Fixing Key Scratch--Advice Needed

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Hokie335i

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Hey guys,

So someone decided to key my girlfriend's car. Since meeting me she has made a huge effort to take good care of her car and keep it clean living in Buffalo, NY so this really bums her out!

I've done paint chip and scratch repair on quite a few jobs but not ever with something this deep. Any recommendations on how to repair it? I know Dr. Colorchip is okay for chips but for scratches it can be a little iffy. Initially I thought of using some OEM paint touch up and clear and filling it then letting it sit for a few days and then try to buff it down a bit.

Car is a 2013 Venetian Red Pearl Subaru Impreza

Here are some pics..
Untitled by Chris Merritt, on Flickr

Untitled by Chris Merritt, on Flickr

Untitled by Chris Merritt, on Flickr

Untitled by Chris Merritt, on Flickr
 
IMO I think you could fix this by wet sanding. I have tackled a few key scratches and IMO that would be the best way to go. If you can feel the scratch stop with your fingernails then it is too deep. But from you pictures it appears that wet sanding can fix that.

After the wet sand a compound and polish is necessary.

I use 1500 grit for the major correction then follow up with 2000 or 2500 (I prefer 2500). Make sure you use a sanding block when sanding.

Believe it or not, it is actually very easy to take care of if you take your time and very careful. Make sure you stop and look after each sanding. Get a MF and dry the area you have just sanded. You will start seeing the scratch disappear. Additionally, when you wet sand, you will start seeing the water turn milky. That is actual clear coat you are removing. Just be careful of how much you wet sand. There will be a point where you feel that should be enough and see your results with a compound/polish. That usually will take care of the rest of the scratch.

The edge of the door and the scratch right below the door handle looks to be too deep. You can wet sand and improve the look of the scratch but a touch up will be necessary. The rest can be wet sanded and compound/polished out BASED on your pics.

I have attached a couple of photos of wet sanding a Lambo Gallardo. I let the person know that it was a very deep scratch and I would do my best to repair. Overall it turned out OK NOT perfect but OK. This was a very deep scratch and there was slight dents on both ends. BTW, I could get my fingernails through the entire scratch. I let him know upfront it will not be perfect but save him at least 3k - 4k in a repaint as it was a Lambo.

I wish I had the other photos of a recent key scratch on an Infiniti QX 60, however, it is on my cell phone pics and I am too stupid to figure out how to post them on AGO. I think the file is too big. That turned out perfect!! That scratch was very similar to yours.

Either way, if it were me I would try the wet sanding. What a better way to learn than now. Worse case scenario would be to re-paint.

IMO I think you will kick ass!!!

BTW Pic #4 you can see the compound. The next step was polish and the end results.
 
Thanks for the help guys! I'm comfortable wet sanding so I'll go ahead and try that and buff and polish it to hopefully fix the majority of it. Then touch up anything that's left!
 
irvsmith said:
Here might be a starter video to get an overview of the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2aC_oseMe4
Click to expand...

One suggestion I would make contrary to what you'll see in the video is... Do not fill the scratch with any type of filler. Use the paint to do that.

The way I do these types of repairs is to only use as much base coat (color) as necessary to achieve hiding. Do not try to level the scratch with the base coat. Then use multiple layers of clear to finish filling and leveling the scratch.

Obviously there are many more steps involved but the point I wanted to make was not to use any filler to level the scratch. If you do, then you will never be able to finish the repair level with the surrounding finish as you will sand through and expose to filler when trying to do so.
 
Appreciate all the help guys! I'll be tackling this over winter break when she has the car down where all my supplies are. I'll update this thread with the results then
 
In pic looks like it can be sanded to a certain degree.If it was my car I would just repair it ,I couldn't look at that everyday.
 
Hokie335i said:
Appreciate all the help guys! I'll be tackling this over winter break when she has the car down where all my supplies are. I'll update this thread with the results then
Click to expand...

Way cool!! Can't wait!! IMO you will do a great job on that!! IMO no need to paint it just wet sand and touch up in a couple of areas.

Take care and update when you finish!
 
Hey all! Quick update to this thread. I finally got the chance to detail her car and fix the key mark. I buffed it down with FG400 on an orange hybrid pad on my flex, followed by CarPro Reflect then filled the deeper areas with touch up paint. Here are the results:

Before:
Untitled by Chris Merritt, on Flickr

After buffing it:
Untitled by Chris Merritt, on Flickr

After touch up paint:
DSC_0544 by Chris Merritt, on Flickr
 
Hokie335i said:
Hey all! Quick update to this thread. I finally got the chance to detail her car and fix the key mark. I buffed it down with FG400 on an orange hybrid pad on my flex, followed by CarPro Reflect then filled the deeper areas with touch up paint. Here are the results:

Before:
Untitled by Chris Merritt, on Flickr

After buffing it:
Untitled by Chris Merritt, on Flickr

After touch up paint:
DSC_0544 by Chris Merritt, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Good job. I'm a little confused, you buffed and then applied touch up paint?
 
I'm confused by that too.
Looks great.
Can you share a step by step? I'd love to learn how you did this.
 
Rsurfer said:
Good job. I'm a little confused, you buffed and then applied touch up paint?
Click to expand...

I buffed it initially to see how much would just buff out. Then I applied touch up paint to the deeper parts that didn't buff out and went over it again with polish to smooth it back down.

glfnaz said:
I'm confused by that too.
Looks great.
Can you share a step by step? I'd love to learn how you did this.
Click to expand...

I answered it above. :xyxthumbs: Thank you though.
1. Cleaned and prepped surface
2. Buffed down with FG400 to see how much of the scratch would buff out. The shallower portions did.
3. Cleanse surface and apply touch up paint to deeper portions that didn't buff out. Allow dry time.
4. Go over touch up paint with polish to smooth it down.
 
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