What is the best way to get scratches off a car?

  • Thread starter Philly
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Philly

Philly

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As many of you know (and as my Avatar/title indicated for awhile), there is a new GTI at our house. The other day, while cleaning it, I noticed a lot of white marks on the hood of the car. They appear to be scratches in the clearcoat. Is there any well-working method to get these out?
 
The GTI's black right?

I have this stuff from Turtle Wax and it's black, I use it to buff all my scratches and it works pretty good. The wax job typically lasts me all summer long and the scratches don't return until the winter months. If you go to an autoparts store you'll see what I'm talking about.
 
Yeah, I forgot to say it was black.

Using the turtlewax stuff, it winter when the scratches come back, does a quick re-application solve the problem? I was mostly looking for a product, and it sounds like this one works ok.
 
If the scratches are not deep then a "cut & polish" will remove them completely, but keep in mind this does 'cut' some paint or clearcoat away so is not a magical answer to scratches.

Reason I say that is a friend of mine though it is the magical answer to all paint defects, eventually he cut back to undercoat on a couple corners. This is why professionals check paint depth, as your car is late model the paint would be factory depth so it will be fine. If you have concerns get a professional.
 
How does that method work? Do I take a knife to the paint? A sander? Will regular wax cover the "polish" part of the job? Can I do it by myself?

I think I might just try to wax it and then take it somewhere if I don't get any more suggestions for a do-it-yourself job.
 
philly cheese
How does that method work? Do I take a knife to the paint? A sander? Will regular wax cover the "polish" part of the job? Can I do it by myself?

I think I might just try to wax it and then take it somewhere if I don't get any more suggestions for a do-it-yourself job.
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The cutting part is a paste or liquid compound that is abrasive (similar to a metal polish), you buff it with a buffer or you can do it by hand (more effort and takes longer), this removes paint until the scratch is gone. Then you use a polish to bring it back to a smooth shine.

Cut and Polish works very well but does remove paint. Other methods are very fine grit wet sanding and polishing but most prefer a cutting compound. If the scratches are very light (like keys or studs from jeans marking the paint) very little cutting will be required, but if they are deep then some paint work will need to be done. Most likely in your case a mild cut would be required and a detailer could do that easily for you, proffessional detailer is your best bet.


Here an example of the process
http://www.apexcone.com/JimPowellHomepage/TechProcedures/PowerBuffing/PowerBuffing.html

You can also get a special clear compound if your paint has a clear coat.
 
My father, will put touch-up paint on it, then will buff it hard into the paintwork with something (must be the polish VIPERGTSR01 is talking about, or is just normal polish...), then finishes with a normal polish to make it smooth. It's quite amazing that it works.
 
G.T
My father, will put touch-up paint on it, then will buff it hard into the paintwork with something (must be the polish VIPERGTSR01 is talking about, or is just normal polish...), then finishes with a normal polish to make it smooth. It's quite amazing that it works.
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Thats good for deeper scratches on non metallic paint.
 
G.T
Ah, that would make sense... but it does have metallic paint...
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Then he did a good job at blending, often metallic and other colours with fancy additives/effects are hard to match and sometimes require larger sections to be wet sanded and repainted to remove all traces. Then again clear coats can be filled quite easy if the scratch didn't penetrate the paint.
 
Easy. find a sharpie that's thhe same or a similar color to the car and go over the scratches with the sharpie. then get some Loctite super-glue put some on the scratches, and buff it out. yeah it'll screw up your rag, but will leave the car lookin real nice. my dad did that on his Porsche Carrera and looked better than when he put touch-up paint on it. trust me, this will work.
 
Are you talking about swirl marks, or is the paint actually cracked? My black car showed cracks on one of the headlight covers about a year after I bought it, Ford wasn't interested in painting it under warranty. I've been told that the cover was repainted with wax on it.

Everybody's been telling you how to fix swirl marks. If it's actually cracked, all the can be done is repaint.
 
G.T
My father, will put touch-up paint on it, then will buff it hard into the paintwork with something (must be the polish VIPERGTSR01 is talking about, or is just normal polish...), then finishes with a normal polish to make it smooth. It's quite amazing that it works.
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Touch up paint is best for stonechips. With scrathces its best to try and buff em out.
 
So, I went out and bought the stuff Joey D recommended. When putting it on, some of the chips were too big to be filled in with the stuff. The closer I looked, the more and more little tiny specs I could see. I gave up, but the stuff did work reasonable well where I used it. After waxing the car three (or was if four) times, all of the marks are just as visible as before. They are also on the fender and mirror, but concentrated on the driver's side.
 

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