Seeking Advice: Scratches on New MS

[byan1232]

Hey guys,

Terrible day... Normally I am very careful coming out of my parking spot but I guess accidents happen. I park my MS in a garage and there are these large pillars that act as support for the parking structure. I scraped my rear quarter panel above the tire across the pillar and scratched it. The speed was slow but the damage is still there.

Any advice in terms of repairing? The body shop quoted me about $1500... I am in the Boston area.

 

[5thumbs]

Sorry about your car. I dont have any advice, but your car looks just like mine (MS midnight silver) and it made me gasp. $1500 to make it go away may be worth it and it doesnt look like there are large indentations. Please post a picture after it is fixed.

 

[RedSoxFan18]

I did something similar and a car detailer buffed them out, you cannot even tell. The place that did the work is just outside Boston. PM me if you want the details.

 

[Soundchasr]

If you just want to get rid of the scratches (the white color) and don't care about the dents you should be able to buff that out yourself or someone else can do it for you with an orbital or polisher.

 

[byan1232]

@Soundchasr there aren't any dents actually so I was wondering how I would go about doing it? Other than the orbital/polisher, would I need any other compounds/liquids/etc?

 

[Soundchasr]

Oh OK. It was hard to tell from the picture. Yes, you'll need a compound of some sort and the proper pads. You don't really know which will work best until you start. You start with something fine and if that doesn't work you go to something with more grit....I always use Menzerna or Poorboys products. Best bet is to go to one of the detailing forums and look up how to remove scratches. They'll tell you everything you need. Try Meguiar's Online forums.

 

[CHG-ON]

Relieved to hear there are no dents. The pic looks like it. I also have the same color and it made me cringe. I would contact Corey at Carpro: [email protected]. He is amazing and will walk you through everything you need to do. I love CarPro products and now swear by them. He's amazingly knowledgeable and has any product that you might need for really reasonable prices. One reason I trust him is that he has often told me not buy something from him becasue he thinks it won't meet my needs and doesn't want me to waste money. And he backs up everything 100%. if you lived i the SF bay area, I could recommend the best guy to do the work for you...

It's very hard to tell from the pics, but if you did not go down to the primer, you have a good chance of saving it.

Good luck.

 

[byan1232]

Thanks for all the help so far guys! I will definitely post pictures after it's repaired. I think I'm going to go buy a buffer/polisher to see what I can do. I have also reached out to Corey at CarPro for advice as well.

 

[sorka]

There are dents. You can see it the distortion in the reflection caused by them.

Have you tried something mild and safe yet like a clear coat rubbing compound? Meguiars Step 1 sometimes labeled as Paint Cleaner, 3M liquid rubbing compound, or Turtle Wax liquid rubbing compound is surprisingly good. Use a clean microfiber towel. Make sure the paint is completely clear of dust and dirt. If the scratch is shallow and didn't go all the way through the clear coat, you can make this almost go away. If it went through the clear coat, then there's nothing you can do.

Follow up with a polishing compound like Meguiars Step 2.

 

[sorka]

Oh and $1500 is a good deal.

 

[Soundchasr]

If you do it yourself you should use an orbital like the Porter Cable 7424 XP - less chance of messing it up. With a high speed polisher you can be through the clear and paint before you know it. The PC may take longer but you're less likely to screw it up.

 

[byan1232]

@sorka okay let me try that and see how it goes.

 

[byan1232]

What do you guys think about using rubbing compound-->touchup paint-->polisher to finish?

 

[Soundchasr]

@sorka okay let me try that and see how it goes.

Definitely start with what sorka suggested. You might be able to take care of it by hand. You can always get more aggressive if you need to.

 

[Soundchasr]

What do you guys think about using rubbing compound-->touchup paint-->polisher to finish?

Just get a microfiber towel, put some compound on it and rub the heck out of it. See what you get.

 

[CLLACAB]

Check in your area for some reviews on paint less dent repair. Many of these guys are mobile and also can do paint work. I have had good luck using them.

 

[sorka]

If you do it yourself you should use an orbital like the Porter Cable 7424 XP - less chance of messing it up. With a high speed polisher you can be through the clear and paint before you know it. The PC may take longer but you're less likely to screw it up.

I wouldn't use an orbital much less a rotary on protruding edges.

 

[Soundchasr]

I wouldn't use an orbital much less a rotary on protruding edges.

I could use an orbital on that without any problem. I'm not sure what your point is.

 

[byan1232]

@CHG-ON Thanks for the advice regarding speaking to Corey! He has been a great help and gave me some recommendations. We've already exchanged many emails back and forth.

 

[calisnow]

What do you guys think about using rubbing compound-->touchup paint-->polisher to finish?

If you're not a very experienced artist with touch-up paint you're just messing up your $100,000 super car.

As someone who has owned and had a string of "delicate" automobiles and seen a lot of body work over the years - and as someone who has a detailer at his house every week washing his cars - my advice to you is to not be penny wise and pound foolish.

I assume if you can afford this car you make a lot more per hour than an experienced detailer/paint guy.

So go do another consult, case, bill an extra hour, raise the rent on a tenant - whatever you got to do. And then pay a professional who knows what he's doing with an orbital and a paint brush, and can actually blend touch-up paint correctly followed by a spot color sand.

Doing touch-up paint so that it actually blends with the paint is incredibly time consuming and involves many coats because touch-up paint shrinks. So you lay down one coat, let dry. Lay another, let dry. Etc. etc. etc until you get the paint to dry above the surface of the surrounding paint.

Now you have to color sand your touch up paint so that it blends with the surrounding paint.

Then finally you have to try to spot clear coat on top and color sand/blend the clear spot.

If you just pay an expert to do it you will still save a lot of money over getting the panel repainted, but you will get the technique of someone who knows what they are doing with polishing compound and power tools because they do it all day long.

In all seriousness if those scratches are really deep and you go to work with something strong enough to do the job you will likely burn through your paint as a noob.

You could pay maybe $100 to an experienced detailer who does a lot of paint correction work (search forums like ferrarichat.com's Massachusetts sub-forum - there is little expertise on this forum in the care of high dollar paint jobs because this isn't a typical high dollar car crowd) to work on that panel.

If it won't buff out at least you know you tried.

My $.02