Paint Rock Chips

[Alexey]

Not sure if this goes in this forum, so mods feel free to move it.
Well, my problem is that I got a few rock paint chips on the hood of my car I went to the dealership to see if they'd fix it, but they said they'd have to sand down the whole hood and then repaint it, which of course will cost me quite a few bucks.
So, any of you guys got that problem ? If so, how'd you take care of it?
Anyone tried those small tubes of touch-up paint ? Share the results. Any feedback is appreciated.

[Dominicano]

first you should not go to the dealer to get it repainted. i think to paint the hood through a good shop should not cost you more then 300 bucks

[pinoyesv6]

if someone else is paying, by all means, take it to the dealer.

i jsut got my bumper and hood repainted for 400 bucks.
keep in mind that paint alone was 200 bucks.

yours should be lower since you're not painting the bumper, and you shouldn't need to prep and paint both sides of the hood, just the top. both sides of my hood were a different color so i had to paint them both

[2000GTZ]

i believe mitsubishi sells magic markers that will retouch your paint a little if your rock chips aren't too big. imo, i wouldnt repaint the hood if they are just a few little rock chips. it doesnt seem cost efficient to me :?

[rainfever]

it would not make sense to me to spend all that cash in repainting when there is the marker option. Unless of course its a show car or something along those lines.

Or maybe paint it, and then get a clear protective layer done over that....i dunno

[RedGalant2k1]

Touch up paint works great on small rock chips and the like. I have rock chips, scratchs, etc etc... on my hood. Some have broken the clearcoat even. But alas I have 86,000 miles so I expect it.

As the others have mentioned unless you really want to spend a fair amount of cash repainting the chips and color matching the hood properly it would be more cost efficient to touch up the rock chips. Although for what its worth I feel the same way as you. I will be giving my Galant a paint and body refreshing soon.

[Zero_4073]

Like stated above. The touch up will not completely fix the problem. For it to be like new, repainting is necessary. I had the same prob and bought a CF hood instead. Oh, well.

[Alexey]

Well, thanks for all the replies, and here's what I think about the whole deal. First of all, I don't think I wanna repaint the whole thing. Rather, I want to touch up the chips. Now... Where do I get the Mitsubishi "magic marker" that I can use to do the touching up ? Has anyone used it and what are the results ? Thanks!

[DryBear]

You can get the marker from your dealer's parts deptartment - mine cost about $10. Results may vary, but when I used mine, the paint (Sterling Silver A68) was a lot darker than the paint on my car, and it stood out.

[cremeans2326]

That's just because your paint has faded over time. The touch-up paint if the factory color. In time, it will blend in more.

[DryBear]

Didn't think it would fade that quick - bought mine new in april of 2003 and have kept the car garaged - the paint is *much darker* - I'll take a pic later.