Fixing paint scratches

[tmarat]

Does anyone one know an easy way to fix this scratch? Somebody scratched vehicles in the parking lot (4 vehicles were scratched). Line drawn on the right side of the vehicle, through front and rear passenger doors.
Scratch does not seem to be very deep, at least I can't see the metal, only some white stuff. Wouldn't want to repaint because of this.

 

[Turdle]

If you try to scratch the scratch with your fingernail, does it "snag" on the scratch?

 

[tmarat]

will check tomorrow, but I think it will probably snag. I could see the "deepness" compared to the surrounding paint when looked closely.

 

[Ornery]

You can search videos of the late Martin Wright, a paint finish god. Here's one, but there are many more. I specifically remember one he did of a deep scratch that a fingernail would catch in. Basically sanding with a lot of finesse does the trick.

 

[Flag Gibby]

That is all the way through the clear and into the paint in some areas. It looks like it is one of the non metallic paints so you should be able to match it good with a bottle of touch up paint from your local dealer (get the bottle that has the pen on the top). Use the pen to fill the scratch one layer at a time (allow to fully dry in between the layers) until it is slightly above the other paint and then come back and gently wet sand the dry fresh paint down to the surrounding surface level with wet 1500 - 2000 grit paper. Be careful to not take off the clear coat on the surrounding surfaces. Finally, using a good buffer use a rubbing compound and buff, then polish the area and all should look good (maybe too good and you might have to polish the whole car).
Note: I drive in an area that uses cinders on the roads for traction in the winters so I use this procedure every other season to make the hood of my vehicles look new again.
Edit: It wouldn't hurt if you wanted to try to just polish/buff the scratch out first to see if most of it comes out that way and then only touch up the areas that don't.

 

[tmarat]

it does snag the finger. though not sure if the scratch is very deep, meaning whether it actually went through the paint or not. I do see white stuff (as is visible in the picture), does this mean it went through the layer of paint and on to the primer?
If I am understanding correctly then there are two possibilities:
1) If the scratch is not very deep, that is did not go through the paint, but only through the clearcoat, then you can sand and polish, that will fix it. If it went through the paint layer, then you have to use the paint to touch up the the scratches (the same as Flag Giggy is saying). Found this website which sells ready kits http://scratchwizard.net/ anyone used it before? They do have pictures showing a scratch which seems to be similar to mine getting fixed
2) Even if the scratch is deep and went through the paint layer down to the primer, then you can still sand and polish, this still can fix it.

Not sure if the option two is right?

edit: there is also this http://drcolorchip.com vendor. their solution is simpler, but it seems to be more geared towards small stone chips, rather than long scratches. Again, anyone used it?
scratch similar to mine fixed by using the paint. more like the scratchwizard approach plus the sanding/polishing.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/43535-key-repair-step-step-procedure.html

 

[Flag Gibby]

The white stuff is only the damaged clear coat. The primer is usually grey so if you are not seeing any grey in it then it is just in/through the clear coat and maybe into the paint in some areas. If it is only in the clear coat you don't need to sand it, just use a rubbing compound and polish it out (most likely half of the scratch will polish out if not more).
I have never used any of those kits because most of the time the color does not match the factory color close enough for me and it only costs me $8.00 to get a bottle of matching touch up at the dealership, or I believe you can order it from www.fordparts.com.
If you don't feel comfortable trying to take care of the scratch, a professional detailer may only charge you $100.00 to take care of it for you.

 

[tmarat]

Thanks guys for advice.
I went to two shops and both say a repaint is needed. I had made some macro shots of the scratches, they show a lot more then I could see with bare eyes. In the pics the scratch doesn't look white, but in person it does.
First shop offers to paint the limited scratched portion, along the length of both front and rear doors, and kinda blend in with what is around it. The other shop says to paint two doors wholly. I wouldn't want to paint anything, as I had seen non-factory paint crack or loose color over time. What do you think guys, a repaint is needed or not?
Note that the scratch is about 1.5mm wide (about 0.06inch). Sorry for bombarding with pictures.

 

[Flag Gibby]

These last pictures show that it is all the way through the paint and to the primer so personally I would just spray and blend into the existing paint job. If you paint the whole door the new painted doors will stand out from the rest of the vehicle and it will be obvious, but painting just the scratched area with blending/feathering you will have a hard time noticing it.

 

[tmarat]

what does blending/feathering mean?

also, in the link I gave above the guy added the paint to the scratched area, then polished which seems to have solved the problem. but the paint that he added has no clearcoat on top of it. does it mean that paint will age quicker than the surrounding area?

 

[Flag Gibby]

The paint he used is a single stage paint meaning it has the clear already in it. In other words he used what would normally come in a touch up bottle. I was not sure the extent that the paint shop was going to go in terms of fixing the scratch which could have entailed light sanding over the scratched area and slightly outside of it, then a primer, then the base coat, and finally the clear. If they had gone that route they would have had to blend/feather the new paint into the old so that it would not stand out because of the slight color differences.
It sounds like the repair that was made will be fine and you will not have any problems with it.