Need help with scratches on a used car that I don't know how agressive I can be...

J

Jester7677

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I'm a DIYer and I don't have a paint meter. Not too long ago we bought a 3rd car (for future teen drivers), a 2014 Honda Civic with 26,000 miles on it. It was a long and horrible process to even find this for the budget. I don't typically buy used cars at this budget so I've learned it's super tough if you want it to be perfect, but I also learned I'm not good at it, so no need to remind me please. It didn't take long to see scratches were covered with WD40 or something else. Outside the more significant scratches, the car doesn't have swirls, so I'm confident they did do a light polish on it at least.


The pictures are listed below. I'm curious how you would attack each one.

The choices that I see are...

1) Fill lighter ones with a Glaze and see what happens (if anything) and then topped with a LSP (FK1000p). It's an interesting thought I'm going to test just to see how things work out. I'm interested for my other car (in new condition) as I want that gloss but don't want to polish it often over time.
2) Try DrColorChip and use their SealAct solution.
3) Touch up paint them, then wet sand that area (and pray I don't ruin the surrounding clear).
4) Try a Clear Coat Pen.
5) Maybe learn how to use a small air brush (I have one) for this purpose.
5) Live with it.
6) Bring it to a body shop. Valid answer but will absolutely wait to see what the kids do to it over time.

Picture A) Side door and there are a few others just like this.
My thought: Buff with Compound. Maybe wet sand with 3000 first?

View attachment 58105

Picture B) Driver's Door Handle
My thought: Wet sand (3000) then buff with Compound.

View attachment 58106


Picture C) Hood on an edge feature.
My thought: These are varying depths... this is tricky. Dr ColorChip is my best thought.


View attachment 58107


Pictures D and E) Either side of the back window.
My Thought: These are some of the worst. They need to be cleaned, sanded, maybe the rusting one filled with bondo, and then Dr ColorChip?


View attachment 58109

E

View attachment 58110
 
If you want to just hide it, turtle wax color magic can fill the scratches and make them a lot less noticeable. I'll generally do that after a good polishing rather than try to cut too deep into the paint, but that's partially because I don't have confidence in my skills for deep scratches.

I am pretty curious how people would handle those little spots with rust. My dad was telling me his car has a couple spots like that and wanted my help - I'm visiting them next weekend. I was thinking a careful dremel grind and touchup primer/paint/clear then wet sand, but would love to hear what some of these guys do. A good tip for the sanding to limit the potential damage on touchups is to get a pencil and superglue a small circle of sand paper on the eraser end. You can get a much more precise sanding that way for small spots.
 
2014 Honda (known for crappy paint).... Third Car.... Meant for future drivers....

e) Live with it!

For those rust spots you pictures, I've dealt with those before. When they're that small you can spray them with Iron-X or similar and repeat until all the rust is gone. Then just use a Duplicolor touch up paint you can get anywhere, just to keep the rust from coming back.
 
Eric@CherryOnTop said:
2014 Honda (known for crappy paint).... Third Car.... Meant for future drivers....

e) Live with it!

For those rust spots you pictures, I've dealt with those before. When they're that small you can spray them with Iron-X or similar and repeat until all the rust is gone. Then just use a Duplicolor touch up paint you can get anywhere, just to keep the rust from coming back.
Click to expand...

Eric, thanks and I will spot sand and remove the rust. I'm not at the "live with it" stage yet, but will eventually. Until then I'm going to use this car for some glaze/LSP testing. It's outside 24/7 and it's not my personal baby. My OCD tendencies are tough to curb though.

I do have DrColorchip paint on the way so I'll be trying that in D and E.

For others, I'm curious if there is an effective similar clear coat only solution (apply, wipe, polish) that can be kept to the scratch alone.
 
I'd say try the Dr Colorchip, it's the safest solution. I also agree with Eric, kids can be rough on cars.
 
Teenage drivers? Within a few months that thing is going to be covered with dings, dents, and scratches anyway lol.
 
Ernie Mccracken said:
Teenage drivers? Within a few months that thing is going to be covered with dings, dents, and scratches anyway lol.
Click to expand...


That's why for cars like this I'm a huge fan of a one-step cleaner/wax.

One and done...


KISS = Keep it Simple Simon

A good one-step cleaner/wax, especially machine applied will,

  1. Remove all the road film and other dirt films that naturally build up on paint over time.
  2. Remove any oxidization
  3. Remove shallow swirls, scratches and water spots
  4. Restore clarity to the clearcoat
  5. Restore gloss and shine
  6. Leave behind protection


And it will do it al line one-step.

I would make my kids do it so they appreciate the process, the results and the car.



:)
 
DavidM235ily said:
If you want to just hide it, turtle wax color magic can fill the scratches and make them a lot less noticeable. I'll generally do that after a good polishing rather than try to cut too deep into the paint, but that's partially because I don't have confidence in my skills for deep scratches.

I am pretty curious how people would handle those little spots with rust. My dad was telling me his car has a couple spots like that and wanted my help - I'm visiting them next weekend. I was thinking a careful dremel grind and touchup primer/paint/clear then wet sand, but would love to hear what some of these guys do. A good tip for the sanding to limit the potential damage on touchups is to get a pencil and superglue a small circle of sand paper on the eraser end. You can get a much more precise sanding that way for small spots.
Click to expand...

i'm in Pasadena too, and so is wrapt, we'd be willing to help, i won't speak for him but he's a good dude. but let me know
 
Thanks for the responses, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Yes, the kids (14 & 16) are and have been helping! Currently I let them to the wheels and interior. They also use the electric leaf blower after wash... :)
 
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