Hello all,

As I was leaving work yesterday I did my usual 'check for door dings/scratches' walk around and I noticed that someone had keyed my poor mini. :( there is a scratch on the passenger door about 2 feet long. I think it's terrible (I may be bias). I don't think it is through the clean coat, but I'm hesitant on where to start and with what products. I don't want to do detailing with the dealership because the last time I did, it was kind of poor quality.

If anyone can help it would be much appreciated!

 

Get mequiers scratch remover if it is not thru the clear coat it should come out.

 

If your "work" has closed circuit cameras on the parking lot, I'd be examining them to see whose going to pay to have that fixed for you.

That's just B/S when some "d-head" has to do stuff like that.

 

+1...Were you parked on the street?

 

No, I was parked in the building parking lot (where the cameras are decoys to scare off people like this). Haha I guess that tactic didn't work.

 

If it is not thru the clear it can be fixed. If you are not familiar with rubbing compounds and have the pads and buffers to do the job you might want to consider a body shop.

 

The neighbor's dog jumped on the drivers door on my MINI and left some scratches in the clear coat. I tried polishing them out with a mild polish but that did no good. I ended up sanding with 1000 grit paper and using polishing compound with a dual action random polisher with a foam pad. It came out real nice and I didn't go through the clearcoat

Dave

 

That doesn't look too bad. Generally if you can feel it with your fingernail, it isn't going away, but you can make it virtually disappear. If you can't feel it, you can almost certainly fully remove the scratch.

How familiar are you with polishing?

 

Get a reputable body shop to fix it. Don't get a detailer, get a paint correction pro.

 

I'm not very familiar with polishing, and also I can feel it with my fingernail. Would the paint shop be able to get it out?

 

A really incredibly body shop can actually fill & level out the scratch, without having to re-spray the entire door. I've only seen it done once at this level, and it was through a Bentley motorcars certified repair shop (on my mother's Continental Flying Spur). At the very least, I would call around the new exotic car dealerships and see who they will refer you too.

Blending the door & re-spraying it will be obvious without blending it into other panels unfortunately. But filling and blending should work if you can find just the right shop. GL

 

I'd find a really good detailer in your area. He (they all seem to be "he") can probably minimize the amount you'll see it, and you may be happy with that.

99% of body shops will want to paint/blend to repair the scratch. That isn't the worst thing (if they're good), but I'd avoid paint if you can.

 

I tried to buff out the rough edges of the scratch, and it does look less noticeable now. If I want it to be perfect again, I'll have to take it to a detail shop. Thanks for all the tips.