OT scratch repair

[Young Ed]

Ok yesterday I made a HUGE boo-boo and scratched a friend of a friends practically brand new car. Its maybe 6mon old. Its a pretty bad scratch but thankfully not beyond that into a dent or anything. So what are my options for fixing this?

[Norm's Coupe]

You can have a can of paint made up to match at a local paint supply store and try to repair it yourself. Good luck getting a good finish to match though. The last modern car I tried to touch up was my 87 Reliant. Was only a couple of days old and got a big deep scratch in a parking lot. Got the paint to match up okay but couldn't blend in the clear coat to match the finish on the rest of the car to my liking. So...........ended up paying about $150 to have the dealer do it over.

If the cost gets too high, you may be able to put the cost on your homeowners insurance. Mine will pay for damage I might cause to someone else's property after a deductible.

[greg g]

depends how deep. If you can feel with a finger nail it is likely beyond casual repair.

If not you can try wet sanding with 1500 or finer sand paper and then compounding to bring the gloss back to the clear coat.

I would suggest that you have your friend take the car in to get a profesional appraisal an estimate just in case it doesn't get better or infact getsworse.

As a caveat to this pcocedure, you will effectively be making the clearcoat layer thinner in the repair area, this may result in lessening its UV resistance, and the paint underneath may fade at a defferent rate tha the surrounding area.

At the detail shop I worked at we used 3200 grit with lots of water on a DA, with a few drops of car wash soap in it. The a very fine foam pad with very light abrasive compound. As in panel sanding a good feather out area is necessary with both the sanding and the buffing.

Or you could get some blue coral scratch stuff in a tube and try that first.

I am not recommending this process. We did this to a new car that came in covered with sap that nothing eles would touch. All of the hood, roof trunk and upper surfaces of the fenders were done. This was insisted on by the sales manager to get the car delivered. We did it in the fall, about a year later the car was in the body shop for a warranty full repaint for faulty clea coat.

Now this is basically I guess standard procedure. If the faults aren't caught in time to put on the transporter, then the dealer would have to pay for the repair. Once the customer has the car it becomes a waranty issue and the dealer gets reimbursed for the repair cost from the manufacturer. then the cost of you new car goes up to cover it. Ain't it grand?????

[Young Ed]

Pretty sure at least some of the length of it would be in the feel with a finger nail category.

[BobT-47P15]

Ed.....did you scratch this vehicle with your vehicle?

Or cause the scratch by dragging some item along the car that you

were carrying---that sort of thing? As Norm said, there may be a

coverage on your homeowners policy called something like "damage

to property of others". It might apply.....may have a max coverage of maybe $500. Just call your agent.

Otherwise, it probably needs a trip to a body shop to be done right....which

will probably turn out to be repainting the entire adjoining area to make it

blend in satisfactorily. A new car----ouch. I imagine the owner might

want it fixed "right" and "properly". Then you're probably talking closer to

$1200 or $1500.

[Young Ed]

It was with my truck. If it does turn out to be that high maybe I will have to claim it on my insurance. I was hoping to avoid that so my rates wouldnt go up. Of course if the world was fair a relatively small claim like that after 10 years of perfect(claim free) driving my rates wouldnt go up.

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed,

If it was with your truck, then like you said the auto insurance will cover it. As far as rates going up with one little fender bender (scratch in this case) and the rates go up, I'd find a better insurance company. Most companies won't raise your rates unless you have several accidents or tickets.

Just to give an example of my scratch repair on the 87 Reliant. The scratch on it was only about 3 inches long, but down to metal. However, when the dealer refinished it, they did an area of about 2 or 3 feet square to get it to blend in perfectly. So, you'll probably be better off having the repair done.

[Young Ed]

This one is longer then that but not down to the metal. If its not that much I'll still probably just pay for it. I'm praying it won't be close to Bobs guess

[david lazarus]

The panel/paint shop that I use have a process they call "pencil repairs'. Basically they mix a very small batch of thicker than normal paint, the painter (if skilled, and has a steady hand!!) uses a very small fine tipped brush and lays a bead of this into the scratch/chip. When dried they will cut the bead back and then buff it to blend it into the surrounding area. I have seen chips repaired in this manner that are undetectable to the eye.

All of the above said......I suspect this is quite a craft to perfect and well beyond a D.Y.I. project.

But it may be cheaper than a full panel re-spray.

[Norm's Coupe]

  dodgepu1946 said:

This one is longer then that but not down to the metal. If its not that much I'll still probably just pay for it. I'm praying it won't be close to Bobs guess

Like I said, mine was only about $150. Of course that was in 1987 but don't think it would cost too much over that today, based on what you said. You could have the person get an estimate before committing to paying out of pocket though. About 83 or 84 a truck in the lane next to me lost a large piece of sheet metal on the freeway in Chicago. It flew off the truck and hit the rear quarter of my 83 Plymouth. Had scratches from the rear of the front door all the way back to the wheel, including scratching the wheel up. That car had two tone paint and sport stripping in the area damaged. That cost was only about $400 to repair it. The trucking company paid that bill though.

Even if your rates wouldn't go up, if the cost is low I'd probably pay it out of pocket too.

[Young Ed]

I was looking around on the net some and in some areas it looks like the paintless dent repair shops do repairs similar to what you mentioned. The car has a nice wide door moulding for a cut line so at the most I imagine I'm looking at 1/2 a door repaint.

[knighthawk]

if the scratch isn't too deep, check into using some scratch remover polish, there used to be something called 'GS-7' or something like that comes is a tube like toothpaste, really works !

[Captain Neon]

Ed lives in Minnesota, and, from experience, the insurance companies are none too forgiving to folks filing claims. Minnesota has a large number of uninsured motorists, buy insurance for one month to show proof of insurance at the DMV and then drop it ASAP. Minnesota is also a "no-fault" state so both he and his friend would feel pain from both of their auto insurance companies if Ed files a claim. Both parties have to file claims and both get hit hard. More often than not, when both parties know and trust each other, the responsible party makes arrangements to keep the insurance companies out of the mix. It is to everyone's benefit if the auto insurance companies do not get involved. It's a nice racket for the insurance companies. They collect premiums, and claims are rare.

[Young Ed]

Have you been away from the state for a while? They don't even bother checking for insurance anymore at the DMV. They supposedly do "spot checks" via mail or something but I've yet to see one or hear of one.

[Captain Neon]

I haven't transferred a title in Minnesota since 2004, and I brought my insurance card. I don't know if they even looked at it. Usu. one just pays the money by mail for renewal. Like I said, a lot of drivers in Minnesota without insurance and every one else has to pay high insurance because of it, esp. comprehensive coverage due to the likelihood one will have a collision w/ an uninsured motorist. In New York, if one drops insurance/switches insurance companies, the "wronged" insurance company contacts the State of NY which then promptly sends a letter threatening to yank the car's plates unless one can prove in a certain number of days that one has insurance. I for one hate insurance companies.

I'm going through the pain of registering my cars from Minnesota to Colorado right now. They require us to have a VIN verification to transfer a title from another state to Colorado. I have to go to a stealership, bribe someone there to look at my vehicle VIN, and verify that my title and my car match. I say bribe because $15 is the usual going rate for this "important" service. I don't understand how a car dealer is some how less likely to lie about the VIN. Why not a note from a licenced minister saying that the numbers match? Oh, I forgot, I live in Colorado.

[steveplym]

  dodgepu1946 said:

I was looking around on the net some and in some areas it looks like the paintless dent repair shops do repairs similar to what you mentioned. The car has a nice wide door moulding for a cut line so at the most I imagine I'm looking at 1/2 a door repaint.

Ed,

Not sure what the body shop labor rates are in your area, but most likely a foot long scratch would cost about $200-$300 to fix at a body shop. If the scratch is not too close to adjacent panels there would be no need for blending the color into the other panels. That would make the cost go up.

I'd probably pay out of pocket and fix it for your friend. Better than raising your insurance rates and most likely the cost to repair would be below your friends deductible.

[builtfercomfort]

Agreed - if you can take cash folding money up to a small body shop with the car, talk to the owner and get him to have a guy stay late, you can probably save quite a bit. They will have the matching paint, clear coat, and skills needed to do it in a hurry.

[Frank Blackstone]

Around here it is the gearhead exchage that get's thing done by favors or greasing the palm of someone with expertise and facility. Amazing how many former mechanics and body men there are in the vacinity of auto parts stores that can and are willing to show off there skills for a few dollars more, Frank

[Young Ed]

Been trying to think of someone I know who could help but haven't really come up with anyone.

[JerseyHarold]

Ed,

Back in college, one of my professors had his entire car (a full-size early-seventies GM wagon with the clamshell tailgate) completely repainted at the local vocational high school. He only had to pay for materials, but since it was a big job the car was tied-up in school for a while.

Is there an automotive vo-tech school in your area? Maybe one of the instructors can repair the scratch as a class demonstation or knows of an inexpensive local body man.

Harold