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Touch up vs. quarter panel repaint - what would you do?
Hey team,
Roommate accidentally swiped her bicycle against my car today...caused a pretty deep scratch. I thought it would be an easy touch up paint job but I am being quoted anywhere from $750 - 1150 to repaint the rear quarter panel. The scratch has penetrated the clear coat at certain points along the 5" scratch (though not all of it has penetrated). You can't see bare metal but you can definitely feel the scratch with your fingernails. I live in Northern California where it is foggy/humid/rainy but not snowy (so no salt) - would rust be a concern?
What would you do in this situation? Touch up paint and call it a day? Or spend $1k for a repainted quarter panel? Hope to hear from others as I have never been in this situation before.
It's the first noticeable scratch on my car so I am quite sad
Here is a pic:
Anywhere moisture is present, rust is a concern... so if the paint is compromised enough for moisture to reach metal, rust may start to form eventually. Though in the picture it does not look like there is any exposed metal.
As far as the repair goes, shouldn't your roommate be held liable? I would hope he/she is willing to cover the expenses to repair the area that was damaged as a result of their actions.
Touch up paint can be carefully applied to help make it look better, but it will never look like a properly repaired & repainted panel.
Check out this video by AmmoNYC. Remember that the primary use of touchup paint is protection, secondary is aesthetics. Either way it won't look original, even if you try to paint match.
Since this is a relatively small scratch, I would take a shot at the DIY. Just be very patient when you're going through this process: touchup paint, wetsand, clearcoat, wetsand.
Thank you both for your advice. It's really hard to tell if the scratch has penetrated the clearcoat. My nail catches, but only by a bit. Is there some sort of threshold to know when it has penetrated and when it has not? Hypothetically, let's say it only catches on my nail a little bit (like 1 sheet of paper deep). Can that be 100% repaired just by polishing/touching up?
My roommate is a saint and offered to pay for the whole cost of the repair. Most people would probably touch it up and call it a day. However, if I'm going to have it repaired, I want it to be repaired 100%. At the same time, I'm not going to force her to shell out the $800 to repaint it if the scratch is shallow enough to be buffed out completely...
BTW, do you guys know how aftermarket paint compares to the factory paint on these 2013 G37s? I know certain car makes are known for exceptional factory paint, is Infiniti one of them?
In your 2nd photo there, it does look repairable without painting... again this is very hard to tell with a photograph, but are you comfortable wet sanding, machine compounding and machine polishing on your own?
If so, I would be happy to walk you through the process. If not, I can try to point you to a detailer in your area who could help you out quickly and easily.
^ Would very much appreciate some referrals to local detailers, if you happen to know anyone in Northern California area (near Daly City, CA). Thanks, Zach.
If not fully fixed, at least from that second pic it looks like you'll be able to get it fixed to the point of not being able to notice it without looking for it at least.
Yeah, I cleaned the area up for the second pic. When I took it to a shop today, they said it was not so deep a scratch that it would require repainting. I will probably just get it touched up.
I think cleaning up the scratch (wiping away the surface scuff marks, the clearcoat "grind" residue on the scratch, etc.) made it look a lot more manageable.
I lined up 2 sheets of paper against my car to get a sense for the depth of the scratch. 2 sheets of paper feels thicker. The scratch feels more like 1 sheet of paper.
^ Would very much appreciate some referrals to local detailers, if you happen to know anyone in Northern California area (near Daly City, CA). Thanks, Zach.
The closest person I know is Joseph... here is his info...
Yeah, I cleaned the area up for the second pic. When I took it to a shop today, they said it was not so deep a scratch that it would require repainting. I will probably just get it touched up.
I think cleaning up the scratch (wiping away the surface scuff marks, the clearcoat "grind" residue on the scratch, etc.) made it look a lot more manageable.
I lined up 2 sheets of paper against my car to get a sense for the depth of the scratch. 2 sheets of paper feels thicker. The scratch feels more like 1 sheet of paper.
You can take it to a detailer and have him polish and buff it. It will be less noticeable and possibly even disappear with some wet sanding first. The only risk is buffing through the clear coat, which would absolutely necessitate a reprint.
Looking at your second photo, it does seem to be repairable without repainting...
Let's have a look at these scratches on this Nissan GT-R... to me, they look even worse than what you have shown in your most recent photo.
After taking paint thickness readings, I determined it was safe to do a little sanding on these, so I proceeded to carefully wet sand by hand using 2000 Grit paper until the scratch was removed.
The sanding marks were then removed by machine compounding and polishing using the Rupes LHR75E, 3" microfiber cutting pads, Meguiar's M105, and Meguiar's M205.
This scratch repair took just 20 minutes or so and did not remove much material at all.
With the golden rule of defect removal being always use the least aggressive method first, I would advise you to proceed by using some cutting compound to see if you can remove the scratch before considering wet sanding. If you're not comfortable with either method, consult a professional detailer.
I had someone polish it and touch it up with some touch up paint. It was wet sanded, took about 15-20 min.
It's unfortunate that it can't be fully repaired without repainting, but I've taken the car to ~5 shops now that all tell me there's no way to 100% repair the scratch with just polishing. I guess the scratch did go deep.
It's not perfect but it was ~$80 to cover this scratch + the minor scratches around it. I can still see the scratch but it has been touched up and at least protected from the elements. It's noticeable if you know what to look for, but from most angles, it cannot be seen. It's most noticeable when I am looking at it directly (perpendicular).
09-28-2016, 12:07 AM
