a pox on all vandals

[davo231481]

our new corolla has just been keyed. the scratch is on passenger side door and about 200 mm long but not quite down to the metal.I know there is little I can do about it apart from fixing it asap. any suggestions on repair or is it a trip to my new favorite spray painter? B)

Edited May 2, 2010 by davo231481

[davo231481]

our new corolla has just been keyed. the scratch is on passenger side door and about 200 mm long but not quite down to the metal.I know there is little I can do about it apart from fixing it asap. any suggestions on repair or is it a trip to my new favorite spray painter? B)

I sourced 3 quotes ranging from 230 - 600+. Has any one here had a repair on metallic paint and if so how close did the painter match it? Can anyone recommend a spray painter in the canberra area?

[.gorgz]

Have you tried a good cut n polish, if the scratch isnt that deep it should be able to fix it completely.

Cut n polish's do wonders sometimes.

Give it a go, you might be happy with the result

[Kenshin X]

2nd this, might have to get a slightly harsher abrasive as scratch X can't take this off... work it in harder, u might save urself 500 bucks O.o

[davo231481]

thanks for the tips . unfortunately it is quite deep so im going to give the touch up paint a go and then hit it with clear over the top, then cut it back to the finished level. will give an update when i see the results of this bandaid. However, everytime i look at the door my eye goes striaght to the scratch and evil thoughts for the person responsible.

[dutchie101]

What colour is it? Most metallic can be matched well, but you will generally always see (to the fine eye) a slight difference (most common people wont notice). Thickness and angle of application are quite unforgiving for mica's. Most times good paint shops will recommend you respray the whole or part side for exact match and no eye trickery. $230 is on the cheap end, 600 is too much, so if there was one in between and your happy with that, i would opt for the middle ground. Be sure they use top quality paints and offer warranty on their work.

But yeah, give it a touch up and see how you go. I would be supprised if a touch up is good enough for you tho. It wouldnt be for me <_<

[davo231481]

I would be supprised if a touch up is good enough for you tho. It wouldnt be for me <_<

Hi Dutchie

the colour is graphite. Your last statement sums up the feelings i have regarding a touch up job, that will just worsen a bad situation. I am going to get a few more quotes b4 i do anything at this stage and that will give me time to scrape up the money.

Edited May 5, 2010 by davo231481

[Matty P]

You could try the Touch Up Guys. Some people swear by them but when I rang them about touch up on my Camry they weren't interested in the job

Otherwise go to a proper repairer. Hume Bodyworks are good and reasonably priced.

Cut & Polish will not do anything on a scratch that is deep. It needs to be filled with touch up paint or the whole panel repainted.