Easiest way to get scratches out

[Robbieee]

Hi all,

Heres my situation- I have a ford focus at the moment which i will be trading in this week for a type s GT. But there are a couple of scratches on my focus that i need to sort out ** i trade it in. What the cheapest option? Its a black car and a couple of the scratches that are there are right through the pain. How can i fix this sort term and for as little money as possible so i can trade in and get the most amount of money for it?

1 step closer to the civic...

Your help is much appreciated!

Robbie

[copland]

if the scratches are small use a hard black wax product like a chip stick or even a black wax crayon gently fill the scratch and buff off it will disappear for a while. I found that if this is done each week it can mask the scratch indefinitely it just takes a few minutes each week so as far as the stealers are concerned they should not spot it at all.

Post a pic of the scratches if need be.

[Robbieee]

Originally Posted by copland

if the scratches are small use a hard black wax product like a chip stick or even a black wax crayon gently fill the scratch and buff off it will disappear for a while. I found that if this is done each week it can mask the scratch indefinitely it just takes a few minutes each week so as far as the stealers are concerned they should not spot it at all.

Post a pic of the scratches if need be.

I have a chip stick lying about somewhere but it wasnt any use, you could still spot it a mile off. Might go into hal-frauds to see what they have.

[sallytraffic]

Well, I am quite new to this but the stone chips and scratches on my Civic have needed attention so this is what I have been doing with some success, ideas gleaned from various posts on here.

If a scratch has not gone right through then polish the area with whatever polish you need to get the right amount of cut, as little as possible. There is a list of the abrasiveness of different polishes here.. Detailer's Product Charts

If it has gone through the paint you could choose to use the wax stick approach and use a turtle wax chipstick of the colour of the car (found on the side of a turtle wax polish bottle which you have to buy to get the chipstick) to rub into the scratch and disguise it. Or you could use a paint touch up pen. I have found that using the end of a cocktail stick is a more accurate way of applying the paint in small quantities. The paint does contract quite a lot when it dries, many of the chips I have treated have needed a number of applications to get 'flat' even if they were not very deep. I use a fairly abrasive polish on a cloth wrapped round the end of a lolly stick to gently cut any excess back to the smooth level around the chip or scratch.

I hope that may be of some help and I am sure you will get other more professional and experienced advice, but at least I hope it is a start for you.

As far as 'for as little money as possible' is concerned, it all depends what you already have !! The cocktail stick and the lolly stick are definitely 'budget' items

The chipstick from memory is about £8 or £9. A touch up pen maybe £4 (Honda ones are) and polishes vary quite a bit...

[Robbieee]

Originally Posted by sallytraffic

Well, I am quite new to this but the stone chips and scratches on my Civic have needed attention so this is what I have been doing with some success, ideas gleaned from various posts on here.

If a scratch has not gone right through then polish the area with whatever polish you need to get the right amount of cut, as little as possible. There is a list of the abrasiveness of different polishes here.. Detailer's Product Charts

If it has gone through the paint you could choose to use the wax stick approach and use a turtle wax chipstick of the colour of the car (found on the side of a turtle wax polish bottle which you have to buy to get the chipstick) to rub into the scratch and disguise it. Or you could use a paint touch up pen. I have found that using the end of a cocktail stick is a more accurate way of applying the paint in small quantities. The paint does contract quite a lot when it dries, many of the chips I have treated have needed a number of applications to get 'flat' even if they were not very deep. I use a fairly abrasive polish on a cloth wrapped round the end of a lolly stick to gently cut any excess back to the smooth level around the chip or scratch.

I hope that may be of some help and I am sure you will get other more professional and experienced advice, but at least I hope it is a start for you.

As far as 'for as little money as possible' is concerned, it all depends what you already have !! The cocktail stick and the lolly stick are definitely 'budget' items

The chipstick from memory is about £8 or £9. A touch up pen maybe £4 (Honda ones are) and polishes vary quite a bit...

Cheers! I might try the touch up paint as the scratch is pretty deep- its quite narrow tho so i might get away with it!! I am tempted to go into the bodyshop and say to them to sort all the scratches and blemishes for 50-100 quid. I told the dealer down souf that there were no scratches on my focus lol bad me!

[Dawson]

If they are only surface scratches, try removing them with an abrasive polish. Something like Megs Scratch-X would be a good start.

If paint has been removed, clean the scratches well and buy some touch up paint. Fill the scatches with a fine paint brush and you'll probably find it'll look fine - especially if you're trading it in.

Certainly by the time the car has a light coat of dust/rain spots when it arrives at the dealers for a trade in price, it'll be fine.

[FWH]

Have you agree a trade-in price already?

If so, don´t bother.

[robbo51]

Thats right.
If the dealer has made you an accepted offer, then leave it, they will fettle it prior to selling it anyway

[illegalhunter]

Let the dealer take the strain

[Robbieee]

Originally Posted by FWH

Have you agree a trade-in price already?

If so, don´t bother.

He has offered but did ask me about scratches and i said there were only ones on the alloys. I think if i was to take it down in the condition its in he would reduce the trade in price- are you saying he cant do this?

Robbie

[Jack The Lad.]

Then, do as they others have mentioned, using a liquid polish with a built in black dye (Colour Magic) and don't wash the car for a few days, prior to taking it in.
It will get tarted up before it goes on their forecourt anyway.

This post will self destruct in 10 minutes, as N H Dan is looking in.

[NH Dan]

Originally Posted by Robbieee

He has offered but did ask me about scratches and i said there were only ones on the alloys. I think if i was to take it down in the condition its in he would reduce the trade in price- are you saying he cant do this?

Robbie

Unless they are stoopid, they will have offered a price subject to viewing the car or based on your description. If the car is mis-described then they can drop the part ex price easily. They have agreed to buy a car of a certain description, if it doesnt match that, they are well within their rights to lower the offer.

[Unknownsoldier]

My dad used chipsaway and got an extra (IIRC) 10k for his RR when he traded it in. He got several scratches done for about 200 quid.

Tom