No car is immune to scratches, but some certainly seem to get more than their fair share over the course of their lives. No matter how meticulously you care for your car’s paint, eventually, you will leave your car unattended in a parking lot, and you will have to polish out a few scratches.
Fortunately, the process of polishing out a scratch in a car’s finish is a relatively easy process that can usually be done with nothing more complicated than a clean rag and a bit of polishing compound. Even deeper damage can usually present few problems if you identify the problem and repair it correctly.
To begin, take a look at the scratch. There are three types. The most serious scratch is one that penetrates through the paint, the clear coat, and the primer, and etches the steel or fiberglass of the panel. The second type of scratch is one that breaks through the clear coat, but doesn’t break through the paint itself. Finally, the third and least damaging scratch is one that does not break through the clear coat, but rather simply looks like a scuff on the paint.
The second thing you have to do to repair your scratch is to purchase the supplies you’ll need. Look for touch-up paint and touch-up clear coat at your local automotive parts store. They’ll be able to help you find out exactly what the color code of your car is. Usually, you’ll find it in the glove box. There will be a code that says BC/CC. This stands for basecoat/clear coat. All cars manufactured today use this, so don’t worry about single-stage paint unless the car with the scratch is older than about 1965 or 1970. This was the time period that manufacturers began switching from single-stage paint to base coat/clear coat. In addition to the touch-up paint, you’ll need some 2,000-grit wet/dry sandpaper, polishing compound, and a buffing pad. If you’ve got a mechanical buffer, so much the better. It will make the repair process much quicker. It isn’t strictly necessary, though.
Begin the repair process by lightly sanding the scratch with the 2,000-grit wet/dry sandpaper and a few drops of water. This removes any sharp edges on the scratch, and will work loose any bits of paint or clear coat that have chipped, but not fallen off. If the scratch is just a scuff, however, skip this step. All you should have to do is apply a drop of polishing compound to the scuff and buff it. This should more than adequately remove any scuff marks such as rubber or paint.
Next, fill deep scratches such as those that penetrate to the metal or fiberglass of the vehicle with the touch-up paint. You can really gob the paint into the crack if you need. When it dries, it will contract slightly and leave you plenty of room to put clear coat on. Once the paint has dried, add a gob of clear coat.
When the clear coat has dried, wrap the 2000-grit sandpaper around a paint stick or another similar surface, and use it to sand down the clear coat so that it is even in relation to the surrounding paint. When you’re done with this, use a bit of polishing compound on a buffing pad or a clean rag to polish up the scratches and complete the repair.