Scratches are one of the most common types of vehicle damage. While discovering a blemish in your car's paintwork may be annoying, many scratches can be easily reduced or removed without having to take your car to a professional.
In this guide you’ll learn how to identify how deep a scratch is, some of the ways of minimising the appearance of paintwork imperfections yourself, and when to throw in the towel and call an expert.
What to do if you discover a scratch
No matter how the damage occurred, don’t panic if you find a scratch in your vehicle’s paintwork. Most scratches are cosmetic, and many light scratches can be quick and relatively easy to fix.
The first thing to do is assess the damage and figure out whether you can fix the scratch yourself.
Can I fix a scratch myself?
It depends on the depth of the scratch and extent of the damage to your vehicle. If it is a light scratch, there are lots of options for repairing the damage yourself.
With the right expertise and tools, you could also repair deeper scratches yourself, but we would usually advise you take your vehicle to a professional if you’re not confident.
How to gauge the depth of scratch
The way to describe the depth of a scratch is to look at how many layers of paint the scratch has penetrated. Very simply, there are three layers of paint on every car that cover the metal body panels: a primer, base colour coat and clear coat (lacquer). Obviously, the more layers the scratch goes through, the worse the damage.
To gauge the depth, you’ll need to:
Look closely at the scratch, with a magnifying tool if needed.
If you can see a different colour to the topcoat on the damaged area, usually a white or grey, the scratch goes into the primer - this is a deep scratch.
Touch the damage. Gently run a fingernail over the scratch. If your fingernails do not catch, then it’s a light scratch which has cut into the outer clear coat of the paintwork. If your fingernail does catch, it’s a deeper scratch.
How to fix a light/ surface scratch?
Once you’ve identified a light scratch – a scratch that has only damaged the clear coat layer on top – there are a few easy ways to fix it at home. The best way to do this would be to invest is some scratch remover tools, something like the T-Cut Classic Clay Bar Kit or the T-Cut Wax Applicator Set. These products will work for any colour car and can quickly and easily fill in light scratches and stone chips.
Simply give your car a clean first, then apply the T-Cut, either with a cloth or directly with the touch-up pen. Let the product dry and admire your blemish-free vehicle!
Home product hacks for light scratches
If you’re feeling adventurous, then you are more than welcome to try these home remedy hacks, but again, these will only work for light scratches. If you can get a fingernail into it, then you may need something a bit more serious.
The toothpaste hack
Toothpaste! Who would have thought that it can do more than just make your teeth sparkle! Just as you would with any wax, apply toothpaste to the scratched surface with a damp cloth and get wiping in a circular motion until the scratches have all been filled in.
How to repair a medium-deep scratch
Medium-deep scratches are when the scratch has penetrated into the paintwork layer (but not into the primer or metal).
To find the correct paint for the touch-up, you will need the colour code of the car, which can be found on the VIN plate (unless the vehicle has previously been re-coloured).
Once you have the correct colour code, apply your scratch remover with a sponge to the affected area, and then wash and dry with a microfibre cloth (to prevent any new scratches). You may notice that the area appears to be a little dull in comparison to the rest of your car. Don’t worry! A quick waxing will return the lustre of your scratched area.
Autoparts has a great selection of specific scratch removers, so make sure you give them a look if you notice a blemish on your vehicle.
How to repair a deep scratch
The scratch is likely very deep if you can see either a white or grey stripe, or metal in the scratch.
If the scratch is deep, you should check whether the damage has led to, or been caused by, any additional problems around the vehicle, i.e., damage to parts of the vehicle that are going to prevent you using it or that could put you in danger.
We would always recommend taking deeper scratches to a professional; it may sound expensive at first, but after factoring in the cost of tools, labour time and possible expense of later having to pay a professional to fix a bad repair, it’ll probably to be cheaper to take it to a professional straight away. And that’s not even taking into account the mechanical skill required to fix such a scratch!
If, however, you feel confident, then you’ll going to need a few things to repair a deep scratch yourself. You need: a repair kit with various grits of sandpaper, a degreaser, primer and car paint spray in the colour code of the vehicle as well as a clear coat.
Steps to repair:
- Clean the area
- Sand the area down
- Apply primer paint and fill the scratch as needed
- Apply the undercoat, matching the colour through your vehicles VIN
- Sand and buff the new coat to make sure it integrates with the old paintwork
- Apply the topcoat to bring the beautiful shine back
Will a repair be covered by insurance?
Because it’s usually considered cosmetic damage, not every insurance policy will cover the cost of repairing scratches in your paintwork. However, many will, and some insurers offer a scratch and dent cover as a separate product - allowing you to get minor dents and scrapes fixed without claiming on your main policy.
Before you decide on the best course of action, check your insurance policy. Even if your policy doesn’t cover you, most small scratches are easy to repair yourself at home with the right tools, or will be cheaper to repair than the excess on insurance policies, so it isn’t always worth a claim.
If your car has been badly damaged – or you suspect it has been deliberately vandalised – you might want to file a police report and contact your insurance company to see if your policy covers vandalism.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like:
- How to clean and protect your cars paintwork
- How to clean your cars wheels
- Cleaning your cars interior
Header image credit: Sleepi Alleyne via Pexels.com
