Repairing a scratch

Guerrilla · 2 Jun 2015 at 10:43

Hoping someone could give me some advice...

My car has this scratch on it and I'd like to put it right or get it put right, can anyone shed any light as to whether this looks like something which I could do myself (I don't have a huge amount of faith in my skills to be honest) or is it a better idea to take it to a body shop to be done? If the latter any idea of what kind of price it'd be and any suggestions for places in the North East would be appreciated!

Diddums · 2 Jun 2015 at 11:03

That looks pretty bad tbh. I'd be very surprised if you could repair that to a finish where it's not noticeable.

How did it happen?

snapdragon69 · 2 Jun 2015 at 11:07

We don't know what you are capable of, but it looks dented as well as the reflection seems to bend in sympathy.

Guerrilla · 2 Jun 2015 at 11:21

Diddums said:
That looks pretty bad tbh. I'd be very surprised if you could repair that to a finish where it's not noticeable.

How did it happen?

Not sure how it happened as it was like that when I got the car (haven't had it long).

It looks worse in the pictures but still something that definitely needs sorting out.

Seems like a body shop might be the best bet then!

Also just noticed that the pictures appear to be upside down, not quite sure how I managed that

ci_newman · 2 Jun 2015 at 11:25

I too would be surprised if you could polish that out

Hyburnate · 2 Jun 2015 at 11:33

Does it catch your nail? If so it's a respray job. If not try G3 Pro scratch remover.

Guerrilla · 2 Jun 2015 at 12:08

Hyburnate said:
Does it catch your nail? If so it's a respray job. If not try G3 Pro scratch remover.

Just been out and had a paw at it, it does catch on my nail so looks like it'll be a respray.

I'll have to have a hunt around for somewhere local, any idea what kind of cost I could be looking at?

slick rick · 2 Jun 2015 at 12:26

You could fill the scratch with touch up paint so it proud of the surrounding paint, then wet sand to level and polish the area. It wont be to the standard of a bodyshop repair but a vast improvement.

iaind · 2 Jun 2015 at 12:29

Guerrilla said:
Just been out and had a paw at it, it does catch on my nail so looks like it'll be a respray.

I'll have to have a hunt around for somewhere local, any idea what kind of cost I could be looking at?

Depends where you go. I just had 2 sills and a spoiler resprayed for £220 from a recommended reputable local place. I asked them about a small bit of lacquer peeling by the rear wheel and he said to do it properly he'd have to respray the whole rear panel up to the top of the door which would add £100 to the job.

Guerrilla · 2 Jun 2015 at 12:32

Alright cheers guys... I'll have a hunt around to find somewhere

acemastr · 2 Jun 2015 at 13:30

uchuff · 2 Jun 2015 at 13:58

As above, a spray will be best. If you just want a decent fill though, Dr Colour Chip is easy:

http://www.drcolourchip.co.uk/

Used recently on a pearlescent black car, admittedly much smaller scratches and a few stonechips, but happy with the results.

Nasher · 2 Jun 2015 at 14:03

It's gone right through the paint and looks dented as well. That is a job for a bodyshop if you want it done properly.

ADT · 2 Jun 2015 at 14:04

If it catches your nail then it's defiantly a Re spray. What car is it? If that's the front quarter panel you may be able to source a replacement cheaper

Guerrilla · 2 Jun 2015 at 14:09

Yea I'm thinking a respray will be the way to go, not too mention I wouldn't want to try myself and mess it up even worse. It's getting looked at tonight so hopefully it won't be too bad a price!

The car is a Fabia Mk1, it's actually the rear above the petrol cap, the pictures are upside down for some reason which makes it harder to tell.

Hyburnate · 3 Jun 2015 at 10:21

Not sure about colour difference but have you tried to find another panel from another car? Fabia Mk1s are pretty common there's got to be something.

Guerrilla · 3 Jun 2015 at 11:12

Hyburnate said:
Not sure about colour difference but have you tried to find another panel from another car? Fabia Mk1s are pretty common there's got to be something.

I haven't looked down that route, not sure if that would work out a better (cheaper!) option :confused:

I'm waiting for some quotes to come in to see what it's likely to be, had a chap pop round last night who deals with more superficial stuff and said it wasn't suitable for the system he uses as it'll likely the full panel will need doing and it goes above both doors to the windscreen.
He said it looked to him that it'd possibly been repaired/resprayed previously and that the filler had shrank or something causing it to crack as it doesn't look like something has scratched it... There are also a few small slightly raised sort of crinkles above that could be more of the same

Rotty · 3 Jun 2015 at 12:53

acemastr said:

all that work for what still looks dreadful after :eek:

glenimp617 · 3 Jun 2015 at 14:08

I was thinking the same

Just get a can of spray paint from halfords (colour matched obviously), spray a small artists paint brush and carefully paint over the scratch. Then when dry, wet sand and polish