Can a New Car with Paint Damage Be Licensed?

[ClaraLee]

If there is obvious paint damage, the vehicle must be sent to a repair shop for touch-up before it can be properly licensed. The relevant details for licensing a new car are as follows: 1. Required materials for license plate application: the owner's personal ID, car purchase invoice, vehicle insurance policy, and vehicle manufacturing certificate (for imported cars, additional documents such as customs import/export certificates and inspection and quarantine certificates are required). 2. Situations where temporary license plates can be used: the owner has purchased the car but has not yet officially licensed it and needs to move the vehicle; the vehicle needs to be transferred to another location; the license plate is stolen or lost during use.

[MacCassandra]

I just accompanied a friend to the DMV for procedures a couple of days ago and we happened to discuss this. Whether a new car with paint chips can be registered depends on the specific situation. If it's just a tiny scratch the size of a sesame seed, the DMV usually won't stop you. But if there's a palm-sized area on the door panel where the primer is exposed, they'll definitely ask you to repaint it first before registration. This is mainly to prevent metal corrosion affecting safety and to avoid used car disputes. It's recommended to temporarily cover the exposed metal parts with a touch-up paint pen for the inspection, which works perfectly fine. In the long run, a full respray is necessary. Nowadays, 4S shops have original paint code scanners that can mix the exact same color as the factory finish. Remember to ask the technician to maintain the clear coat thickness, otherwise color differences will be visible under sunlight.

[StGabrielle]

Last week, my neighbor’s newly purchased white SUV had a fingernail-sized chip on the rear bumper, but no one mentioned it during the license plate registration. The vehicle inspection officers mainly focus on hard criteria like whether the VIN is legible and if the tire specifications match the official announcement, and they’re actually quite lenient about minor exterior flaws. However, a spiderweb crack on the windshield would definitely fail inspection, as it affects driving visibility. It’s important to note that modifying wheel size or applying color-changing film will absolutely get your car rejected—once, I saw a matte gray-wrapped Porsche Cayenne that was immediately ordered to remove the film. My advice is to avoid any modifications before registration; small scratches really aren’t something to stress over.

[Eloise]

The location of paint chipping on a new car is crucial. If the chipping occurs in conspicuous areas like the roof or hood and exceeds the size of a coin, it may require repair. The strictest case I've seen involved rejection due to paint chipping around the fuel tank cap, with staff citing potential safety hazards during refueling. However, the paint around the vehicle frame number imprint area must remain intact; any chipping here will definitely fail inspection. Nowadays, many vehicle management offices offer on-site touch-up services for around 200 yuan, taking just ten minutes—far more cost-effective than making a wasted trip.