Can I buff this out myself?

[Paper Roses]

Someone hit the side of my car...not a lot of damage, just a long scratches on the passengers side. These scratches are front to rear along the passengers side doors. The car is white with now long black scratches all along the the side. One spot seems to have scraped into the sub-finish, or the 'plastic' itself, whatever the doors are made of.

I got an estimate but it seems very out of line with the work involved.

Think it is possible, with some kind of compound, to buff these scratches out myself? What would I use?
When the warmer weather comes, I will either have this done or do it myself if I can figure out how to do it.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,
PR

[trud]

1. touchup paint

I have used touch up paint from http://www.paintscratch.com/ to deal with dings on my car. I haven't advanced to buffing, but just fixing the obvious color difference for minor stuff seems sufficient to my low standards :-)

I like the little bottles of paint with a built-in brush, because I have control vs a spray can.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

2. It is hard to imagine any estimate being under $1,500 these days

so if it's a insurance claim you might settle with the insurance company than take your car to a discount paint and body shop,macco and there more that advertise. some of those places still run the $300 dollar paint job or $350.

As a rule those discount places have about 5 0r 6 colors that fall to the lowest discount price. White is one of those colors.

You can take some windex and clean soft cloth like tea shirt material and try wiping ,I have used a little paint thinner ,you must work fast and spray with windex or water right away after wiping. If the scratch is down into the primer,you won't be able to buff it out. There are products you can buy at auto parts stores that say it remove's scratches. Those products have color the pigment of yer make and model car. Example-1996 ford black -matched ford ranger -thunder bird so on so fourth.GM this that the other. Some people say the stuff works, others call it a waste of money.

You can also call a auto paint supply store and ask if they got anything the pro's use to cure that.
And you can park yer car in front of the auto parts store and ask somebody at the parts counter if they know anything about that stuff and get who ever that is to take a look at yer car.Same auto paint supply.

Some parts stores do tests on alternators and starters out in their parking lots for customers. So you won't be out of line asking for a opinion that way.

And the discount paint shop paints the whole car ! There is a little matter of resale value on the discount paint job. But with the kind of poor quality paint the auto manufacturers are using these days ,I don't know if all that holds true anymore. That's the five year lastability thing inso far a looking like new.

Some people take a car that looks bad paint wise that would maybe bring $2000 to one of those places and spend under $500 to get $3,500 or about $1000 more after expense.

Just a thought !

[Paper Roses]

3. I think you just helped me decide. The car is a 2005 Honda Pilot

and is in great shape. I have only 30,600 on it. I plan to have this car for the rest of my life so I think I'll go a shop near me that is known for the quality of their work. I will wait for the weather to break a little, it is a long walk home.

I think I just needed a little convincing that this was not a task I should try.
Thanks
PR

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

4. Good !

But get at least three estimates before you decide where you take the car. And,tell the shop people that you have no other means of transportation . Most collision shops have loaner cars for customers. At the very least they should provide you with a ride home and pick you up when your car in finished. As I recall when I was a youngster working for my uncles collision shop in the summer time sanding cars-, in such cases as yer's ,touch up painting was done -a door -a side-quarter panel and door -hood etc. Thing is the entire car had to be papered and taped off to do that. Than there is the inconsistency thing. At a point it became quicker and easier to spray the entire car.

Exactly what will be done will be decided by the shop in-so far as how they will do what.
Get three estimates before you choose. Yers is what anybody what works in shop would call a cake job. No body or frame damage.

Since you are going to hold off till the weather warms up-why don't you use some of yer spare time to get estimates -get as many of those as you can -what the heck get 10 estimates ! Estimates are free !

And- the body shop may do what you were thinking professionally. Much of the time how that is estimated will depend on how much business is being conducted in a given time frame. If yer paying for it out of pocket-they may say,we can fix the scratches for a price without painting one whole side of the car or all of it.

The first question by the way is,- is it a insurance claim ? You might simply say yer paying fer it out of pocket, one of those supermarket run in's .

Quality work is also high end which means it costs more.It is truly all about the person having the name in the business,not the business name.business's are bought and sold all the time,the name of the business and it's clientele are part of the sale. Some jerks own gas station mini mart service repair stations ,that jerk couldn't fix a bicycle. They hire mechanics and pay lousy wages than charge high end prices for the work and the parts.They even hang BBB signs on the wall.
You don't want to pay a high end price on a cake walk job if you can avoid it.No other damage to yer car other than scratches means piece of cake.

Don't spend more than is necessary on a fix as easy as that.

On a side note, you can call around and describe the damage over the phone and most likely get a pretty good idea about what it's about. Time is on your side since there is no hurry.

[Paper Roses]

5. Interesting estimate result. The name of a shop in a nearby town

was given to me last week. I got an estimate from the local body shop that was $429.00 to do the bodywork. The insurance estimate was $451.00.

The owner of the body shop in the next town cane out to look and told me the job was so easy, it would take him no time at all. I just had to leave the car overnight so things(primer) would dry and they would paint it the next day. He explained everything he would do to my satisfaction Total? $175.00.
There was such a difference I was shocked. While I was talking to him, the phone rang. He went into his office to get it so I took the opportunity to ask two other customers about his work. Both said he was the best around, and the most reasonable. It is a family business, father and 2 sons. The place was full of taped up cars in various states of work and several outside, obviously waiting their turn.

Thanks for the advice about shopping around. He told me to call in about 2 weeks and schedule the job.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

6. The thing about that kind of a business Paper Roses

is the family is rather extended. The best around means they would go no other place. Life time customers are like extended family. It's like I said it is not the name of the business it is the name behind the business. $429.00 is right on the mark, Any body and frame expert knows how to estimate a insurance job. In fact one need not be a expert to estimate that way. You came away from there with a little extra in yer wallet,they know that too. Thats good business all the way around. And that's what having the name in the business is all about.You noticed the difference,didn't you ?

My uncle did the cooking on Saturday's , He had some of his crony's come over from across the bridge every week end to help out. At lunch or dinner time he would raise the lift to table height and put the plywood over the lift ,than cover the ply with masking paper fer a table cloth and it was always the best cooking you can get right there in the shop !

A lot of customers liked to come in on Saturdays and pay,but more-so to stand around and talk and eat ,there may have been some beer there too,although I dono, I was just a kid !

What you saw reminds me of my uncles collision shop in those years coming up !

Keep up the good work !