Cleaned my car the other day and noticed a fairly deep scratch on the top left fender close to the driver's door, about 3/8". Used compound and polish in effort to remove - did a fair job. While you cannot see it unless you look hard, you can sure feel it if you pass you finger over it. Was wondering if I should attempt to wet sand the scratch edges to make it smooth wit the body. Really bugs me. Anyone ever done this or have suggestions? Any of the over-the-counter products work? Or should I leave it to the professionals?

Moe, this is right up your alley. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

I would never try this myself but i have a detailer who is a pro . Two years ago I scratch which appeared as though it was a jacket zipper (probably someone leaning on my car to look inside) was touched up so well that I can't even see a hint of it .
I also had a minor rock chip collection of about 5 small dots on my hood and i can not even see them at all . He told me that he did one dot at a time filling it with touch up paint and clear coat hardner followed by wet sand and polish . It took him three days plus he detailed the car (which takes a full day).

Here's a before and after of the door . BTW my car is black which is much harder than white to spot touch up.

 

wow that looks great. I've used a tooth pick or a pin and added a drop of touch up and it will visually help about about 80%

 

Leave it up to the professionals. On my previous car (Mustang GT) I thought i could wet sand it and fix the problem. Had to have my whole door repainted because i sanded it down to much.

 

Can you post a photo?

You gotta be very careful when wet sanding. You need the proper tools such as paint gauge, proper polisher, pads, and polish.

You can however, do some amazing things by hand depending on how deep the scratch is.

Can you catch it on your finger nail?

Pictures please...

 

I have had great success getting light scratches and rubs out of various cars using Griots orbital and various polishing compounds. I have no affiliation with the company and I am sure there are other brands that do the same thing. Some of the scratches have been fairly deep but with a lot of time and effort they can become nearly invisible. Once I polish them out I wax over two to three times.

 

leave it to the pros, there is no way you can guess how much paint is there and how much you are removing, not worth the risk imo

 

Hi Moe - thanks for responding. I have included picture of scratch. With the fingernail, no edges are caught. I tried to polish it out using Menzerna 2000 and 3000, to no avail. Used Quixx too. Nothing. It is smooth to touch when I pass my finger over it - I really cannot feel scratch or edges. I think only option is to maybe fill it with paint and wet sand to even it out, then polish out. Any ideas?

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/...5.jpg~original

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/...5.jpg~original

 

That's actually pretty deep. You can see primer, or even the metal right as it starts to curve to the right.

Are you doing this by hand or with a machine?

 

How close are you to these guys:

www.detailingdynamics.com

Matt will do a great job. You may be best to leave it to the pros

 

I know Detailing very well, and both Matt and Eddie. They put on my clear bra and laser jammer. Great guys. Yeah, maybe best to leave it to the pros.

Thanks Moe and all others that responded!!

 

Just wanted to give everyone an update on this. While I originally agreed with Moe and others that I should get professional help, decided that before I do that I'd try to fix and if I f'd up, I'd take it to the pros. I scoured the internet and You Tube on how best to fix car scratches. Was ready to paint and sand, but then read up about PaintScratch and Lankga, two different companies. PaintScratch sells paint and leveling compound and Lankga sells a product that removes paint blobs.

Here is the original scratch:



I filled in the scratch with paint:



I then used Lankga to get rid of the excess paint and tried to level it as much as possible. Then I used the leveling compound that came with the PaintScratch kit and continued to level the paint. Finished it off with Menzerna Polishing and Finishing compound.



As you can see, the indentation did not disappear, as you can still see the outline of the scratch, but I am happy the the scratch has been filled in with paint and protected and the finish is smooth. I am sure I would have gotten better results if I wet sanded, but that is for another time (maybe). Pretty happy with results, given this is the first time I attempted it and really did not F it up. It is not invisible, but you REALLY have to look to see it. Even with a light and knowing that I have it, I cannot find it immediately, and have to look hard to find it. I was able to get rid of some of the scratch entirely, as it is smaller than the original scratch.

Hope this helps someone else who wants to DIY small scratches on their P-car.

 

That's pretty good results. Sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and repaint

 

Just stick a GoPro camera over it.

 

Great job!