2010 Chevrolet Touch Up Paint (128 OEM Colors)

The 2010 Chevrolet Vibe

Welcome to 2010-the year Chevy decided to wake up and have a little fun again. While the world was busy recovering from the 2008 crash, Chevrolet was busy rolling out the resurrected Camaro in eye-searing shades like Synergy Green Metallic and Inferno Orange Metallic. Whether you were hauling the family in a Traverse, pretending you were in a Transformers movie with the Camaro, or putting in a shift with the workhorse Silverado, there was a color for every mood. With 128 colors in our vault for this year alone, it's clear the factory wasn't shy about the palette. You've got everything from the sophisticated Cyber Gray Metallic to the "hey-look-at-me" Velocity Yellow. It was an era of bold metallics and deep tri-coats that made even a Malibu look like it belonged in a higher tax bracket.

Paint Health Check

Now, let's talk shop. By 2010, we were deep into the Thin Paint Era. The robots at the factory got a little too good at their jobs, applying just enough paint to cover the metal without a drop of "waste." While this makes for a sleek look off the lot, it means your clear coat is likely thinner than a diner's coffee. If you're driving a 2010 Silverado or Tahoe, you've probably noticed that the front end looks like it's been through a gravel storm. Those tiny white "freckles" on your hood? That's clear coat failure and stone chips reaching for the primer. Because the factory coats are so lean, once a chip starts, it doesn't take much for the surrounding clear to decide it's done holding on.

Restoration Tip

When you're touching up a 2010 finish, remember: Build layers slowly; don't blob it. Since the factory finish is notoriously thin, a massive glob of touch-up paint will stick out like a sore thumb. Treat it like a miniature version of the factory process. Use a fine-tip applicator to place a tiny amount of color in the center of the chip and let it flow to the edges. Let it dry completely-don't get impatient-and then add another thin layer if needed. You want to build the level of the repair up to the surrounding surface gradually. If you try to fill a Crystal Claret Tricoat chip in one go, you're going to end up with a dark spot that ruins the depth of that beautiful metallic flake.