sdotk

So two to three weeks ago, i had to park in a fairly small shopping center parking lot. Unfortunately I couldn't park in the back like i usually do. i come back to my car to see that someone had hit it and left with no note. Its on the passenger side, looks like he pulled out of his space early and side swiped me with his bumper.


I took it to the dealer and they tried buffing it out but it didnt make any difference. The scratch itself doesn't look deep, I was surprised buffing did not do the trick.
So, I took it to a detailer and he tried something else, forgot the method. He couldn't get it out so I ended up paying for just a wash. He told me he could get rid of it if he has the car all day. Basically he would sand it out and then buff it.
I've had the car for 3 months now, is this the best way to go? I am not very optimistic it would work though he sounded like he knew what he was saying. I am scared that he will sand it out and ruin my car. Any thoughts or words of wisdom you folks can share with me?

LeX2K

Grab a bottle of compound (just about any will work) and try polishing the scratches down, no need to spend hours at a dealership waiting for someone to do a simple task. Worst case is you won't be able to remove them.

Next step is to wet sand the area then polish, but don't do that unless you have experience with the process!

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

It is nearly impossible to tell from photos, but it is likely one of two things....

First likely scenario is that this is simply paint transfer from the other object that hit your vehicle. In this case, material from the other vehicle or whatever hit you is transferred to your paint and looks like scratches. This can often be removed relatively easily with some spot correction using a small orbital polisher and some cutting compound.

Here is an example...

Notice the white damage along the wheel arch.



This was removed with a Rupes LHR75E, an Orange 3" Light Cutting Pad, and some Meguiar's M105









The second likely scenario is that the object that hit you has in fact scratched up your vehicle. Since the damage appears to be white, it may indicate that the scratches have penetrated the clear coat, the base coat, and are now exposing the primer. If this is the case, they are not repairable with any other method except for repaint..... however it could just be the lighting and camera angle.

If these scratches have not penetrated the clear coat, then they are repairable. Here is an example...

Notice this nice, deep scratch on this 2014 GT-R. This is much too deep to safely remove with simply compounding and polishing.




After taking paint thickness readings to ensure there was enough clear coat to work with (<- very important!!! make sure your detailer has a paint gauge and can measure your paint!), the area was carefully damp sanded with 2000 grit sandpaper.




After sanding, the area was then compounded and polished to remove the sanding marks. The scratch is now gone.




Let me know if you have any questions!

-Zach

sdotk

Thank you both for your responses. It seems as if i should try to compound/polish first. Do you have any suggestions on which stuff to buy Zach? I'd rather give it a go myself than pay the detailling guy $100

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Do you have a dual action polisher to use? It will be much more effective and safe than trying to do it by hand.

If so, I'd be happy to recommend some products for you to try. Otherwise I would recommend taking it to the detailer.