Chipped paint - neighbor dinged car

[88mph]

I was at my GF's appartment and the neighbor accidentally hit my door with his, leaving a small chip in the paint (the metal wasn't dented). addle:
He apologized and offered to cover repair expenses:cheers:

I started looking for options to repair the chip and, given that the damage is really small (picture below), I discarded respraying the whole door immediately. So, I was left with 2 options:

1. Having a local detailer touching up the chip. Given the damage is on the door's edge/crease it would be more difficult to work on it and therefore I would expect the damage to become invisible in only a 65% - 80%.

2. Another option is a local SMART repair company (similar to ChipsAway), which would involve respraying only the damaged area and blending it in with the non-resprayed paint. This would turn the damage 100% invisible, but I've read mixed opinions on this kind of services; some say it is trash, while others love the results. What is your take on this? Has anyone tried SMART repairs before?

Right now I'm leaning towards option N°2 because it would make the damage completely or nearly 100% invisible, but I have some concerns regarding the durability of the repair and the fact that I would require reapplying the ceramic sealant I have on my car. :doh:

I would love to hear your opinion on the matter, since it is always good to hear from people with much more experience than I have on these kind of situations

(Apologies for the crappy pic, but you get the idea of how small the damage is)

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[TRS7139]

Small chip repair does not involve spraying and can be done to a fairly high standard by yourself or a shop familiar with restoration and paint repair.
Essentially the first step involves a couple small applications of proper color kept inside the edges of the chip.
After they dry and shrink down a couple of applications of clearcoat are needed.
The goal now is to let it dry/shrink until you get it to a level ABOVE the factory paint level and leave it alone for a few days until it hardens.
Once the paint/clear is dry you break out the wet/dry paper starting with 500 and a very small block and cut it down gradually, until level, about the size of a quarter. Then go to 1000,1500 using lots of water. Once its level and no visible scratches, using compound and polish will bring it up to factory gloss.
This sounds scary, is quite easy for most and will get it damn near hard to locate with many colors.....metalics are tougher.

 

[lsiunsuex]

Honestly something that small, get to the dealer, get the little nail polish looking bottle of your paint, fill it in and give it a sand with 1000 or 3000 grit paper. Good coat of glaze and wax after it's had enough time to dry properly and be done.

 

[88mph]

Small chip repair does not involve spraying and can be done to a fairly high standard by yourself or a shop familiar with restoration and paint repair.
Essentially the first step involves a couple small applications of proper color kept inside the edges of the chip.
After they dry and shrink down a couple of applications of clearcoat are needed.
The goal now is to let it dry/shrink until you get it to a level ABOVE the factory paint level and leave it alone for a few days until it hardens.
Once the paint/clear is dry you break out the wet/dry paper starting with 500 and a very small block and cut it down gradually, until level, about the size of a quarter. Then go to 1000,1500 using lots of water. Once its level and no visible scratches, using compound and polish will bring it up to factory gloss.
This sounds scary, is quite easy for most and will get it damn near hard to locate with many colors.....metalics are tougher.

Thanks man! Your suggestion helped a lot. I searched online for this kind of service and there's a local detailer (with good reputation) that uses the process of applying paint, then leveling (wet sand), polish, then clear coat, level, polish. He has some pics in his website and the results look almost (like 95% or more) invisible.

I'll give this guy a shot and if, for some reason, the results aren't good enough I'll consider calling the chipsaway guys.

 

[lemers]

Good for the neighbor manning up and letting you know what happened

 

[torque124]

Honestly something that small, get to the dealer, get the little nail polish looking bottle of your paint, fill it in and give it a sand with 1000 or 3000 grit paper. Good coat of glaze and wax after it's had enough time to dry properly and be done.

I second this.... small enough for DYI.

 

[88mph]

I second this.... small enough for DYI.

I'm really bad at these kind of things, so i prefer to go to someone more skilled than me, especially since the neighbor manned up and will cover expenses. The detailer will charge around 80 USD for the repair, so it is not really that expensive.

 

[TRS7139]

Thanks man! Your suggestion helped a lot. I searched online for this kind of service and there's a local detailer (with good reputation) that uses the process of applying paint, then leveling (wet sand), polish, then clear coat, level, polish. He has some pics in his website and the results look almost (like 95% or more) invisible.

I'll give this guy a shot and if, for some reason, the results aren't good enough I'll consider calling the chipsaway guys.

Your welcome. This is the standard approach in the concours world and I have used it on cars from standard lacquer to modern clearcoats and it works well and is quote doable for thE average guy.
About the only thing that's tough is very light colored clearcoat metallics.

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