I have about 11,000 miles of conservative driving on my black 2008 xB. I've noticed many (more than I thought would be the case at 11,000 miles) rock dinks on the hood, front and even sides of the vehicle that penetrate all the way to the metal.

Have others noticed this?
Is this just a function of the flat-front design?
Thanks for your insight,
Nile.

 

I got them 2 and got 5k miles on it and there on top where the scion emblem is

 

Chip happens.

 

i have almost 8k on mine. nothing so far but i do hardly any highway driving.

 

got the same problem with mine. ive got about 17k and there are 2 clear spots that have been chipped.

i dont think that this is explicitly due to the flat face. my friend has a mazda 3 and drives along the same routes that i do and he has a more attacked front end then mine and he only has about 9k on it

 

i think it's cheap paint mine has 6400 and it has them.

a layer of metal clearcoat would look good on my nbm

 

that is the curse of the 1st gen and second gen XB. you are very much a target of rock chips and windshield cracks from rocks.

 

Would a 3m clear nose protector help?

 

yes

 

19,000 on mine good 16000 on interstates, the front bumper and hood look worse than my 1998 new beetle did at 125,000 miles. its not cheap paint, just more crap on the roads....plus people are getting lazier, i have passed numerous dump trucks with uncovered loads and i can hear all the crap hitting my car....

 

i got 3 small rock chips on my bumper first week i had the xb... pee'd off. Nothing on the hood yet...

 

Give yourself a few car lengths behind big trucks with big tires.

I've noticed that it's really easy to follow big trucks, but I take the grandpa approach with my XB and give the truck flickin' rocks all over my XB loads of room so I don't get stuck in the sandblaster that can extend 200' behind some of the big rigs. It's funny I see other cars squeeze into the shooting gallery and then quickly pull out when they realize the little rocks are not gonna stop pelting them.

You'll save yourself a lot of chips and dings if you stop hugging the bumper of the big trucks and listen for the first "click" off your window- that means slow down.

Zio

 

try not tailgating ;)

I have one chip/dent on the hood and that was from a typical 30 mph wind day here in vegas.. other than that i haven't had any

 

4,000 miles on mine, the front is covered in rock chips. I really think it is cheap paint. My old car had 60k on it and no where near the amount of chips this car already has.

 

i dont tail gate, i was in texas, and passed the truck even next to it over the line almost on the grass got hit by them. When I passed I was doing nearly 95 so i was never close for very long!

 

I have this problem too at 22000 miles most of them are from highway driving plus i live in colorado where they put sh$t of crap on the road. I have also gone through like 4 windshields also

 

i'm must messin around, really though, our boxes have a large, flat front end, and are magnets for rocks. it sucks, but something we'll have to deal with as long as we get on highways...

 

I am actually having a clear bra installed manana before the chippage gets worse.

 

I had an AMG 55 once and it looked like hell in less than a year,. The pits were horrible. The base coat was WHITE. I sold that mother quick. SO far I am good, but I live in Houston, Tx and our roads are ____e, and with all the pickups with huge rock grabbing tires it is only a matter of time. You could try some of that 3m film it might help. I keep a TON of wax on the front in a moronic dream that rocks might actually slide off......

 

I was actually contemplating having the nose and hood shot with several coats of clear at a paint shop, but my friend suggested that the clear bra was a more efficient way to go.