Had to spend time today cleaning salt from my Prius today and found the first battle scar in the front of the car - a small black speck that is not tar or a tenacious bug carcass... guessing it was some kicked up rock/road debris and the finish lost in the end. With the Simoniz glass coat, wondering what worries I have about rust, etc.? The first Corolla I drove (a 1978) rusted out before the engine died... while auto body technology has improved wondering what the PC community has experienced.... Also, at 3300, on the odometer, I'm coming up on the 5K first "well baby visit".... C'est la vie!
Get some touch up paint from the dealer. Clean the spot up and dab it with the paint to protect the spot. Try and pick a day 40 degrees or warmer when you will not be out and driving for several hours. Cars are much better than they used to be but you do not want to give rust a leg up!
Just below the hood... on the front cowling... gotta wonder if avoiding that asteroid on reentry might have had something to do with it... All kidding aside, will be getting the touch up paint - my stepdad always had that on hand for his Cadillacs....
That would be the "bumper cover", which is plastic. And yes, it's black. You can touch it up anytime. It won't corrode. If you push on it you should be able to deflect it. If it is hard to push it's metal. Be aware touch up paint is now "different". The tube has two ends, one with the water based colour coat, the other with a non-water based clearcoat. You put on the colour, let it dry, make sure it's smooth, (sand lightly if necessary with a tiny bit of very fine sandpaper stuck to something like a pencil), re-touch if necessary until it's nice, then apply the clearcoat. Pearl S wears 3M vinyl, so most of these rock chips don't happen.
You mentioned the 5K service coming up soon. I just completed mine this week. I had the dealer disable the reverse beep. I now makes one beep. I could tell they did the alignment since the car drove much better.
Yep, I have a few of those after 17 months & nearly 25K miles. Nothing serious, though (knock on wood).
Yeah, kind of like wrinkles... you earn them after a few trips down the 'pike... Nothing a little "spackle" can't cover up.... Thanks for the advice... My baby's finish is Sea Glass Pearl and underneath the chip it is black. Stepdad's Cadillac touch up paint is a lot different from what is being described in the modern world but had personal experience fixing boats and their gel coat - once by choice to enhance a boat, once to repair a good ding from a collision caused by the ex in a rental boat... my gel coat make-up skills rank with the best - one could never tell the repair I made.
Got some of those chips already, and had to replace the OEM windshield already due to something hitting and cracking it. Just past the 5K mark.
Never saw what impacted the windshield while driving on the freeway @ about 60 mph. The impact scared the cr@p out of me though. I'm pretty sure it wasn't an ordinary rock or stone because those usually break apart when they hit and leave some dust. Whatever hit didn't leave anything behind. Must've been a bolt or nut, something metal and really hard maybe.
Or a good "quality" rock. Such as granite. Pearl has a -dint- in the front of the hood about 2 mm deep. I saw it happen. I was very happy it happened. That rock would have destroyed the windshield. It also removed the paint and actually cut a bit into the aluminum hood. Did nothing about it as it was covered underneath by another panel, so I couldn't beat it out. Current owner still sees it. I had 3M vinyl on a 3rd gen RX-7 and got a crushed rock about 1-1 1/2" off the hood. It tore the vinyl but didn't damage the hood or paint. Also got a largish rock off the wiper blade on that car. Broke the blade (carrier) but no damage to the windshield. I was very happy. Life's a gamble. Place your bets.
I keep getting those 5k mile service cards in the mail. Only got 1200 miles on it and it's put away until spring It might be a couple or so years until I get to 5k miles. What do they do at that service interval? Mike
Inspect and adjust all fluid levels, rotate tires and a multi-point inspection for the 5K check up. I'm almost to 3500 on the odometer here. With 3-5 inches of snow predicted and already falling here, the Prius gets the day off tomorrow and the truck goes to work... this storm is a "little" one - apparently there is something looming for next weekend that could be substantial - haven't heard if it is going to be a nor'easter yet but might actually get to get out on the cross country skis next weekend.
