Someone Scratched My Car!!

[Neonspinnazz]

Upon arrival at school today, I notice this white mark on my tailgate:



I assume (yes, I know about ASSuming things) somebody scratched my car because if I did it I would've been beating myself up over it already. I'm also ruling out shopping carts as the bumper/valence would've taken some damage too but there's nothing. I guess either someone clipped my tail with their mirror or just wanted to scratch my car.

Anyway, some rubbing action has removed some of it (the photo is after I rubbed it) and I can see the paint through it. When wet, it's basically invisible!

So, I assume the scratch is limited to the clearcoat.

Now how do I get rid of the scratch???

Some suggest buffing it out but after Googling (heard of it, but I really know nothing about it) it there seems to be infinite ways to buff out a scratch.

[Kermit]

Good old elbow grease, rubbing compound then hit it with some wax. It doesn't seem too bad. There are more aggressive measures that you can take if it doesn't work.

[SkippyThorson]

Sorry to hear! I know what a pain that is. My mother is constantly calling me to remove scratches from her Ford Fusion. It seems to be a moron-magnet. Someone barely scraped the bumper in a parking lot, and the rest seems to be random things and / or people rubbing up against the doors. One person dug really good into that little trim piece that's supposed to take the hits. Ford did a good job - that's the first time I've seen the trim piece be appropriately placed to do its job, and not just be a decorative body line.

Anyhow, my grandfather is also anal about his cars. His Chevy Cruze has had 2 major scratches over its life. One fairly deep one that I thought would never come out is KIT Scratch Remover. It's the only product that has ever worked, and I use it sparingly because I can't find it anywhere anymore.

What I do is grab a good cloth, and get it just barely damp. Barely. Just so it's not dry and abrasive. I put a pea sized dot on the rag, and sort of smear it across the scratch, to get the stuff all over it. Then, with one or two fingers, gently (and lovingly ) message it into the scratch in a circular motion. Keep rubbing in circular motions until you can just barely tell the stuff was put on there. Let it dry for 5-10 minutes, and wipe it all off with more circular motions. This has worked for me every time.

It works perfectly on clear coat scratches. Any deeper will require actual buffing or even some touch up paint. Trust me. I'm a scratch fanatic. On my Saturn, there wasn't really a spray-on clear coat as much as there was some sort of literal coating. On older Saturns, you can actually see this clear film / coating flaking away from the paint in little chips. Nothing ever worked on my Saturn. I guess it's clear was too durable to just be rubbed or buffed clean.

[SmartDigger]

its called K.I.T. scratch out. and Walmart sells it.

[Critical Thinker]

Always start with the least aggressive method to see if you can get rid of the scratch. Whatever you do, definitely do not just buy a can of rubbing compound and go to town. The lighter the abrasive, the better, as long as it does the job. You want to remove the scratch while removing as little of the clearcoat as possible.

I'd start with a decent cleaner wax to see if it helps at all. Judging from the picture, it might "erase" the beginning and end of the scratch. Can you feel the scratch with your fingernail? In other words, can you catch your nail on the scratch? If so, it's deep enough that you'll most definitely need to go more aggressive. A light polishing compound (which is far less aggressive than rubbing compound) might do the trick. Something like Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 works very well for light scratches. And it's made to use by hand, no machines necessary. If that doesn't do the trick, you can try their Ultimate Compound. It's more aggressive, but it does a great job at removing scratches. If you can't get the scratch out using any kind of liquid or paste products, you can always try wetsanding. 2500 grit paper should be able to remove just about any scratch that's within the clearcoat, and then you can polish it out using the products mentioned above. Wetsanding is VERY aggressive, but if you're careful, the results can be outstanding. Hopefully you don't need to go that far though and you'll be able to get the scratch out with a much less aggressive method.

BTW, if the scratch is through the clearcoat and into the color coat, there's really not much you can do at all to completely eliminate the scratch. You can still make it look better, but you'll never get it to completely disappear unless you have the panel repainted.

[Krusty]

The first scratch hurts the most, they get less painful after that.

[Padawan]

If you're still unhappy with the appearance after trying to polish it out, the great thing about the smart is that you can always replace a panel relatively inexpensively if/when you decide to.

[NCC1701]

First, let me say I'm sorry to see your car was scratched.

Lots of better informed folks than me offering advice on a remedy.

My only advice is avoidance in the future. Park FAR away as possible from the pack. Park in the lower forty and walk. Not a guarantee, but it improves your odds.

You could say, I don't take advantage of one of the supposed biggest advantages of driving a smart.

[SkippyThorson]

Originally Posted by SmartDigger

its called K.I.T. scratch out. and Walmart sells it.

Then, the angels sang. Guess where I'm going tomorrow?

Originally Posted by Krusty

The first scratch hurts the most, they get less painful after that.

This is also wise advice. Very true. I've come to the conclusion that I expect a daily driver to receive war wounds and battle scars from parking lots.

[redoregon]

Cheap, gentle rubbing compound: toothpaste. Yup, just good ol' Crest. Paste, not gel! Learned about this in basic training in the Air Force, used to use it to get black heel marks off the floor without having to wax again. Start with that before you go buying the stuff above, might do the job without any dollar layout, assuming you brush your teeth

And if it's not enough, you haven't lost anything...