Snowballers have scratched my car! What to do?

[Dazed & Confused]

Hi,

I have just been in my wife's car, only to discover half the roof de-snowed (presumably by kids making snowballs), and a thunking great scratch along the top of one of the doors.

What should I do? I don't mind driving round with a scratch, but I don't want it to get worse by the time I come to sell the car in a year or two.

Is it okay to leave it and then get it and any other bits and bobs sorted by someone like Dentmagic in one go, just before I sell it?

Or should I wax it or something to protect it? I have never waxed a car in my life. I'm not sure I can remember washing one either....

Thanks!

[Badgerboy]

How bad is the scratch? Is it down to the metal? If it has only marked the top coat, you can either live with it or wait until its convenient to ask a 'Chips Away' or similar franchise to look at it.

[Monkeylegend]

[quote=Dazed & Confused]Hi,

Or should I wax it or something to protect it? I have never waxed a car in my life. I'm not sure I can remember washing one either....

Thanks!
[/quote]

If it hasn't gone to deep leave it and it will soon blend in again.

Try "T" cut, it might magically disappear.

If it is down to the underpaint or metal, sort it now.

You will need to wash it first to find out what colour it is.

[williredale]

How bad is the scratch? Can you feel it with a finger nail?

Put some pictures up here or in the bodywork sub-forum for a better opinion.

[Dazed & Confused]

Thanks, all.

Didn't realise there was a bodywork sub forum!

How do I tell what layer it's down to? I can just feel it with a fingernail. It looks white.

[stewies_minion]

If it's white - that's undercoat.

Time to make friends with a body shop or smart repair chap I'm afraid.

[Dazed & Confused]

Thanks.

[welshjohn]

or get one of those colour match crayons

[LoonR1]

If you don't wash your car,then how can see it's scrached? Plus does it matter any way, you're used to driving round in a filthy car, now it's a slightly scratched, filthy car.

[Geoffers]

LoonR1 said:

If you don't wash your car,then how can see it's scrached? Plus does it matter any way, you're used to driving round in a filthy car, now it's a slightly scratched, filthy car.

Really helpful advice, well done.

[LoonR1]

Geoffers said:

Really helpful advice, well done.

Explain why someone who never washes their car is worried about a scratch? It'll just get covered wih dirt anyway in a couple of weeks.

[Monkeylegend]

Surprised nobody has told you that you must report it to your Insurance Co.

[LoonR1]

Monkeylegend said:

Surprised nobody has told you that you must report it to your Insurance Co.

Nobody should, as the cost of repair should be well within his (self insured) excess.

[Geoffers]

LoonR1 said:

Geoffers said:

Really helpful advice, well done.

Explain why someone who never washes their car is worried about a scratch? It'll just get covered wih dirt anyway in a couple of weeks.

He made the point that he does not mind driving it about dirty etc, but does not want it to get worse over the next few yrs, hence the question.

Plus I am being a grumpy git, stopped smoking 6 days ago !
Have a good week mate!

[LoonR1]

Geoffers said:

He made the point that he does not mind driving it about dirty etc, but does not want it to get worse over the next few yrs, hence the question.

Plus I am being a grumpy git, stopped smoking 6 days ago !
Have a good week mate!

Another good reason for me not to quit then

[anonymous-user]

I was fully expecting this to be another "who is liable/who can I sue/will the council pay" thread. Well done to the OP for living in the real world. What happened is a pain, but such is life.

[Monkeylegend]

LoonR1 said:

Monkeylegend said:

Surprised nobody has told you that you must report it to your Insurance Co.

Nobody should, as the cost of repair should be well within his (self insured) excess.

I really should have put a smiley after that

Edited by Monkeylegend on Sunday 20th January 17:45

[Super Slo Mo]

stewies_minion said:

If it's white - that's undercoat.

Time to make friends with a body shop or smart repair chap I'm afraid.

Not necessarily, as scratches in the clearcoat can appear white. Depending on the car's topcoat colour, the undercoat/primer could be grey anyway.

T-cut might be a bit harsh, but applied gently might make an improvement to the appearance of the scratch. There are milder alternatives available, off hand I think some swirl remover type products might be suitable.

If you're going down the T-Cut route, whatever you do, don't get heavy handed as, depending on how soft your clearcoat is, it's easily possible to polish the paint straight off.

[Geoffers]

LoonR1 said:

Geoffers said:

He made the point that he does not mind driving it about dirty etc, but does not want it to get worse over the next few yrs, hence the question.

Plus I am being a grumpy git, stopped smoking 6 days ago !
Have a good week mate!

Another good reason for me not to quit then

Keep going mate, at least one of us will remain cheerful !
Am off to go shoot a cat, or throw things at a passerby !
Sorry OP, going off topic!

[Dazed & Confused]

Thanks, various - and well done to all those quitting smoking!

Answers - I don't wash the car, but it gets cleaned once a year at service (last one a few months ago), and it doesn't get that filthy along the top of the doors.

But I will clean it when I come to sell it, at which point I'd rather not have scratches on it. That's the point of this thread, really - what's the cheapest way to have it sorted come selling time in 18 months? Leave it and get it all sorted at the end, or will it get worse so I need to fix it now?

I think I'm going to wait until after the snow, and then try the polishing route - see how that goes first.

Anyone have a rough costing for those mobile scratch repair guys?

And I don't blame the scratchers - they really wouldn't have meant it, and I doubt they even knew they did it. It's not like they took a wing mirror off and legged it!

Thanks again all.