A little bump can cause devastation as you discover a scratch on your beloved car’s paintwork. Although this can occur during the lifespan of having a car, you don’t have to necessarily do anything for this inconvenience to occur. Such as a brush against some twigs sticking out of bushes or petty vandalism; you can quickly turn spotless bodywork into something more aged-looking as the top layers of the lacquer paint get grazed away.
Who can fix the damage to the vehicle?A scratch can be dealt with either yourself conducting the procedure or taking it to be repaired at a body shop. The choice is down to you as the owner of the vehicle, if you were to choose to go to a body shop, this will incur a higher cost than repairing it yourself due to service charges and any other additional costs. Also, it depends on the severity of the damage caused, as there is every possibility that you can do it yourself and fix the damage with lack of effort or outlay needed.
Ways of fixing the scratch/scratches?
Paint swirls
This incident will occur when you’ve finished washing your car, as you will be able to see in the sunlight swirls in the top coat of the paint lacquer.
The procedure:
1. See how deep the damage is by running a thumb or fingernail over the scratches.
2. If it’s a minor scratch…
Scratch remover is a super-fine abrasive liquid which cleans the top layer of lacquer and can smooth out any swirls.
Remembering you are essentially removing a layer of paint, therefore if the cleaning cloth begins to turn the colour of your car’s paint, this means you’re down to the paint layers and you’ve removed the protective lacquer that’s on top of it.
3. If it’s a very small scratch…
You can purchase scratch pens that can fill in minor scrapes, they contain a permanent clear coat much like the protective outer layer used on new cars from the factory.
4. After successfully removing the scratches from your paintwork, it is now time for you to wash it again.
Car park scrapes
If you have had a light brush against an object in your surroundings whilst you were driving, such as a wall or post, there may be more damage to compete against in this occurrence.
To fix this, a scratch remover is still able to be used to buff the appearance of the scuff. However, if the colour coat has been removed due to the damage caused or you’ve scraped down to bare metal/plastic, then you’ll need a heavy-duty repair kit to fix the damage.
Lucky for you, if you find yourself in this situation there is a solution! There are many kits out there on the market to allow you to carry out your own DIY repairs; within these specialised kits comes a variety of polishes, treatments and brushes which transform a scuff to brand new – looking paintwork.
When selecting the correct colour kit, you can get kits that come with your car’s specific colour, for instance, if you had ‘Metallic Wolf Black’ as an example, this colour should come with a unique code which you can find usually on the vehicle’s VIN plate.
The procedure:
SMART repairs
If you don’t trust yourself to proceed with a DIY option or have the time to do this, then the next option is to simply take the car to a SMART repair specialist. These types of businesses can usually commute to you to fix any damage regardless of the severity of it. They are professionals in fixing most kinds of scratches and possibly minor dents too, whilst also offering wheel refurbishment as well. Despite this option incurring more costs than a standard repair kit would, it, however, would be more cost-effective than taking it to a body shop and you know the work should be guaranteed.
In conclusion, be careful and vigilant on the roads for anything that might obstruct you from having a clear route on your travels.
For more CarCliq guides click here
Paint swirls
This incident will occur when you’ve finished washing your car, as you will be able to see in the sunlight swirls in the top coat of the paint lacquer.
The procedure:
1. See how deep the damage is by running a thumb or fingernail over the scratches.
2. If it’s a minor scratch…
Scratch remover is a super-fine abrasive liquid which cleans the top layer of lacquer and can smooth out any swirls.
- If your nail doesn’t feel them, then you should be able to use a scratch remover, such as a T-Cut to smooth them out.
- Apply a small amount of scratch remover to a cloth and run it gently over the affected section in a circular motion.
Remembering you are essentially removing a layer of paint, therefore if the cleaning cloth begins to turn the colour of your car’s paint, this means you’re down to the paint layers and you’ve removed the protective lacquer that’s on top of it.
3. If it’s a very small scratch…
You can purchase scratch pens that can fill in minor scrapes, they contain a permanent clear coat much like the protective outer layer used on new cars from the factory.
- Apply the pen to the damage.
- Clean the car.
- Scratch should disappear.
4. After successfully removing the scratches from your paintwork, it is now time for you to wash it again.
- Use a clay bar to remove any lingering particles from your bodywork.
- Make sure the affected area is well waxed to keep it gleaming and protected.
Car park scrapes
If you have had a light brush against an object in your surroundings whilst you were driving, such as a wall or post, there may be more damage to compete against in this occurrence.
To fix this, a scratch remover is still able to be used to buff the appearance of the scuff. However, if the colour coat has been removed due to the damage caused or you’ve scraped down to bare metal/plastic, then you’ll need a heavy-duty repair kit to fix the damage.
Lucky for you, if you find yourself in this situation there is a solution! There are many kits out there on the market to allow you to carry out your own DIY repairs; within these specialised kits comes a variety of polishes, treatments and brushes which transform a scuff to brand new – looking paintwork.
When selecting the correct colour kit, you can get kits that come with your car’s specific colour, for instance, if you had ‘Metallic Wolf Black’ as an example, this colour should come with a unique code which you can find usually on the vehicle’s VIN plate.
The procedure:
- Clean the affected area.
- Paint the damaged section with a brush.
- Allow the paint to dry.
- Polish the area down to get the affected area smooth with the rest of the paint.
- Clean the car with wax to give the damaged area extra protection.
SMART repairs
If you don’t trust yourself to proceed with a DIY option or have the time to do this, then the next option is to simply take the car to a SMART repair specialist. These types of businesses can usually commute to you to fix any damage regardless of the severity of it. They are professionals in fixing most kinds of scratches and possibly minor dents too, whilst also offering wheel refurbishment as well. Despite this option incurring more costs than a standard repair kit would, it, however, would be more cost-effective than taking it to a body shop and you know the work should be guaranteed.
In conclusion, be careful and vigilant on the roads for anything that might obstruct you from having a clear route on your travels.
For more CarCliq guides click here
