Stone chip
A stone chip is a small paint chip caused by gravel or road debris striking the bodywork, common on bonnets and front bumpers, that exposes primer or bare metal.
What it means
A stone chip happens when a small piece of gravel, grit, or road debris is flung up by another vehicle and strikes the car at speed. The impact knocks a tiny flake of paint off the panel, leaving a pit that can be anything from pinhead size to a few millimetres across. How deep it goes decides how serious it is: a shallow chip removes only clear coat and base coat, while a deeper one cuts down to primer or bare metal. Once metal is exposed, the chip is no longer just cosmetic, because moisture can sit in the pit and start rust under the surrounding paint. Stone chips cluster on the leading edges that meet the airflow first: the front bumper, the lower bonnet, the front edge of the roof, and the wing mirrors. Left alone, a single chip rarely spreads on its own, but several together dull the look of an otherwise clean car.
Why it matters in Singapore
Singapore expressways carry heavy, fast traffic, and following too close behind lorries or construction vehicles is the quickest way to collect stone chips on the bonnet and bumper. The bigger issue is the climate: with year-round humidity and frequent rain, an exposed chip stays wet far more often than it stays dry, so bare metal corrodes faster here than in a drier country. Catching chips early also protects resale value, since a buyer or a workshop inspecting a car before a COE decision will read a chipped, rust-flecked front end as neglect.
How Revol Carz handles this
Revol Carz assesses stone chips at our Toh Guan facility and matches the repair to the depth of the damage. Light chips are addressed with a controlled touch-up, while clustered or deep chips on a leading edge are best corrected with a proper spot repair: localised filling, priming, and spraying with Spies Hecker paint, computer colour matched to the panel and oven-baked cured in our Italian Saima dust-free booth. Owners get WhatsApp updates through the job.