers use. You need to go to any local car dealer and find out who they use. I saw/didn't (lol) see the results. They can do 1 to 100 chips and you'll never know they were there. Price varies based on numbers. They would come to your house and do it. Unless you are good the kits out there won't work that good. It's all in the know how and touch.

 

This post makes allot of sense and is a good guideline to follow.

 

had a bird crap on drivers door just by door handle nothing would remove stain. Nothing!! Called Jag dealer they sub out their work went there on a Fri and went right in detailer used 8 or 10 K sandpaper then wax. came out show room. Cost, $20. Its a Fri. beer money for the detailer and his wife never will know. The shop said due to the special paint and the alum. body you have to be very careful what one uses to clean spots or even paint chips. So go to the pros. They even told me how to prevent bird crap...a shotgun!

 

My color, Midnight Black (code PEF) isn't available from my local Jag dealers... I was told the factory that made that color was destroyed in the Japanese tsunami.... ?

I wonder what would happen if I needed a paint job?

I ordered a kit from Dr. Colorchip, and they delivered a bottle of my color.... though I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know how the match is. I'm afraid to use it on some of my larger chips...

 

Call me a skeptic but I'd call another Jag dealer before I bought the tsunami story.

 

You list your car as a 2012 but I thought Midnight was only used up until mid 2008 when it was replaced with Ultimate Black (PEL)?

 

Many PDR's also do paint chip repair. Go for both in one shot. Even if you think your car is dent free, PDR's can find something at a minimum.

 

A clear bra has never let me down. I plan on going the same route with the front bumper on my next XK. The bumper needs to be chip free or will need a respray before the new clear bra install.

 

My 2012 vert is Midnight Black. The 2012 paint code is PEF for Midnight black. You can find your paint code on the left rear door jam, I have forgotten whether it is on the door or the body. Along with the pain code you will find a leather code and date of manufacture.

 

I've used the Dr. Colorchip and I wasn't impressed. I have seen it done and sometimes it works and others it doesn't. It didn't work on my silver BMW. And when the time came to touch up chips on my XK, I ordered touch up paint from Jaguar. I used a dapper that you can get at your local paint shop. It's small and you can put just a drop of paint on your chip. I've been painting cars for years and this is about the best way unless you want to repaint a panel.

 

Interesting, thanks for confirming that. The last mention of Midnight was in the 2009 MY brochures where it said it was being replaced by Ultimate Black and that is the only one shown from then on but whilst checking again I noticed this in the 2012 brochure so maybe there is some truth about the Japanese tsunami cutting supply?

"Due to recent events, certain exterior paint colors may change or be
in limited availability. Please consult your local authorized Jaguar
dealer for complete information."

 

Does any part of the serial number have any significance to the body paint color?