Owners Botching Scratch and Chip Touch-Ups
DIY touch-up attempts on scratches and rock chips going wrong: paint pens blobbing, color match failures, making small damage worse, fixing it without paying for a full respray.
SOURCES (60)
“So I recently got this car, and since I drive in the interstate every morning I often get rocks flung up on the hood. I noticed a few spots where the metal color was exposed. I tried to use touch up paint, which looked terrible,…”
“Remove bumper. Remove all torn and molding. Sand area to raw plastic. Plastic body filler. Sand. Sand. Primer. Sand. Sand. Primer maybe again. Sand. Sand. Scuff for paint. Color. Clear. Maybe wet sand and buff. Reassemble. Profit?”
“What’s the best way to go about repairing this deep scratch on my own? And how to repair the scratch that are very surface level? submitted by /u/baler526 [link] [comments]”
“Sand it lightly with 1500, clean with prepsol or iso. Brush some colour, depending if it’s direct gloss or clear over base either fill with colour or cover with clear then another light sand to get it level. Buff, polish. With the second sanding step I personally use a tungsten block but I’m sure you won’t have access to one, but helps to get it perfectly level with the paint around the repair”
“I was attempting to fix a very fine scratch with a paint pen and managed to make it look even worse than the scratch itself with a paint pen. Is there a way to fix this/ make it look a little better? submitted by /u/Xx_TheCrow_xX [link] [comments]”
“I bought this car from a friend of mine and wanted to know what I can do to remove the scratches off? submitted by /u/2livein [link] [comments]”
“If you already have touch-up paint then go ahead and use it. Otherwise I would not bother, the amount of surface rust if any that develops would easily clean up with a bit of prep before applying any topcoat.”
“True. But we are looking at something about as big as a pencil tip. IMO, if you hit carefully, you’ll never hear from it again. Toothbrush / degreaser / rinse / paint pen.”
“It may sound hasty but I would just get a matching paint pen and be done with it. They work exceptionally well if you touch up carefully and with a good match.”
“Working on a 20 year old beetle as a bit of a project car. Bought it recently to keep me going whilst my daily driver was off the road for a few months. Previous owner had replaced the wing mirror and what I thought would be a simple touch up job has been upgraded What I thought was just old paint / primer coming through is a completely different colour. I tried a light sand, went to paint and the new paint, cause the old paint to congeal. Cleaned it off with some alcohol ans found the wing mirr”
“Leave the rust. Nothing is gonna happen. It’s better to leave that original rust scab than expose new metal. You can use some compound to remove the iron staining around the perimeter. I would just apply touch up over it. Whether it’s actual spare white basecoat for that color from a body shop, or a touch up pen; I would use a paper clip or toothpick to apply. Get the smallest bead of paint and gently place it in the crater. Better to do little deposits, than one big glob. Usually only takes 5 m”
“Honestly black touch up pens have worked real good for me on my wifes car, maybe just clean it up use a touch up pen as much as u can n call it a day might not look great but it looks better than that”
“I reduced the nails so they won’t hit the bumper anymore (hopefully) do I just go over this with a touch up pen? submitted by /u/Zed-juuls [link] [comments]”
“So I had 2 thin scratches and ordered some touch up paint (gave my car reg to ensure it's same colour). I used the brush that came with the paint but probably should've used a toothpick in retrospect. When it dried it was very a noticeable blob and looked terrible. So after following advice online I sanded it down with 2000 grit wet and sandpaper, then polished it with t cut. It's alot smoother (my nail doesn't catch when I go over it) however sanding and polishing hasn't rea”
“No idea why these wouldn't be compatible: Base: https://www.duplicolor.com/content/cbg-duplicolor/us/en/touch-up-paints/color.colorCode-8P4.html Clearcoat: https://www.spraymax.com/en/products/product/clear-coats-spot-blender/2k-clear-coat-gloss/”
“Any tips on what kinds of touch up product I can use for this kind of scratch? I was looking at Dr. Color Chip but was reading that it’s best for road rash and not this? submitted by /u/muzeful [link] [comments]”
“Hey ladies and gents! I bought a 23 integra a little over a year ago. Noticed it had a chip that was rusted in the rear door jam. Took it to dealer and they just put paint on top of it. Everything I’ve read says this is not ok. Took it to a highly rated body shop in town, he looked at the spot and said it would be fine. That rust needs oxygen, and once they touched it up with paint it sealed it off. Again, everything I’ve read, is telling me that’s some shit. Why is a trusted auto body shop tell”
“Can anyone tell me if there is any way to fix this without respraying paint? It looks like only clear coat was damaged but I am not sure. Looks like previous owner tried to do a touch up so I don't even know if this is factory paint or not submitted by /u/Jumpy-Gold4549 [link] [comments]”
“meh it's an fwiw but that's not sanded back to primer from debris, looks like a poorly done respray job on all four corners”
Touch up. Wait a month If its still bothering you then respray
“I have a black Escalade. Garage coming down scratched the hell of it. It’s not as deep as I thought but pictures show it. I’m not good with paint at all so my options are : Hire a top rated mobile touch up paint company and just let them fix it Take it to a shop and paint all or half of the life gate Thoughts or opinions on this? Thank you submitted by /u/Budget-Stable2777 [link] [comments]”
“I ordered the nardo touch up pen from audiparts, as well as a kit paintscratch.”
“got scraped in a Walmart parking lot and brought it to a local shop. It seems like there is some clearcoat drippage or something. Can i use some touch up clear coat and then wetsand and use some cut and polish ? Any advice ? I dont want to bring it back to the shop, i have already been back twice. submitted by /u/skaterpunk12345 [link] [comments]”
“Would you recommend I go to a shop to repair this or use touch up spray and move my plate to the left? submitted by /u/TinyRickk666 [link] [comments]”
“I recently bought a new (to me) truck and it looks like the previous owner (or possibly the dealership) just put blobs of not color-matched touch up paint over some rock chips. There are quite a few around the truck and I wanted to attempt to resolve it myself before throwing in the towel and taking it to a paint shop. I haven't tried much yet because I don't want to make things worse. I did try 99% IPA on a qtip and scrubbed one of the spots for about 1-3 minutes straight and got nothin”
“Newbie here looking for advice… lol! Do you put anything sealer on after? Looking to use 3D one to touch up some super light scratches but don’t want to risk missing a step after”
“Some acetone on a rag will wipe the yellow paint from the pole off the fender/door, and I bet you could find a plastic bumper protector thing that would cover up the gouges from loading/unloading the hatch. Beyond that... not really. You can go to town on it with a touch up pen, but it's pretty rare that those actually make things look better. Edit: for protection, it's probably worth slapping some touch up paint on that fender where it's gouged down to primer/metal. It won't loo”
“Should be instructions on the touch up pen. Keep in mind, there is no way to make this look perfect again without a full respray. If you try to sand the touch up paint, i guarantee it will look worse. As the other guy said chrisfix doesnt know what hes talking about”
“Hey friends going to take on this small DIY project this weekend I have those 2 scratches that I don’t feel are deep. I bought a touch up paint and going to attempt the Chris fix method as he does it in his YouTube I just have a few questions. Since it’s not so deep do I need to sand with 800 grit or just applying the touch up paint and clear coat and sanding it down with 2000-3000 grit then polishing would be enough? Also how long should I let the paint and clear dry before sanding and polishin”
“Hey friends going to take on this small DIY project this weekend I have those 2 scratches that I don’t feel are deep. I bought a touch up paint and going to attempt the Chris fix method as he does it in his YouTube I just have a few questions. Since it’s not so deep do I need to sand with 800 grit or just applying the touch up paint and clear coat and sanding it down with 2000-3000 grit then polishing would be enough? Also how long should I let the paint and clear dry before sanding and polishin”
“Tried touching up a significant chip in my car's hood. Didn't realize until I was done that I had made it so highly layered. What can I do to fix this? submitted by /u/Fox5606 [link] [comments]”
“I was trying to fix a vandalism key scratch with a touch up paint kit. It's a Mazda 3 Titanium Flash color. After the initial touch up it felt too raised up so I tried sanding it with 1500 grit and then 2000, but I did not use a sanding block and I think I sanded it doo deep in this spot. This grayish spot appeared - about 2cm. Then i finished it up with compound and polish using a microfiber towel manually. Does it look like i went through the clear? It feels smooth to the touch just like t”
“Found this gnarly gash on the roof after a road trip. Is touch up paint enough for something like this or are there other products I should consider? It’s a black paint civic if that makes any difference. Thanks! submitted by /u/LeSuckMyBalls [link] [comments]”
“I was trying to get a scratch out by buffing and now I have this lighter spot. Help! submitted by /u/Forsaken_Clock_8811 [link] [comments]”
“If you want to fix it peel everything off.Sand as much rust as you can, if needed apply bondo, filler and repaint.If you want a cheap fix you can appy some bondo inside the crack and some touch up paint on top of it, it's gonna look shitty either way without repainting that whole pannel.”
“Any advice on how to fix? I don’t have auto body experience but would like to fix myself if possible. Deep crack is starting to rust, not sure if I can fill it and touch up or need to sand larger surface down and go from there. Thanks! submitted by /u/Final-Weakness6413 [link] [comments]”
“The damage is worse than you think it is. However, clean off the rust, and dab touch up paint on those spots. I’d say just leave the rest of the damage as is. It’s gonna look bad regardless. If you can open the door without it hitting the fender, just live with it. The repairs won’t be cheap for this one, so it’s up to you with the level of “damaged” you’re willing to live with. If you MUST polish, some liquid compound and polish would clean off the paint transfer marks. But again, the dents wil”
“Just bought a new car, didn't notice a very slight chipping of the paint on the car door edge until we got home with the car. Called the dealer immediately, they said it may have happened when door was opened in the lot or in transport. They had a painter touch it up for us and it looks ok and isn't visible. The texture isn't perfect but you can't tell as it's on the very edge. They offered to take the car to a body shop and repaint the entire door. Should we do this or shoul”
“Yes and I read that but I’m advising you that PPF over touch up paint + sanding to level + polish or full respray of the hood, you run the risk of paint/clear removal once you PPF. And eventually you DO have to remove the PPF as it’s finite in its lifespan. Just a word of caution my friend.”
“I have touch up paint. that’s about it. I don’t know how to repair this. help. submitted by /u/Beautiful_Party_9045 [link] [comments]”
“Alrighty. I'm going to try and keep this simple, but I'm a total novice at this stuff and really need someone smarter than me to assist. To keep it brief, there was a small incident with a car door that led to the very minor damage pictured in the photo. The scratch is tiny and the denting is minimal, so I assumed the overall fix wouldn't be too expensive. However, the cost presumed by the auto body shop is nearly 1600. That's not affordable. What can I do to fix the scratch and”
“Have the shop installing the PPF do the touch up, wet sanding and polishing before they apply the PPF. If it took you weeks to do it, you’ll just get more as you do them. Just have it all fixed at once and then have the PPF installed. Oh and probably stop tailgating or driving around at break neck speeds 😉”
“Recently hid a barrier and it’s caused paint to chip and scrape off down my bumper just wondering if it’s worth trying to use touch up paint or just to get a full respray for the bumper. submitted by /u/Front-Detective2996 [link] [comments]”
“Found a couple of scratches off the lot does anyone know if these can be touched up since it’s steel matte grey? submitted by /u/Why_so_serious0819 [link] [comments]”
“If your fingernails catch on the scratch, it can not be polished out. You can do a paint touchup and try to blend it in, but the fix is a repaint (replace and repaint if its a plstic panel)”
“Did a family members trunk today. Sprayed with shampoo, steamed, agitated with brush, then vacuumed and touched up as much as I could. Any advice or suggestions? How does it look? Still have 6 more cars to do in my pre launch phase before I set out for my first outside customer. submitted by /u/Turbulent_Age3152 [link] [comments]”
Thanks, I did use fine tip brush but maybe not the best way
“Hello I attempted to touch up a little chip in a corner of the door. It looks ok from some angles but you can really see it I guess if you look for it. Do you think the problem is the touch up paint or my technique? I used official paint pen from bmw but metallic bluestone is hard to blend in with a pen I heard submitted by /u/Previous_Dealer_7283 [link] [comments]”
“Oh ok. Well, if that’s the case, it’s probably needed a little touchup work done at the factory after it came out of paint. But it needs a little bit more buffing. You could probably throw some wax on it, and it would disappear, but then just come back once the wax dissipates. The same way you didn’t really notice it until after a car wash. I’d take it back to the dealer and just show it to them, anybody in the business should be able to quickly identify what it is and take care of it.”
“I was inspecting my driver side door because we’ve had a lot of rain lately and recently had a rust spot fixed. Found a suspect looking spot on the driver side rear door and wiped, only for an area of paint to come off Is touch up paint enough to fix this? Do I need to worry about rust? And is touching up this area fairly simple? It’s the bottom left corner of the door, so not super obvious and in your face. I’m just worried about rust submitted by /u/benditlikebemb [link] [com”
“You cant buff texture. And the scratches on the painted part look to be thru at least the clear coat, some thru the paint.. so if you want it to look like new id say bodyshop.. if you dont really care how it comes out id say either leave it or have the deep parts touched up”
“To the best of my knowledge, this happened by someone backing out at the wrong angle and swiping my car. There is no denting, but white paint or abrasion (I can’t really tell) on my cladding and fender ridge, as well as a couple small chips taken out. The third pic I’ve outlined the scraping in red, and the chips in green. Is this a diy, a detail job, or body shop territory? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!! submitted by /u/MyOthrCarsAThrowaway [link] [comments]”