Nose chipped on used cars...

When we were out looking for a car a few years ago, I noticed many of the cars had significant stone damage on the leading edge of the hood, headlights, bumper, grill, etc. Other cars with similar age, mileage, wear did not have this damage. What causes it? Tailgating? Backroads? We bought new and never really figured out why some cars had this damage while others didn't. Some may have been repaints, but not sure. What do you guys think?

Aaron

My guess would be that you're right. Kids and other tailgaters on dirt roads.

Just about every vehicle in country or outback Australia has stone chips on the front. Does not matter how careful you are, they happen. Knocks out a windshield every so often.

Maybe it was towed behind an RV?

Stone chips are also caused by ice chunks from car/trucks in front of you.
If you think about it a car/truck is traveling at 40-50-60 Mph and stones/ice/whatever is in the air from being kicked up from behind someones car. And your car/truck hits it. This is caused by tailgating the guy in front of you. (Duh)
It is nice that the front of my new ford truck is mostly plastic, other than the hood. I need to get a bug shield for the hood.
I have also seen a thick clear plastic shield that sticks to the front of the hood of some trucks.

There is a lot of loose gravel and sand on highways. If most of the vehicle's life has been spent on high speed travel it has a lot of chips and the windshield is sandblasted.

I had forgotten about the sandblasted windshield. I noticed that too. I was looking at Buick Park Avenues and Pontiac Bonnevilles. I ended up buying an Oldsmobile Intrigue new. This was in 2002.

Aaron

When I had my dump truck I always made sure to have some stones sitting on top of my side boards and on top of the brake cans in back before I hit the road in order to get the tailgaters. Juuuuuuust kidding LOL.

Perhaps they were used as chase vehicles on oversize loads....All my escort trucks are blasted to the primer on the front. Iowa roads are really bad for this as the shoulders are loose gravel. It is not just tailgating damage, normal following distances still get me pummelled with sand and gravel, especially after winter has covered teh entire road with cinders or whatever the local highway department adds to the salt mixture for traction. Any speed above 30 can get ya blasted...and 13 axles send a lotta dirt in the air.

Anyone who has the bad luck to get caught behind any large truck in the early springtime will have similar damage to glass and leading edges of hood and fenders.

I don"t know where you live but I can tell you how it happens here.

Here in Montana they "sand" the roads in the winter when it"s snow packed . They define "sand "as anything less than 1/4" rock particles. I can assure you that rocks > 1/4" make it through the screens. The roads here, as you might imagine, are not bumper to bumper with cars. However people will pass you and then cut right in front of you like they are diving on the frewway during rush hour. The result is gravel spray all along the leading edges of the vehicle as well as chipped and broken windshields. Our Subaru has about 5 chips on the windshield and a full width crack. No sense replacing it til Spring because it will just get dinged up or broken again.

If people would just stay in the passing lane fOr a few more car lengths before they cut in , the damage would be minimal. Buu if "if and buts were candy and nuts, it"s be Christmas everyday"!
We have a plastic deflector on the hood leading edge and that prevents a lot of damage to that component and probably keeps some debris from hitting the widshield . But it doesn"t get it all. And the bumpers are all pitted as you describe.