How to repair a scratch on your new car

You're opening the car door. You glance down at the fender and you see it -- A SCRATCH! You mutter under your breath "THIS is why I can't have anything nice" as your new car lays damaged before you. But fear not! It can be fixed.

Often times, your dealer will give you a bottle of touch-up paint with your new car, but this is NOT the time to use it. Touch-up paint is a bad idea 90% of the time.

Unless the scratch is HUGE, touch-up paint in the bottle is a bad idea. It's hard to apply (unless you've got experience) and it's usually overkill. The good news is that there are some methods that will remove or greatly reduce the appearance of the scratch on your new car, and they're surprisingly inexpensive.

Most scratches can be fixed with a process called "wet-sanding". Wet sanding is done by a professional, and it involves moving paint and clear coat molecules around to reduce the appearance of a scratch. It works on light scratches, but deep scratches are another matter.

You can find out if your new scratch is big or deep with a couple of simple tests. When you gently pass your fingernail over the scratch, can you feel a bump? Does the scratch stretch over the entire length of the vehicle or of an individual body panel? If the answer to either of those questions is "yes", then you need to see a body shop and you may need to call the insurance company. Big or deep scratches can be expensive to fix, but not always. Make sure to check around.

If you have a scratch that isn't deep, you're in luck. These light scratches can usually be repaired by a body shop for a token amount of money -- $20-$40 in most cases. As before, make sure the shop has a written guarantee.

One last thing - these are only methods to reduce or diminish a scratch, not to truly repair it. A true repair would involve a new paint job for the scratched panel and paint blending for the nearby panels, and I think that's a terrible idea to fix a light or even heavy scratch. It's better to fix these things inexpensively - they're just going to happen again. Just remember, the scratch isn't going to miraculously disappear. It will look a LOT better though.

About the Author

Author Jason Lancaster, a car industry veteran, created AccurateAutoAdvice.com. You'll find accurate advice on new car warranties and auto touch up paint.

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