How To: DIY Paint Chip & Scratch Repair

By A Mystery Man Writer

Description

A paint chip or scratch can be categorized into one of four stages of severity. A Stage-1 chip or scratch would have only affected the clear coat. This is usually identifiable by the chip or scratch taking on a white color (of course, it’s hard to tell on a white car; so just don’t buy white cars). Stage-2 damage shows peneration past the clear-coat layer into the base coat. If the chip has white edges with the base coat color in the center, it’s a stage-2 condition. In the case of the paint chip on the GT-R, the gray primer coat was visible on the affected area. This qualifies the damage as a stage-3 chip. Had bare metal been visible we would have had stage-4 damage.