Fixing scratches on your car is simple — here's a step-by-step guide

Matthew DeBord/Business InsiderWhen it was new — before scratches.

• You can live with scratches on your car – but you shouldn’t.
• It’s relatively easy to repair them, but you need to purchase a kit and follow some steps.
• Just before winter is a good time to make repairs, but it’s never too late.
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I bought a new car over the summer and then endured a minor mishap, requiring a quick repair that I covered in this story.

I referred to scratch repair in that guide, so I thought I’d revisit my repair guide for less demanding fix-its.

Scratches are like the old torture of death by a thousand cuts. Eventually, they will destroy your car’s finish by allowing rust to develop on metal parts. And like the great Canadian poet said, rust never sleeps.

Neil Young references aside, a few years ago I suggested two ways to repair scratches. As I was dispensing this basic advice, it occurred to me that I had some scratches on my own car, a 2011 Toyota Prius, that needed attending to, certainly as winter arrived in the Northeast, where I live.

Back then, I took care of them. But I later decided to have another look at my ride. And sure, enough, there were some new nicks and scrapes to attend to.

Read on for a basic how-to for doing simple scratch repair:

I’ve had my Prius for about five years — lots of time to acquire a few dings and scratches.

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Here’s the one I decided to repair first: a narrow scribbled scrape. Ugly! Mind you, this scrape was in my plastic bumper. But I had others in the metal body panels.

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For the record, I executed this repair a couple of years ago.

A company called TouchUpDirect sells repair kits. For about $US30, I got a paint pen to match my car’s colour, as well as a clear coat pen. Clearcoat is the transparent layer that protects the finish.

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Here’s a link to the company’s site. I don’t recommend or endorse the product, but in my case, it worked well.

TouchUpDirect includes a test card and provides instructions on its website to use the products.

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STEP 1: Clean the scratched surface.

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STEP 2: Shake up the paint inside the pen.

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STEP 3: Double check that you got the right colour and …

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… STEP 4: Compare to your car’s finish. In my case, it was a perfect match. TouchUpDirect has a database of auto manufacturers, makes, and model years so you can get the correct colour.

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STEP 5: Apply the paint to the scratch. I found that I had to use several coats for this step.

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Voila! The scratch is now filled in with paint. I allowed about five minutes between coats.

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STEP 6: Let the paint dry. I gave it around 30 minutes.

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STEP 7: Apply the clearcoat.

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Nothing to it. But I needed three coats to get what I thought was acceptable coverage.

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STEP 8: Let the clearcoat dry and pat yourself on the back for another automotive repair well done. I could have sanded, buffed, and waxed the area for a more pristine fix, but honestly the bumper will never look new again, so I was happy to seal the damage.

Matthew DeBord/BI

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