VENTING & RANTING (with some questions at the end)

[NYCTS]

VENTING AND RANTING...

I live in NYC and I have a 2004 brand new Black Cadillac CTS, I got it July 1st. Against everyone's advice (YES EVERYONE) I have been parking it on the street in my neighborhood. Me being the genius that I am figured .."I see beemers and a rover in my area and they are fine..WTH"

However there is a scourge worse than bird droppings, tree sap and soot from delivery trucks.....TEENAGERS!!!!
(I know you are cringing right now) YES TEENAGERS who in there pathetic attempts to be cool believe that sitting on someones car is acceptable behavior.

I realize you're in suspense as to what happened...one word- SCRATCHES! THE RIVETS IN THEIR RIDICULOUSLY LARGE PANTS SCRATCHED MY PAINT!!!

HOOD, DRIVER SIDE FRONT FENDER AND TRUNK!!! (there is also a chip on my passenger side rear door handle from 2 weeks ago that I cannot figure out where it came from, so I will blame them for that too) The scratches are not light, there are not as deep as the chip and they are easily seen, especially to a detail nut like me.

It got worse when some of the maintenance workers in my area began talking to me and explained that they are consitently telling the car paint attackers NOT to sit on cars. I asked why some vehicles seem to escape any harm, they explained that they (evil teens) sit on the cars that are close to their hang out spots!!!

I am plotting my revenge as I type this. Maybe a few of my paintball buddies will do a drive by or maybe I will wait till I see the assailants park their cars and I will use it like a park slide!!!

ARRRRGGGHHHHH!

Yes I have Scratch X and I will definitly attempt to remove/fix as much of the damage as possible. Are there any other products I can use to remove scratches by hand? Would Color X help conceal the scratches? If I have to take it to be professionally fixed any know what it might cost me?

I am done for now, I think I am going to go cry for a minute.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for the feedback.

[Bill D]

You're going to have invest in/learn at least the PC, and from your description, probably a rotary.

[rdarwa]

I understand your problem! Kids can be horrible! That is why I don't have any. I had good luck with #9. I had a couple of scratches on my Tundra that came out by hand. If you can feel the scratch with your fingernail then you are toast. I have no idea how much it would cost to fix in your area.

[TOGWT]

~ One man’s opinion / observations ~

I don’t know if a car cover would help in this situation, or whether it would make your car more of a ‘target’?

~Hope this helps ~

Knowledge unshared is experience wasted
justadumbarchitect / so I question everything/ Jon

[Bill D]

I'm afraid it probably would in NYC

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by nycts
Yes I have Scratch X and I will definitely attempt to remove/fix as much of the damage as possible. Are there any other products I can use to remove scratches by hand? If I have to take it to be professionally fixed any know what it might cost me?

I am done for now, I think I am going to go cry for a minute.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for the feedback.

Sorry to hear about you mis-fortune...

I'm not familiar with any product on the market that are more aggressive than ScratchX that are intended for application by hand, and won't leave more scratches behind in the process.

That's the tricky thing about removing scratches by hand on hard paints like clear coats. You can use an aggressive product to remove a scratch by hand, but while you may remove the offending scratch, you leave behind even more scratches from either your product, or your application material, or both.

Without seeing the scratches, but understanding the way they were instilled, I'll take a guess that if they are anything but very fine, shallow scratches, that the most you'll be able to do with the scratchX is to improve them, but not remove them.

Here's a how-to article I wrote for getting good results with ScratchX,

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

I used these same techniques this last Saturday at a Miata clinic and Sunday at a Harley Davidson clinic with great success. The key is really working the product in, and apply the product 2, 3, and even 4 times before you really start to see a difference. Remember after using the ScratchX paint cleaner, you need to re-apply a protective coating.

Hope this helps...

Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Re: VENTING & RANTING (with some questions at the end)

Originally posted by NYCTS
Are there any other products I can use to remove scratches by hand? Would Color X help conceal the scratches? If I have to take it to be professionally fixed anyone know what it might cost me?

Neither ColorX or #9 Swirl Remover 2.0 will be as effective at removing scratches as the ScratchX.

Removing isolated defects like scratches out of an otherwise flawless, (or nice condition), finish is an art form. A person must be able to go in and remove the defect without leaving any signs that he worked on the finish.

Because clear coats are relatively thin, and because all of the UV protection for the basecoat is in the clearcoat, I would recommend removing the scratches you can and improving the ones you cannot completely remove and then living with the results. The problem with taking it to a pro is you won't know if he's a Pro until after you get your car back and if he isn't a Pro, (and it doesn't look good), by then it will be to late.

The best method I know of, and use to remove RIDS, Random Isolated Deeper Scratches), is a method I developed called Feather Sanding. This is where you take a piece wet/dry sanding paper the size of a postage stamp and lightly sand on the scratch and try to feather it out. Then you come back and remove your lighter sanding marks using the appropriate compound and cutting pad, followed by a polishing pad and a cleaner polish, and after that a protective coating of wax.

It takes time, experience and skill, but it can be done. How much would somebody charge to do this? Depends on where you live. The hardest part would be finding someone who knows what they're doing.

ScratchX and live with it.

Mike

[Bill D]

I sorta did feather sanding a while back using a (probably not greatest tip)smalll piece of wood block with wet sand paper glued to it on all sides. I dunked the block in soapy water overnight, then went to work on a scratch in an awkward place. Luckily it worked out well and I followed with the compound/polish.