(Clear-coat?) Scratches, what to do?

[marketsons1985]

During all the snow in the past while, I must have either moved past some ice, or someone moved past my car and scraped alongside it. There are now two long white lines on the side of my red car. Running my hand along it doesn't feel deep, but I don't have experience in trying to fix something like this.

I stopped by AutoZone on my way home today and asked, they pointed me to something called NuFinish. I got it...tried it out...doesn't seem to have done anything, and possibly may have exacerbated the problem!

I've looked into some options, but I'm not sure which is best, if any are possible.

1) Claim on insurance, it will either be a collision coverage (if I was at fault moving past the ice) or comprehensive. I DO NOT LIKE THIS OPTION as I'm not sure what their thoughts about me not knowing how the scratches got there. My comprehensive coverage deductible is $50 and my collision is $250.
2) Pay for detailers to remove. In the DC area it seems like like this could be anywhere from $75 to $250 +
3) Try it myself <----I have very little knowledge in this. I would be quite nervous to mess something up, but could certainly do something. I also have no access to a hose as I live in a (very stingy) apartment complex.

I call upon the Gods of the AT Garage to provide guidance. What would you do?

 

[CurseTheSky]

If this is a nice car (newer, or generally expensive) get it repaired professionally.

If this is a car that's somewhat of a beater or you don't care that the outcome is perfect, try fixing it yourself. Some high-grit sandpaper, a buffing pad, some rubbing compound, and a lot of patience goes a long way. You could always try it on a tiny section first to see how it comes out and help you decide if you want to continue.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Stop by a body shop to have them look at it so you know what you're dealing with at least. If it's just in the clear it can be sanded & buffed out, depending on how deep. Generally a body shop shouldn't charge you a dime to look at it as they should be able to walk to your car parked outside in the lot and tell you in a few seconds how bad it is. It also wouldn't hurt to have them throw a price at you.

When I was in autobody we would do plenty of walk-in jobs like this while the customer waited since it usually wouldn't take much more than 1/2 hour to correct it and charged a minimal fee.

 

[marketsons1985]

If this is a nice car (newer, or generally expensive) get it repaired professionally.

If this is a car that's somewhat of a beater or you don't care that the outcome is perfect, try fixing it yourself. Some high-grit sandpaper, a buffing pad, some rubbing compound, and a lot of patience goes a long way. You could always try it on a tiny section first to see how it comes out and help you decide if you want to continue.

It's my first new car. 2009 Pontiac Vibe.

Stop by a body shop to have them look at it so you know what you're dealing with at least. If it's just in the clear it can be sanded & buffed out, depending on how deep. Generally a body shop shouldn't charge you a dime to look at it as they should be able to walk to your car parked outside in the lot and tell you in a few seconds how bad it is. It also wouldn't hurt to have them throw a price at you.

When I was in autobody we would do plenty of walk-in jobs like this while the customer waited since it usually wouldn't take much more than 1/2 hour to correct it and charged a minimal fee.

I think I'll try this - I've got a service station right next door! I'll drive it there and check with them...

 

[exdeath]

Look up Porter Cable Orbital Polisher. It's practically idiot proof, as long as you start with a light compound and work your way up.

 

[thescreensavers]

lol NuFinish is crap, get Meguiars stuff, they sell it at Autozone too, its quality stuff.

Take pics of the scratch! So we can see how bad it is.

 

[marketsons1985]

lol NuFinish is crap, get Meguiars stuff, they sell it at Autozone too, its quality stuff.

Take pics of the scratch! So we can see how bad it is.

Hilarious too, cause I brought both up to the counter, and they told me the NuFinish was the one to get. Guess I'll be taking advantage of the "100% satisfaction guarantee"

I'll have pics tomorrow. It's sad.

 

[thescreensavers]

I used NuFinish back when I was a noob as well, my dad bought it before. and it was just sitting in my garage. I used it on my trunk after I debadged, and I unfortunately used my nail to scrape off the left over glue, any how I used this to remove the scratched I put in, with a hand applicator and it did a really bad job, it did look better but not great. I got some Megs Scratch X 2.0 and it made it look a lot better same technique, from there on I been using megs stuff. I learned quite a lot since then though.

There is also Ultimate Compound, and Swirl X. Scratch X 2.0 I believe is in the middle between them on aggressiveness scale.

But post pics