On the positive side, I can attest to the thickness of the door paint since it didn't cut through to the undercoat (or worse yet the metal), but none-the-less, I now have a definite groove cut into the paint of my drivers door -- I'm fit to eradicate the perpetuater and don't consider an RPG out of order ! Typical human beings are arguably **** and I want blood, but I'm unlikely to get it. In the meantime, hopefully I'll find a way to reduce the contrast between the appearance of the original paint and the current! The newly exposed white clearly presents the original color, but it's a lonesome presence !

 

I hate people too. I got your back.

 

I'm really sorry, Mr.Trevor.

After two years of parking as FAR away from everyone else as possible, the same thing happened to me about six months ago.

I thought about re-painting my door but - even had I been able to afford it - how would I anticipate the future?

Marc

(PS: M1 tanks have explosive REACTIVE armor [ERA].)

 

Thanks, much appreciated !
Sorry to hear that man ! Beleive it or not, this happened with the car parked in front of my house in the entrance to a cul-de-sac with the right tires within 12" of the curb. It could well have been a neighbor not paying attention. When I took my xB in for its first "free" oil change and some tyke paddled all over the drivers sill with sandy shoes scratching it up, I took it in for a "complimentary" detailing to the sill. The detailer poured solvent into a cloth and wiped the sill a total of three times, but with a stronger solvent each time. Between applications I crouched down to evaluate the results. The last fluid worked -- it successfully melted the clear coat into the scratches.

I was trying to decide how to attack this long deep scratch and ruled out compounding and touchup paint since the results would be too obvious. I remembered that detailer and that last solvent which I'd guessed from the long lasting smell in the car was acetone. So I today bought a can of Acetone, washed the door, and tried to melt the paint/clear coat adjacent the scratch into the scratch to reduce its appearance. However, after multiple passes it's pretty clear the final solvent the guy used was stronger than acetone. I'm currently thinking it may have been toluene, but I'm wondering if anybody happens to know what solvent would work best for this job (the acetone seems to be gradually working, but the number of passes required is getting a little crazy).

Any detailers here?

 

Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of the original damage, but after plenty of acetone, I took this. I'm hoping application of a stronger solvent will improve it much further, just need to know what that solvent is. Any help out there? (Scratch is perfectly straight between the two pieces of tape.)

 

xenophobia

 

I've had some luck polishing out parking lot rash with a random orbital sander using a big fuzzy buffing pad and car polish. Use lots of polish, light pressure, keep the pad moving along the length of the scratch. You want to warm up the paint without burning a hole. Or take it to a body shop where they'll do the same thing and charge you for it.

 

Mr.Trevor:

Check your PM. I may as well have said it here: "Consumer Reports" (02/2012) says the only tested scratch remover found to work on 'deep scratches' - i.e., those that "you can feel with your fingernail" - is a product called "Quixx High Performance Scratch Remover."

I think I'll try it.

Marc

 

Fear of that which is foreign? Guess I don't get it. Still, one week ago the damage wasn't there! My neighbor today verified it's much more apparent than my photo displays. After much acetone wiping, he saw the line with ease when approaching the car. It looks a hell of a lot better than it did originally, but since I can't afford to pay for repaint, I need an alternative solution. What is probably the solvent used by that detailer to melt my sill clear coat?

 

My concern with this is simply the depth of the scratch. In order to buff with the surrounding area I'd aggravate the color difference between the old oxidized paint and the underlying un-oxidized. That's a formula for guaranteeing visibility of the damage. That's the reason I opted for melting the original paint over the scratch (plus the body shop cost, of course). Given the right solvent, it should be minimally apparent -- acknowledged, only a door repaint would be a complete fix.

 

Far from messing it up, the damage is still visible. I'm purely skiing off the action of a detailer. Fact is what he did worked. I'm not expecting perfection, but I'm looking for the best appearance I can achieve short of a repaint.

I'm in no way wealthy, but I'm fond of my xB and don't want to leave it appearing damaged if I can reasonably avoid it. All I want to know is what detailer solvent will minimize the appearance of that damnable scratch.

 

I read a few reviews on Amazon and looks as though peoples results are all over the place. The scratch was very deep, I wondered if it had been keyed, but it was too straight and consistent for that. The Super White takes on a yellowish cast with age and the scratch showed the original vivid white appearance, which is how I first spotted it. The acetone applications appear to have melted enough of the neighboring oxidized paint to hide the exposed original SW. Since I still don't know what that detailer used, guess I'll go back out and continue with the acetone. Definitely a slow process, but it appears to be working the way I wanted.

 

Spent more time with it since the above photo and I think there's further progress, but it sure is slow. I divided the area in half for these photos.





Wondering if it's cleaned up enough that buffing would help now. It would be nice if I could use a touch-up paint pen on it and buff after a few days, but the color difference is too obvious. I'm pretty sure any painting at all would require a full door repaint, and even then the appearance might not be match the rest of the car. That plus body shop cost is why I took this route. Too bad I don't have an orbital buffer -- maybe my neighbor.

 

Spent more time applying Acetone to the scratch. I see my factory touch-up paint is based on Toluene -- and the alternatives to Toluene thinner are Xylene and Turpentine. Seems Lacquer Thinner is available with a Toluene base, but more common is Acetone. Unfortunately, one quart Toluene or Xylene don't seem to be available at the consumer level. Still trying to find my way through this ! Turpentine?

 

have you tried going back to the dealership to se what they used originally? also, try a paint and body shop supply store...they would know what to use. or go to a body shop and ask them... lots of times your job is too small for them to take on and they will tell you how to fix it yourself...thats how things work around here in upstate NY anyway.

 

Since you don't know what the results will be or what to use, why not try it first on the door jam (small piece) just to be sure you aren't going to make a mountain out of a mole hill. It would just be easier to hide a mistake in the door jam than where all can see!

Last resort would be to cover the scratch with a decal/design of some Scion nature, some cool flames maybe!!! lol

 

Unfortunately, the groove cut into the door paint doesn't qualify as a mole hill. If it did, I wouldn't have started this thread.

Picked up a quart of Naphtha today (applies to enamel paint) and it seems more potent than Acetone as applied to my door. Just wish I could pick up a quart of Toluene and see what affect that might have. Still, the scratch continues to improve in appearance, just wish I had a more definitive solution !

PS. Hanging the perpetrator would surely help ! But true, not the door appearance, just the sense of personal satisfaction!

 

The scratch in your door is not a mole hill and I understand that, however, by using products that might make it look worse is what that reference was aimed at. If you use a product that might take off the paint right down to the metal or primer you have made the situation worse, hence the old saying of "making a mountain out of a mole hill!"

By using the product first in a "hidden" area, i.e. under the hood, inside of the doors, ect, would save you the headache of making the problem worse than you started with if the results are not what you expected.

I believe the best advice was given to you, just call the dealer and ask what they used when they fixed your scratch before.

Good luck!

 

That's why I'm using solvent and not stripper -- I spend a little time learning about them before buying. These are the same solvents used to thin paint. The detailer was one of those guys that travel around between multiple locations. Back then he supposedly showed up once a week. Yeah, that's probably worth a try, though I'm not really expecting to be told. I might try the Xylene if I could pick up just a quart, but it dries more slowly than Toluene. The only other possibility I've seen is a Canadian brand of Lacquer thinner which uses Toluene as it's base.

Here's the appearance following several applications of Naphtha.

 

Well it does look like it's not as bad, but I'm sure it looks different in person than on the PC. Can't tell where on the door the scrach is, top, bottom or middle, a duel pinstripe would cover that up. I put a duel pinstripe on my xB the day I bought it to give the sides some contrast.

Keep posting pic's of your progress.