Now had my Octavia a couple of weeks. After it's first wash or two (outwith the garages 10min 'valet'/ pressure hose blast), now noticing the odd hairline surface scratch around the usual areas (door handles, boot release etc). Anyone had any experience / success with any of the popular magazine recommendations such as AutoGlym Paint Renovator, Turtle Wax Safe Cut or Meguiars Scratch X 2.0 or are they all a bit of a gimmick?

As usual, conflicting reviews on the forums here and usual t'interweb dross - "I've been using washing up liquid & brillo pads for years, never done it any harm". :wonder:

Not wanting to spend a fortune on the car just now, if the car is a keeper in say 12months time (Mr Pessimistic!) then I'd think about getting it properly detailed, but in the meantime is there anything out there that's worth a try?

Hello mate, and welcome to the forum. Have you tried the 'finger nail' test? Basically if you run the back of your nail over the scratch and can't feel it, it will polish out. If you can feel it but its only in th lacquer it could be wet sanded with 2000-3000 grit paper and polished back.

I have used Scratch-X with success if you don't have access to a machine polisher, also Meguiars do a good scratch removing compound that can be applied by hand.

HTH, Lee.

Cheers for the info Lee. Luckily not catching the fingernail so would seem to be the top coat. Is it me or is new car paint just not as thick or resilient as it used to be? :no:

Will give the ScratchX / Meguiars a shot - it's more to try a simple DIY home fix to remove the obvious stuff. Any serious remedial work can be done by a professional detailer later on and have the whole thing looked at. Appreciate the response, much safer on this forum than watching shopping channel adverts for a wonder fix products!

+1 for scratch x!

@Bobby, where are you based mate, if you are near me I would be more than happy to have a look.......