Scratches down to primer help!

ShakingHorizons

ShakingHorizons

New member
Had a friend of a friend stop by the other night with a 2014 White VW GTI. He was inquiring about my work and was very impressed with other cars that I have worked on. He asked me for a quote on a full paint correction and before I could look over the car he showed me a major flaw.........someone had keyed "MOVE" in to the front passenger door and some other key marks in to the rear passenger door.

Now, I am a complete weekend warrior with a little know-how, but have never done anything to this extent before. The best I could tell him is that I could try to minimize it, but without a full respray, it would be noticeable. He was okay with any better than it currently looks. I will post pictures if I receive them from him in a timely manner.

With that said, would a Dr. ColorChip be a good suggestion? He is wanting his car done ASAP (next weekend is what I have available), but I am actually losing sleep over this car. I would love to keep the standard of work that he expects (or more), and I explained to him many times over that he needs to have it sprayed, but he insisted that I "do what you (I) can". I have never wet sanded before and have no interest starting on his car.


Thoughts, tips, suggestions? I tried everything I could to persuade him to just paint it and then bring it to me, but he had no interest.
 
If he needs it ASAP, a true filling and blending in of the scratches (especially being a whole entire word scratched up on the car) will not be possible. In your case, i`d say that just doing a quick touch up with paint would have to do by following whatever instructions of the kit you end up going with.

I`ve managed to fill up and blend a deep scratch before, but it takes layers and layers and layers of touch up paint,allowing proper cure time in between coats and once the touch up area is built up higher than the clear coat, slowly work in the blending process which involves precise wet sanding then compound/polish. You will need patience and time, 2 things that the owner does not seem to have at the moment.
 
ShakingHorizons- Don`t expect pefection, but for a quickie go ahead and try the DrColorChips. I`ve had it work OK (no better/worse...OK) on DEEP scratches/gouges. Coincidentally, I used it on white too. While I wasn`t thrilled by the results, most people thought it looked great. And it avoided opening the can-o`-worms that is Wetsanding (didn`t want to go that route on the vehicle in question).

I get the best results by using it like regular touchup paint instead of the "smear it all over" that the directions recommend. Then I *VERY CAREFULLY* use their leveling solvent on an old (soon-to-be-ruined) MF. The improvement over how it turned out when I followed the Instructions was utterly dramatic and it didn`t cause any *new* issues (the "correct way" did).

DON`T polish the touchup. At least not even *CLOSE* to aggressively. Eh, just don`t polish it. So be careful when leveling so you don`t instill some new marring.
 
ShakingHorizons ----

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Migue is exactly spot on...
The man is not being realistic and probably because he has to drive around with that word keyed into his door... (Geez, what did he do to deserve that??? )

You might be able to do what Migue did but he has lots of experience...

Dr Colorchip works great but you have to follow their directions exactly - and in this case there is a LOT more work and sanding just that area with something round and hard that fits just that area and then carefully sanding around it just enough so there is no difference in level..
If that area is ever curved in or out, it is even harder than ever...

The whole process can go really bad if you get too aggressive with sanding around the damage, and then you will have to paint the whole door...

Set realistic expectations with him - he has to know that unless the damaged areas and they are quite big are taken care of precisely and they go away, the outline may always be there - especially if the paint match is not exactly correct..

This is why the body shop would sand it all down to primer, feather edge the primer, spray on primer to fill it, block sand it with a guide coat, and then prepare the doors for a repaint, so it all matches perfectly...

Good Luck !
Dan F
 
Stokdgs said:
..Dr Colorchip works great but you have to follow their directions exactly...
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-AND-
Accumulator said:
..I get the best results by using it like regular touchup paint instead of [doing what] the directions recommend...
Click to expand...

See how experiences can vary! Now you`ve heard both sides so you can make a more informed choice. YMMV either way ;)
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. I`ll talk to him again and pretty much tell him that it`s too far gone for ME to correct any damage.
 
I would try to compound off the scratches rough edges and then apply Dr Colorchip. As long as he is willing to accept less than perfection. Or just give him the info on Dr. Colorchip and let him do it by himself. I find it very easy to work with on rock chips and small scratches. Show him the Mike Phillips video about Dr. Colorchip or he can actually call them for help and they will be able to give him advice. People that scratch other people`s cars will reside in a special realm of purgatory.
 
Accumulator said:
Eh, I like the "sorry, can`t help with that, needs repainted by a good shop" response.
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I did suggest MANY reputable shops in the area - but they are all around the $1500 mark, which he didn`t seem interested in.


Anyone know if there is an extended lead time on the Dr. ColorChip items due to the specific application? I won`t be able to get the paint code until Saturday and he will be dropping this car off the following Friday (I have Connect 3-Day shipping).
 
ShakingHorizons said:
Anyone know if there is an extended lead time on the Dr. ColorChip items due to the specific application? I won`t be able to get the paint code until Saturday and he will be dropping this car off the following Friday (I have Connect 3-Day shipping).
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Friday Bump - can`t get through to Jessie, Paul, or Ray to ask them direct.
 
I refer a lot of customers directly to Dr. Colorchip, as everyone drop ships from them anyway. Helps cut lead time, but I had a customer yesterday get told by them he`s a week out for his to ship.
 
AustinZ said:
I refer a lot of customers directly to Dr. Colorchip, as everyone drop ships from them anyway. Helps cut lead time, but I had a customer yesterday get told by them he`s a week out for his to ship.
Click to expand...


Thanks - I was able to push this car out a week, so hopefully I have given myself enough time.
 
Ugh......so it gets worse. I called this "customer" over to get his paint code so I could order the Dr. ColorChip.........well, after my initial look-over and assessment of the car, he decided to "help me out" (his words) and tried to fill in the scratches :facepalm:

It was really difficult to capture the marks with it being white paint, but hopefully you all can see what I am working with.

Front Door -
20160620_202318.jpg


Rear Door -
20160620_202324.jpg
 
I would consider telling him politely that he has now caused more work by tampering with the damaged area and that I`d have to decline providing services .

Is that touch up that he applied himself or what? If so, why would he ask you to work on it?
 
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