Painting and paint correction
The hard part of a paint job is not the painting but matching the colour. The paint code is on the car — depending on the make in the door frame, under the bonnet or in the boot — but after years in the sun the paint on the car is no longer exactly that shade. Which is why the new paint is blended into the adjacent panels rather than stopped at an edge.
What it covers
- Determining the shade from the paint code and matching it against the car
- Preparing the substrate: sanding, filling, priming
- Applying base coat and clear coat, blending into adjacent panels
- Polishing and levelling the transitions
When it makes sense
- Stone chips on the bonnet where rust is taking hold
- Clear coat peeling in patches, usually on the roof and bonnet
- Scratches through to bare metal — polishing will not do it
- Before selling, where appearance carries the price
Worth knowing
A stone chip that reaches bare metal is not a blemish but the start of rust — and rust works on under the paint, where you only see it once the surface lifts. Sealing a few square millimetres now is far less work than repainting half a bonnet later.
Find a workshopOther services
- Servicing and inspection
- Oil change
- Brake service
- Tyres and wheels
- Air conditioning service
- Timing belt
- Timing chain
- Clutch
- Transmission service
- Fault diagnosis
- Electric and hybrid service
- Battery and starter
- Exhaust and emissions system
- Wheel alignment
- Bodywork and accident damage
- Glass and windscreens
- Periodic roadworthiness test