The owner of any car or pickup truck is responsible for that vehicle’s repair and upkeep, from rotating the tires to changing the oil to glass repair or visiting car paint shops to touch up scratched or scraped paint. After all a car’s paint is not only for color, but to protect the car’s body from rust and other ill effects. Many drivers today are quite safe and careful about how they drive, but all the same, reckless drivers, bad weather, or vandalism may damage a car, and a car body shop’s staff will be ready to help. When is it time to visit a car paint shop, or have windshield replacement done?

Car Paint Work

A car’s paint has sealant on it, and the paint and sealant together act as a protective skin for the car’s metal body. However, old or damaged paint will need to be touched up, and neglecting to do this makes a car look unattractive and can result in rust on the body. This can greatly lower the car’s resale value, too. What might happen to damage a car’s paint? A glancing blow against another car or property such as mailboxes during a minor traffic accident can scrape paint right off, and very old paint is liable to chip off or flake off over time. Sometimes, vandalism will damage a car’s paint, such as when a vandal drags a key or similar object across the car to put long, ugly scratches on its paint.

If a car’s paint is damaged or worn out, it is time to find a car paint shop in the area, and take the car in for touching up. The staff at a car paint shop will use any paint they have on hand to touch up the affected area, and this may include sanding off a bit more paint to make the area easier to repaint. As for the cost, this varies based on the extent and location of the damage, and in this industry, experts have a rating system for reference. Very minor touch-up jobs might actually be free of charge.

Some car owner can handle this work themselves, and by pass a car paint shop entirely. Such a car owner should open the hood and check the barrier between the engine and passenger compartment, and find the sticker that states the car paint’s color code. Once the owner orders that paint and receives it, they can sand down the affected area and apply primer. A few layers of paint and sealant will follow, and once all that is dry, the car will look like new, and the metal underneath stays safe.

Car Body Damage and Repairs

It is not only the paint on a car that may suffer due to bad weather or drunk drivers. The body may get large, ugly dents pounded into it from blunt trauma, anywhere from the hood and trunk to the roof, fenders, doors, and even the wheel rims. A glancing blow or other auto collision can put dents in the car, and the same is true if large hail (such as golf ball-sized hail hits it). Or, a truck’s cargo may come loose, and flying objects such as bricks may strike any cars behind that truck. Vandalism is another hazard, when vandals strike a car with rods or throw heavy items at it on purpose. All of these hazards can also crack or even shatter the windshield or side windows, and damaged glass must be repaired at once. A car with cracked windshield glass will not pass an auto safety inspection, and the cracks are very distracting during driving and may grow even longer due to wind pressure. Or, the glass might shatter from too much pressure, a serious safety hazard.

Workers at an auto shop will pound out dents from the opposite side to restore the car’s shape, which also helps restore its aerodynamic qualities and can improve its resale value. Badly damaged doors or fenders might even be replaced entirely, and the same is true of hubcaps or rims. Cracked windshields can be remove and replaced entirely, which makes the car safer to drive, boosts its resale value, and allows it to pass an official safety inspection.