Tobeit

Unfortunately, I had an unpleasant experience and need some tips. I was out for Friday Happy Hour, parked the car on side of street with ample room to car before and behind me. I remember there was a small SUV parked in front....well, when I came back that SUV must have backed up into me and dragged his plastic bumper cover over my front bumper and hood. Luckily, no dents or real damage but a lot of these "scratches" where apparently the bumper was riding up my front end. Needless to say how excited I was about that.

I tried a few things to get that fixed: used some cutting compound followed by polish and used several types of scratch removers - all with little success. I don't see any dents and its now only visible when I look at it at the right light and angle but want it gone. Could these be "indentation" in the clear coat and not really scratches? How you guys think I can remove those? Do I need to sand it down and have new clear coat applied? Any ideas?

The picture probably makes it look worse than it really is as I tried to find the worst light and angle...and zoomed in.

dhirm5

I hate ****ty drivers. What an *******. :-(

Sorry, with I could tell you how to fix. Just wanted to weigh in with F that guy/girl.

Tobeit

yeah, Happy Hour was not that happy after all. What gets me is I picked that parking spot as these were marked spots the size of a football field (designed to fit even the largest Suburban) and I thought it’s saver than a parking garage where you get door dings. That guy had to back up several feet to hit me and then some more to drag all the way over my hood.

mksz51

Machine polishing may take that out - it's far more effective than anything you can do by hand without a device spinning a pad with compound. IF you can catch the edges with your fingernail it might be too deep to totally remove. Take it to a good detailer - a body shop could also do it but their inclination is usually to respray and that could be overkill. Good luck - sorry this happened to you.

Tobeit

Thanks. I tried with my orbital polisher but was careful and only used medium coarse pads. Will see if I can feel it with nail but doubt it.

ipse dixit

sorry to see this, but more likely than not it will need to be sanded down and repainted if you want it to look perfect.

good luck

EZ E

This can be filled and buffed. That's nothing!!!

colnagoG60

Many methods documented on youtube...choose wisely.

I like Apex Detail's approach:

Feld

If it is through the clear coat it needs to be refinished, if not color sand and buff but be careful not to burn through the clear. Always run the buffer rotation OFF the edge,

Tobeit

Thanks for everybody's feedback...will give it one more, careful try and if it does not work it will go off to a professional.

zachr

+1 for the fingernail test. If you can feel it, there's a pretty good chance it's too deep to remove without sanding all the way down to the paint and redoing the clear coat, perhaps with some touching up of the actual paint.

Best of luck - hate to see this

3rdpedal

I assume there is no PPF there. But yes, a detailer should be able to take care of that.

colnagoG60

Looks like this is the method of the day for "touch up", without respraying (fill/sand/polish method):

cwbrown

You will probably have to use a random orbital sander.
Start with Maguires 105 Ultra Cut of similar and mid firm foam pad.
If that does not take it out then move to a 1000grit wet sand, then to the 1500 grit - 2000 grit and then 3000 grit wet sand followed by the 105 again.
If that work finish up with Maguires 205 Ultra Finnish.
The ROS foam pad and Maguires almost make if idiot proof (I can do it)

garthg

Try some of this. Available at pretty much any auto parts store. It will certainly remove many of the finer scratches. Follow with a polish/wax of your preference.