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The Scratch Repair Dilemma

If you’ve paid a small fortune for the car of your dreams, you will always want it to look its best at all times.  So, even a small scratch can really affect the look of your vehicle and devalue both its appearance and overall value.  That’s why most car owners will want to have car scratch repair carried out as quickly as possible.

The temptation is to repair that scratch or dent yourself, confident that it can’t be that hard to fix. But the truth is that, if you do value your vehicle, you’re better off leaving it to the professionals. The team at IPS Paint Supplies has come up with the reasons why this is the best route to follow.

A Car Scratch Repair Job Isn’t Easy

If you pick up a DIY kit for repairing car scratches, it might make it look like a pretty simple job that anyone can do. But that isn’t in fact the case.

Twenty or so years ago this may have been OK, but today’s vehicles feature sophisticated parts and paints that are way more advanced than they used to be.  As a result, to carry out a car scratch repair properly on a modern vehicle, you need  some level of training and experience.

This is because repairing a scratch on your car involves everything from filling in the scratch to sanding, buffing, and even painting over the damaged surface. It can be a huge undertaking for someone who doesn’t know what they are doing and the repair could end up looking worse than before you tried to fix it.

Accurately Assessing the Damage

To the naked eye, one car scratch might look much like another. But there are different types of scratches, and it’s important to know how deep or severe the scratch is before you make any repairs. The different types of scratches include:

  • Hairline scratches barely touch the surface of your car’s clear coat s there’s a chance you could have one on your vehicle and not even notice. It will affect the very top of the clear coat and can often be taken care of with a good waxing.
  • Minor scratches make it down below the surface of the clear coat without reaching the paint base coat. It will be more noticeable than a hairline scratch but most likely won’t require a massive repair job.
  • Deep scratches are the worst kind. They reach below the clear coat and into the paint base coat. A scratch like this need an extensive repair job.

Importantly, If you misdiagnose your vehicle and try to repair one type of scratch when it’s really another type, again you could cause more damage than good.

A professional will be able to offer the correct diagnosis in terms of the type of scratch you have on your vehicle before a suitable repair is made.

Having the Correct Tools

Even if you purchase a DIY scratch repair kit, you may find you don’t have the correct tools to use the kit once back at home.  Professional body shop repair mechanics will not only have the knowledge and experience to carry out the repair but also the correct tools to do the job properly.

Matching the Paint Colour

Another challenge when trying to carry out a scratch repair on your car it colour matching the paint, particularly as there are so many auto paint colours on the market.

If you have to paint your vehicle while doing car scratch repair, you will find it almost impossible to find an exact match for your paint on your own. You simply won’t have the experience or knowledge it takes to match up paints.

If you still want to go ahead and carry out the repair yourself, you could end up with a different colour paint on the repaired section… which will simply create an eyesore (and make you wish you went to the professionals in the first place!)

Causing Further Damage to your Vehicle

By attempting to carry out a car scratch repair on your own, what was a minor, small scratch could turn into a much larger mark. You might also end up doing extensive damage to an entire panel of your vehicle or breaking parts while trying to fix it.

By taking your vehicle to an auto body shop for a scratch repair is definitely the simplest solution. It will ensure your car looks great again and eliminate all of the risks associated with taking the DIY approach.

Book Your Car In Today

At IPS Paint Supplies we supply all of the leading auto repair shops across South West Wales with the products, paints and tools to carry out an effective and efficient car scratch repair.

As a result, if you do get a scratch on  your pride and joy vehicle, book an appointment with the professionals today.