Touch up Paint Systems

Consider the benefits of owning a paint touch up system:

• No outsourcing chip and scratch repair to touch up vendors.
• $30 - $60 extra income per car.
• No buying paint from car dealerships...mix your own color-matching paint onsite.
• Offer a service your competition doesn't.
• Extra income from your wholesale accounts. Ever drive 25 miles just to service ONE car? Now you can offer touch up to gain extra income from each stop.
  

Rock chips and small scratch damage are very common. As many as 90% of all used cars have some minor paint damage: frontal rock chips, chipped edges of doors, and scratches that have reached the depth of the clear coat. Customers and car dealers find this blemishes irritating, yet it's not worth respraying these panels at a cost of $400 per panel.

In these situations--when the damage is minor enough that a respray is simply impractical, a professionally applied application of color-matching touch up paint can improve the appearance of rock chips and small scratches 60 - 90%.

You have probably noticed that the attempts of owners to touch up their car's paint damage look shabby and obvious. Here's what distinguishes professional touch up from amateur touch up:

1. Size of the applicator. Most do-it-yourselfers use the brush included with their touch up paint. This brush is sized for applying nail polish, and not touch up paint to fine scratches and chips! Professional systems include fine-tipped brushes that allow for the application of paint in less than 1 milimeter width.
2. Flat touch ups. No blobs or scars. Paint alone is a poor filler. Once it dries, it shrinks 80% in volume. Thus, even though the paint might be a perfect color match for the car, the depth of the chip or scratches causes light to reflect at different angles, bringing attention to the chip or scratch. Pro systems use paint thickeners, filler putty, and squeegees to apply paint as evenly and as flat as possible.
3. Glossy paint finish. The touch up sold at auto parts stores and car dealerships--in addition to being too thick and including a brush that is too large--dries with a dull finish. This is a particular problem with dark colored cars (blues, greens, greys, and blacks), as a dull finish gives the paint a "lighter" hue than inteded. A good professional kit includes gloss enhances that ensure touch up paint dries with a natural gloss that matches the surrounding paint.

No touch up repair is perfect. Only a respray is perfect. But a touch up system designed for professionals can produce results superior to what customers can do themselves: flatter, glossier, and more accurate paint repairs.

If you can pre-sell your touch ups correctly (set realistic expectations for the customer) and execute an accurate and color-matching touch up, you can greatly improve the paint finish of your customers' cars, save them significant money, and earn yourself a quick profit as well.