Quoted $750 for a paint chip repair - Need advice
 

Hi everyone,

Pictures: http://imgur.com/a/rLmoN

I recently found a rusting paint chip where the roof of the car meets the windshield. The body shop I contacted quoted me between $650 and $750 because it would require removal of the windshield.

Does anyone have experience with DIY rust/chip repair? My understanding is it would be sanded down until there is no more rust, coated with a sealant, then painted over. I don't mind if it doesn't look perfect, I really just want to stop the rusting and not pay hundreds of dollars.

Really appreciate any feedback, thanks.

Find a different place first? Go ask around

I've had work like this done twice before, and they were both bad experiences. I'd like to see if DIY is feasible.

Ignore it. You'll get plenty more. Fixing every one of them will be just silly financially.
If you're serious about it, repair this one and clear bra the leading edge.

I have the exact same chip in the exact same place, mine's not rusting yet though.

You could hit it with a fiberglass sanding pen and some Dr. Colorchip...fairly cheap. I'm not up on what, if anything, to seal with.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FN8H52/

I'm fine with spending $50/year to fix these. But again, if I can learn to do it myself, it'll obviously be a lot less expensive.

Thanks for the input - will probably get both of those once I have everything planned. Unfortunately, the part I'm also most uncertain about is the sealant.

Is anyone familiar with what would be used to seal the bare metal after the rust is removed?

I had some deep chips that I filled up with some Dr. Colorchip. The paint match is pretty great, and I managed to use it for a lot more than they promise.

I just looked at my Dr. Colorchip stuff, it comes with a bottle of blending solution called "SealAct" that they claim "serves a dual purpose of both blending away the excess paint and sealing the repaired chip".

I've only done a few small chips/scratches...like carsebuco said the color match (mine's silver) is pretty much right on. Some chips will take some experimenting and several applications to get it level.

I had this done on my previous Subaru legacy, the windshield had been replaced in the past and was not sealed good so all around the contour was rusted or bubbling. had to remove the windshield grind all around and paint, I opted to paint until half the roof though and blend. Cost was 600 cash Canadian at a legit body shop.

Manufacturers make paint pens to match instead of hitting up aftermarket, although I don't know much so maybe the manufacturers are just relabeling the aftermarket ones.

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Subar...pearl+touch+up

Haven't done it myself but it's on my to-do list as the roof has paint flake off on me.

Thanks, strat61caster. I just ordered one.

I have a spot sand blaster by "Vacula" purchased many years ago from the Snap-on tool truck. It is a hand held pneumatic sandblaster which uses various tips and a thick rubber template mat to blast a spot down to bare metal--spots down to the size of a BB. Leaves a sharp edge to the clean area which makes filling it with primer and color a snap(use a toothpick on small areas to apply paint). The results are great, of course depends on the color-match of the touch-up paint.

i have a few paintchips as well with rust and got a paint pen. i dont wanna spend thousands of dollars obviously so my plan is so scrape the rust and sand the chip a couple MM larger then just paint pen over it and hope it works lol

I use this paint site, perfect matching and they have paint pen Primer, Basecoat, Clearcoat and vids to help out. Should get good results if you follow the process.

http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

Good opportunity to learn how to fill in chips.
Paying $750 is insane, and sounds like they're overselling this job.
Just sand the rust spot, dab some primer/paint and be done with it.
You will get many more chips, so keep driving the car, and don't sweat this.

That is insane for a small chip. Check out https://www.drcolorchip.com that should work just fine. My dad uses it on his Lexus with the pearl white color.

Chips are easy to fix and you'll barely be able to find them if done right. Just order a 3 in 1 on Amazon for $15 - fiberglass pen, paint, clear coat. Scrape off any rust, put a drop of paint, let it dry, repeat as needed to get the level even with the nearby paint, then put on the clear coat.

Por15 might be a good solution