All car and van scratches are not the same. Some "scratches" may not even be scratches at all. You find these when a painted car bumper or wooden post, or the rubber bumper on a shopping cart, rubs up against the body of your car or van. The object doing the rubbing may be softer than the paint. Instead of scratching the car, it deposits material on the paint surface -- a mark that is actually raised above the paint, not gouged into it. If the object is harder than the paint, guess where the material gets transferred? From your car to the shopping cart, leaving paint missing. Some car and van scratches can be rescued, while others can't.  Many marks simply "scratch the surface," as it were. The offending object gouges the clearcoat and even some of the base color, while leaving the primer and metal unscathed. When there's still color at the bottom of the scratch it may be possible to remove it with some careful sanding, buffing and waxing. 

Fixing Scratches

You don't need fancy tools to distinguish a scratch from a mark. A fingernail drawn over the surface at 90 degrees to the defect will tell you if it's gouged into the paint or sitting on top of it. If it's a mark that appears to be from rubber, plastic or even other paint, it may come off easily with an aerosol tar or adhesive remover. Stubborn marks often can be removed with acetone or lacquer thinner on a soft rag. If the mark is still there after using one of these solvents, try hand rubbing or polishing compound. If it is a mark Garry Lee Panelcraft will suggest that you clean the area with soap and water, then spread rubbing compound on the mark and rub the area in a circular motion until the mark disappears. Once it's gone, switch to a back-and-forth motion to remove circular buffing marks. Buff the area with a clean cloth to remove rubbing compound. Then, using a fresh pad, clean the area with polishing compound to remove the fine scratches left by the rubbing compound. Finish by sealing the surface with a good car wax. 

If the defect is a scratch Garry Lee Panelcraft will determine for you whether it extends below the surface of the paint and into the primer. Sometimes one end of the scratch looks fine but the other end gets deeper and deeper until it breaks through into the primer and the metal underneath. How much of that scratch is below the colour? If it's a small portion of the entire scratch, we will suggest that we repaint the panel. Modern cars are almost always clear coated over the colour layer of the paint. This is done to provide a shinier finish, as well as to prevent ultraviolet light from fading the pigment underneath it.  Scratches in clearcoat can similarly be sanded out. Sometimes if the scratch is below the colour, a respray on the area maybe the only solution.  Garry Lee Panelcraft will always advise you which option is best for your vehicle.