Need Minor Scratch Repair Advice (With Pics)

[pure241]

A lot of people seem to be asking the same question. Some sort of definitive sticky might be helpful.

As for my question, I can't for the life of me figure out where all these scratches keep coming from, what would be the best way to get rid of them?

There's white showing, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. (I'm concerned about rust)

Also, what are the pros and cons of DIY or getting it taken care of professionally?

[henry33]

have the same problem :(

[Klink10]

Generally if you can lightly run your fingernail over the scratch and it gets hung up then you will have to get it repainted and cleared. There are all kinds of glazing polishes out there that will when properly done fill a scratch to a point, then of course you would re-apply a sealant or wax to protect. One thing about Toyota's is that their clearkote (that which is over the color) is traditionally soft vs say the BMW which is hard. That really only matters to a detailer when he selects the products to do correction work. THose in the pics could be worked on by a detailer, however I don't think he will make it disappear just tone it down so it's not so obvious. Last but not least.....using polish with fillers is just temporary as washing etc will eventually remove them and you would have to go through the whole process again.

On a side note....folks pay attention to where you park. I know it can be a pain in the butt. Enjoy a longer walk into the store or work. Three years and no scratches or dings just chips in front and now I'm paying more attention to that.

2 centavos

[tristaned]

A lot of people seem to be asking the same question. Some sort of definitive sticky might be helpful.

As for my question, I can't for the life of me figure out where all these scratches keep coming from, what would be the best way to get rid of them?

There's white showing, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. (I'm concerned about rust)

Also, what are the pros and cons of DIY or getting it taken care of professionally?

you can use a rubbing compound to remove the minor scratches...:w00t:

[Revsson]

I'm no expert, but those scratches look to be intentional.
My buddy had is car scratched in his apartment parking lot. They even scratched up
the windshield and driver's side window. Most of the scratches were on the driver's
side. We think we know who did it, but it appears to have stopped. Perhaps because
he told some people he was going to put up a hidden wireless camera.

[Altitude]

Don't look now but I think the person that has been scratching your car is right behind you.

[henry98]

its very difficult to get rid of the scratches.use scratchX for removing the scartches. its good one.

[YarisSedan]

Rubbing compound should take that off. If you dont have any you can take some baking soda and water and lightly rub it to see if it starts taking it off.

[Hamster]

Yeah, but doesn't that white mean it's down to the primer? If it's really deep, your paintjob is toast. You need to get the door, sideview mirror, etc. refinished. If you believe that it's intentional, then the comprehensive portion of your car insurance coverage should cover it. Rubbing compound will only work if the scratch isn't all the way through the clearcoat.

[yariSB86]

so if ive scratched my paint down to what looks like primer on the rear bumper whats the best way to do "touch ups" ???




edit: http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/527616_292041190868904_100001890758715_712078_1655 522392_n.jpg

[LikeCaseyJones]

Don't look now but I think the person that has been scratching your car is right behind you.

LOL!!!

[sex]

Dealer sells touch up paint pens with dual tips. One side is a brush and the other is a pen

[yariSB86]

Thanks! just ordered some paint from my local dealer.

[MickZEL]

I was very disappointed Yaris Sedan 07 is a very bad painting.
Trunk lid after the first winter went bubbles of rust.

[Bethlehem-yaris]

Try glare.... http://www.glare.com/

[09cptn]

What is Glare? Looks interesting. Anyone have experience with it?

[YarisSedan]

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS6oW2mxrDoLFx1Z90WxXqEeeclXoxC9 eUL4uccnHk0nUKFmQME

Those white scratches are surface scratches and will buff out easily. Use something like ultimate compound on a microfiber cloth. Make sure to put wax on the area you buff out cause it will take it off when your done

[wildmongoose26]

If you can catch the edge of the scratch with a fingernail it is too deep to repair with compound, either by hand, DA or rotary.
If they are too deep you can go 1 if 2 ways. Repaint or a slow touch up.
Clean with alcohol. Use a toothpick to fill in the area. Let it dry, wetsAnd smooth. Do this as many times as you need to get it to a smooth even surface and level with the original paint/clean. Then you have to buff/ polish out the wetsAnd marks.

[screenprintr]

Park further away and add a wireless camera.

[MUSKOKA800]

That's down to the urethane, well past the primer. Likely impact damage or bike rack perhaps???

so if ive scratched my paint down to what looks like primer on the rear bumper whats the best way to do "touch ups" ???




edit: http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/527616_292041190868904_100001890758715_712078_1655 522392_n.jpg

[MUSKOKA800]

My wife works at a school and has driven my Yaris to work several times this past year.
So much for my years of defensive parking. Cars a mess now.

[nookandcrannycar]

Very late yesterday afternoon I parked my Yaris 'correctly' (at the angle the space was designed to accommodate) at a local Wal-Mart. People are usually courteous re parking in this lot, and the area = very low crime. I returned to my car after making my purchase. A different car was in the space next to mine, and the person had turned back into the space the wrong way (diagonal space meant for a person traveling the other direction in the isle. The car was a fairly new 4-door Dodge R/T. I was pinned into the space. I had to try to 're-angle' my Yaris to get out. I thought I had done this and started to back out. I heard a sound. I thought someone had put a cart behind my Yaris. I got out and the cart return receptacle on the other side of my Yaris had caught the side of my Yaris....BIG scrapes :eek:.

I immediately headed of to an AutoZone that was nearby. The rep there recommended Turtle Wax Polishing Compound & Scratch Remover. I followed his advice. With the pad I bought, it was under $8.00. The rep cautioned me that I really needed to rub hard during application. I tried it in the parking lot , and then drove a few blocks to my favorite self serve car wash and washed my Yaris. I drove a few miles, and then pulled into a lot to check. The scratches had returned, so I did the application again...and I improved the area so much that you have to get your eyes within 2-3 inches to be able to tell where any scratches were located. I noticed this morning that the area remained in that same improved state. My Yaris did have spots on the windows though. I decided to throw my 3 big 'car towels' in the back to use later. I later took my Yaris to the same car wash and washed it again and used 2 of the towels for drying...result = no spots this time.

I have an 'old' scrape that I've mentioned on another thread. I decided to use the Turtle Wax Polishing Compound & Scratch remover on that stratch to see what would happen and....voila, it did the trick...that scrape is history!

Just wanted to let everyone know about my experience with this product (worked well for me!), as the knowledge could help someone else.

FYI, my Yaris is Bayou Blue (no room left in my details area to add that back in).

[peewee1]

Thanks for the info. I also have a blue 2009 sedan that has a few scratches on it that I'll be removing. I watched 2 videos on you-tube about scratch removal and they showed different methods. First guy went in circular motion with the compound and second guy went in straight lines(back and forth method). Which do you recommend? I plan on using a rubbing compound then a wax.

[nookandcrannycar]

Thanks for the info. I also have a blue 2009 sedan that has a few scratches on it that I'll be removing. I watched 2 videos on you-tube about scratch removal and they showed different methods. First guy went in circular motion with the compound and second guy went in straight lines(back and forth method). Which do you recommend? I plan on using a rubbing compound then a wax.

Straight lines worked for me. After that I got a new, much smaller, but similar type scrape on the other side of the car that I haven't had a chance to apply the compound to yet. Also, I was first in line to pull out onto the main road (out of my subdivision) this afternoon and the guy who HAD BEEN STOPPED behind me rear ended me. His front plate frame caused a little divot in the bumper cover, but it was around a cluster of divots from my garage door hitting the cover once on the way down, and once on the way up on a different day. I had to eyeball it inside one foot to even distinguish the 'newness' from the other divots, so I declined his apologetic offer to swap information. I'm just going to leave those little divots there (the garage door ones and the one from today). They aren't very noticeable, and I'm afraid if I got them repaired and the bumper cover repainted, that the paint wouldn't match and that would be more noticeable than the little divots.

[wildmongoose26]

You can do plenty of touch up paint and make it almost unnoticeable. Just a matter of how much time your willing to put into it.

By hand will work for very small stuff. But anything with any kind of depth requires LOTS of elbow grease or a decent machine.

[nookandcrannycar]

You can do plenty of touch up paint and make it almost unnoticeable. Just a matter of how much time your willing to put into it.

By hand will work for very small stuff. But anything with any kind of depth requires LOTS of elbow grease or a decent machine.

^^^^^ Yeah, even my scrapes required lots of elbow grease. By big, I meant more the surface area that they covered rather than the depth. There are other places (not too many though) on my Yaris where there are small but deep chips. I think those would fall more into what you are referring to. My big (in area) scrapes weren't THAT deep.