How to Remove Scratches from Bodywork
 

Hi,

Just noticed some very fine scratches on the bodywork of my six months old Volvo. What would be the best way to deal with these?

If I polished them out would this remove the surface laquer protecting the paintwork?

Thanks,

Sven

Polishing removes only microns at a time, it takes quite some effort to get through the lacquer.

Are they just light swirls?

The answer is, maybe. And yes, if you polish too hard and too deep, you can polish through the laquer. An experienced refinisher would be able to make a reasonable judgement as to the likelihood of success, but for someone who's never done it before, it'll be guesswork.

On the plus side, if you do burn the laquer or polish through it, the only solution is to have the panel repainted. Which is the only cure if the scratches are too deep anyway, so you've not really lost anything.

Or, you could just learn to live with the scratches instead. So the question is; Can you afford to have the panel repainted? If not, it might be best to leave it alone.

Swirl marks are generally caused by poor washing (of course there's many other ways too)

The only way to truly get rid of them is by machine polishing. (Easy to do if your prepared to buy a DA polisher, pads and products)

However you can certainly mask/reduce the effect through both retail products from somewhere like Halfords by hand and of course more specialist products.

Look for polishes and scratch remover products. Alternatively a glaze is a filler which will mask the damage for a period of time.

If you some any polishing or glazing, be sure to protect with a wax or sealant :-)

Farecla G3 Advanced Liquid Compound will do the trick. It's similar to T-Cut, except it's less abrasive. When used correctly, it will bring the paintwork up like new. Ideally you need a DA machine with a selection of pads to apply it.

Farecla G3 is the regular quite aggressive cutting compound that needs to be applied by machine. Farecla G10 is the fine compound used after G3 by machine or hand application.

This is the perennial problem with new cars. That first scratch breaks your heart.

Around our way overgrown hedges mean light scratching is inevitable. Hedges can only be cut between Oct and end of March, all that spring growth and a summer of scratches is garenteed just driving the back roads.
Coloured waxes can make them less obvious but getting them out is respray every year scenario.

Paul.

As already mentioned polish is the way to go.
I would advise, that if your not really that experienced in polishing, to stay away though!!!
Polish yes, but not with a heavy polish, you will do more harm than good.
Look for a swirl mark polish with fillers, that fill in the scratches. This will obviously come out with washes, but it is much safer then a heavy polish and DA newbie.
I would probably go with something like Meguiars ScratchX or swirl remover polish