Chips away

[hughnique]

Is there some sort of equivalent here in France, dealing with small amounts of paint damage to the car, either at home or at a local centre.

[Hotrodder]

Sounds like wishful thinking but if such a service exists here, it will most likely be available near larger cities. My wife's Peugeot has suffered badly from its previous life in the Charente. The clear coat has blistered on the bonnet and roof from being baked in the sun. It looks like someone has taken a blow torch to it. The cost of a full respray will cost thousands. I found a bonnet at a breaker on ebay and including the cost of delivery was a bargain at under €200. Although the box it arrived in was punctured and ripped beyond belief, the bonnet was undamaged. The only downside was it is a darker shade of dark green but at least it looks less scabby than the old one.

[Polarengineer]

paint pens are available from amazon if the damage is minor. check the paint colour code on the car vin plate.

[Loup-garou]

Sorry to but into this thread. Can you tell me if I need to be registered with ebay to buy something off it (ebay.fr)? Also, can you only pay with Paypal?

Thanks in advance and sorry again.

[hughnique]

No problem I can only assume that you do have to be registered, as it asks you to log in or register in the first instance. I have not purchased anything on there for quite some time, however the last thing I can remember was a dust cover, fabric, for a turntable I have that converts vinyl in to CD's via a laptop, came from Ukraine, I think, and as I don't hold a PayPal account, I must have paid by way of a normal credit card. Hope that foggy answer clears it up a bit, just register and see if it is possible to pay that way.
P.E. good tip for the paint pen, just ordered from amazon 9.99€ arrives tomorrow, thanks.

[Hotrodder]

After using the pen to restore the colour, it might be an idea to carefully dab a little clear varnish on top to seal it. A deep chip often takes the clear gloss coat off down to the water-based colour which is not weatherproof. Some small paint repair products are a mix of colour and top coat and should be OK. I had several areas where the clear top coat was gone but still had colour (rusting away). Modern auto paint finishes are a real pain to repair.

[L Austin France]

Sounds like wishful thinking but if such a service exists here, it will most likely be available near larger cities. My wife's Peugeot has suffered badly from its previous life in the Charente. The clear coat has blistered on the bonnet and roof from being baked in the sun. It looks like someone has taken a blow torch to it. The cost of a full respray will cost thousands. I found a bonnet at a breaker on ebay and including the cost of delivery was a bargain at under €200. Although the box it arrived in was punctured and ripped beyond belief, the bonnet was undamaged. The only downside was it is a darker shade of dark green but at least it looks less scabby than the old one.

Shabby chic is always de rigueur so if it was me & it runs well I'd just leave it as is.
At least other motorists will keep well clear of it in supermarket carparks.

[widge]

Your car isn't really french unless there is a line of door marks along the side of your car.

[Blaze]

It doesn't matter where you park in a cart park, someone will always park beside you, even in an empty car park. Our old Passat break, which was in very good condition for its age, was deliberately keyed when we parked well away from other cars and trolleys ....
The other things that scratch the sides of cars are the hedges. The flailing to cut them back leaves hard branch ends which you can do little about if you have to use narrow lanes.

[Hotrodder]

It always make me wonder why French cars have such a bad reputation in UK. The wife's 24-year old Peugeot has had a hard life and has 325,000km on the clock at the moment and has had no breakdowns and has had only minor maintenance done in all that time. (It has had two cam belt renewals.) She loves it. I respect it.