Tom M

Since I had the time this weekend I did a complete once-over of my new-to-me C4S. The exterior is in pretty good shape for a 6 year old car and I'm sure some of the new chips are probably from the 2500 mile drive from Oregon to Indiana. However it easily passes the 10ft rule.

When I was out running around for brake fluid on Saturday I picked up a clay kit (I actually don't like the one I got as the clay is too soft) and some fresh swirl remover as I no longer had any on hand. After 6+ hours start to finish I discovered a few things. 1) There are a couple of scratches in the paint and the rear plastic as if something was dropped there. The plastic appears to have taken the brunt of it and; while the scratches don't go all the way through the paint they're too deep to remove easily. 2) The person who rode shotgun likely had long fingernails as there are a fair number of scratches around the door handle. These can only be seen up fairly close so it's no biggie. 3) I've got a couple of chips that could stand to be repaired as soon as I get some touch-up paint. One is on the front hood and the other is on the passenger door. It's definitely not a door ding so I'm unsure how it got there.

Any way, here's a few photos of the results.

sheatley

Thanks for the pics of a nice looking car.

I have used Dr. Color Chip on small chips on the front. Very happy with the results. Quick and cheap. Can still see them if I look hard enough. My car is gray and easy to work on. Not sure how the darker colors would repair.

Tom M

I've used Langka on my Black Metallic Boxster and actually got pretty good at it. If you know where to look and are close enough you can see the repairs but from more than a few feet they're invisible. I've still got quite a bit of it left so I'll probably give that a try for a more permanent repair. For a real quick and dirty I've actually used a felt tip pen that's the right color just to hide the chip. Surprisingly, it works pretty well.

Pac996

Porsche sells a touch up kit that is the same color with a clear coat bottle included with it. Costs around $30.

I could swear the previous toucer upper played a trick of a dark red crayon to cover scratch's and chips. Bad dogs. Needless to say some surprises slowly started showing up.

Tim Wasmer

Looking good. Midnight is such a cool color.

I had mine professionally mirror finished and man was it a great looking car. Very hard to capture the real look of that color.

ajayabb

Great looking car. I love that rear reflector strip!

skiracer

Looks fabulous and like new for a 6 yr old car. How many miles on her?

Tom M

Thanks. After the drive back to Indy it's now got 24K on it. On the other hand, the interior does look like a 6 year old car so I'm thinking of getting the rear center console done in exterior color.

Chris996

Looks great, the clay kit makes a big difference.

Andy Kay

Tom,
Looks real nice. For me, claying is the key. Ever tried Griot's Garage? Dr. Color Chip is good stuff too.

uberskier

I just love the last picture!

Barn996

What an improvement . Your Porsche looks great!

Graufuchs

Very nice.....looks great.

soverystout

Looks real good. I've been thinking about the same thing with regards to the center console.

Regardless of interior color, there is just too much of the same color in the 996.
Mine is Metropol blue so I'm thinking a silver console and maybe the radio/HVAC control surround in artic silver might break it up nicely.

ROK

I love how someone's taken the time to line up the exhaust tips perfectly.

996 C4S has one of the best rear-ends in all of automotivedom!