How Do I Fix THIS? Major Scratches...

[NewPTCruiserInPA]

Several pcs of my neighbors sidewalk had broken off from construction trucks running over it, and rather than fix the sidewalk, he just put the chunks back into their respective places. Well, last night in the dark, my husband got too close to the curb when pulling in and the front passenger wheel caught the biggest piece, pulling it into the side of the passenger door. It got wedged between the sidewalk and the door and by the time he got loose from it, it had done some major scratches to the car. It also stretched that attached mud flap that is bolted to the car in front of the door so now it isn't flush with the car door (see pic).


Is there anyway to fix these scratches? I have no idea of what layer it scratched it down to, just that the color is definitely off. I don't have a ton of money to throw at it, so I'm not paying $1000 to fix it, but I don't want it getting rusty either. Any ideas on how to proceed with a fix?

[NewPTCruiserInPA]

After reading through some other scratch related posts, I took Candyman's advice, and decided not to attempt anything on my own, lol, and I called our car dealer and asked who they use for paint touch ups. We have an appointment for Monday to get it looked at and get an estimate...

[CREWZIN]

I've used the Touch-up people on all 3 of my cars. They do a great job at half the cost of any shop.

[Hooligan]

From what I can see, it looks like the "mud flap" is just pulled loose at the bottom. If so, it can be re tightened.

[quicksilverdon]

I think you are taking the wisest course. A body shop doesn't like small jobs and will charge a lot, and I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself...
The rule of body shops that I have discovered - if you can see it, it's expensive.

[twress]

The used car place I bought my PT from has a guy that stops there that travels around to different dealer doing repairs at the lot. I got the number from the salesman and next time he was there I met him there(no exta trip for him) and he did it for $50 what deal. Could be worth checking into always lot of used car lots.

[Candyman]

Hey their NewPTCruiserInPA,

Sorry to hear about your little incident there, but it sounds like you got things under control. From the looks of your photo, it looks like the scratches went all the way down to the primer. Provided their isn't a dent to go along with the scratches, they should air brush out nicely and look as good as new in no time.

Hey QSD,

Hahaha, never heard that one before. Naw, one of the bigger reasons a trip to the Body Shop is often more expensive is partly due to many Body Shops try to concentrate more on Collision Repair by way of shooting and blending entire panels, and then often tries to outsource small spot repairs, as well as Custom Paint work to outside people. Lets say for example, someone here in the City I live in swings by my good friends shop and wants to do some custom graphics, or flames, or something. My Friend then might call on me to come in as an outside contractor, use his shop to lay out the graphics, and then use his booth to spray things out. Same thing with spot repairs that require air brush, they try to call a service to handle it. If not, the alternative from a Body Shop perspective is an expensive one.

Lets say this job were to be done by a shop without the use of an air brush. The only alternative would be to go ahead and re-spray the entire fender, and then blend it into the door. Sounds pretty simple, but their is more to it than you would think. First just in materials alone you have got putty to fill in the scratches, sand paper, masking material, and so on, as well as a good $250 in paint, and another $250 in Clear easy, on top of the time to do all the prep work, time in the paint booth, curing time under a pressurized drying system, and final wet sanding, and buffing out before delivering the repaired vehicle back to the customer.

Here are a couple parts of a product video for Valspar's Debeers Finishing System. The first vid shows the computer color mixing system, and you can see here all of the tints, thinners, hardeners, etc, and so forth needed in the mixing room to adjust the paint color before it goes on your ride. The second Vid shows a brief rundown on the equipment needed to do the job correctly, and the third shows an overview of a typical repair involving re-shooting a fender, and blending it into the door.

YouTube - ShopSmart DeBeer Auto Paint - 01 - Color System

YouTube - ShopSmart DeBeer Auto Paint - 04 - Equipment and Requirements

YouTube - ShopSmart DeBeer - 09 - Fade Out

So you can kinda see, their is quite a bit involved to doing the job right which is where the higher cost of repair comes into effect. This is also why I always try to explain that trying to do these types of repairs at home in your garage is a hard thing to do and achieve any where near decent results. And in addition, the color match paint you can buy online, or at the auto parts store won't ever be an exact color match to your paint as your color is not the same as when it left the Factory due to fading, lightening, darkening, exposure to direct sunlight, atmospheric conditions, and a whole list of other factors which require you to tint the base color accordingly. Most of the time it winds up creating an even bigger mess out of an already bad situation, and more often than not winds up coming back to the shop to get fixed correctly.

Best method as always is to just hire a Service as you have done to have it air brushed out professionally and be done with it. An hour or two, and a minimal cost, and your good to go.

I wish you the best of luck on your repairs their NewPTCruiserInPA, and if you ever have any more questions, please feel free to drop me a line anytime, and I am always more than happy to help out wherever I can.


Go easy,

Candyman

[NewPTCruiserInPA]

Have to laugh. Went for an estimate at a body shop that the dealer uses...

Nearly $600, and THAT'S not going to happen. I would say $250 is on the high end of what I can pay. I wouldn't think a brand new door would cost that much, lol.

So what are my other alternatives? If this is who the dealer uses, how do I find someone cheaper? What do they call the people who do this as a freelance type thing?

Or is this as cheap as it gets? In their quote, they had the whole door apart and it sounded like the whole thing would be repainted. AND it was almost 6 hours of labor to do all that. For a 4"x4" scratched area!

[CREWZIN]

The place down here in Florida that I use is called M.A.R.S. (Mobil Appearance Reconditioning Service).

[Candyman]

Hey their NewPTCruiserInPA,

Ok, they sent yo uto their Body Shop, and not to who does their touch up. Where are you located at? Let me know and I will try to find you an air brush service in your area to call. Or better yet, just give me your Zip.

An Air Brush Service should be able to come to your home, or place of Business and repair something like this in about an hour and a half start to finish, and provided their isnt a dent along with the scratches, should be around $100 - $150 max.

Let me know and I would be happy to steer you back the right direction.

Candyman