Make a mess of repairing scratches

moco

I scratched our car quite badly on Saturday night

We went to Halfords on Sunday to look for things to reduce the appearance of scratches. My boyfriend went and found this stuff u put on in 3 stages, a primer, paint the same colour as your car, then a clear laquer.

I did the primer on Sunday night, which was basically painting a light grey paint over the lines on our dark grey car. Then last night I went to put on the paint and it's slightly too light in colour.

I tried rubbing it off then, and have basically made a balls of the whole thing. I've been trying to scrape the light coloured primer off now, as i can't cover it with the wrong coloured paint.

Anyway...my question is, is there anything I can use to remove the bits I've painted, without damaging the paintwork underneath?

Thanks

Owen

Before people come in and start recommending T Cut and the likes, the simple answer is no, not easily. Because the primer and the wrong paint are over the original, it will be difficult to compound down without cutting into the original paint too.

Did you do anything to eradicate/fill the scratches before painting over them? Do you have any photos you can show us?

Stevie Dakota

There is so much wrong with this, starting with Halfords.

Stop what you are doing and contact a smart repair service who will repaint the area and correct your mistakes.

Owen

+1 on the Halfords. Anytime I go in there, the wrong advice is being given out by untrained staff on how to 'fix' body repairs. I've bought an aerosol there two times for just a hobby job at home, and both times what was on the aerosol label bore no relation to what was in it.

The disappointing thing, is that Halfords in the UK is a different animal. They have trained staff, workshops, they have their own SMART repair services too.

moco

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_191660_langId_-1_categoryId_165580

This is the stuff I got from Halfords. There was a useless little sponge you were supposed to go over the scratches with first, which took the shine off the surrounding paint so I had to stop. Then the primer was supposed to fill in the scratches.

I have no photos at the min but I can post some later.

I don't know how my boyfriend hasn't lost the plot over this..yet.

Owen

Don't stress, it's just paint. Cars can be sorted in a few hours, so no point in getting worked up over it. In my signature is a guide on how to repair scratches (If you can't see it, you may need to PM the Mods for access to the forum, there's debate over whether or not it's public yet) - it's an intensive process that a simple kit from Halfords doesn't cover.

moco

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Don't stress, it's just paint. Cars can be sorted in a few hours, so no point in getting worked up over it. In my signature is a guide on how to repair scratches (If you can't see it, you may need to PM the Mods for access to the forum, there's debate over whether or not it's public yet) - it's an intensive process that a simple kit from Halfords doesn't cover.

Thanks, I PM'd a mod there so I can see your signature.

Does anyone have any rough idea of how much these things usually cost to get fixed in a garage?

I've scraped the back door, the door handle a little, the back panel and a little bit of the curly bit that goes over the wheel.

they're not very deep scratches but there's quite a few of them.

I got in a fight with a wheelie bin

cantdecide

Got a pic?

Stevie Dakota

Talking to a Smart repairer recently he said wheelie bins where great for business, people are forever reversing into them.

cantdecide

I've been thinking of fitting reversing sensors....to my wheelie bin.

moco

Just thinking I have a no claim bonus protecetion on my insurance with Allianz, where I can have 2 claims on the insurance without if affecting my no claims bonus.

Would it be worth getting it fixed on the insurance then?

Stevie Dakota

moco wrote: »

Just thinking I have a no claim bonus protecetion on my insurance with Allianz, where I can have 2 claims on the insurance without if affecting my no claims bonus.

Would it be worth getting it fixed on the insurance then?

No-one will be able to tell you that without seeing the damage. But I would think not judging from your description.

Claiming may not effect your no-claims, but your renewal premium may go up, or you may have to stay with your current insurer come renewal. You will need to check with you insurance company.

Owen

The thing about it is, if it's a door, and quarter panel as you've described, you're probably talking an average price of 800 Euro to repair in a bodyshop. Even if you claimed on your insurance, your policy will have an excess - a part of the claim they don't pay - this can be anything from 200 Euro - 750 Euro depending on the Insurer, and the choices you made when buying the policy.

moco

I just checked with Allianz and they said I have a £200 excess, then if I do make a claim it won’t affect my premiums. I think I’ll bring it in somewhere to see what they would charge, then if it’s much more than £200 it would be worth getting fixed in a bodyshop and claiming on my insurance.

colm_mcm

Sounds like a job for a body shop to be honest. No offence to SMART repairers but I wouldn't get a SMART repair on a door and quarter panel.

Owen

None taken, but it does depend on the ability of the repairer, and the environment in which it's being done. I wouldn't even attempt a large flat panel like a door without having an indoor dust free area to work in, and a bucket load of bright light. Doing that outdoors would be a recipe for disaster.

moco

I don't know what the smart repairers are? I'm in the UK, maybe it's an Irish thing.

Owen

It's very much a UK thing! Where in the UK are you?

A SMART repairer is a call out bodyshop basically. It's Small to Medium Area Repair Technology. Usually 1/3 to 1/4 the price of a bodyshop, and done in hours, not days. The thing is that it's only suitable for repairs such as yours if the technician is good at what they do, and has experience of that type of repair.

moco

I'm in Ealing, London

Owen

I'll ask on the UK repairers forum I mod if anyone's near there. Give me an hour or so.

moco

PaintDoctor wrote: »

I'll ask on the UK repairers forum I mod if anyone's near there. Give me an hour or so.

Thanks so much

cgc5483

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Don't stress, it's just paint. Cars can be sorted in a few hours, so no point in getting worked up over it. In my signature is a guide on how to repair scratches (If you can't see it, you may need to PM the Mods for access to the forum, there's debate over whether or not it's public yet) - it's an intensive process that a simple kit from Halfords doesn't cover.

A quick questions. I can't seem to access your guide. Anyone else have problems.

Owen

The guide is in the Motors DIY forum, which was supposed to be made public and hasn't been yet. I'm sure it will be. In the meantime, you can PM a mod for access.

moco

My dad seems to think T cut will sort out my car. Don't know why he didn't mention this on Sunday before I used the Halfords stuff!

Does anyone have experience of using this?

Wolverine_1999

moco wrote: »

My dad seems to think T cut will sort out my car. Don't know why he didn't mention this on Sunday before I used the Halfords stuff!

Does anyone have experience of using this?

Would really need to see a picture of the damage beforehand.

It works.. to a degree.

Owen

First of all, sorry, I couldn't get anyone to answer my thread on the UK SMART forum, but a quick google of 'ealing smart repair' turns up a few options for you.

Secondly, as mentioned in my first reply, T Cut is generally useless, and without photos of the car, it's impossible for us to tell you if it is possible to remove the damage with a cutting compound. Also, remember, because you have new paint which is nice and hard now on top of the old paint, even if by some miracle it was possible to remove the old scratches with a compound, it will be difficult for you to know where to stop compounding between the new and old paint and you could end up going down through the old paint too.

At this stage as advised by others and myself, I really would be leaving it to the professionals.

moco

OK! I'll get a few quotes over the weekend. I contacted somewhere called Chipsaway yesterday but I'm still waiting for them to get back to me.

Thanks

doctorchopper

be careful making a insurance claim, your no claims protection will only protect your discount with your current insurance company, if you want to change come renewal time you will have to tell them you had a claim and then you will lose your discount.To save a couple hundred it won't be worth it.