Rasher

Can anyone tell me why the paint on Subarus is so sh*te? Not one of my previous cars had this many stone chips after treble the time on the road. I've even had the car Armourfended but there are still some obscure places that the Armourfend doesn't reach and **** me would you believe it stone chips!!!!
Sounds like I'm whining I know, but has anyone got a rational answer??
Cheers Nige

beanchimp

I was told by the dealer when I picked my sport up a few years ago, that Mica paint is a lot 'softer' than normal metallic paint

and is a lot more prone to stone chips etc

Sounded pretty feasable at the time, (unless you have a white car which is not Mica)

I had my Sport for just under 3 years, 125,000 miles, and only a couple of stone chips, and that car got hammered everywhere, tons of motorway driving too

Even escaped the wrath of the 'gritters'

Steve

pcdude

you wanna try bmw,s ,,,,,,, their paintwork shows every little stone chip soft as poo !!!!!

davyboy

My mate had a 96 M3 and the paint work was excellent, as it is on mine, have they changed the way paint is applied/made in recent years?

Rasher

I did hear a rumour that due to EU regulations lead has to be omitted from paint, don't know how true that is????

jasey

Soft my ar$e - go check out one of your stone chips and see how thin the paint is - If you were to drive the car at it's max speed for more than twenty minutes the whole lot would probably blow off !

Still - suppose it keeps the weight down

pcdude

YAWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

beanchimp

Apparently the main reason for stone chips is driving too close to the car in front !!!

And as I said in my previous post, after 125,000 miles, I hardly had any stone chips, and never got any from the gritters, and in all my other cars I used to

Rasher

Don't do that mate

MARK MORRIS

ive had red, sonic blue and wr blue scoobs, they all chip easily
my wifes got a black focus with 12k on the clock , less chips on that than my scoob with nearly 1800 miles on it
mark

robertf

I had an Audi S3 for 2 years and not single stonechip. Had an STI7 for 2 weeks and during the runing period needed to get it Armourfended due to stonechips from passing cars.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

My car (MY00, dark blue mica) was covered in stone chips after 30k miles. After several trips to my local dealer (Adams of Aylesbury), and a rather strong letter to IM, I managed to get a major respray under warranty - bonnet, front bumper/spoiler, both driver's side doors and roof. Result!

The body shop did a superb job - it's impossible to tell that the car has been resprayed, the paint match is that good. Anyone who says that a match is impossible with modern finishes is lying! The only difference is that the new paint doesn't chip

Andy.

pbee

2 questions

1. is the premium silver a metalic or mica paint

2. armourfend does it work, how hard is it to fit how much does it cost for frontal protection. can you see it obviously ie line accross the bonnet.

does waxing with swissol offer any protection ??.

robertf

Armourfend does work but it is best installed by an approved installer. You do notice it on the bonnet (nowhere else other than up close) but is styled to blend in with the car. Actually looks quite good. Best installed from new or after repair to existing stonechips otherwise any blemish at all stands out a mile - especially with WR Blue.

Paint protection wax etc does not help against stonechips (although some say they do). Does make washing the car a lot easier and helps to stop scuff marks on metallic paint.

pbee

the armourfend kits, as my car will be a My03 I doubt they will have a kit ready for when i get mine delivered. will a instaler do a custom "cut", does anybody know how much it costs for a pro install ??.

Steve777

iTrader: (8)

No lead in paint anymore

dfullerton

Dont use a car wash, use a sponge water and some good wax to take care of your pride and joy. And get a respray

Rasher

Hi pbee,
Ihad the Armoourfend fitted to the bonnet,wing ends, door mirrors, front spoiler, rear bumper and lower lip (in front of intercooler it cost about 475 quid, and I did not have to pay for the installer to make a special trip to my house as he was going to a dealer near by so there is that cost on top the Armourfend and fitting!!!
Go to their website I'm sure they will be doing a kit for the MY03.
My point was that even though the Armourfend does work the paint has still been chipped in the small places that the Armourfend does not touch, that's how shi*e the paint is..

pbee

Thanks rasher.

Looked at their site (the usa one is better it has the impreza My02 plan). im thinking of nose protection bonnet and full bumper it is about $300 s will be interesting what is charged in the UK.


http://www.armourfendusa.com/Shop/asp/prodtype.asp?prodtype=245&ph=cat&keywords=&recor=& SearchFor=&PT_ID=


I have done a bit of digging on Paints, the EU manufctured cars have water based paint. But this is not enforced on Jap cars being exported so it doesnt explain the scooby paint being soft.

on my 306 I have pearlescent paint (blue and a friend has metalic black his is older but mine has considerably more stone chips on the nose.

is perlescent and mica the same thing where they have small fragments of metal in to make it glint ??. If so I am staying well clear of that in the future.