Minor scratches??
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10th Gear
Joined: Jan 2007
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Minor scratches??
1st semi-traumatic incident with my 4 month old TSX: I scraped the side of a pole in a parking garage, and now the rear side door has minor scratches. It looks like some of my black paint ended up on the pole, and some of the pole's white paint ended up on my door..
What's the best way to fix this so it looks brand new again? Should I take it to a body shop? the dealership? fix myself? I'm not really a "car guy", so I'm a little nervous to try fixing the problem myself.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
What's the best way to fix this so it looks brand new again? Should I take it to a body shop? the dealership? fix myself? I'm not really a "car guy", so I'm a little nervous to try fixing the problem myself.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 20,558
Likes: 5
From: Long Beach, CA
Do you have a picture of the damage?
I would suggest you wash and claybar the area so you have a good look at what the actual damage is. If the scratches are through the paint then you should have a bodyshop look at it. If its only into the paint you could try to touch it up yourself. If only in the clearcoat then you can try polishing it out.
You can also search through our Off Topic / Wash & Wax section. I'm sure there are some threads about fixing minor scratches.
I would suggest you wash and claybar the area so you have a good look at what the actual damage is. If the scratches are through the paint then you should have a bodyshop look at it. If its only into the paint you could try to touch it up yourself. If only in the clearcoat then you can try polishing it out.
You can also search through our Off Topic / Wash & Wax section. I'm sure there are some threads about fixing minor scratches.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 20,558
Likes: 5
From: Long Beach, CA
Wash & Wax is the section for you then. A claybar is just that, a bar of clay. Its used after a wash to remove residue or other materials that may be imbeded in the paint prior to polishing and sealing the paint. It should remove any remanants of dirt, wood, or paint from the pole so you could see exactly how deep/bad the scratches are.
I believe the black paint on the TSX is a two coat process (paint and clearcoat). If the scratches are through the paint and into the plastic then they will need to be filled with something prior to attempting to paint over them. If only into, but not through, the paint, then you can use touchup paint to fill the bottom of the scratch and then touch up clearcoat to seal it. If they are only into the clearcoat then they can be polished out with polish (or something like Scratch X) and a power polisher (like Porter Cable). I'm not an expert on this so please do more research in the Wash & Wax section. Try searching for threads with the words "scratch" "scratches" "polish" "touch up" in thread titles.
Good Luck
I believe the black paint on the TSX is a two coat process (paint and clearcoat). If the scratches are through the paint and into the plastic then they will need to be filled with something prior to attempting to paint over them. If only into, but not through, the paint, then you can use touchup paint to fill the bottom of the scratch and then touch up clearcoat to seal it. If they are only into the clearcoat then they can be polished out with polish (or something like Scratch X) and a power polisher (like Porter Cable). I'm not an expert on this so please do more research in the Wash & Wax section. Try searching for threads with the words "scratch" "scratches" "polish" "touch up" in thread titles.
Good Luck
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