So I was on my way to work this morning and as I went over the crest of a hill, there was a downed tree in the road. My options were either swerve into oncoming traffic where there were cars coming at me or just hit the branches of the tree.

I choose hitting the branches and now I have scratches down the entire passenger side of my car.

I haven't been able to look at it in more detail but it doesn't appear to have been dented anywhere.

So far what I have noticed is the headlight lens has a good scratch in it, the wheel well panel up by the hood has deep scratches for length of the panel.

And both doors have a scratches/marks the length of the doors. Again, don't see any dents but needless to say, I'm not a happy camper this morning.

There was a truck right behind me who also hit it, worse than I did.

Called the police department and said they had multiple people call in and report that they hit it also. Even the dispatcher said "it was right on the other side of the hill wasn't it". It was. No way I could have stopped.

Now I get to fight it out with the insurance company or try to fix it myself. I'm hoping that I can buff the minor scratches out with some rubbing compound but the deep scratches are definitely going to have to be fixed.

F%#& Halloween......

 

Sorry about your luck, sometimes life suckerpunches you. How big was the tree, got an estimate on diameter? Was it down due to a storm or something?

 

you need to post some pictures first before we can advise you what to do

 

I'm going to take some pictures and post them in a couple hours on my break.

Yeah we had a windy night in Wisconsin.

 

Can anyone recommend a really good rubbing compound for getting out scuffs? Again, I'll post pictures but I think I just have some turtle wax "swirl mark" remover rubbing compound. Is there a product that is really good a gets scuffs/scratches out?

Thanks

 

do you have comprehensive coverage insurance? if yes, what's the deductible?

 

I do, I believe it is $500. I do have a body guy that can probably fix what needs fixing for less than the $500. I have to look at it in more details but I think the doors can be buffed out but above the wheel well has pretty deep scratches.

 

Here are the pictures. No dents but some scratches/scuffs. The ones on the wheel well are deep enough to feel with your nail. The ones along the doors are not too deep and hopefully I can buff them out.







So what should I use to try to get these out, any recommendations?

 

you will need a machine. either the PC7424xp or a Griots DA polisher.

some medium polishing compound and an orange pad.



you will not get that out by hand. only a machine has enough RPM to get it out

 

Sorry about the encounter, but it looks like a DA polisher should get that out as Justin mentioned. May sure you clay before you polish. On the bright side you don't have to go through insurance or go to a body shop.

 

if I were just removing the defects, I wouldnt bother claying.

i would wash area, and then just use DA polisher with orange pad and medium cutting compound.

be sure to use a sealant or wax after the polishing tho, as you're taking off itty bitty paint microns and you'll want to protect the area you just polished.

 

I do have a orbital buffer, will that work?

And by "orange pad" and "medium cutting compound" can you guys elaborate? Where can I get these items, is there a specific brand I should use?

 

Something like this? Turtle Wax T415 - Premium Grade Rubbing Compound | O'Reilly Auto Parts

And by "orange pad" do you mean something like this?

 

The one I have is like this. Carrand 94000AS AutoSpa 120V 6-inch Polisher - Walmart.com

It has cloth pads that fit over a foam base. Will that work or do I need to get the orange pads?

Thanks guys for the help.

 

be careful!
orbital buffer's arent made all the same! some are more powerful and others are less powerful, etc.

if you havent had practice with an OB, you could mar the finish to your car!

the PC7424XP is special because it will never burn through your cars paint and meant for novices.

I wouldnt use a turtle wax product. they could have gotten better

but yes, an orange pad is equal to a medium cutting pad.

its always best to go least aggressive first, so that you dont cause more damage to your car.

 

be careful. it might ruin the finish of your car, adding swirls to it.
I wouldnt use that on a car.

 

The one I have is pretty weak, its more or less for waxing. Will that work?

And so the orange pad itself is an abrasive? What medium compound do you recommend justnspace for getting the scratches out?

 

an orbital will not work.
i would go to a pro detailer if you do not have the proper tools or the experience.


a good polisher pads and products will cost more than having a pro see what they can do.
besides then you need to LEARN how to use them/

 

I definitely don't. I have used my orbital buffer with pretty good success (using turtle wax swirl remover) for small scratches on the car. This is obviously more serious.

Maybe I'll just take it to my body guy and see what he thinks.

This sucks. At least it wasn't dented, my god I would have had a heart attack.

 

You'll also be left with a lot less clear coat on your door. It's a necessary evil to cut your clear coat down in order to remove the damage, but it's something to keep in mind when polishing your car in the future. The clear cot protects your paint.

 

Wow you got pretty lucky there!


We have plenty of clear coat on our cars. Just one buff won't hurt or damage the clear coat in any way. Do it a few hundred times and you'll probably start having problems. Someone raised the question to Meguiars during our car buffing seminar and they said it's completely safe if you know what you're doing. Rotaries on the other hand, you need plenty of experience or you'll end up burning the paint.

 

Should I at least try using a rubbing compound like the turtle wax stuff with my buffer? Again, I have used it on other scratches, like the ones by the door handles from the keys hitting it and it worked very good.

It's pretty gentle so I'm not to worried about it leaving swirl marks or anything as I've used it before.

I'm 99% sure the scratches above the wheel well will have to be repainted as they are pretty deep. I'm hoping I can fix the doors myself.

=(

 

Think I may try that Quixx scratch remover as many people have had pretty good luck with it. Saw some scratches that were worse than mine be removed by it. I guess it doesn't hurt to try.

 

Most quick scratch removals are just paint fillers.
this means that the product will fill in the scratch.

what happens the next time you wash the car?
the fillers will come out.

 

like mentioned the only way you should remove them is with a PC7424xp or a Griots machine.

any other attempts will just mess up the car even more.

 

He's not just buffing- he's going to have to cut the clear coat down to get rid of those marks. Doesn't matter if you do it once or you do it 500 times, it all depends how abrasive of products are being used and how much pressure is being applied. You can easily burn right through doing it once if you don't know what you're doing. That damage does look like it can be corrected, but there's no denying he won't have as much clear coat on that area afterwards. Does that mean his door will fall apart and rust to bits? Nope. But it does have less protection.

OP, get a professional do it. I assure you, it is well worth the cost and well worth having somebody who does this for a living take care of it. Instead of wasting money on products and getting a half decent result, I'd pay the few hundred bucks and have everything reversed by a skilled professional.

 

^the PC7424XP will never burn through clear or paint.

 

Yeah, you are probably right. I'm pretty sure the doors are just "scuffed". They are definitely not deeply scratched. Above the wheel well, thats a different story.

I'll probably just bite the bullet and take it in. The body guy I know fixed my front bumper after my wife hit a giant coon with it. After he was done, you couldn't even tell it was cracked or the damage to the paint. And he only charged like $60.

Better let the professionals take care of this one.

 

That's because it's an Random Orbit. The machine itself may not cause damage, but using the wrong pad, compound, etc, definitely can.

But to buy a polisher and all necessary accessories, etc, and then learning on your own will likely cost the same as having someone else correct it and will probably not net the same results as a pro would.

Don't get me wrong- I'm all about DIY type stuff, but this looks like a big step for a first timer.

 

it cost more than a pro up front, initially.

also, maintenance. im always buying new product and pads to try on my cars

 

I must admit, I do get a certain satisfaction when working on my paint. So smooth. So shiny. So niiiiiiice.

But yeah, for the long haul, you're right that it's cheaper to do it yourself. I find it difficult to find the time these days though

 

I love detailing!
to me; its therapeutic.

I'm about to do the Kia soon to get it ready for the light texas winters.

full wash, clay, paint correction,and sealed/wax.

 

Niiiiice.

 

Well between using turtle wax medium rubbing compound and quixx scratch remover, I managed to get all of the scratches out of the doors. Unless you are about a foot away and look very closely, they are essentially gone. The 18" long scratch above the wheel well is still there but much better now. It actually turned out a lot better than I thought it would.

 

 

excellent job

 

Thanks.

I was expecting to see the entire side of the car smashed to shit.

I was pretty happy with the results. Cost me about $30 bucks and a few hours of time but it is what it is.

I think the initial pictures made it look worse than it did.

Thanks for the help guys....again!

 

Nicely done!

 

Did you wipe with 50/50 (water/IPA) to make sure you didn't just cover the scratches instead of fixing them?

 

nicely done