What Should You Do If Your Car Gets Scratched?

Not only do car scratches make your car look ugly, but scratches can also expose the paintwork and underlying metal to rain, snow, and other corrosive elements. This can rapidly lead to rust. The best way to clear away scratches and have your car’s bodywork protected and looking beautiful again is with a good car detailing service. The following scratch-fixing techniques can help, but without a professional eye, it’s difficult to achieve a perfectly smooth and pristine surface. 

What Kind of Scratch Do You Have?

How To Fix Clear Coat Scratches

The mildest of scratches only mark the upper clear coat layer. The clear coat is a transparent finish paint layer that protects the underlying color coat and primer coat. If you’re not sure how deep a shallow scratch goes, run your thumbnail over it. If your nail catches, then the scratch is likely to have made it down to the paint, but otherwise, it’s only a clear coat scratch. 

You can usually remove a clear coat scratch by gently polishing the scratched area with a polishing compound. It’s important to use an extremely light touch so as not to damage the clear coat and leave a larger visible mark.

How To Fix Paint Scratches

If your thumbnail catches, then you probably have a paint scratch on your hands. This kind of scratch requires a little more work, and it’s best to let an experienced car detailer handle the job. 

You’ll need some very fine-grit sandpaper and an abrasive compound. Clean the area well and let it dry, then gently rub the scratch with the sandpaper and compound until it disappears. Then reapply the clear coat with an aerosol spray. 

How To Fix Deep Car Scratches

If you can see the darker primer paint layer under the color coat or even the bare metal under the primer coat, then you have a deep scratch to repair. First of all, clean and dry the area. Then use masking tape and newspaper to protect the car’s nearby bodywork all around the scratched area. 

Use a paint-rubbing compound to carefully remove a very thin layer of paint within a couple of centimeters of the scratch. Then begin applying color coat paint, either by spray or paintbrush. Apply the color coat in layers until it’s just below the layer of the surrounding clear coat; leave 30 minutes after each layer for the paint to dry. After that, apply the clear coat layer and finally gently sand it down to the right level.

The Benefits of Professional Car Detailing

You can see that repairing scratches on a car is a delicate task that requires a steady hand and a well-trained eye. Proper detailing is both an art and a craft that restores a vehicle’s internal and external appearance to a like-new condition. Not only can good detailing completely disappear unseemly scratches, but it also increases your car’s resale value and boosts your driving pleasure.

Have your car’s appearance restored to like-new condition today at Seattle Auto Detail. Our professional detailers have over 60 years of experience between them helping the drivers of Seattle, WA, enjoy beautiful, clean, fresh-smelling, scratch-free cars.