2022 Citroen Touch Up Paint (1 OEM Colors)

The 2022 Citroen Vibe

By 2022, Citroen was leaning hard into that quirky, "comfort-first" crossover look with the C5 X and the chunky C4. It was an era of being sensible but stylish, which meant the streets were a sea of sophisticated neutrals. While the world was busy obsessing over Nardo-style flat greys, the real class was found in the survivors like Gris Aluminum Metallic. It's the kind of silver that looks expensive under showroom LEDs but is practical enough to hide a week's worth of road salt and rain. It wasn't about shouting; it was about gliding under the radar in a grayscale world.

Paint Health Check

Here's the reality: your 2022 Citroen was born in the Thin Paint Era. Those factory robots have "efficiency" down to a science, which is a polite way of saying they're stingy with the spray. We're looking at a factory finish that's thinner than a Parisian crepe-often measuring barely 100 microns thick. Because the clear coat is so lean, these cars are absolute magnets for stone chips. One spirited run behind a gravel truck on the A1 and your hood will look like it's been peppered with birdshot. If you see a chip, you've got to jump on it fast; there isn't enough "meat" on the surrounding paint to buff out deep scratches later.

Restoration Tip

When you're patching up a 2022 finish, you have to play by the "Less is More" rule: build your layers slowly and don't blob it. Because the factory paint is so thin, a heavy-handed drop of touch-up paint will sit on the surface like a sore thumb. Use a fine-tipped applicator to place a tiny amount of pigment into the center of the chip and let it flow out. Repeat the process until the level is just below the surface, then finish with a thin swipe of clear. You're not frosting a cake; you're performing micro-surgery. Patience is the only way to make that Gris Aluminum look factory-fresh again.