Thoughts on scratch removal

[Kevin M]

I have a few light scratches on my car and wonder what compound people are using for removal. I don't want to use anything too aggressive thats going to really cut the clear coat.

Nothing like your son driving a matchbox car down the side of a freshly cleaned M3.

Thoughts?

[Vectors2final]

Most, if not all of that will come out easy.

[Aaaaaaaaa]

Go with the least aggressive method first to conserve clear coat. A good OTC product to start with is Meguiars Scratch X. Can be used by hand and readily available. Good for little spot corrections like yours.

[Eric S]

a scratch is basically a V in the paint. You have to get to the bottom of it and level it. Doesn't matter if you use Meguiars 105 and a wool pad or a super fine polish and a polishing pad, you still have to remove the same amount of clear. How fast you accomplish that is what the products will determine.

IMO, part of the 1st pic will not remove completely and you will be left with indentations. (right side of the scratch). The others, those "should remove relatively easily." Of course, this is going off a picture, not seeing it in person.

I would get some 3000 grit paper, a compound, and medium polish, and a final polish with 3 different pads to do things correctly. tape off the 1/8th" of the edges of the panel as to not burn through the paint while polishing.

[KevinM]

I'd start with a hand-applied product (such as Scratch-X as above) and see what results you achieve with that. If not acceptable, you'll need to bust out the random-orbital polisher and some more aggressive multi-step abrasives. Or let a pro do it.

GL!

[Aaaaaaaaa]

If you have no experience wet sanding you should stay far away from anything with grit in its name. You might as well go to town on the paint with a Brillo pad.

[Wo-Wo]

Damaging the clear coat is the least of the problem as this has already happened.

As mentioned about start with the least aggressive method and then increase if needed and again as mentioned above these should come out easily.

Once you're happy, seal and wax - job done!

[FirstF80InSpace]

I have an MG F80. I've had good success with Mothers California Gold scratch remover. It will never take the scratch away completely, however it makes it almost invisible unless you're really looking for the scratch.

[Kevin M]

Thanks for the feedback. I will never use a piece of sandpaper or any multi stage system. I simply don't know what I'm doing.

I'll start with Meguiars Scratch X and see where I stand. Will report back after.

What should I be "sealing" it with after?

[radiofrequency]

I will preface in my reply to you that this is perhaps more work than you want to do. I have been an amateur detailer for about 20 years, and have moved up the trajectory of product improvement with a great deal of education provided by professional detailers on the way. This said, I have all of the tools required to correct defects, tools you may not want to purchase, or, perhaps, will not need. Absent the tools, all you need is a little elbow grease and a lot of patience. When I say patience, I mean that you will need to probably hit those scratches several times to get the desired result. I recently performed a full paint correction on my 2018 M4 using this product: http://www.esotericcarcare.com/sonax-perfect-finish/ Sonax produces legitimate products, I use a lot of their other products, and can attest to this, that the guys at Esoteric use the aforementioned product adds to my vote of approval. You might be able to get all of those scratches removed with this product when applying by hand, I mention this because I use a Random Orbiter (Flex), and I could eliminate those defects in about five minutes with Sonax Perfect Finish and my Flex. By hand it will take you a little longer. Another good product which might go a little faster by hand is: http://www.esotericcarcare.com/jesca...ting-compound/ Also a legitimate product (Jescar used to be Menzerna).

Here's the issue though, if you correct these defects, you will see shinier paint in the area corrected when compared to the uncorrected areas of your vehicle. With either of the products I mention in this post, you could perform a polish, by hand, if so inclined. I mention this as most of us here are OCD about our cars, you may not be, but you could get an incredible results by first correcting the defects, and then polishing the entire vehicle. I would precede this step with clay, if you intend to go this far. This is a good clay product: http://www.esotericcarcare.com/gyeon-q2m-clay/

My links are to Esoteric, as they have good educational videos on how to perform a polish or clay etc. I have no affiliation to them, and purchase detailing products from a variety of vendors. Feel free to PM me if you need more info on how to clay and polish etc. You should clay prior to performing a corrective polish.

In closing I will mention that you don't really see just how bad your paint looks until you get up close and correct defects followed by a corrective polish. In 2014 I took delivery of a brand new 911, that car took 9 hours for full paint correction, (I had my trusty detailer do that car), needless to say it had a mirror like finish post-correction. Whenever I get the urge to spend a lot of money on mods, I tend to turn to polishing and correcting my car/s, it's therapeutic, and with a little effort, the results are astonishing. It also gets me out of the wife's hair for several hours...........

[Kevin M]

Originally Posted by radiofrequency

I will preface in my reply to you that this is perhaps more work than you want to do. I have been an amateur detailer for about 20 years, and have moved up the trajectory of product improvement with a great deal of education provided by professional detailers on the way. This said, I have all of the tools required to correct defects, tools you may not want to purchase, or, perhaps, will not need. Absent the tools, all you need is a little elbow grease and a lot of patience. When I say patience, I mean that you will need to probably hit those scratches several times to get the desired result. I recently performed a full paint correction on my 2018 M4 using this product: http://www.esotericcarcare.com/sonax-perfect-finish/ Sonax produces legitimate products, I use a lot of their other products, and can attest to this, that the guys at Esoteric use the aforementioned product adds to my vote of approval. You might be able to get all of those scratches removed with this product when applying by hand, I mention this because I use a Random Orbiter (Flex), and I could eliminate those defects in about five minutes with Sonax Perfect Finish and my Flex. By hand it will take you a little longer. Another good product which might go a little faster by hand is: http://www.esotericcarcare.com/jesca...ting-compound/ Also a legitimate product (Jescar used to be Menzerna).

Here's the issue though, if you correct these defects, you will see shinier paint in the area corrected when compared to the uncorrected areas of your vehicle. With either of the products I mention in this post, you could perform a polish, by hand, if so inclined. I mention this as most of us here are OCD about our cars, you may not be, but you could get an incredible results by first correcting the defects, and then polishing the entire vehicle. I would precede this step with clay, if you intend to go this far. This is a good clay product: http://www.esotericcarcare.com/gyeon-q2m-clay/

My links are to Esoteric, as they have good educational videos on how to perform a polish or clay etc. I have no affiliation to them, and purchase detailing products from a variety of vendors. Feel free to PM me if you need more info on how to clay and polish etc. You should clay prior to performing a corrective polish.

In closing I will mention that you don't really see just how bad your paint looks until you get up close and correct defects followed by a corrective polish. In 2014 I took delivery of a brand new 911, that car took 9 hours for full paint correction, (I had my trusty detailer do that car), needless to say it had a mirror like finish post-correction. Whenever I get the urge to spend a lot of money on mods, I tend to turn to polishing and correcting my car/s, it's therapeutic, and with a little effort, the results are astonishing. It also gets me out of the wife's hair for several hours...........

Thanks for the detailed response. I actually do love detailing a car, but I operate at such an elementary level. I admire your knowledge and passion.

I'll likely go the easy route. I daily drive this car, and hand wash it weekly. Thats about as far as I have time to take things. What I'm trying to say is, doesn't have to be perfect, just want to take out any scratches I can with elbow grease and a light compound.

Thanks again. I might use the compound you recommended.

[Aaaaaaaaa]

Would recommend shopping around for a coating installation. Couple hundred bucks gets you a full paint decontamination, correction and coating. Not only will it initially make the car look amazing, but it?ll be much easier to wash and give it some scratch resistance for years.

[KevinM]

Originally Posted by Kevin M

What should I be "sealing" it with after?

Any good synthetic sealant should be fine. Zaino is one of the oldest and I still love it, but the initial application is a bit of work. Far easier is Sonax Polymer Net Shield (PNS), which is what I am using on the M3 (still use Zaino for the other Ms).

GL

[Detailers Domain]

Kevin,

Do you have any trusted shops around you, you might need two steps and a machine to get them out. What you will get by hand may not completely finish the area leaving some marring behind.