Better safe than sorry. If you want your car to shine like new for a long time, it is best if you don’t get scratched in the first place. In this way, the original paintwork of your car will last for many years – a factor that contributes enormously to increasing the value of your car. In this overview * you can find out everything you need to know about removing scratches in paintwork. So, in the following article, we get to know about How to fix scratches on car?
The most common causes of scratches
In order to protect your car from unsightly scratches and scrapes, you of course need to know where the greatest dangers for your paintwork lurk in everyday life. That is why we have taken a closer look at the three biggest enemies of gloss paint and clarified them:
How scratches are made
Which vehicle parts are most frequently affected
How you can protect your paintwork against this danger
Cleaning to fix scratches on car
Sometimes well-intentioned is the opposite of good. A classic example of this is self-polishing paintwork: Most scratches are caused by improper car cleaning. So if you want to give your car a special shine, you should pay close attention to the choice of cleaning utensils – it could very well be that otherwise, it will do the opposite.
How do wash scratches arise? Sponges that are too rough or brushes that are too hard damage the sensitive clear lacquer, the top layer of lacquer that makes your car shine and protects it from the weather. Hundreds of micro-scratches cause the paint to become matt.
Which parts are most often affected? Car wash scratches occur wherever you try to polish your paintwork, the bonnet or fenders are particularly affected.
How do you properly polish your car? If you want to avoid scratches from the wash, it is advisable to invest some money in high-quality cleaning utensils: Soft microfiber cloths and a good car shampoo are good for cleaning the car at home. Also, make sure the clothes are clean.
Parking damage to fix scratches on car
Regardless of whether you are looking for a parking space yourself or whether your neighbor maneuvers his car into the parking space next to you – many scratches occur when parking. Especially when things get tight, the driver’s level of stress is high and a high curb is easily overlooked. If you want to avoid parking scratches, you should consider certain things when choosing a parking space.
How do parking scratches occur? The car is particularly often scratched when parking or leaving a parking space if you misjudge the distances or overlook an obstacle. Yes, the more massive this obstacle is, the deeper the scratch it leaves in your paintwork.
Which parts are most often affected? Parking scratches are usually found on particularly exposed vehicle parts, such as the bumper or the fender. For example, if you get stuck on a street lamp, it can also scratch your exterior mirrors.
How can you avoid parking scratches?
Before parking, make sure that you have enough space and, if in doubt, have a passenger guide you. Keep enough distance from other cars – This not only helps you avoid scratching but also helps the owners of those cars not to get too close to your car when pulling out of a parking space. You can also protect your parked car by folding in the exterior mirrors.
Damage caused by vandalism
You actually only know this from the film: jealous ex-boyfriends who are immortalized on your bonnet. But unfortunately, key scratches are not that rare. Car insurance companies record several thousand cases of vandalism on parked cars every year.
How are key scratches created?
Modern paints are relatively robust and scratch-resistant, but they don’t stand a chance against a sharp metal object such as a house key. Most of the time, key scratches are deep enough to expose the sheet metal.
Which parts are most often affected? When it comes to vandalism, prominent car parts are particularly often affected: the bonnet, the driver’s door, or the tailgate.
How can you protect yourself from vandalism? It is safest to park your car in a place that is not open to the public. Your private garage or a closed forecourt is ideal.
Scratches in the paint? – Measures & costs
Got too close to the rose bush or slipped your car key? Scratches in the car paint happen faster than you can see. But not all scratches are the same. A distinction is made here primarily on the basis of two factors: depth and length.
Superficial scratches are usually hardly noticeable with the naked eye, because they are only in the outermost layer of varnish, the clear varnish. However, if a different color than the car color shimmers through in the scratch, it goes down to the primer. Depending on the nature of the scratch, other repair methods will be used to remove it.
It all depends on the scratch: Small and light scratches can be repaired easily and inexpensively with a polish or spot repair. Polishes allow the paint expert to gently sand superficial scratches out of the paint without having to apply new paint to the affected area. With Spot Repair, only the affected area is treated and there is no dismantling. However, this method is only possible for very small damaged areas.
Bottom Line to fix scratches on car
Long and deep scratches require more effort to have repaired because the affected components have to be dismantled and completely painted. Sometimes the surrounding components are even coated in to avoid color differences. Therefore, the cost depends a lot on the type of scratches.
The cost of repairing scratches at the paint expert depends primarily on whether the entire vehicle part on which the scratch is located has to be repainted or whether the scratch can be repaired locally using spot repair. Thanks to the material and time savings with smart repair methods, the prices for these repair methods are significantly lower. But the color and quality of the paint and the size of the component concerned also affect the price.
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