My son left his black Porsche with me to babysit while he's out of town, and he has a lot of very small paint chips from stones and debris in his lower front bumper. I ordered a Touchup123 kit to give it a try.

The kit contains a bottle of what is basically touchup paint (it matches his color extrememly well), a small bottle of polishing compound, a couple of blue paper towels like you buy on a roll, a couple of small terrycloth towels, a small artists' brush, and a couple of cotton swabs. There were also some latex gloves in the kit, but they're really not necessary.

The instructions say to clean the area with the compound, then fold the blue paper towel, put some paint on it, and apply like wax. Then, you use the compound to remove the excess paint. The removal part is quite difficult! Perhaps I used too much paint, but it was really a chore.

Perhaps I was doing something wrong and making an easy job difficult, but I'm not overly impressed with the method. You could do the same job with regular touchup paint from the dealer. The repair still doesn't look all that good (and they say that it won't be perfect). It would be easier just to dot it on each chip, or use a Sharpie on the small ones. Seems to me that instead of using paint, it would be better to come up with some type of wax stick (like in woodworking) that would match the paint and be semipermanent.

It would also be a lot better in the long run to just take the car in and have the bumper removed and repainted.

 

I ordered the kit also - Dark Bowling Green - and was not impressed either. I very carefully dabbed the paint on, let it dry (instructions say it dries immediately), then used the compound to remove the excess. Unfortunately, the compound removed the paint from the chip also and left scratches around each spot. I went back to the factory touch-up paint very carefully applied with the tip of a toothpick. After drying for 24 hours I used my PC with Meguiar's #83 to remove the scratches from the Touch-Up 123 compound.

Anyone want a Touch-Up 123 kit for DBGM -- CHEAP??

 

I have used the product several times on my wife's BLACK SUV. The results really were fantastic. My own thoughts:

• yes, most definitely, you'll get swirlmarks (very light) if you use this - so don't use it if you're not comfortable using a Porter Cable to get rid of the swirling afterward.
• Results MIGHT be color-dependent. Like I said - on black was just about flawless. Another member (Guitarstar) posted his results on Lemans Blue which were also very good. Sounds like it didn't cover up very well on your dark green. We do need some other guys to report on other colors.
• I agree that for one or two chips, old fashioned touchup paint, clearcoat, and then wet sanding is my method of choice, but if you have 100 chips on your nose (like my wife's car), I think this is the only way to do it, short of a repaint. Touchup123 saved me a few years, possibly forever if I reuse it, before I'll have to repaint the nose of her car

Thanks so much for your two reports -- we still need a lot more "data points" on this product. Still I think I've only read reports from about maybe 5 guys total who have tried it. Seems like 3 thumbs up and 2 thumbs down overall --- and I'm thinking color might have some big impact on the results.

 

I have used this product an like it.
The trick for me is to use alcohol to clean out the chip first, then apply Touchup 123, buff with their compound & the results were very good.

 

BUGMAN - Thanks so much for your two reports -- we still need a lot more "data points" on this product. Still I think I've only read reports from about maybe 5 guys total who have tried it. Seems like 3 thumbs up and 2 thumbs down overall --- and I'm thinking color might have some big impact on the results.


Well Bugman, based on your great results I bought my kit and it came in today. I've got a lot of little chips on the front bumper of my black C5. I'll report back once I've been able to use it. I'm expecting great things!

 

Hey Tony -- GREAT !
be sure to take some before and after pics for us .
This is a hot product that many are curious about. Remember you'll have swirls after you use the FTC step - so later on just run over the area with the Porter-Cable and some swirlmark remover and all should be well. I think you might want to wait a few days before using the PC, though. In my case I waited one week before using the PC, and none of the touchup paint came out of my chips. The repair is still looking perfect (from 2 feet away) now 6 months later.

 

I've recently tried the touchup 123 system on my black '00. My car is a true daily driver, and the front has taken a beating over the years. I also have serveral large chips that I've touched up (and poorly, I might add) with conventional touch-up paint in the past, so I ordered the glob doctor as well. I am actually more impressed with the glob doctor than I am with the chip repair system. I have been able to make some of the larger, previously repaired chips look much better, especially from a couple of feet away. I have concentrated more on the glob repair than I have on the unrepaired chips. I still think the chip repair system has potential, and I am going to continue experimenting with it. Bottom line is, I need a paint job.