Illustration for Rock Chip Repair Cost

A DIY touch-up kit costs about $50 to $60, and a hood repaint $700 to $1,200. Depth sets the price more than the count does, so check that first.

Check how deep the chip goes

One Virginia mobile repairer prices chips with a fingernail test, and it works for anyone:

  • Your nail doesn’t catch: only the clear coat is damaged.
  • Your nail catches: the color layer is broken.
  • A small pit with gray or white at the bottom: the chip is down to primer.
  • Shiny steel or aluminum: bare metal. Fix this one soon.
  • Orange or brown around the edge: rust has started.

Each step down adds layers the repair has to rebuild, and that’s what you pay for.

Prices from cheapest to priciest

Prices from repairers’ and touch-up makers’ own pages, checked October 2026:

Option Who lists it What it covers Price
DIY kit Dr. ColorChip (Basic Kit) Kit for a dozen or fewer chips $49.95
DIY kit TouchUp RX All-in-one chip repair kit $57.95
Pro touch-up Crystal Clean Auto Detailing (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Paint touch-up From $60
Pro touch-up VDX Detailing (Lake Orion, Mich.) Chip and gouge add-on, about 1 hour; you supply paint and clear $74.99
Pro, per chip The Dent Dude (Alexandria, Va.) Clear coat only $50–$90
Pro, per chip The Dent Dude Into the color layer $75–$150
Pro, per chip The Dent Dude Down to primer $100–$200
Pro, per chip The Dent Dude Bare metal, no rust $125–$200
Pro, per chip The Dent Dude Surface rust started $150–$250
Pro, flat The Dent Dude 15 to 30 chips on a hood $300–$600
Pro, per job Paintcraft One or two chips $200–$250
Pro, per job Paintcraft A few chips on the hood $250–$300
Pro, per job Paintcraft Extensive damage $300–$350+
Body shop The Dent Dude (its guide) Spot blend, one panel $400–$700
Body shop The Dent Dude (its guide) Full hood repaint $700–$1,200

Why “fix all the chips” quotes run high

In one community discussion, an owner getting film put on was quoted a four-figure sum to fix about 15 chips. A full respray was two to three times that. Per-chip pricing explains the size. Fifteen primer-deep chips at $100 to $200 each would come to $1,500 to $3,000. That’s why it pays to ask for a flat hood price. The Virginia repairer above charges $300 to $600 for 15 to 30 hood chips in one visit.

Set your expectations, too. One chip-repair shop says its repairs improve the look by 75% to 95%. The paint will look much better, it says, but not brand new. Putting film on afterward? One kit maker says to fill the chips after any polishing and let them cure before the film goes on. The PPF cost by coverage guide covers what that film costs.

Where DIY touch-up goes wrong

The usual mistake is sanding. One kit maker’s process is built to work without sanding. Its FAQ warns against aggressively sanding the factory finish around a chip. The paint depth reading guide explains why there’s little clear coat to spare.

The owner quoted for 15 chips tried them at home. Most came out well. One went through the clear coat and color, and the owner paid a pro to airbrush it. Another owner sanded a touched-up chip level and reached primer. Commenters said only a repaint would hide it now.

In a community discussion about a door chip, the chip went down to primer. The owner had touched it up with base coat and clear and still saw a small crater. They asked about sanding it with 3,000-grit paper. Most replies said to leave it alone, or to build it up with more thin layers instead.

Don’t wait on bare metal

Once metal shows, the clock is running. One kit maker says not to simply paint over active rust. Remove or treat it first. Another sells a rust converter for $8.95. The Virginia repairer says catching surface rust early adds $25 to $50 to the job. Rust spreading under the paint turns a $150 spot repair into a $400-plus blended repair.

Plan for it in places that sand icy roads. The Alaska Department of Transportation says its Anchorage station spreads an average of 20,000 tons of sand a year. It aims at hills, curves and intersections. Studded tires are legal inside Anchorage city limits from October 1. Statewide north of 60°, they must come off by May 1. If chips pile up over that season, a touch-up session each spring is the cheap fix there. Don’t leave bare-metal chips open for months.

Cheaper than any repair

If you just paid to fix a hood, protect it. One kit maker says paint protection film gives substantially greater protection against future rock chips. See PPF vs ceramic coating on a new car to choose between them. For a long drive, see cheap ways to protect the front end on a road trip.

How we got these numbers: shop and maker pages only, each price checked against the page. See our methodology.

Sources

Based on 12 sources · How we price