Touching Up Car Paint

When It Will Not Come Out

Got a deep scratch or two on your vehicle’s paint? If you are driving an old car, it probably doesn’t bother you much, but if the car is a new model, it likely does. The standard solution, of course, is to bring the car to your local bodyshop and have the panel repainted professionally, but you know the downside to that: it’s going to cost you a bit of money. However, the good news is that you definitely can DIY this sort of thing. The results probably won’t be quite as good as having the panel repainted by a professional shop but they might be quite close.  One thing is for sure, though, it will be quite cheaper.

Minor Scratches
The first option for scratches that aren’t too big is to purchase a small bottle of touch-up paint. There are two kinds you should know about: “exact match paints” and “approximate match paints.” The process of applying either kind is the same: they will have a small dipping brush (like eyelash makeup bottles) that you can use to dab on a small amount of paint onto your scratch. When you go into an auto parts store and you see a rack of small paint vials (often in clear bottles), you are looking at approximate match paints. These paints will be close in color to your car’s paint color but usually not an exact match. A better solution is to go to your local dealership and ask them for a vial of exact match paint.

Big Blemishes
For bigger blemishes, it is best to go with a can of spray paint instead of a bottled touchup paint. And, since you are going to be attempting to cover a larger area, it’s best to look for an exact matching paint. Paints that aren’t an exact match could look okay if the repair is lower on the car, say the rocker panels, but will almost certainly look ridiculous on the more visible, higher locations. As we mentioned above, you could get real factory-matching paints, both in touch-up bottles and spray paints, from many car dealers. For those who want to know the best methods to spray paint their panel, there are plenty of how-to videos on YouTube to help you out. Essentially, spray painting a car panel is more involved than simply covering small scratches.

Online Paint Sellers
Another place to purchase automotive paints is the internet. Automotive Touchup in New Orleans is just one online company that we know of. With an online company, you just call them with the serial number, year, make and model of your car and they will give you an exact match paint.
By the way, one retailer, automotivetouchup.com, has several videos to help you out. According to the videos, the secret is in the preparation.  If you take the time to carefully prep the surface and then carefully apply the paint, we believe you can approach the quality of body shop paint touchups.

Article Courtesy of: Mike Anderson Chrysler