Car Keyed

[Thomarse]

Hi,

Went to my car this morning only to find it had been "keyed" - scratched down the drivers side by some ignorant asbo with no respect for other peoples possesions! I keep my car in my garage at night but it was out on the road for a bit yesterday as I went out in the evening. In such a short space of time (only dark for an hour) it mus thave been done!

Anyway - does anybody have any good suggestions on how to "repair the scratch? Its not very deep, looks like its taken off the surface laquer in a thin line all the way down both doors. Its a very fine line, so doubt it was actually a key that did it, it must have been something sharper.

Its not seriosu enough to justify claiming insurance and paying the excess but its enough for me to want to do something about it as the car was pretty immaculate before this!!!

Its a silver metalic paint, would T-cut and elbow grease help to mask it or will I need to do something else?

Thanks!

[The Medway Handyman]

Be careful about using T Cut on metallic paint, it can remove the laquer. You can get 'coloured' polishes for this sort of job I'm sure. Have a ferret about in Halfords.

[Thomarse]

T-Cut was the firs thing that sprang to mind but you are probably right, it would be too abrasive - anyone know any good polishes for this or should i just shop around?

[Rod]

Many years ago something similar happened to my car of the time.

It was bad enough to claim - partly as it was so extensive - and the insurance climate wasn't quite as punitive as now. I asked the garage I got it from and they suggested taking it round to the body shop they used (independent) who did a fantastic job. Virtually nothing visible, and not very expensive. And it avoided the claim and, at the time far more importantly for some forgotten reason, the long time it would take for a respray.

Of course, that would make it not diy... :-(

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The lacquer coat turns white when scratched making it look rather worse than it might otherwise.

If the scratch isn't through the lacquer it might be possible to polish it out. T-cut will take for ever - better to use Farecla G6. However, the chances of an invisible fix are remote without repainting.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That's the whole idea if trying to polish out a scratch. You have to level the top surface down to the bottom. And T-Cut will take forever to do this. Farecla G6 is the dogs thingies. Of course if the scratch has gone through the lacquer polishing won't help.

Nothing I've seen will fill a scratch as the tool used has removed the surface polish leaving a rough 'pit' which appears a different colour. Those coloured polishes are a con.

[Man at B&Q]

You can get stuff that's like a lipstick that fills the scratch. It will depend on the colour and how close a match you can get, but it worked a treat for me on a dark green car and wasn't very noticeable. The car was old enough and I wasn't attached enough to it to require a professional job.

MBQ

[Tim..]

I would suggest the first action you take is visit a professional bodyshop and ask their advice, before starting with various 'home-remedies' etc.?

Tim..

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Their answer will be to respray the effected parts. And on an old car may well not get a perfect match. A rough guide price wise is 250 a panel.

The 'dent devil' type franchises would IMHO be a better starting point for pro help - but in a busy area many are fully occupied doing dealer's cars.

[Man at B&Q]

I'm not sure if it's a single bloke or a franchise, nor where you live, so it may be no help:

[The Natural Philosopher]

paint on more lacquer and THEN T-Cut.

[Bruce]

Those coloured polishes are great for a quick fix, and well worth using if you have a slightly shabby car to sell on AutoTrader or in the local paper. But as you say, they are a con. They don't cure the problem, just cover it up, and they don't last either.

[Bruce]

I would take it to a specialist who deals in repairing small blemishes

- small compared to a body shop that would do whole panels and cost a fortune.

This isn't something that can be solved with DIY unless you already have the necessary skills. And if you did, you probably wouldn't have posted on here.

There are national chains of franchises such as "Chips Away" but you should be able to find local self-employed tradespeople who are equally capable but usually a lot cheaper.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I tried one on a plain black car and it was no improvment over a standard wax from the same maker.

[Huge]

Not entirely. They work well on black cars.

[Huge]

Find a better bodyshop. The one I use does a scratch repair service.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Didn't on mine.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Which could involve a respray. Which doesn't necessarily mean taking it back to bare metal.

[zymurgy]

I was absolutely livid about the damage when my car got keyed, I'm glad I didn't see them doing it.

But, same for me, I had a spray shop recommended to me, and they managed to 'blow in' the top parts of the panels that had been keyed, and didn't need to do the entire side of the car.

Paul.

[Bruce]

I have used blue and green Turtle Wax on two cars I sold - it was definitely an improvement over the Turtle Wax they were already polished with, but probably not for long. ;-)