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I have had friends laugh out loud at me for crying over a small ding, nick or scratch on my "Pristine Porsche", when they can't even see what I am pointing at!! I have had paintless dent repair guys look at me like I am crazy when I move and sway my head back and forth when I "walk like an egyption" to find the small door ding that no one else can see. If it really bothers you and you have a paintless dent guy or body shop that you trust, then the heat and rub from the inside may help. But, as it's been said, you may just end up boogering it up even more by stretching it too much. I have also had my fair share of taking a car in to have one little imperfection repaired only to have another one or two introduced while I am there. Some battles are worth fighting and others you just need to let go... Choose your battles wisely and enjoy the 99.9999% of the rest of the car that is still in great shape ;^)
Arctic997 - You have a fantastic car, and your lucky to have it. Sounds like your over it from your above post.
Ship happens. Keep your car in a bubble wrap? I'm sure that is better protection. If you need a quick kick in the butt?
It maybe the first, but most likely not the last. I have scraped a few knee's, bumped a few elbow.
That is life.
Less micro, more macro.
I had a front end respray on my Audi before clear bra and while they fixed many things, they also introduced dirt nibs, overspray and other issues. This was at an Audi certified body shop and one of the best ones in town.
On a bumper, I would be tempted to remove the bumper yourself and have it repainted or at least have them authorize a respray if it does both you months from now, as someone else suggested.
I am very OCD with paint and tend to like to get these things repaired, but it is a car, things will happen and you will end up getting more imperfections. I know on my Audi I parked way out of the way, about a year after I got the respray done, and a shopping cart rolled into it and cracked the grille. This was a corner spot and many would have thought you were safe. But a windy day and a downhill slope in a parking lot caused me to need a new grille.
Funny coincidence that this topic comes up now.
I had something similar occur a few weeks ago.
While my indie was lowering the car lift, the door of my car (which wasn't properly closed) hit one of the pillars, which caused a 5" scratch on the driver's door.
He suggested to get it repainted at his usual bodywork shop, and when I got it back a week later it looked fine at first sight.
Then after a more careful inspection, and depending on the light, I noticed that the repaired spot seemed to have a "lighter" colour than the rest of the door, and had a few dimples in it.
When looking even closer, it appears that the resprayed area contains more metallic flakes, and therefore looks to be a bit lighter
Impossible to catch in a picture...
I decided to leave it as it is, after having read the posts above
Nevertheless, if someone could recommend a DIY solution to fix this, I'd love to hear it!
I was thinking polishing, Ultimate Compound, waxing/glazing,...?
Funny coincidence that this topic comes up now.
I had something similar occur a few weeks ago.
While my indie was lowering the car lift, the door of my car (which wasn't properly closed) hit one of the pillars, which caused a 5" scratch on the driver's door.
He suggested to get it repainted at his usual bodywork shop, and when I got it back a week later it looked fine at first sight.
Then after a more careful inspection, and depending on the light, I noticed that the repaired spot seemed to have a "lighter" colour than the rest of the door, and had a few dimples in it.
When looking even closer, it appears that the resprayed area contains more metallic flakes, and therefore looks to be a bit lighter
Impossible to catch in a picture...
I decided to leave it as it is, after having read the posts above
Nevertheless, if someone could recommend a DIY solution to fix this, I'd love to hear it!
I was thinking polishing, Ultimate Compound, waxing/glazing,...?
Hmmmm... tough one without seeing it. Yes, the only real tool you have is compounding it and see what you get. The paint should have been shot with clear after the color layer so you there is limits to what you can do. If you are new to compounding, I recommend Meguiar's Ultimate Compound with an orbital machine (I love my Porter Cable unit) as it is a bit more aggressive than regular polishes but not as aggressive as a typical light compound. And it is a one-step process so you don't have to finish with polishing. It is pretty idiot proof. When you do this door, you will smooth out any orange peel in the paint thus making it shinier.... so you need to compound well beyond the door into surrounding areas. The best shops can match the car's original factory orange peel by varying air content of the spray and other specialized approaches.
Some folks jump to respraying when they see a scratch... but as you found that is a risk that the shop gets the spray correct..... I suspect the shop didn't spray a wide enough area with the correct blending. For most scratches that I've seen, you can actually mitigate their visual presence by compounding because there is typically marring (scuffing) around the scratch. This marring makes it look worse... so compounding a scratch may be preferable than respraying. Again, impossible to diagnose without seeing.
Hmmmm... tough one without seeing it. Yes, the only real tool you have is compounding it and see what you get. The paint should have been shot with clear after the color layer so you there is limits to what you can do. If you are new to compounding, I recommend Meguiar's Ultimate Compound with an orbital machine (I love my Porter Cable unit) as it is a bit more aggressive than regular polishes but not as aggressive as a typical light compound. And it is a one-step process so you don't have to finish with polishing. It is pretty idiot proof. When you do this door, you will smooth out any orange peel in the paint thus making it shinier.... so you need to compound well beyond the door into surrounding areas. The best shops can match the car's original factory orange peel by varying air content of the spray and other specialized approaches.
Some folks jump to respraying when they see a scratch... but as you found that is a risk that the shop gets the spray correct..... I suspect the shop didn't spray a wide enough area with the correct blending. For most scratches that I've seen, you can actually mitigate their visual presence by compounding because there is typically marring (scuffing) around the scratch. This marring makes it look worse... so compounding a scratch may be preferable than respraying. Again, impossible to diagnose without seeing.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
Thanks, I will give the compounding a try. The "dimples" I referred to are actually not orange peel, but more like 3 or 4 small indentations... As if they did not use enough filler to smoothen out the scratch.
I'll try to see if I can take a decent picture tonight.
I actually tried Meguiars UC on the scratch before informing the workshop, but the scratch was too deep to get rid of.
This is a picture I took after compounding. The white line is the base coat showing, not a reflection from the camera flash
Another factor to consider:
Reporting/repairing this scratch may or may not result in an entry in the carfax history, which may or may not be important to you. Nothing worse than getting a "rear impact" entry on carfax for a nearly invisible scratch.
I would try some touch up paint. I get the paint from a Porsche dealer, then pour a tiny bit into a bit of foil, then dilute with a few drops of lacquer thinner, then apply with a fine brush or toothpick doing a few coats to "fill". If it looks lumpy when done, then lightly compound. Never perfect but may be better.
04-24-2018, 04:03 PM
You guys are the best!
