Car scratch repair, done where your car is parked

Most car paint has three layers over the metal or plastic: primer, a colored base coat, and a clear coat on top that gives the shine. How a scratch should be fixed depends on which of those layers it reached, so that is the first thing we look at.

• Clear coat scratches. Fine lines that look white or grey and almost vanish when the panel is wet. These often polish out with no paint at all.
• Base coat scratches. The line shows a lighter or duller version of your color. Polishing alone will not hide it; it needs touch-up paint blended and cleared.
• Primer or metal showing. You see grey, white or bare silver at the bottom of the mark. This needs filling, color and clear, and on steel it should not wait, because exposed metal can start to rust.
• Bumper scuffs and paint transfer. Another car's paint smeared onto your bumper corner, sometimes with gouges under it. We remove the transfer first and then judge the damage left behind.
• Paint chips. Small craters from gravel and road debris, usually on the hood edge, the front bumper and below the mirrors.

A quick home test: run a fingernail across the scratch. If the nail glides over it, the mark is probably in the clear coat. If the nail catches, the scratch is likely into the color or deeper.

Scratch and paint chip repair is the right choice when the panel underneath is straight and solid and the damage is limited to the paint. It is not always the whole answer, and we will tell you so at the estimate:

• If a scratch sits inside a dent, the dent comes first. A shallow dent with intact paint may come out with paintless dent removal, leaving only the line to touch up.
• If a plastic bumper is cracked, torn or hanging off its clips, that is a bumper repair job, and a cover that cannot be saved can be replaced.
• If the whole hood or roof is peeling or chalky, spot work will not hold; clear coat repair is the honest option.
• If the paint is covered in fine swirls rather than a few distinct lines, paint correction will do more than touch-up.
• If a chip has already bubbled with rust, the rust has to be cut back and treated through rust repair before any color goes on.

Pick whichever is easiest for you:

• Photos. Send two or three pictures through the estimate form or by email to help@socalmobiledentrepair.com. One close shot, one from a few feet back, and one of the paint code label help most.
• Phone. Call us and describe the scratch: where it is, how long it is, and whether your fingernail catches on it.
• In person. We come out and look at the car where it is parked.

Photos shot in shade or overcast light show depth better than harsh midday sun, which can hide fine lines or make them look worse than they are.

To size up a scratch yourself first, try the fingernail test in our car scratch repair cost guide, and for stone chips see how to repair chipped paint.