what is the best way to fix a key scratch?

[LZR RED COBRA]

some chicken chit keyed my cobra and its deep, not just a surface scractch but dug in good. it extends from about the middle of my passenger door all the way to the rear fender

can this be fixed in a not-too-expensive way or is it an involved process, i have other small wear and tear blemishes but they dont bother me im more concerned with this one cuz it is so bad and just the principle of the thing.

any help would be appreciated

 

[Sam98]

some chicken chit keyed my cobra and its deep, not just a surface scractch but dug in good. it extends from about the middle of my passenger door all the way to the rear fender

can this be fixed in a not-too-expensive way or is it an involved process, i have other small wear and tear blemishes but they dont bother me im more concerned with this one cuz it is so bad and just the principle of the thing.

any help would be appreciated

12 Gauge between the eyes, then feed the bastard to the lions...

You are probably going to have to have it repainted...

 

[LZR RED COBRA]

man that is what i was afraid of

 

[decoy562]

I would take it somewhere and get everything fixed at one time, then you'll be happier, but poorer.

 

[SD99GTVert]

I had mine keyed when nearly new. Because it was "vandalism" my insurance deductible was only $250. The paint shop made it just like new!

 

[Islander03GT]

Go to a decent body shop and ask them.. I had a long one in my S10 when I bought it, took it over to see how much, they said, oh that will buff right out, give us 20 min and we'll do it for free.

doesnt hurt to ask the pros.

 

[2013 Geee T]

A good detail shop may be able to buff it out as well. They can do some magic.

 

[edwardohaskillo]

Warning! I had a body shop try to buff out a scratch instead of repainting as I requested. They "spiralled" the clear coat big time and tried to pass it off as satisfactory.

I hate it when others will accept nothing less than me being a Prick!

If you decide to let someone buff it, inspect it very closely IN THE SUN for spirals.

 

[Bone Racing]

polishing compound #7....

if its down to the metal...go to a shop

 

[Ron Jeremy]

Go get it repainted. A buffer will not take deep scratches out of the paint.

 

[sonicx219]

Go get it repainted. A buffer will not take deep scratches out of the paint.

correctomondo.... however, if its possible, wet sanding and buffing might help a little. If you plan to get it painted anyways, it never hurts to try. If your finger nail can fit in the scratch, she's gotta get sprayed.

 

[wickedgt70]

Go to a shop. A good shop can do more for your paint than you can even imagine.

Sorry you got keyed...that happened to me, except there were over 50 scratches along the side of my car and it was only 2 months old. I feel your pain.

Josh

 

[Too Slow]

sorry man that really sux. when my 02 GT was new it got keyed on new years in front of my girlfriends house. it started by cracking the headlight and dragged all the way to the taillight. i've yet to get it painted though. i've tried every wax and nothing has worked. plus this past weekend someone drug a key or something into my paint again and made a little but deep scratch.

 

[Atrius]

I just got mine and the previous owner had a really nice custom paint job done on it, So thats what im afraid of because if mine needs to be repainted i dont have the money to get it redone the way it was. this was a serioulsy expensive paint job, I've never seen it anywhere before, It has metal flake in the paint and in the front it forms flames along the side.

Im sure it will be keyed sooner or later whether at school or somewhere else but is it possible to paint only where it was keyed and sand or buff it down so its smooth?

To get back on topic, im real sorry to here about your car, its those malicious little pricks that really piss you off. In fact I dont think my insurance even covers vandalsim as a legitamate claim.

 

[muzztangman]

turn it into insurance it shouldn't raise your rates, because it's vandalisim. Then get some flames painted on to cover up the scratch

 

[LZR RED COBRA]

thanks for all the replies, normally the little wear and tear stuff and even the minor intentional stuff doesnt bother me. but this one is so apparently deliberate and blatantly intentional that i really wanna fix it outta principle.

ill try taking it to a shop, i doubt a buff job will get this one out and if need be ill whip out the ol' insurance

thanks again

 

[Marine One]

Sorry to hear about your car. I would just once like to catch someone in the act of doing something like that!!! Had some @$$hole do that to a pristine silver Datsun 280-Z years ago; ended up having to get the whole car painted to make it look the way it did before it was damaged. Insurance company wasn't particularly happy, but that's what you pay them all that money for.....

When I called SVT about my Cobra I learned a few things about the Laser Red color that might be of value to you, particularly if you do end up having to go the body shop & paint route:
Laser Red is actually 3 stage paint. It is a basecoat of either gold or silver, depending on the year of the car, then the red tint, followed by clearcoat. The reason I asked SVT about the paint was because I also had a Laser Red 95 GT. Side-by-side, the 95 GT and the 96 Cobra were two different shades of red, even though they both had the same paint code (E9) on the doorjam. The shade difference results from the base coat color. The 95 was slightly darker than the 96. The SVT guy said this was because they used a silver base coat in 95 and gold base coat in 96. He also said that at some point they stopped doing Laser Red this way but I think when they changed it to a 2-stage paint they also changed the name of the color.
I mention this because it could make precise paint color matching a challenge.
I agree wholehartedly with edwardohaskillo regarding the need to sometimes be prick to get something done right! Too bad it has to be that way.....

 

[LZR RED COBRA]

Sorry to hear about your car. I would just once like to catch someone in the act of doing something like that!!! Had some @$$hole do that to a pristine silver Datsun 280-Z years ago; ended up having to get the whole car painted to make it look the way it did before it was damaged. Insurance company wasn't particularly happy, but that's what you pay them all that money for.....

When I called SVT about my Cobra I learned a few things about the Laser Red color that might be of value to you, particularly if you do end up having to go the body shop & paint route:
Laser Red is actually 3 stage paint. It is a basecoat of either gold or silver, depending on the year of the car, then the red tint, followed by clearcoat. The reason I asked SVT about the paint was because I also had a Laser Red 95 GT. Side-by-side, the 95 GT and the 96 Cobra were two different shades of red, even though they both had the same paint code (E9) on the doorjam. The shade difference results from the base coat color. The 95 was slightly darker than the 96. The SVT guy said this was because they used a silver base coat in 95 and gold base coat in 96. He also said that at some point they stopped doing Laser Red this way but I think when they changed it to a 2-stage paint they also changed the name of the color.
I mention this because it could make precise paint color matching a challenge.
I agree wholehartedly with edwardohaskillo regarding the need to sometimes be prick to get something done right! Too bad it has to be that way.....

wow thanks for the heads up. maybe i would be better off taking it to a good svt dealer and shovel out the extra dough

 

[Sam98]

wow thanks for the heads up. maybe i would be better off taking it to a good svt dealer and shovel out the extra dough

Your insurance company should be the only ones shoveling out the dough, because it is their responsibility to get you car back to the condition it was (pre-a$$ wipe).

 

[Marine One]

Glad to be of help. Agree with Sam98; that is what you pay insurance premiums for!