I have a couple of scratches on the right of my car behind the rear passenger window on the drivers side that have gone through the clearcoat. They can't be buffed out in any way and the body/paint shops I went to (evidently the best in town) were not comfortable blending just the scratches since they are in an akward spot.

As a result the suggestion was to paint about half the driver side of the car specifically the rear quarter panel and roofline above the windows. Fine ... but my concern is if I sell my car, would this potentially raise concerns with a buyer? The car has never been in an accident of any sort. I think the scratches were a result of someone who "casually" keyed it while walking by.

What would you do? - repaint or leave as is. All the shops I went to said leaving as is would not do any further damage i.e. no concerns with rust, but the bigger issue are that the scratches bug me although most people might not notice them unless looking very closely. The car is Artic Silver by the way.

 

spray it and forget about it ... it will drive you nuts if you dont... plus u may have issues trying to sell it with the key marks..

just my 2 cents
tim

 

I've had to do this on several cars- a fact of driving (and parking... )

If it bugs you enough, then have it done. Just document the damage. Pictures, etc. Take the work order showing what was done, put them in the maintenance folder with all the other documents. New owner can review.

Pricey repair, eh? Rope front and rear windows, remove a bunch of stuff, remove quarter window. $800-1000?

GL

A

 

Ard - you are spot on! You must be friends with the repair shops in my area. I was quoted anywhere from $800 to $1200.

This is the only issue that is preventing my car from being a "perfect" example, but then I won't have the luxury of saying no paintwork if I sell the car in the future.

But, it does bother me enough that I'm leaning towards the repaint.

 

First day I had my car I was washing it and the Q#&&*# rear wiper slipped out of my hands, flipped over and scratched the paint. Mother.......! So I was agonizing like you for months. Really annoyed me, but didn't want the paint.

So a deer made the decision for me. Ran out an nailed me (yeah, I was semi-sideways trying to avoid it) right on the rear fender.

All shops all over the country basically use the same estimating software. All that varies will be hours here or there for color sanding/blending...and of course the hourly rate.

GL

A

PS No rear wiper any more... bumperplugs

 

I would have paid $1000 not to have ever had a damn rear wiper. I have removed it but not before it left its mark. I had no idea it took so much work to get that scratch out...unfortunate.

 

You can't fill the scratches with clear, sand w/2500 and re-buff?

 

Obvious it is bugging you (would be for me too). Just paint it and forget about it.

 

In my case it was through the color coat.

But the difference between clearcoating a panel, and coloring just the scratched area and THE clearcoating the panel is only about $200. You still need to mask, isolate and clearcoat the entire fender.

Any shop that proposes a 'spot clear' ...don't. You need to have the clear coat in one continuous sheet all the way under any trim/panels/rubber/etc

 

Clay bar first. If that does not work, it will at least make it less visible.
Use Zaino Clay Bar.
http://www.zainostore.com/

 

Perhaps this could help...

http://www.langka.com/

No affiliation by the way.

 

Personally, I would get an orbital buffer with a #2/3 polish & work it in. It probably won't tak it out, bu only you will see it.

 

No, absolutely useless on a scratch. Waste of money.

(Suspiciously, the Zaino Clay Bar was IDENTICAL to the Mothers Gold bar- down to the cellophane wrapper... then they changed the color.)

 

Paint it and be done -)