2017 Citroen Touch Up Paint (1 OEM Colors)

The 2017 Citroen Vibe

2017 was the year Citroen decided that "quirky" wasn't just a design choice-it was a personality trait. This was the era of the C3 and the C4 Cactus, cars that looked like they'd been outfitted with rugged bubble wrap to survive the urban jungle. Whether you were driving a city hatch or one of their larger cruisers, the vibe was "Metropolitan Chic." While the world was obsessed with tech, Citroen was obsessed with comfort and looking distinct in a parking lot full of boring boxes. In our vault for 2017, we've focused on the undisputed king of that sophisticated, industrial look: Gris Aluminum Metallic. It's the color that made those black "Airbump" panels actually look intentional rather than like an after-thought.

Paint Health Check

Welcome to the Thin Paint Era. By 2017, the robots in the factory had become so efficient at their jobs that they were misting clear coat onto these cars with the stinginess of a landlord at tax time. These coats are precise, sure, but they're thin. If you've spent the last few years tailgating gravel trucks on the motorway, your front end probably looks like it's been hit by a localized meteor shower. Because the clear coat is so lean, once a stone chip breaks the surface, it doesn't just sit there-it invites the elements to start undermining the surrounding finish. You aren't dealing with the thick, bulletproof lacquer of the 60s; you're dealing with "Robot Efficiency," where every micron of paint was calculated to save a nickel.

Restoration Tip

When you're touching up a 2017 finish, you have to fight your instinct to fix it all in one go. If you try to "blob" a chip to fill the crater, you'll end up with a high spot that looks like a zit on a prom queen. Because this paint was applied in such thin, calculated layers by a machine, you need to mimic that patience. Build your layers slowly. Dab a tiny amount into the center of the chip, let it settle and shrink, then come back later for another pass. You want to build the level up until it's just flush with the original clear coat. Think like the robot that sprayed it: precision over pressure.