[Controlo]

alright guys. first off, i don't own an STI. i have an '07 sunlight silver mazdaspeed3. about 3 weeks after i bought the car, some punk kids egged it on the driver door. that last march, a little over a year ago. so i have a few questions and i figured i could get some more advice from you guys than i could from the mazda community. thanks in advance.

i'm pretty OCD about my car but i haven't washed it as much as i probably should have... i get bird **** and bugg squashings off pretty quickly but it isn't exactly clean all the time. i wash it probably once a month at the most. i'm seriously stressed out right now, wondering if a body shop will be able to match the paint well enough to my satisfaction. what are the odds the paint has faded in this year? i live in bakersfield, CA btw. would not washing it cause the paint to fade easier or will it just need a clay bar sooner? i just bought some claymagic and i was planning on working on it tonight and tomorrow.

i've been reading a bunch of threads about vandalism on here and i'm wondering what some of you have done. i know there have been silver STI's that've been egged or keyed. what did you do?

not sure if i want to try and touch it up or try and get the panels resprayed and hope they match.

my biggest concern is that the paint HAS faded at all. HELP!!!

these were taken right after i washed most of it off.







i love STI's, btw.

[WRC~06~STi]

in my opinion i would def NOT pay someone to paint it. first reason being you will get less trade in value when you get another car. second, you might not be happy with it. third, it will be very expensive! i would buy a mothers kit and use the clay bar and then wax the hell out of it. good luck!

[WESTI]

just leave it. I seriously cant even see it in the second picture

[Controlo]

well, the problem is... i'm going to have to do SOMETHING or it will start to rust, which it might be already. i know there are body shops that have recommended colorsanding, touching up the chips and then re-clearing. the problem is that most of the flaws i've seen from body shops are in the clear coat.

so you guys say to just touch it up?

thanks for the uber fast response guys!!

[Mykl]

How long did the egg sit on the car? Was it in the sun?

My car got egged a while back, but it was at night and I washed it off maybe an hour or two after it happened. There's absolutely no damage.

I had heard that in order for the egg to really damage the paint it had to have time to sit and dry.

[WRC~06~STi]

yeah i would just touch it up if you can find an exact color match or a dang-neer-close-to-perfect-one. good luck with it

[Controlo]

also, insurance will be paying for this since it was vandalism. i just noticed that i'm a "lurker". LULZ.

[Controlo]

Originally Posted by Mykl

How long did the egg sit on the car? Was it in the sun?

My car got egged a while back, but it was at night and I washed it off maybe an hour or two after it happened. There's absolutely no damage.

I had heard that in order for the egg to really damage the paint it had to have time to sit and dry.

well, the damage comes from the egg shell, not the egg itself. i'm not sure when it was done but it was springtime in california at about 8-830 am when i saw it. it wasn't hot out.

[Controlo]

i'm seen some examples of that "color all" company but i don't know if there's anyone near me that does it...

super sad still... a year later.

[Controlo]

anyone else?

[V8Huntr]

Normally what happens when an egg hits the paint is that the shell actually chips the paint. I had my old accord, dark green, and it got egged. The paint was chipped off and you could see the primer underneath. It actually had to be repainted.

It looks like you may have the same problem. From looking at the picture it looks like it is chipped down to the primer. The only way to fix that is to use touch up paint or take it to a professional. I would take it to a shop that does free estimates and ask them what they recommend.

BTW I think the MS3 is a sick car too!

[Controlo]

thanks man!

yeah, it is chipped. and the only problem with just touching it up is that there are tiny tiny chips too that i can barely see. not sure how easy it would be to touch those up...

i have no problem taking it to a professional if it will come out right. i'm just scared that it wont. i've seen nothing but bad OEM resprays.

i don't know what the odds are of my paint having faded at all over this 1 year period. i want this to be done the best way possible but if that means having a couple panels not match, i'd rather just touch it up and have a couple chips that aren't 100%, ya know?

if anyone else has any ideas, let me know. thanks!

[Hirogen]

I know how you feel bro.. I had an escalade open its door into my nice pretty fender flare with 200 miles on my odo.. 700 dollars later it's fixed and life moves on.. was heart breaking.

My eclipse was silver and I can tell you this. If you get it done professionally go to a good shop and pay the higher bill. ESPECIALLY on silver silver is VERY hard to match. Why not try to do some claybarring buffing and waxing yourself see how you like it. Maybe try to touch it up a bit. I cant see it in the second pic.

Remember.. number 1 you are the only one that knows about it most likely. 2 When you fix it something else will happen. I have a very small crack in my front lip from a coon and I decided to just leave it for the exact reason.

Good luck bro, most all of us empathize with ya. Its frustrating to have something you care about in a world that nobody gives a ****

[Bownse]

In most cases, they'll feather sand the edges in the area to provide a smooth base to work over. From there they'll do the base coat mix and spray, sand the base coat(s) and then clear coat that with a final finishing sand and polish.

The trick is that most colors these days are mixes of multiple base combinations. Getting the mix right is the "art", the process is the skill.

[Controlo]

Originally Posted by Hirogen

I know how you feel bro.. I had an escalade open its door into my nice pretty fender flare with 200 miles on my odo.. 700 dollars later it's fixed and life moves on.. was heart breaking.

My eclipse was silver and I can tell you this. If you get it done professionally go to a good shop and pay the higher bill. ESPECIALLY on silver silver is VERY hard to match. Why not try to do some claybarring buffing and waxing yourself see how you like it. Maybe try to touch it up a bit. I cant see it in the second pic.

Remember.. number 1 you are the only one that knows about it most likely. 2 When you fix it something else will happen. I have a very small crack in my front lip from a coon and I decided to just leave it for the exact reason.

Good luck bro, most all of us empathize with ya. Its frustrating to have something you care about in a world that nobody gives a ****

thanks man! i can tell you though, waxing and polishing isn't going to help this. these are chips through to the primer and in some cases to the metal. it's not even that it's a horrible sight... i just don't want it to get any worse. i need to do something about it but everyone i talk to just says

"i'll put some dealer touch up on with a toothpick. other than that, i'd just respray the entire panel. that's the only way to get it back to 100%"

it's almost irritating.

do you guys think my paint may have faded a little this past year??