Key Scratch - Touch-up or Repaint Door

[Daniel_]

Due to a DIY accident I have had a cast in my right arm for the last 10 days, so the car has been parked since then. This morning I found a deep scratch, approximately 6 inches long.

 

The car was perfectly parked and didn't bother anyone.

 

I went to a few paint shops and they suggested to repaint the door. One of the shops gave me the option of touching it up. It made very clear that the paint line will be visable.

 

Paint door - £170 - £300

Touch-up - £30

 

Do you think the whole door has to be painted? What do you think about the prices?

 

Thank you

 

 

 

 

[Octaviarse]

Find a good quality smart repair place and that will be done for under £100 and won't be visible. 

[Jigger72]

I have to commend you on the restraint shown in your post. If it was me I'd be raging blue murder for a few paragraphs before getting round to the question 🤐

 

As suggested, a decent repair will leave very little to show and shouldn't be more than £100.

 

I'd be tempted to try a quick self repair first just to soften the mark.

[*JP*]

If the paint is metallic that makes it more difficult to blend in.

I doubt if it can be smart repaired since they use panel edges to disguise the fade in,something you haven't got in the middle of a door.

[mrgf]

Probably, I'd repaint the door as you will always know it was there so always spot the "near invisible" fix! A proper paint shop should blend it well enough to never spot the difference from one door to another, if you see what I mean so it will be done and dusted and this time next year, you will be glad you did it properly. I base this on you keeping on to the vehicle for a decent while.

[MeteorOcty]

I've had a few quotes for paintwork on various cars over the past couple of years. Standard cost tends to be £200 a panel so £300 to blend it to the surrounding panels sounds fair.

 

That said, as others have said, I'd get a smart repairer to sort that on your driveway. It may get a little more complicated if it actually caused some denting. I'd dry it off and look at the panel sideways from a metre or 2 away.

[PetrolDave]

I had the left side of my car keyed in 2007 (both doors), and one of the smart repairers did an excellent job (not even the detailer spotted it when I sold the car 9 years later) so I would get one of them to give you a quote first.

[Plantman]

The trouble is, unless its a very good painters the door probably wont look the same. I've had an entire bonnet painted before and it never looked as good as the original factory finish. I think you will be hard to obtain that perfect mirror finish.

You might notice small imperfections in the paint, bits of dirt, bubbles and even a mottled appearance. It probably wont have that deep shine the other panels have either.

 

I've also had A pillars and a wing painted before and each time I could tell it was painted. I used different companies with very good feedback / reputation but personally, since you asked our opinion, I would go for the repair.

 

 

[Ecomatt]

I would opt for a smart repair. Then after a few weeks get the car detailed/ paint corrected.

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, Plantman said:

The trouble is, unless its a very good painters the door probably wont look the same. I've had an entire bonnet painted before and it never looked as good as the original factory finish. I think you will be hard to obtain that perfect mirror finish.

You might notice small imperfections in the paint, bits of dirt, bubbles and even a mottled appearance. It probably wont have that deep shine the other panels have either.

 

I've also had A pillars and a wing painted before and each time I could tell it was painted. I used different companies with very good feedback / reputation but personally, since you asked our opinion, I would go for the repair.

 

 

 

Sounds like you've had a bad experience. I think the problem is too many people rush the job rather than it being the paint job - it's all about preperation. At the end of the day, paint is paint.  And it's certainly not the case that cars leave the factory with a 'perfect mirror finish'. And even if they did, it's certainly not the case that buy the time they reach the dealership the paint hasn't been damaged and needs attention before being passed on to the customer.

 

OP - It really depends where the scratch is. If it's on a relatively flat piece of panel then personally I'd have the whole panel painted. If however it's near a crease or curve then it should be easier to spot / blend and you'll never see it.  On the otherhand, if I was intending to keep the car long term, I may go for the cheaper option simply because sods law says you'll pay £££'s for a full panel spray only to have the same panel damaged again.

 

 

[J.R.]

Hard to tell from the photo but that "deep scratch" looks like its simply a scratch in the lacquer coat to me and would flat & polish out with patience, nothing lost if it doesnt.

 

If the scratch looks white its certainly just the very thick lacquer over the base coat that is scratched, if its through the base to the primer in the deepest parts then they will need carefully touching in with the colour coat but nowhere else and only to the depth of the base coat paint before continuing with clear.

 

75% of that will dissapear with fallting & polishing, the remainder can be made almost invisible with care & patience, going over the whole scratch with a base colour touch up will look appalling.

 

plenty of Youtube videos showing how really bad scratches can be removed.

 

A girlfriend bought a grey import MX5 direct from the docks in the 90's, it was black and both sides had been scratched the whole length and badly touched in, I got it back looking like brand new for zero expense except my time and patience, the had used a colour touch up pen over the scratches in the clear coat making them seem far worse than they were.

[Daniel_]

Thank you guys!!

 

Definitely the scratch is deep.

 

When you say Smart Repair, what do you mean? a bit of paint to hide the mark?

 

 

[PetrolDave]

33 minutes ago, Daniel_ said:

When you say Smart Repair, what do you mean? a bit of paint to hide the mark?

A local franchisee of a company such as Chips Away - many others are available.

[Daniel_]

3 hours ago, PetrolDave said:

A local franchisee of a company such as Chips Away - many others are available.

 

Thank you Dave.

Any good Smart Repair shop in Perth (Scotland)?