JonDeutsch

Someone opened their door into my door, and scratched my paint nicely It's not a single scratch -- it's about 5 vertical inches of 1cm horizontal scratches, as if the door that hit my door wasn't evenly edged.

Anyway, it definitely broke through the coating and paint. You can feel different texture with your fingernail as you glide it over the various scratches.



I'm going to bring it to the dealer to get it fixed. But before I do that, I want to get the expert opinions from the minions of this board. What I'm really afraid of is my door never looking "factory" painted again. I want to do the right thing for my car, and if need be, charge it to my insurance company.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jon

drewba

Check out some of the scratch repair threads on Autopia . There are some posters on there who have had some really good success in repairing scratches.

Motohip

Probably some fat ass kicked their door open into yours, then when they got out the car undulated a few times to really make that scratch permanent.

PS. No offense to anyone. I just hate people that have total disragard for other peoples property and this includes people of all sizes.

YOTH

I just applied touch-up paint on 2 rock chips. I bought the Langka Blob Eliminator kit. Will let you know how I fare...on its web site a little girl was able to do it so no reason why I can't do the same.

dontcare4urshyt

someone threw there door into my old car. cost $900 to fix it. but it was a dent and scratches. 3-stage red paint on a Mustang.

Im glad i was sitting in the car when he did it. Im sure he would have left if i wasnt

JonDeutsch

Thanks guys. I'm going to bring it to the dealer in 2 weeks, and hopefully they have good detailers on contract or on staff. Do you think dealers have a better chance of attracting better quality technicians and detailers?

Jon

CDR

I second the recommendation to visit www.autopia.org; also visit its related tutorial site www.bettercarcare.com .

If the door scrape doesn't expose bare metal, or very little, I'd try applying a mild to medium polish to the area by hand, something like Meguiar's ScratchX. I've repaired scrapes on cars of friends and family, and often most or all of the damage is paint left from the other car (or post!) plus surface texture damage. Cleans up and looks good again once the surface is polished.

cconrad

Me too! I'm so angry I could spit! Take a look at this. (Click to enlarge.)



Somehow I doubt that any of the DIY paint scratch fixes I've read about will work on this. Or it would take days anyway. I'm thinking body shop. What do you all think?

Combined with the paint swirling issue I was having (see this post), it's enough to make you cry. I haven't even made the first payment yet!

cconrad

Yeah, I'm going to ask my dealer to look at mine too, but I don't see what they can do. And no, I doubt dealers have great detailers. At least my dealership has not impressed me with their attention to detail, shall we say.

CDR

Conrad, both the scrape and swirls look ugly. But - I've salvaged defects like those to where the damage wasn't visible at all. Depends on the nature of the damage.

Buffer swirls - you need to find a competent professional detailer to get those out; they were put in with a rotary buffer (mishandled). No problem to get back to a mirror-smooth finish again, just some time and $. My dealer put in some fine scratches, which I took out with a random orbital polisher since they were minor. Dark finishes are tough!

The scrape: I can't tell from the photo whether all the dots and lines go down to the bare metal or not. It could be light colored paint on the surface or bare metal. If lots go to the bare metal, then the entire door may need to be repainted to look perfect again. If not, it's straightforward to repair.

Since I can't inspect from the photo, I assume there's plenty of paint residue in the damage, as would happen when some else's car door hits your car. Here's what I would do (and have done several times for friends and family):

1. [*]
2. [*]
3. [*]
4. [*]
5. [*]
6. [*]

Lots of steps, but they're fast; would take me 10-15 minutes now.

cconrad

That photo is after I washed it. I didn't do as thorough a job as you suggest, but I think the light color you're seeing in the picture is damage to my paint, not remaining paint from the offending car.

Are you suggesting that if I followed the steps you suggest here, that I won't be able to see it any more, even if it went through the black color coat (which I think it did)?

cconrad

Sorry, I just re-read your post and my quick answer. I realize that you said "If lots go to the bare metal, then the entire door may need to be repainted to look perfect again."

But what about the in-between situation where it has gone through the color coat but not through the primer? I thought what I was seeing on my door was my door's light-colored primer. But maybe you're right. Maybe it is just left-over paint from the other car.

So, if I get past step 3 in your list above, and I still see light color, then I need it painted, right?

Since I need a professional detailer for the swirls, I guess I could have them look at this too.

CDR

Yes, have the detailer look at the scrape, and they'll do what's possible. My original point was that my experience is that leftover paint is often a major part of the blemish, and this aspect is easy to fix. The easiest thing for you to check is a little paint thinner lightly rubbed onto the scratches - if it's paint it will improve quickly. Be sure and wash the thinner off with car wash, however.

From your original post, it looks like the dealer did the swirls during prep, right? If so , have them fix it -- preferably by agreeing to have someone other than the perpetrator fix the problem. In similar situations mentioned on this forum, I recall I've read of dealers agreeing to pay for a third-party detailer that you select.

Good luck! Your finish can look great again, even it if takes time and hassle.

cconrad

Thanks. I've been so distraught about this today that I'm afraid I've really pissed off my wife with my moping...

Any thoughts on a detailer? I've been reasonbly happy with my local Ziebart outlet in the past, but then I didn't have a black car (it was dark green though), so I don't know if they know how to use their buffer or not!

I also considered going to my local CarStar collision repair folks, as they did good work on my last car too. I figured they could do the scrape and the swirls all in one. Or I could call the local Merc and Lexus dealers and ask who they use? But they probably use in-house people. Sigh. You can see what I've been doing to my wife all day.

As for the DIY stuff, I don't have any paint thinner around, or I'd love to see how much of the mark is paint transfer. Nor do I have scratch removers, polishers, etc. (I try not to buy stuff I figure I'll only use once.) Heck, I don't even have any proper car wash, microfiber clothes, or anything yet. But I know I need those, so I'll go shopping.

Anyway, thanks for listening to me rant and for your words of encouragement. If you have any thoughts on the above, let me know.

CDR

I don't have specific ideas for Calgary, I'm in California. I'd try to find out who has a great reputation in your area, more likely individuals with their own detailed businesses. I often use my favorite car repair/maintenance place for referrals to other services. They referred me to a trusted body shop when my TSX was rear ended while stopped at a light - unfortunately, you're not the only person who has stupid things done to their TSX that are out of their control. (FYI, the new painted sections are completely indistinguishable from the original paint).

Autopia may have some professional detailers in the Calgary area, definitely look there. Autopia has some truly outstanding professional and amateur detailers on board, they're nuts about this stuff :-) A search through your favorite engine (Google, Yahoo, etc) will give you some Calgary ideas as well, I found several on a quick look.

cconrad

Update: See here.

Anyway, supposedly this guy is going to see what he can do about the door scrape too, but obviously that's not really their problem. If it went all the way through the color layer I might just have to see a body shop. We'll see in a couple of hours.

Bill Hook

Some detailers offer airbrushing to fix small scratches. I've had it done and would say that it is pretty good, but not quite up to factory finish. Perhaps a really good airbrush painter could get to 99% of OEM.

artmcd88

If your taking it to the dealer they will make it look brand spanking new. It will definately look "factory" painted.

cconrad

Hmm, not my dealer. They were unable to do anything with my door scrape, other than refer me to a detailer.

In fact, the detailer to which they sent the car to fix the paint swirls they caused (see here) said that he thinks he can either minimize or get rid of the scrape by polishing, but he didn't have time to work on it when he was fixing the swirls. I'll have to come back on my own time and my own dime, of course.

If it turns out that the scrape did go all the way through the color layer (though the detailer didn't think so), then I'll have to investigate some kind of painting. Since the car is brand new, I'd be tempted to go with a body shop, just to ensure a perfect as-new look.

cconrad

That's good to know, thanks. The one detailer I spoke with (see above) didn't say anything about paint, but that's because he doesn't think the scratch went right through the paint. (I'm not sure I agree, but we'll see.)

But anyway if he says he can't make it look like new, I'll know to call around.