Driving around with your shiny and slick car brings about a feeling of great achievement. If the vehicle is new, you will find yourself taking extra care to ensure that it remains looking like it was just driven off the car lot. However, no matter how careful one is, there is bound to be a time that the vehicle will have a scratch or dent due to some accident or negligence. Such an event, especially when it occurs to a new car, can be very distressing.
The thought of taking the car to a repair shop is not exciting due to the amount of money you'll probably have to pay. However, don't fret; you may be able to repair small scratches and blemishes satisfactorily yourself at a minimal cost.
While doing it yourself is convenient, there are trade-offs to going this route. It's likely the paint won't quite match the original color of the car and it won't lay level or flat with the paint in the surrounding area. If your car is dented or has large areas that need repair, it's best to leave it to professional body shops to do the work.
However, if you are bound and determined to move ahead, then use these tips to help you do the best touch up paint job possible:
- If possible, get the touch up paint from your car manufacturer's dealer. This way, you can get the closest possible match to your car's paint color.
- For successful application of touch up paint, you need to have a steady hand. This is necessary because the spots that usually require repair are small.
- Compared to solid or opaque colored paint, metallic paint separates, leaving you with poor results.
- Many touch up paint kits will come with unnecessary extras, like a separate clear coat paint. While clear coats are available to add protection to your paint job, often, they look messy and too thick to blend in well with the surrounding paint.
- Sanding paper and cleaning solvents to prep the area beforehand aren't required.
- After the paint has dried, you may decide to do color sanding. However, this requires skill and a high speed buffer. I do not recommend this for the beginner and expert advice or service is required.
- Though most touch up paints come with a brush or a tip for easy application, use of a toothpick for really precise results is an option.
Do-it-yourself paint touch-up may be more affordable than hiring a professional. However, like most things, the results may not live up to your expectations. Consider all of your options before jumping in with repairing your car's paint job.
