ww007

Update: the problem has been fixed! Scroll down to see pics!

Hello everyone,

Well I was cleaning my new baby the other day and I stupidly scratched up the rear left rear bumper. I accidentally hit the CR spotless device against it (ironic, I know). I've included pics; the central one is the actual scratch, the two thinner ones above and below it rubbed right off.

It's fairly small but definitely noticeable. And it's definitely scratched all the way through, not just the clear coat, so I don't think it can be just buffed out. The color is basalt black metallic.

So what should I do? I don't want to repaint the whole panel obviously. Should I just get some touch up paint and repair it myself? Or take it to a professional detailer? What would they be able do? Would it be possible to make it look like nothing happened without repainting the whole panel? And any idea about the cost of repair?

Please help, and thanks!

Quadcammer

tough up paint and some compound.

Buddhabelly

1. Ignore it and drive.
2. Touch up paint and drive
3. Body shop and pay and drive.

Personally I would pick #2. Part of life.

jdthor

I had to make a short appearance at the local university on Friday; parked my car out away from anyone, walked inside for 20 minutes, and came back to this. Hit and run is a crime here and it turns out there was a witness. In any event I had the car at the repair shop within 2 hours and it looks like two weeks and $500.00 out of pocket deductable for me.............will know more when we grab the guy that did this.

Richard_911

Ouch

zirrah

So looks like that's not a scratch, that's more accurately described as a gouge. A scratch would be something thin, like done with a knife or what have you. You could make that look better with touch up paint. If you want to make it look really good, touch up paint applied thin several times (apply, let dry 12-24 hrs and then apply again) and then wet sand it. Reason being, you've got alot of paint that was removed in a large area (generally speaking).

Normally, the way a scratch is removed is by applying touch-up paint to cover up the metal or plastic, and then leveling the paint around it, so the scratch is not as defined. Usually this is done by wet sanding. Then the area needs to be machine compounded several times to return the finish to clear and not hazy (which will be caused by the sanding).

Your problem is two part I'd say. With so much paint missing, you'll have to apply quite a bit to make it look good. You'll want to apply it several layers as I mentioned before, to build it up a little. You'll want to build it up, so that you can actually wet sand it. If you just apply one layer and then sand, you would have to sand the surrounding area so far down to get the gouge to blend, it would not be advisable.

A good detailer could fix this for you. Dunno cost. Obviously a body shop could. They'll likely be more expensive. Personally I would fix it myself, I just wet sanded some huge scratches on my wife's Volvo from some rocks or something (ain't I-95 great? lol). But it's pretty labor intensive, alot of elbow grease involved to sand the scratched area.

Here's the best resource on the 'net for all things detailing. There is a large wet sanding section toward the middle. I highly recommend reading it and following his recommendations if you want to tackle it yourself.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...-phillips.html

gota911

Contact your dealer and ask them who they use for paint touch ups. Those guys go from dealership to dealership (all dealers, not just Porsche) to fix minor paint issued. Probably will cost $50 to $75.

Or you could do it yourself if you are both patient and handy.

LexVan

Touchup paint, and deal with it at another time.

ww007

Yikes! Sorry to see that jdthor. Hope you get it fixed like new!

Well I've contacted a local guy, will come by my place tomorrow to fix it. Said he will make it look like nothing ever happened. He quoted me a price of $225 (he charged me extra since I was outside his area). Will report back on the results.

Thanks for all your advice. The reason I'm hiring a pro is this car is barely 2 weeks old, and I want to make it look like new. That most certainly won't happen if I do it myself. Hopefully this guy backs up his claims. Seemed to get good reviews on yelp so we'll see.

jdthor

I turned the car in to the body shop last Friday and got it back today; absolutely perfect repair to these old eyes......the $1000 deductible stung a bit, but I am very glad to get the car back. Now, as some of you know, I am the Chief of Staff for a decent size Sheriffs Office here, and we will probably get the guy who smacked my legally parked car; by leaving the scene he committed a crime, a classic "hit and run" and unfortunately for him there was a witness to the event, and probably a video as well. I will find out about that tomorrow. In any event, I REALLY enjoyed the 75 mile drive home from the shop, southbound on I-49 this afternoon. This is my third Porsche, and easily the most enjoyable car I've been lucky enough to own. And to ww007, scratches, blemishes, dings are all part of the deal for those of us who tend to drive our cars "hard". JD Thornton (apologies for semi-hijacking the thread earlier)

ww007

No problem JD, always good to hear about other people's experiences, good or bad!

So the person I called managed to fix the paint flawlessly! You really cannot tell that anything happened! I've included pics and I didn't even know where to zoom in because the fix was that perfect. Took a little over an hour. My baby looks good as new and I couldn't be happier!

If anyone in the LA area is interested, the guy's name is German and you can look him up in Yelp under WestValley Bumper Repair Mobile Service.

I'm not affiliated with him in any way btw, just a very satisfied customer!

Alstoy

Glad this worked out for you. I would go nuts if someone did that to my car. I've been thinking about getting a camera installed. Maybe when I finally move from the 997 to the 991. Cheers.

MishaDesigns

Can't tell at all where the chip was. Nicely done; I'll have to remember this German...

LexVan

Wow, looks great. Well worth the $225.

mtbscott

Congrats on a great restoration job. When I first got my car last October, it was keyed on the passenger side by some numbnut (thread here somewhere). Had plenty of people telling me I was nuts to NOT have a full body shop re-spray, instead I also found a local guy who was able to touch up, wetsand, and buff it to almost perfect. It was much cheaper than a body shop, which is good, but mostly I don't have the stigma of "body work." No one can see where the damage was unless I show it to them, and even then it's barely visible. Kudos.