Chipped paint detracts from the look of your car and makes it look older than it actually is. Though the chips are often simply cosmetic, they decrease the overall value of the vehicle.
Thankfully, there are many different ways to fix automotive paint chips and small scratches. While major damage will need to be repaired in a traditional auto body shop, minor stone chip repairs and even windshield chips can be fixed in your driveway thanks to the proliferation of inexpensive mobile services.
If you like DIY projects, you can even fix your own small scratches and chips using a kit available from the local auto parts store. No matter how you choose to fix the damage, fixing it is an absolute must because:
Protecting Your Car's Original Factory Paint Preserves Its Look and Value Over Time
Original factory paint jobs always look better than aftermarket paint jobs. For this reason, it's vital to always keep up with even small areas of damage on your car's original paint. Stone chips or deep scratches that expose the factory paint allow water to get down onto it and cause rust and paint flaking.
To protect your car's paint job, it's very important to keep up on fixing any minor paint damage before it leads to larger problems that would require a repaint.
Fixing Rock Chips Outside of a Body Shop Preserves Your Vehicle's Undamaged Status on CarFax
When you take your car to an auto body shop to fix paint or structural damage, the body shop may report the work to industry monitoring giants such as CarFax.
This can cause a problem many years down the road when you try to trade in or sell your car. If the buyer runs the VIN in CarFax, it will come back as having had bodywork done. This will lead buyers to believe the car was in a major accident and can easily cost you the sale.
Fixing Minor Chips Yourself Won't Raise Your Car Insurance Premiums
Finally, even though you may have amazing car insurance with very low deductibles, it's never a good idea to file a claim for relatively inexpensive issues such as chipped paint or a chipped windshield.
If you choose to file a claim, then your out-of-pocket cost might be lower for the repair. However, it's highly likely your policy premiums will increase when it's time to renew, and this will cost you a lot more money over time.
I have never been an especially handy person, but a few years ago I decided that I needed to learn more about my vehicle. I was tired of always relying on someone else to fix things, so I began reading more and more about the process. I realized that there were a lot of things that I needed to do, so I began taking a little course on at-home auto service. I still have a lot to learn, but now I can at least go through and change my air filter and check my oil. Read this blog to learn more about auto service.