dironvictorious

I have 2016 Zo6 without zo7 package or stage 2/3 aero. I live in NJ and roads here will tare much of that stuff off

I have the factory spats on front wheels.

With 1300 pleasure miles on the car, I am beginning to notice long fine scratches in clear coat under direct sun light - specifically near upper rear brake vents, along leading edges of front fenders, and top of doors. I actually only have a few on rear quarter panels. I also have some rash on lower break vents, but that is limited to the plastic inlets.

These all appear no deeper than swirl marks. I wash with Griot products and always do soap/rinse before even touching the car with wash mitts. I occasionally do Griot spay on wash, but apply it liberally use many 1/4 folder microfiber towels with light upward wiping motion. The car been water washed 3 times, and spray on washed once, in last 6 weeks.

Hence, I don't think it is from washing. A cleaner wax appears to remove or obscure most of these marks at least for a few weeks.

Should these polish out - with a more rigorous hand polish or orbital polisher?

In term of protection, does it make sense to do a professionally applied ceramic coating or stick with more traditional sealants and waxes?

What about waxes that layer/fill, like Griot best in show?

I am hesitant to apply something like liquid glass myself, especially without professional paint correction.

Does anyone just do an annual detail, and wait until get deeper sratches and do wet sand?

I plan on keeping car 3-5 years minimum. I want it to look good for me, and not require repaint at trade in or if keep it longer. I kept my first vette 8 years, and previous one about 2.5 years.

Do these upper body marks come from rocks kicked up by tires, or debris in air - especially at speed

lgodom

I love and drive only black cars and when I order a Z06 it will be black. If the scratches are only on the surface, then they'll come out by hand or orbital polishing. In your situation, I'd have the paint corrected and have a wrap such as Xpel or Suntek put on as much of the car as possible, and then coated with a ceramic top coating for added protection. This will give you the best protection against scratches and rock damage and make it less likely to scratch while washing. I also would add side skirts and front mud flaps, even if you say they'll get torn off. The wide front tires stick out past the bottom of front fenders and sandblast the sides and the vents on the rear quarters.

RonBurgAM

The main issue is road debris from the front tires. Search for the thread in the Z06 forum titled "extra long... " by gve. Install those or the O'Reiley guards will catch 75%. Side skirts will get the rest.

I have a 2016 Black Z Stage 2. Installed the truck flaps at the dealer. 1500 miles and not a nick on the sides.

I had the front third wrapped in XPEL Ultimate and whole car done in CarPro C.Quartz. On the fence if this was worth it but I'll keep the car a long time so the jury is still out. For only 3 years, not worth it.

Greenbayjohn

I have 2016 Z06/Z07 package with stage 3 areo...here is my best advice for your black Z06...whether in New Jersey where we both are or not...get the best wheel well spats out there. The best NEED to be WIDER than our tires to STOP road rash. The ones you want are from company called Aspis. Talk to jersey WU. They have matte black looks factory to what we have on car. Looks amazing and will give you piece of mind. Had my dealer install before I rolled out of dealership with 3 Miles on my racing yellow coupe vette. Then I had expel ultimate and two coats of C-quartz applied. 3000 miles car is perfect and constant head Turner. Installer is the key to quality paint protection. Everyone that sees my car asks who did it and they have corvettes with film and are amazed at my flawless result. Mine took 3 days to correctly clean and prep and allow film to cure...it's pricey but worth every penny. I drove nearly two hours to find my Installer. Reach out to Greg at Signature Detailing in Hillsborough New Jersey...you will thank me for advice. We need to enjoy these special cars to the fullest. Consider this a Corvette Wave from the forum that keeps giving a thumbs up!!! Greenbay John

6104696

I have xpel film (front, rockers, and rear fender fronts, PLUS I have the GM splash guards, PLUS I have side skirts.


Rocks still get thrown up especially on turns, but I feel about as protected as possible save for a full wrap. A full wrap doesn't interest me.

conlaurant

Ditto..... but I have the ACS front mud flaps/splash guards ( lil wider then GM), and with all three incl the side skirts, I have gotten not one chip since, and I even have the Cup 2 stickys on. Even my rear brake ducts are like brand new after 6k miles

Bill Dearborn

Road debris typically doesn't make long scratches. It makes small chips in the clear coat. The chip may not go all the way through but there are sharp edges in the chip which reflect light at different angles and make it visible. If you use a surface treatment that leaves a white residue that will tend to get into the chips and make them more visible. Once in a chip the stuff is damned hard to get out as there isn't much that can dig into the small chip to clean it out. After a while and the build up of thousands of chips the paint will start to look milky. If you run water across the paint it will look great but as soon as the water dries you will have the milky condition again.

You don't get those kinds of chips on the leading edge of the front fenders or the tops of the doors. Marks on the leading edge of the front fenders would come from other cars. Marks on the side of the car come from debris thrown from your tires. Take a long straight edge and run it from where the tire rotates off the ground along side the car and you will see the areas that have to be protected. You can also use your cell phone camera to do this. Just put the phone so the lens is as close to the body as possible and aim it at the bottom of the front tire. If you can see it in the picture then road debris from your front tires will hit that spot.

Bill

Bill Dearborn

Even with all of that crap on my car the Expel along the rear of the rocker and on the rear brake ducts has plenty of debris gouges in it with 4K miles on the car. The ACS guards aren't low enough to block debris from the tires that passes right by the side skirt and hits right around the rear brake duct. I have talked to the installer about replacing it. Left side is more damaged than the right side.

Bill

Thomasmoto

Check mine out. If you like them I can get you in touch with my guy that makes them. They are custom made to order in many different finishes and are much more durable than anything else on the market, not to mention a fraction of the cost.

dironvictorious

I will reach out to Greg. Does he also do the mud flap and side skirt install? Is that something that can be done with just a screw driver in my driveway?

dironvictorious

I really like those side skirts. I am interested in protection and durability vs. performance or appearance. I consider these a wear item with the way this car kicks up stones. I am starting to get noticeable chips (little white dots) on rear fenders above brake vents. My brake vent plastic inserts also have some serious wear. What is the install like?

funz06

1st thing I did on my current Z06 and prior ones was to have the Apsis splash guards installed. Very pleased with the results after some 30,000 in total miles. One car had side skirts, two did not, including current one. Wrapping and coating does not help with eliminating or mitigating the road debris being thrown at the car-----they help limit the damage after the fact.

Many, many posts and threads about this------seems folks are having the best luck with side skirts and a good splash guard (one at least as wide as the front tires------from what I have read on the Forum, I don't think the OEM guards, the GM guards or the ACS guards are as wide as the front tires).

Great looking car you have---best of luck with it---drive it and enjoy it.

dironvictorious

I ordered the Apsis guards. I didn't get them notched as don't have side skirts yet. What is the best bet with chips? I am tempted to leave them as there are not that many and all small. I know everyone says dr. color chip. They are white spots and are smooth to touch. I wonder if a good polish would take care of them.

Greenbayjohn

Dironvictorious, I just had my dealership install them for me with their corvette mechanic. Think it cost me $100.00 dollars. They use existing screws and nothing is removed from the car.. You are just adding. Pretty easy. Reminder to make sure they have small strip of gasket. I think they all have that now to protect paint where spat touches car. Good luck and let us know how you make out. GreenBay John

jklein7

just get the car wrapped and you won't have any regrets or worries for years. Yes, it's money well spent.

gve

Here are the O'Reilly splash guards if decide to use them.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...that-work.html

capecodvette

I wrapped, quartz coated everything. When one dishes out the $s for a Stingray, Z06, the cost is a small investment to protect.

funz06

Sorry, I don't know anything about repairing the chips---no real experience there at all. If small, how about the GM touch-up paint applied with a toothpick................I did this with a small chip on the edge of my car when it was brand new and it worked fine---since covered with Xpel.

tzoid9

I have 2600 miles on my new Z06, basic Z06, non Z07, no aero packages. I don't believe I could count the mini stone chips around the brake ducts just in front to the rear tires...probably 150 on each side. These are all like mini pin ****** and show very quickly on a black car. Touch up paint will never work on this damage. Either live with it and be thoroughly disgusted or get the car repainted in those areas and put on the best mud guards you can buy...and pray. Stupid me, I never followed this forum much before taking delivery of my black Z06. Never ever realized the gravity of the rock chipping issue. The dealer never mentioned it or suggested rock guards, nothing. Now I have a beautiful car that is scarred....guess I need a plastic surgeon and I think GM needs to work on the design to minimize this predicament....sign me pissed off in Pittsburgh.

gve

I agree, GM knows the back paint gets damaged and doesn't address the problem. I experimented with modifying the O'Reilly guards and the bigger truck ones to fit the car and to stop the damage. It's too bad that they didn't correct this with wider front fenders and longer spats after the 2015 model year exposed the problem.