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Ignore the reflection of my garage door in the hood of our Ford Flex, and instead concentrate on all the little white spots where the paint has chipped off of our loyal six-seater.
Not terrible, for sure, but noticeable wear.
At nearly 70,000 miles, seems only reasonable that the Flex is starting to show some age spots.
Kelly Toepke, News Editor @ 67,480 miles
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cello_one says:
04:29 PM, 09/ 7/10
I am really paranoid about this. I carry - 2 - count them - 2- of the little OEM paint pen applicators. I have thought about putting the 3-M protector tape on the front of our Flex, but I have had good luck with the pens. Surprisingly, I have not run across many chips on the hood. But now I am going to get out the magnifying glance and go over it inch by inch.
They're watching me...
feloniousmonk says:
04:31 PM, 09/ 7/10
This is why (besides being broke-ass) I will never own an Aston Martin: I'd never drive it. The first rock chip would kill something inside of me. It's also why I'll probably never spend more than 30 grand for any car.
cello_one says:
04:47 PM, 09/ 7/10
On an unrelated note - I owe this blog for preventing marital discord. The little plastic cover on the front seat rail popped off a couple of weeks ago. I finally got around to getting down there and clipping it back in. My wife was convinced it was the first sign of quality issues with our Ford. It wasn't broken and it clipped back in just like the long-term blog... thanks.
felonious says:
04:59 PM, 09/ 7/10
Hey cello_one, that happens to me here and there. The first time it was a total mystery, but now it's easy to replace. Here's a post I made about it:
http://www.fordflex.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=619&p=31341#p31341
ocramidajzj says:
05:29 PM, 09/ 7/10
Paint chips are inevitable. All you can do is take care of them as best you can. Think about it, you're asking the paint to resist projectiles that are travelling at high speeds. May as well ask the car to be bullet proof. FWIW that doesn't look too bad considering it's at 70K.
Has anyone seen the Ford commercial that compares paint chip rsistance of the new Taurus with a Lexus?
arcoril says:
05:38 PM, 09/ 7/10
I purchase pre-cut 3M clear bras on eBay for about $125 and apply them myself. There's a bit of a learning curve, but it's completely worthwhile if your'e as anal as I am about protecting your paint. It's a lot cheaper than a respray and it keeps your front end looking brand new.
sniperruff says:
08:23 PM, 09/ 7/10
My view of cars changed after watching this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCm31-SqIjk&p=2538A7FF73F1338B&playnext=1&index=23
zcalvert says:
08:43 PM, 09/ 7/10
I'm a big fan of VW's factory paint/clear pens, but I still regret not getting the 3M film when I first bought my car.
srlracing says:
12:01 AM, 09/ 8/10
70k miles is still a new car to me lol Call me back when you guys reach 200k
old_volvo says:
06:52 AM, 09/ 8/10
Some Subaru owners (probably worlds thinnest paint) swear by this product:
http://www.drcolorchip.com/
Why don't you guys try it out (I do not work for dr colorchip)
fundango says:
08:49 AM, 09/ 8/10
If I owned a Flex, I don't think this would bother me. It seems to be great at what it does (family hauler) such that a few paint chips on the hood wouldn't be a major issue. It's like this with my STI -- a few paint chips on the hood don't bother me much. I don't think about paint chips when I'm carving back roads in the STI, and I doubt I'd worry about paint chips if I was comfortably hauling my family around in a Flex.
ptcdawg says:
10:54 AM, 09/ 8/10
Big deal, you drive a vehicle on the highways at speed, these things happen. WGAS?
kevm14 says:
07:11 PM, 09/ 8/10
I bought an 05 CTS-V recently and it had 97k on it (southern New England highway miles). I was shocked because you can count the number of chips on one hand...but I will buy the pen and touch them up, because it looks brand new otherwise.