Greetings everyone. I have 2024 ES350, caviar black. Truck in front of me on interstate with men riding in back threw something out of the truck and it crazed the driver's side and left 3 very small scratches below the paint surface. I bought touch up paint from Lexus dealer and am ready now to apply. I have watched videos on using ballpoint, toothpick, and fine artist brush to apply the paint. Practice before applying, and less is more. I also bought Meguiar's scratchX 2.0 for smoothing out the surface afterwards.
My question is what is the best way to prepare the surface? Some say glass cleaner, some say rubbing alcohol 15-20% concentration, followed by washing the car before applying the paint.

What are your thoughts?

 

No matter what you do it'll look like touch-up paint, but for following up with advance sanding and blending techniques.

Don't overthink it. clean it with alcohol and dab some touch up paint and go about your day. follow up w/ another pass if you must.

you can do the scratch x tip but depending on how you do it, you might introduce new microswirls/scratches to the surrounding area. your best bet is to be minimally invasive. the more you do, the more you risk, absent advanced skill.

 

The Dr Color Chip website has some good videos on how to apply their touch up paint. I would think it would apply to any touch up paint.

 

I think I will order Chemical Guys Wipe Out Surface Cleanser Spray to use as prep before the touch up. Too many negatives on using alcohol and glass cleaner.

Thanks for your comments.

 

I had remarkable success with their system, removing some extensive vandalism damage. Highly recommend taking a look at this method.

 

I find the newer the car, the harder it is to hide a scratch. When the car is new you see perfect paint all around so even the best touch up job in comparison will be noticeable (mostly to the car owner). As a car ages, there are plenty of minute swirls and scratches that somewhat hide the touchup repair.

My technique is to apply the touch up with a tiny brush or with a pen depending on the size of scratch. I typically put paint that is more than needed inside the scratch dimple. Then I let it dry for a couple of hours. After that I use paint thiner (varsol) to 'wash' the touch-up bubble down so it is even with the rest of the car paint. I sometimes have to repeat this several times to get a satisfactory outcome. Somtines it comes out great, other times meh.

 

I tackled the touch-up task today. I cleaned the area first with Chemical Guys Wipe Out Surface Cleanser Spray. Then shook the paint for 1 minute. I had toothpicks and very small artist detail brushes ready. It was a cloudy day but even so the mirror effect from the car when up so close made it very difficult to see exactly where to place the brush or toothpick. I did my best but still got some touch-up paint just beyond the scratches. I wiped off excess with paper towel and some alcohol concentrate but an hour later I could see hazy spot so cleaned it with mineral spirits. If I look at the car a few feet from the touch up, I don't see the scratches. My wife came out and looked and said she couldn't tell it had been touched-up. I have small penlight and shined it on the spots. I can see it then of course, but not not so much without the light unless I'm really close to the car.

I'm meeting my family tomorrow for a luncheon. I'll tell them I have 3 tiny scratches on the drivers side but not where exactly. I'll see if they can find them without extremely close inspection.

P.S. These are really chips not scratches. I challenged son and his wife to find the chips. They couldnt. I told them only that they were on passenger side of the car.