Key marks, what to do?

Tward · 01-02-2012, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gr8-wrx

Meguiar's #83 with a DA polisher would probably make the scratch on your spoiler less noticable.

Thanks, do you know where I can get it and for how much?

nmjaxx9 · 01-03-2012, 12:29 AM

Im sure the 83 is only a cleaner/polisher, what you want is something that will remove the scratch. For that I would try Meguairs Scratch X 2.0, its about $10 bucks, I have used it with a buffer, and it removes very fine scratches and swirls effectively.Your local auto store like Advance, AutoZone, or Napa Auto should carry it. But Heres a website that has it:Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 - 7 oz - Free Shipping Available | Detailed Image

Tward · 01-03-2012, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmjaxx9

Im sure the 83 is only a cleaner/polisher, what you want is something that will remove the scratch. For that I would try Meguairs Scratch X 2.0, its about $10 bucks, I have used it with a buffer, and it removes very fine scratches and swirls effectively.Your local auto store like Advance, AutoZone, or Napa Auto should carry it. But Heres a website that has it:Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 - 7 oz - Free Shipping Available | Detailed Image

Thanks for the info. Will buffing out the scratches on my car leave certain areas of it looking different then the rest? I am new to all of this, so I am a bit lost.

Tward

nmjaxx9 · 01-03-2012, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tward

Thanks for the info. Will buffing out the scratches on my car leave certain areas of it looking different then the rest? I am new to all of this, so I am a bit lost.

Tward

No it shouldn't if you do it right. What I did was first buff the area, apply some of the scracth x.20 around the area and buff again. Jus repeat those steps until you see the scracth wear off, but don't use a lot of the scracthx 2.0, and if you are worried about it looking diff then the rest take a clean buff pad and buff the area again after the last application of the compound. The area I buffed looked like the rest of the car even after I did my next car wash. Good luck.

RedNismoZ · 01-03-2012, 05:46 PM

Dr. Colorchip worked wonders when mine was keyed.

Methodical4u · 01-03-2012, 07:59 PM

If I were local to you I would help you get them out. You can try the scratch X, but there are better products out there. It doesn't look like it is down to the primer, so a good detailer could get a lot of it out. Nissan's paint is not a hard paint which is good and bad for obvious reasons. Look at your local yellow pages for detailers... I don't think one would charge more than about 50-75.00 to get most, if not all of it out.

Methodical4u · 01-03-2012, 08:01 PM

If you are going to buff it yourself you should apply the harder pressure on the scratch and then feather the pressure out on all sides to blend it in. The color won't be different, but depending on how marred (scratched) your paint is all over with little scratches will determine how much of it you can see.

nmjaxx9 · 01-03-2012, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Methodical4u

If I were local to you I would help you get them out. You can try the scratch X, but there are better products out there. It doesn't look like it is down to the primer, so a good detailer could get a lot of it out. Nissan's paint is not a hard paint which is good and bad for obvious reasons. Look at your local yellow pages for detailers... I don't think one would charge more than about 50-75.00 to get most, if not all of it out.

Funny that you mention that, but at the time I had a scratch over my left side back fender on my car, and I took it to the body shop and they quoted me 250 dollars to buff out and detail. Even more to complete respray and replace that area. So I went home and tried the Scratch X and it worked like a charm, and it saved me about 240 dollars. If the OP is concerned about his inability to do it himself I would recommend a shop, but it is totally doable and could potentially save him a lot of money.

RoadZter · 01-03-2012, 11:08 PM

Ditto that! I just keep the stuff in my trunk now. It's awesome stuff!

Tward · 01-03-2012, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Methodical4u

If I were local to you I would help you get them out. You can try the scratch X, but there are better products out there. It doesn't look like it is down to the primer, so a good detailer could get a lot of it out. Nissan's paint is not a hard paint which is good and bad for obvious reasons. Look at your local yellow pages for detailers... I don't think one would charge more than about 50-75.00 to get most, if not all of it out.

I will give it a look, if i can find it for that cheap then i will definitely do it.

Tward · 01-03-2012, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmjaxx9

Funny that you mention that, but at the time I had a scratch over my left side back fender on my car, and I took it to the body shop and they quoted me 250 dollars to buff out and detail. Even more to complete respray and replace that area. So I went home and tried the Scratch X and it worked like a charm, and it saved me about 240 dollars. If the OP is concerned about his inability to do it himself I would recommend a shop, but it is totally doable and could potentially save him a lot of money.

Yea that price is way out of the question. I am 18 years old and in college, and have plenty of stuff to pay for, so 250 bucks to get some scratches out isn't an option right now. I will get a quote on it and if its to high i will try the scratch stuff you recommended. I am new to all this and kind of worried to be trying it for the first time on a car like this.

Cmike2780 · 01-04-2012, 12:07 AM

If you can feel the scratch with your fingernail, it's too deep a scratch and you will need re-spray to effectively repair it to a like new condition. Polishing either won't be enough or you could possibly make it worst if you don't know what you're doing. If its only the clear coat, a good professional shop might be able to wet sand and level it out. Do not wetsand if you don't know what you're doing! I would give Dr Colorchip a shot, it's easy to apply and practically fool proof. Even if you mess up, it can be removed without damaging the paint. It's not 100% perfect though. Scratch X works pretty well, but it has some fillers that eventually wear off. I would give 3M scratch remover a shot. It has worked really well for me, especially removing etching caused by bird crap and I dont feel like bringing out the polisher. Just be sure to reapply wax afterwards.

nmjaxx9 · 01-04-2012, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tward

Yea that price is way out of the question. I am 18 years old and in college, and have plenty of stuff to pay for, so 250 bucks to get some scratches out isn't an option right now. I will get a quote on it and if its to high i will try the scratch stuff you recommended. I am new to all this and kind of worried to be trying it for the first time on a car like this.

I understand, as long as you are careful and pay attention to what you are doing you should be fine. Good luck!

RoadZter · 01-04-2012, 01:01 AM

BTW you really don't have to rub too hard to see the effects of the scratch X (our paint is already soft!). I use a terry buffing pad SPARINGLY, maybe 3 or 4 circular passes, then wiped with a clean terry cloth. That's all it needed. The comment about waxing after is important. Good luck!

Methodical4u · 01-04-2012, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmjaxx9

Funny that you mention that, but at the time I had a scratch over my left side back fender on my car, and I took it to the body shop and they quoted me 250 dollars to buff out and detail. Even more to complete respray and replace that area. So I went home and tried the Scratch X and it worked like a charm, and it saved me about 240 dollars. If the OP is concerned about his inability to do it himself I would recommend a shop, but it is totally doable and could potentially save him a lot of money.

which is why I said detailer and not body shop... of course a body shop is going to quote high like that and say it needs more work.

01-03-2012, 05:46 PM	#20 (permalink)
RedNismoZ Enthusiast Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Lexington, SC Posts: 429 Drives: a broken Nismo. Rep Power: 14	Dr. Colorchip worked wonders when mine was keyed. __________________ Nismo or no go

01-03-2012, 11:08 PM	#24 (permalink)
RoadZter Base Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Sunny South Texas! Posts: 228 Drives: 370z Roadster Rep Power: 14	Ditto that! I just keep the stuff in my trunk now. It's awesome stuff! __________________ 2008 Nissan Titan Crew, 2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster 2011 Mercedes GL 450 "Guess who drives the Nissans?"

01-04-2012, 12:07 AM	#27 (permalink)
Cmike2780 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Long Island Posts: 5,059 Drives: slowwww Rep Power: 29	If you can feel the scratch with your fingernail, it's too deep a scratch and you will need re-spray to effectively repair it to a like new condition. Polishing either won't be enough or you could possibly make it worst if you don't know what you're doing. If its only the clear coat, a good professional shop might be able to wet sand and level it out. Do not wetsand if you don't know what you're doing! I would give Dr Colorchip a shot, it's easy to apply and practically fool proof. Even if you mess up, it can be removed without damaging the paint. It's not 100% perfect though. Scratch X works pretty well, but it has some fillers that eventually wear off. I would give 3M scratch remover a shot. It has worked really well for me, especially removing etching caused by bird crap and I dont feel like bringing out the polisher. Just be sure to reapply wax afterwards. __________________ [09][MB][6-Spd MT][Touring][Stillen Gen III][K&N][Borla CBE][Evo-R] [ArchitTEK Photography]

01-04-2012, 01:01 AM	#29 (permalink)
RoadZter Base Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Sunny South Texas! Posts: 228 Drives: 370z Roadster Rep Power: 14	BTW you really don't have to rub too hard to see the effects of the scratch X (our paint is already soft!). I use a terry buffing pad SPARINGLY, maybe 3 or 4 circular passes, then wiped with a clean terry cloth. That's all it needed. The comment about waxing after is important. Good luck! __________________ 2008 Nissan Titan Crew, 2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster 2011 Mercedes GL 450 "Guess who drives the Nissans?"

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01-03-2012, 12:29 AM	#17 (permalink)
nmjaxx9 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Middletown, Ct Posts: 5,853 Drives: 2011 Nissan 370z Rep Power: 26	Im sure the 83 is only a cleaner/polisher, what you want is something that will remove the scratch. For that I would try Meguairs Scratch X 2.0, its about $10 bucks, I have used it with a buffer, and it removes very fine scratches and swirls effectively.Your local auto store like Advance, AutoZone, or Napa Auto should carry it. But Heres a website that has it:Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 - 7 oz - Free Shipping Available \| Detailed Image

01-03-2012, 07:59 PM	#21 (permalink)
Methodical4u A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,393 Drives: 11 370 6mt pw w/sp Rep Power: 16	If I were local to you I would help you get them out. You can try the scratch X, but there are better products out there. It doesn't look like it is down to the primer, so a good detailer could get a lot of it out. Nissan's paint is not a hard paint which is good and bad for obvious reasons. Look at your local yellow pages for detailers... I don't think one would charge more than about 50-75.00 to get most, if not all of it out.

01-03-2012, 08:01 PM	#22 (permalink)
Methodical4u A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,393 Drives: 11 370 6mt pw w/sp Rep Power: 16	If you are going to buff it yourself you should apply the harder pressure on the scratch and then feather the pressure out on all sides to blend it in. The color won't be different, but depending on how marred (scratched) your paint is all over with little scratches will determine how much of it you can see.