Fix chips immediately or not?

[longmalx]

Just spotted 2 reasonable size chips on the bonnet of my 6 week old Model 3 white. Both looks down to Aluminium.

Wondering whether I need to fix ASAP or better to wait till I get some more then have then batch repaired professionally. Worried that my attempts with Chipex may make it worse.

Also managed to kerb alloys today on worst possible kerb

 

[HenryT]

Just spotted 2 reasonable size chips on the bonnet of my 6 week old Model 3 white. Both looks down to Aluminium.

Wondering whether I need to fix ASAP or better to wait till I get some more then have then batch repaired professionally. Worried that my attempts with Chipex may make it worse.

Also managed to kerb alloys today on worst possible kerb

Given how cheap it is, comparatively speaking, I'd have both done professionally. The fear is doing a touch up yourself, particularly on the bonnet is going to make it a bigger eyesore than the chip.

I had a very good fix on a kerbed alloy for £79 and booked in for a chip repair for £180. It may be you decide to leave it until you have a couple to do, but I'm not sure it would make that much difference to the price if you did.

 

[Alistairuk]

Just spotted 2 reasonable size chips on the bonnet of my 6 week old Model 3 white. Both looks down to Aluminium.

Wondering whether I need to fix ASAP or better to wait till I get some more then have then batch repaired professionally. Worried that my attempts with Chipex may make it worse.

Also managed to kerb alloys today on worst possible kerb

Chips on the bonnet, up to you - with winter now upon us and your location - if you do regular motorway / dual carriageway driving I would be tempted to just make sure I regularly wax the car and get it done properly in the spring (the grit and other crap on our roads in central Scotland will create a lot more chips over the coming months!)

For alloy, I would strongly recommend Daryl (or Daryn I forget) at M-Tech Alloy Repairs Scotland - Professional Mobile Alloy Wheel Repairs he comes out to you, he fixed my two passenger side alloys perfectly when I smacked them both in a Starbucks drive-through earlier in the year. Takes him about 1hr - 1hr 30 mins, cost was around £70 for each.

 

[longmalx]

Chips on the bonnet, up to you - with winter now upon us and your location - if you do regular motorway / dual carriageway driving I would be tempted to just make sure I regularly wax the car and get it done properly in the spring (the grit and other crap on our roads in central Scotland will create a lot more chips over the coming months!)

For alloy, I would strongly recommend Daryl (or Daryn I forget) at M-Tech Alloy Repairs Scotland - Professional Mobile Alloy Wheel Repairs he comes out to you, he fixed my two passenger side alloys perfectly when I smacked them both in a Starbucks drive-through earlier in the year. Takes him about 1hr - 1hr 30 mins, cost was around £70 for each.

Thanks. Yes, I’m think there is a good chance of a few
more during winter.

I’d already seen a previous post re: M-tech and was planning to give him a shout since its a bit of a nasty one!

 

[longmalx]

Given how cheap it is, comparatively speaking, I'd have both done professionally. The fear is doing a touch up yourself, particularly on the bonnet is going to make it a bigger eyesore than the chip.

I had a very good fix on a kerbed alloy for £79 and booked in for a chip repair for £180. It may be you decide to leave it until you have a couple to do, but I'm not sure it would make that much difference to the price if you did.

That’s the fear - trying to do it myself may be a mistake. Does anyone have a recommendation of someone for chip repairs in Lothian area?

 

[adsheff]

I don't allow chips at all in my Model 3. The smell lingers on the upholstery. I guess if they are on the outside a seagull or something will just take them away. Even so, not ideal.

 

[impee]

Just spotted 2 reasonable size chips on the bonnet of my 6 week old Model 3 white. Both looks down to Aluminium.

Wondering whether I need to fix ASAP or better to wait till I get some more then have then batch repaired professionally. Worried that my attempts with Chipex may make it worse.

Also managed to kerb alloys today on worst possible kerb

2 chips? Wow you're lucky!

I have at least 50, over the bonnet, front bumper, the panels under the rear doors and I have only had the car 5 months...but to be fair, I have managed to do 17,000 miles.

I personally think you should try the chipex method, you can't ruin anything, as it comes with a cloth and paint removing liquid. If you think you did it wrong, simply wipe it off before it dries.

If you go down the route of getting it professionally done, that will be a never ending, as stones seems to be attracted to Teslas, like metal fillings to a magnet, no matter how far your stay away from other cars, stones can still come across from the other side, e.g. over the central barriers (has happened many times on the M3 motorway).

 

[longmalx]

50! Suddenly I feel lucky I’m tempted to go for the Chipex approach since the bonnet does seem like it will be continually hammered due to angle of it.

 

[Adopado]

50! Suddenly I feel lucky I’m tempted to go for the Chipex approach since the bonnet does seem like it will be continually hammered due to angle of it.

Maybe MSM is less prone to chipping because my bonnet hasn’t picked up any significant chips in over 2 years. I suspect that doing a low percentage of motorway miles helps too.

 

[kelvin 660]

I suspect that doing a low percentage of motorway miles helps too.

And keeping the following distance at 7 helps to!