Auto Scratch Repair

[zrodwyo]

Every vehicle I own is covered in light scratches from years of driving through sage and oak brush.

Anyone ever try to buff these out? What did you use and how did it go? Is it risky to DIY?

If you hired someone how expensive was a full size truck?

Thanks all

 

[gelton]

Been considering doing this myself.

I have watched several youtube videos on this (which of course makes me an expert...lol) and I think I am going the route of Chemical Guys for their buffing kit and compounds.

They have several videos on how to go about it.

 

[Laramie]

Every vehicle I own is covered in light scratches from years of driving through sage and oak brush.

Anyone ever try to buff these out? What did you use and how did it go? Is it risky to DIY?

If you hired someone how expensive was a full size truck?

Thanks all

Buy a decent hand wax and do it by hand. 99% of them have come out for me.

 

[Geewhiz]

I got some turtle wax buffing compound and a buffing wheel and was able to do it myself with moderate success. I'm happy with the result. Time consuming but generally easy to do.

 

[dtrkyman]

Tried rubbing compound, meguires scratch remover and a cheap kit from amazon for a cordless drill with multiple grits of disks, minimal results.

Mesquite is a B!

 

[Centralcoastca]

Meguires and others have multi step systems of polishes and waxes that work pretty good for brush scratches. Time consuming to do it by hand, but there’s no chance of burning the paint on edges etc… that’s what I do, but I’m too cheap to pay a pro a bunch of money for something that I’m going to scratch up again sooner than later. If you have a junker to practice on a buffer would be significantly faster, but I messed around with my detailer buddies buffer and found that there’s definitely an art to it and decided to just do it by hand. Makes a big difference what color the vehicle is too, dark paint is going to show every swirl and a bad buffer job on a black truck looks worse than scratches.

 

[fmyth]

Paint correction is an art form. I learned many years ago on crappy cars that were being sent off to auction. I made lots of mistakes that would have been very costly to repair. You can easily burn through the paint in seconds if you use the wrong compound, pad or too much pressure. To do it correctly you'll need to spend $ on tools and materials. You might be money ahead to find a pro to do it for you. If you want to learn to do it yourself practice on a beater car before taking a wheel to your 60k truck. You can find a lot of good videos on youtube by searching "paint correction".

Here's a good starter kit with a random orbital buffer: https://www.autogeek.net/griot-s-ga...Lz8VzMsyEU87pITDN7qiB548ZPK3zlIaAuPlEALw_wcB#

 

[BigDog00]

Definitely need a polisher of some kind. I've used a random orbital from Harbor Freight with Lake Country pads and Meguirs or Griots correcting compound. Watch some Youtube videos on it and take you time. When I did my truck it took around 7-8 hours but turned great. If you can grab the scratch with a finger nail its most likely too deep to correct with polishing.

Chemical guys is the Mtn Ops of the car care world. Their products aren't bad but they market heavily.

 

[Firehawk]

Yep, a good correcting compound and then make sure you seal it back up with a good polish. Mequires is good as is Griots. I have had really good success in mine too. Be careful, follow instructions, and enjoy the time it takes to do by remembering the awesome times you had making the little scratches appear.

 

[bobr1]

Yeah I use McGuire compounds and polish with a porter cable orbital buffer. If you are newer to correcting paint the orbital buffer will prevent you from burning through the clear coat or paint, which can happen really quick if your using a rotary and not being careful. I’d also recommend Klasse sealant when you are done. It not quiet as lustrous as wax but it last about 6 months and still looks really good.

 

[Like2hunt]

Paid to get my dads whole truck buffed at a local shop and it cost $400 total. Not too bad and way cheaper then a new paint job would have been.