2003 Citroen Touch Up Paint (1 OEM Colors)

The 2003 Citroen Vibe

Welcome to 2003-the year Outkast's "Hey Ya!" was stuck on repeat and the Citroen C3 and Berlingo were redefining the "bubble car" aesthetic for a new millennium. In our database, we've pinpointed the undisputed king of that era: Gris Aluminum Metallic. Back then, silver wasn't just a color; it was a tech-obsessed lifestyle. If you weren't driving a shimmering metallic silver Citroen that matched your Nokia 3310, you simply weren't living in the future. It was the peak of the "Silver Age," and nearly every C5 and Xsara Picasso rolling off the line was draped in this high-tech, lunar glow.

Paint Health Check

If you're still rocking that original 2003 factory finish, you're likely living in The Peeling Era. By the early 2000s, manufacturers had fully committed to the basecoat/clearcoat system. While it made for a deep, metallic sparkle, it created a ticking time bomb known as "delamination." On these French classics, the clear coat is prone to going brittle after two decades of UV exposure. It starts as a tiny white bubble-often on the roof or the edge of the bonnet-and before you know it, the top layer is flaking off like a bad sunburn. Once that clear "skin" loses its bond with the Gris Aluminum base, moisture crawls underneath and the game is over.

Restoration Tip

The golden rule for 2003 paint is simple: Seal chips immediately before the clear lifts. If you spot a stone chip or a scratch that's pierced through to the primer, don't wait for the weekend. In this era of paint tech, a chip is an invitation for the clear coat to start peeling away from the edges. Use a high-quality solvent-based touch-up to bridge that gap and "lock down" the perimeter of the clear coat. It's much easier to fix a 2mm dot today than it is to respray an entire delaminated roof panel tomorrow.