Fixing a New Car Scratch with Touch-Up Paint
Jason Lancaster
You're opening the car door. You glance down at the fender and you see it -- A SCRATCH! You mutter under your breath "THIS is why I can't have anything nice" as your new car lays damaged before you. But fear not! It can be fixed.
Often times, your dealer will give you a bottle of touch-up paint with your new car, but this is NOT the time to use it. Touch-up paint is a bad idea 90% of the time.
Unless the scratch is HUGE, touch-up paint in the bottle is a bad idea. It's hard to apply (unless you've got experience) and it's usually overkill. The good news is that there are some methods that will remove or greatly reduce the appearance of the scratch on your new car, and they're surprisingly inexpensive.
Most scratches can be fixed with a process called "wet-sanding". Wet sanding is done by a professional, and it involves moving paint and clear coat molecules around to reduce the appearance of a scratch. It works on light scratches, but deep scratches are another matter.
How do you know if you have a deep scratch? Can you feel it with your fingernail? Is bare metal showing? Is the scratch longer than 10"? If you can answer any of these questions with a yes, go to the local body shop. Make sure to get a written guarantee and a few quotes -- repairing a deep or big scratch can cost anywhere from $50 to $1000 dollars, so check around.
If the scratch is light, your local body shop should be able to fix it up for less than $40. Make sure the shop you're going to us has a written guarantee and that you understand it. Usually the person repairing your car will tell you what it's going to look like when they're done.
Finally, make sure you realize that either one of the above methods will greatly diminish the appearance of the scratch, but the scratch can't truly be "fixed". It's never going to look the way it did before. Hopefully though it will be too hard for anyone else to see it and no one will know about it but you.
Author Jason Lancaster, a car business veteran, created AccurateAutoAdvice.com. You'll find accurate advice on http://accurateautoadvice.com/warranty/warranty-basics/) new car warranty tips and http://accurateautoadvice.com/maintenance-repair/using-auto-touch-up-paint/) touch up paint.
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