Touch Up Paint Durability

J

jhorton

New member
I have touched up a few spots on my car within the last year. Less then 1 year later I am finding that I have to redo the same spots.



Should the touch up paint last longer than this? Is this normal? Or am I doing something wrong?
 
jhorton- Touchup paint will never equal factory paint, or (usually) even a good "regular" repaint, but that does sound funny. My touchups basically last OK forever. Are you polishing frequently?
 
I don't have the time for polishing. Just straight washing my car. I just keep finding that I am having to redo the same touch ups every 6 months to a year which I find very strange and annoying. Usually my redo's are nowhere near as good as the first time I did it.

I have little time to spend doing it once and even less time to keep redoing them.



I purchased my touch up paint from paintscratch.com.



I was just curious to see if anyone else has this same experience.
 
Preparation is very important for a lasting touch up repair. Even things like trace dirt/contamination being present or applying a paint to surface that has a LSP on it might contribute to it failing and falling off.



Sometimes the touch up paint itself was just bad. Bad batches, like anything else, can happen. Maybe it was stored in poor conditions prior to being offered for sale. :nixweiss
 
How exactly are they failing? Pics would be great.



As with anything, prep is the key, mine last indefinitely.
 
I had a touchup fail on me recently. I had wiped it down with paint prep and alcohol, but that didn't cut it. I re-touched-up with a little mild wetsanding to remove anything resembling LSP or rust (was down to bare metal) and it's held up well. I still need to level it and polish it out, tho (just polished out surrounding sanding marks).
 
What has happened is that I had a couple spots I touched up less then a year ago and after I washed my car I noticed the paint I put in the chips had come off partially or completely. None were down to bare metal so I found it strange that the paint has just come off so quickly.



Of course the first time I did them they didn't look too bad and now the second time they stick out like a sore thumb!
 
Sand them down and polish them out. I use a hole punch and punch out various grits. I then glue the little disks to the eraser on a new pencil.
 
I just wash the area and then touch up the spots. I have one under a taillight that must have happened when the taillight was installed in the factory. When it rains water seems to sit on it until it dries. I assume that probably doesn't help.
 
jhorton- Sounds like you need some better pre-touchup prep. At the very least I'd clean out the chip with IPA or somesuch, and I prefer solvents like PrepSol. As rdorman noted, a bit of sanding is a good idea too, it provides a bit of "tooth" for the new paint to grip.



Then keep it dry for at least a day or two so the paint can truly dry.



Touchups really oughta last for many, many years, basically a permanent sort of thing.
 
When I mentioned the paper on the eraser, I was referring leveling the chips he has already touched up that are sticking out. Although, I have found that Langka will sometimes work on a touchup no matter how old it is. I use a glass fiber pen to prep the surface before repair if need be. I agree, sound like the OP is not getting the surface clean/prepped well enough.
 
If I use sand paper to sand off the chip won't that leave it scuffed or having a white look to it? Would I have to polish it after with something?
 
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