I am a totally newbie on here. I am a proud owner of a 2004 TL & still attending high school. Anyways, I was really interested in finding an effective method for removing an hideous key scratch. A brief on how i got it, our homecoming game was hosted at another high school. When coming back to my TL, I discover a long line on my driver side to my rear. It was fresh & clearly my car was targeted..



I really don't want to repaint my car, seeing that it may exceed my budget.

please help me restore it to its former beauty.



thanks.

 

Something as long as that can't be covered up well without a repaint. Chances are if you run your fingernail perpendicular to the scratch and it catches, you will need a repaint. A touch-up pen or touch-up paint carefully applied might hide it for now, but there is no cheap way out of this.

Sorry that it happened. There will always be pricks out there. You can only hope that in the future, the idiot gets his new car totaled by another prick who keyed cars back in the day.

 

if you just can't afford it & your folks won't/ can't help out w/ repaint, I'd say touch up paint FTW. good luck, man. such is high school

 

That looks like a very deep scratch.... down to the metal. As Costco said, no way to get it properly fixed without a repaint.

If you're just looking for a temporary fix, some touch-up paint (e.g. touch-up pen) and a Langka kit will do the trick.

Another option would be to check with your insurance.

A long shot would be to find who did it and have them pay for the repairs. Maybe there were security cameras?

 

Dude. That blows. I'm really sorry to hear about that but yeah unfortunately it looks like you'll need to get that repainted. If you find who did it give me a call and I'll make 'em wish they were never born.

It still amazes me that some people have no respect for others' property.

 

Ouch, definitely deep, looks like you'll need a repaint.

 

fucking dumbass kids i agree, looks like a touch up wont do much, sorry...

 

sorry dude that blows.
hope you have insurance, the body shop will have to atleast repaint the 2 driver side doors, if it went to the rear and front fender then them too.
some people just don't give a shit about other people's property

 

you can try www.quixx-usa.com , if that doesn't help, i'm afraid you're going to have to paint the panels to fix it like new.

 

there is a ghetto way to do it, it won't look as good as a paint job, but it works. FIrst clean the area with alcohol, apply some primer into the area where the car was keyed. Let it dry. Then fill it up with touchup paint until the touchup paint is a little overlevel with the factory paint. Take some sandpaper (2000) grit and wedsand the area, go only in one direction. After you are done, wipe of any sanding dust and clear the wetsanding scratches with a polish, such as Four Star Medium Compound and Four star light compound. If you want a much detailed guide with pictures, heres the link:
https://acurazine.com/forums/wash-wax-23/little-how-chip-repair-337074/

 

You can try that ^^^^ but on a scratch that deep and long there is almost no way it'll be 100%. Maybe 80%. The only way is a re-spray, and they will have to sand the entire panel down.

 

Thanks for the help. I still have to face the reality that if i do re-paint.. they can always do it again... && sadly there is no security cameras facing the parking lot. There was 5 safety patrol cars circling the parking lot, sadly they are a bunch of douches & didn't take notice of a crime...

okay.. i will try the ghetto way in the meantime... until i get cameras facing the parking lot at my high school... if there is a will there will be a way.

you guys are awesome!

 

I feel your pain. Two days after I bought my Accord someone keyed it. I ended up having a mobile scratch/dent repair place fix it. They did a decent job but in certain lighting conditions I can see the difference in the new paint and the original paint. My Accord is red though so your's might be easier to match. They did need to respray the entire door but it was about half the price of a traditional body shop. The place that did my repair is called Collision on Wheels in case you were interested.

 

That sucks dude. Freaking out there.

It look pretty deap. I think you will have to have it re-painted. In a way, this could be a blessing though. Acura paint jobs ain't the best. I got rear-ended with my CL and had it re-painted bumper to bumper and the paint job cost me next to nothing since I went through insurance.

Call your insurance company and tell them your car was keyed. It happens.

Keep us posted.

 

^ Good point Ravi. I think the problem with mine now is the door is 100x better paint-wise than the rest of the car

 

I didn't mind the paint that much when I got the car, but when I had it all re-painted, I fell in love with that CL all over again. And since the insurance covered all the repairs, I paid very little more to have the rest of the car repainted.

 

Do you remember anyone that you started shit with or started shit with you? Do you think the guy who did it knew you and knew your car or was it just random? That shit never happens to me at my highschool. Im surprise someone would just randomly key a car, thats ridiculous. Are you hated at school? (No offense) Thats deep too... goodluck man

 

I bet you it was random. I have no enemies and mine happened at my buddies apartment complex parking lot. What it comes down to is some loser with nothing better to do than be jealous of someone's pride and joy and making life miserable until it's fixed.

 

Okay lol.. just to clarify i am a girl.

Seeing that painting is going to be case, would my car look weird if i painted it the acura white. it will have the dark interior still. I know my friend has an Acura TL type-s 2007 with a dark interior..


i really need some thoughts on staying charcoal gray or pearl white.

 

1) just to clarify...you're going to get hit on. a lot. more than you've ever been hit on before.

2) IMO, it wouldn't look weird if you painted the whole car white, even with a dark interior. The contrast, actually would look nice. However, painting the whole car over again will be $$$ compared to just repainting what's been scratched. However, you definitely won't have matching problems like you *might* if you just have those parts repainted.

3) My ...just repaint what you have to & save your $. Then post pics.

 

Okay most definitely i will be more active on this site once i have it fix... maybe after i get that dreaded seasonal job at some dinky mall.

I have other options now.
1) Near the end of 2nd semester paint..most likely gray again
2) a BIG MAYBE.. get another ASPEC body kit on my car..

if you guys took notice it doesnt entirely match. I only have the side skirts & the back.. the front is missing.

front

Side PRIOR to vicious crime of a douche bag.

back


those might get a new makeover too..

&&& i highly doubt guys would hit on me.. i am a noob with cars..

 

Just to clarify, I believe what revitup mean was to post pics of yourself.

 

lol, yeah, that's what I meant - you'll get it a lot here regardless of how much you know about cars, etc. for the most part, it's all in good fun.

Your car, other than the scratch, of course, is really clean - looks great . Maybe you can do some custom pinstriping over the scratch instead of a complete repaint

 

If you have comprehensive insurance it will cover that and your insurance shouldn't go up. My TSX was keyed about 2 months after I got it. Paid the $250 deductable for comp insurance and had it repainted.

 

OHHHH,

i am so naive. post pictures of myself. VERY funny. There is the obvious age gap between most of the guys here. Mid-twenties and early thirties.

CUSTOM PIN STRIPING? total joke right? Isn't that related with lowriders? I live in Southern- California, you only see that stuff on freshly painted lowriders or motorcycles. TL & Custom Pin striping.. hahha.. someone told me to do that when i showed it to them.. sucks for vandals.. they cant key a straight line.

Slobeatz- I am not sure what insurance my parents purchased for me but according to my dad it would raise my premium because i've been driving since 16... a year & a half. I am asking my cousin that is in charge of insurance claims.. i'll get you back with what i get from that.

possible price for a new paint job from my dad's friend is $600, he does detail work for a lot of high cars. I've seen a few Mercedes and other high end cars painted there.. and it look better than factory painted.

 

OK....wait til you're 18 and then post a pic of yourself. By then you won't be as innocent.

As for changing the color, I think it's a bad idea. There is a lot involved in PROPERLY repainting a car a different color. Remember that the painted parts of the car include the engine bay, door jams, inside the trunk. All of these would either have to be repainted as well or it will look fugly. And it will also be almost impossible to sell the car in the future.

Also, it will cost an arm and a leg.

I would just repaint it the color it is and keep it or if you really want a white one, trade it in for a white TL.

 

lol...yeah, you'll find out that there are a lot of guys on here that are in perfectly good relationships (I'm very happily married, for example) that will give you the requisite "post pics!" b/c it's pretty much a reflex. There are plenty of girls on AZ & the majority don't post pics - including my wife - don't do it unless you're comfortable doing so.

Yeah, I was mostly joking about the pin striping - I wasn't talking about the crazy designs that the low-rider guys use, but it's definitely not a permanent solution. If you can get your folks to pay for repainting, go for it

 

Mrs. Rev is a member.


Seems like I suffer from the same reflex problem rev has.

 

It's funny how a serious thread always turns into us being whenever a new girl arrives!!!


Girl, sorry to hear about your ride. Nothing pisses me off more than when some spineless mother f-er keys someone's pride and joy. Same thing happened to me when I had my '92 integra. I just put my bad ass Fittipaldi rims on it and some sorry piece of shite keyed it at a club!! Being a poor college student, I could get it painted the way it should have been. That was a bad summer

 

Insurance??????

 

yeah, i think my car's name would be come irrelevant anyways. Night Rider sounds so much cooler than Day Rider. Night Rider shall be charcoal gray but a nicer shade. I was planning to keep this car forever. Its my second car after a 1997 Benz. I am going to pass it down to my grandchildren 50 years from now. It's going to become a classic. So little My-Linh, Skylar, Dominic, & Natasha get a chance to have my TL as a first car... muwahah..

totally kidding.


hey i should talk to ur wife (mr.revitupwriteitoff) bout cars.. haha.. they should make the mirrors in the visors bigger. i cant do finish my eye makeup before school in that stock mirror. forget the shoes for the car, lets add a vanity & rotating shoe rack!!!


OKAY.. i will make a new post whenever i get the latest info on what i shall do..

thanks for entertaining & distracting me from homework


[INSURANCE: father does not want to contact insurance... it will raise my premium for some odd reason...]

 

Visit Ramblings too... you'll have a lot of fun there.

Are you Vietnamese, btw? I'm pretty close to your age, I just turned 19 a week ago... You'll have to get used to people asking for pics though, its a site with 90,000+ guys and maybe 30 girls.... 15 of which are really girls. No one wants to e-leg hump some chick pretending to be 21 when she's actually a 60-year old dude.

 

yeah,i am half Vietnamese. i think there are very few people around age around here. Some other guys are like freshies in college but still the age range is still mid 20s-early 40s. I doubt many women would come to this forum anyways. I already have a hard time understanding everything about cars, I just like being on here to get tips for my TL. Hopefully if i get a deal on some stuff, I can get a new bodykit and paint job before i start college next fall.

btw, you live in san jose? That's so cool, my friend lives there. Lee Sandwiches everywhere. I really want to have a road trip there and go to Frisco.

 

Ms little twinky, i don't think you should paint your car a different color. The color of your car is very nice and desirable. Even if you plan to keep it for a long time. I used to have that same color. I always thought that pearl white is a lot better, but that is until I actually own one, then it's pretty much the same. BTW, I like Lee Sandwiches.

 

Ah what jerks that completely sucks. If it makes you feel any better your car looked really good before it keyed its obvsiously in very good shape.

 

If you need a co-pilot, let me know.


(I kid, I kid)

 

You need 250 posts before you're allowed to

 

HAHA, no co-pilots. I like long drives. =] iPod on shuffle, that would make the trip cool. What's up with the leg humping?

I can make 250 posts in a day.. but i do have other things to do. Besides the thing i get out of it is a leg hump..

by the way RavIN,
is that your son in ur avatar?

 

ouchh, sorry dude!

 

But evidently only 1 to be the leghumpee!