Automotive Academy

One of the most annoying things about owning a car is coming out of the shops to your parked car, to find it has a scratch… small but noticeable, on the vehicle side panel. It wasn’t there yesterday or a week ago, but today it is prominent. How frustrating! If this is a small scratch, it is simple to fix and here’s how!

First you need to look closely at the scratch. If it is minor and only scratches the paint surface of the car, but not destroyed the paint or gone further than the top coating, it can be fixed it. You will need a thin lined sharpie marker that is the same color as your car. Black marker for a black car, blue marker for a blue car etc.

Wash the panel the scratch is on to make sure it is completely rid of any dirt or grim. Wipe it dry with a paper towel. Make sure there is no dirt on the area around the scratch or in the scratch itself or this process won’t work. Take the sharpie marker and fill in the scratch very carefully. This needs to be an exact line, spread evenly where the paint is lacking. 

You then need to carefully apply wax the area of the scratch, place the wax on the surface, but before moving or polishing, allow the wax to set for 15 minutes. After the time allotted is finished, polish the panel as directed on the package directions.

Once you are done polishing, you will notice the scratch has disappeared or considerably lightened. The wax builds up in the scratch and allows the surface to smooth out. This is can be repeated if necessary and will last for up to a year before fading.