Scratch and Chip Repair in Stockbridge, MI

Gravel roads are the price of living out here, and they are murder on a front end. Every stone thrown by the truck ahead of you lands somewhere, and enough of them turn a hood into sandpaper.

Why a chip is not only cosmetic

Paint is a system: primer for adhesion, base for color, clear for protection. A stone chip that reaches bare metal has punched through all three, and Michigan road salt will find that opening within one winter. What starts as a pinhead spreads underneath the surrounding paint, lifting it from below, and by spring you are looking at a quarter-sized blister that costs many times what the chip would have.

Key scratches, branch scrapes down a truck side, and parking lot scuffs work the same way. If you can catch a fingernail in it, it is through the clear coat and it needs sealing.

What we do about it

Small, isolated chips can often be filled and levelled. Anything larger, clustered, or through to metal wants proper spot refinishing with the color tinted to your vehicle's actual weathered shade and the clear blended out to a natural break so no edge is visible. We match to the car in daylight rather than trusting the paint code alone.

Getting ahead of it

We now apply Icon Rocklear, a coating substantially thicker than a conventional ceramic product and carried by a 15-year manufacturer guarantee with no annual inspection requirement. It takes the hits gravel would otherwise put in your clear, fills minor swirl marks, and if the coating itself gets scratched we repair it here. Upkeep is soap and water.

Worth doing on a new vehicle, and worth doing right after a refinish. Ask about it at our auto body shop on 401 N. Clinton, or call (517) 945-2280.