What to Do About a Minor Car Scratch: VW Service Center Costs

[WiFO215]

I was parking my car into a rather narrow spot and in doing so, scraped just a little paint off of the side. I took it back to the Volkswagen service center and they told me that they won't just patch that small scratch up, but will have to spray paint the entire door so that the door looks evenly painted. This paint job is going to cost me the equivalent of $200. Damn expensive for a small scratch! I don't want to leave the scratch on the car as is 'cause I feel uncomfortable doing so. I've left the car with them, but do they have to do this? Anyone else have any other ideas?

 

[feathermoon]

The paint pens they sell at auto parts stores can look pretty decent if you're careful about your work (small scratches). Just get your car color and a clear coat pen, and some very fine sand paper, and have a go at it.

 

[Astronuc]

Usually auto dealers do sell small kits of paint matching the colors of the models they sell, at least that is my experience with Honda.

Otherwise, one might be able to match the color with a can of spray paint from a autoparts store. One could either place a template/mask over the scratch and spray it or spray the paint on a surface and apply it with a fine brush, then smooth it. Then apply a wax or polish.

 

[Danger]

A professional body work approach would be half-way between what the dealer said and the approach that Astro and Feathermoon proposed. The area immediately surrounding the scratch would be sanded down, padded with filler if necessary, and airbrushed with an exact match paint.
For practical purposes, though, both of the aforementioned responders are correct as long as you don't have some sort of collector's item machine. (And, face it, that doesn't happen with bugs.) Your dealer is trying to rip you off.
On the other hand, though... $200 is pretty cheap. A repaint of a door would usually cost 2 or 3 times that much.

 

[turbo]

Late to the party. You can go to any decent auto-supply place and buy a little bottle of touch-up paint to match your vehicle (make, model year, and color). Touch up the damage, buff the paint after it is cured, and clear-coat the area. Apply wax after. There is no need to pay $$$ for a scratch-repair. At some point, someone else may ding your vehicle, or you could find new paint-damage from flying stones or other debris. No point in doing an extensive (expensive) repaint time after time.

 

[xxChrisxx]

Rule 1: Don't take anything to the stealers... as they don't know what they are doing and are always overly expensive.

All we've been told is there is a 'scratch'. This isn't really descriptive enough to give any sensible advice. Are we talking a small to light scratch, that although looks bad has only penetrated the top coat (ie can be t-cut out)? Or is it a gaping hole, down to bare metal?

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Whatever you do don't try to use a touch up pen, you really will not be happy with the results. They are fine for stone chips, but can make larger scratches look more obvious.

There has to be a dent and paint repair place close to you (yellow pages etc), and they can really work magic. Even things that you would think are totally unrepairable can be made to be almost invisible.

 

[WiFO215]

It's only a scratch: I scraped a bit off of the wall while parking. I can't offer pictures right now as the car is in the VW service center. It's hard getting some of the stuff you guys are suggesting as I'm in India and the un-official mechanics aren't nearly as well stocked as those in the US. I shall certainly look into these options though. Thanks a lot!

 

[xxChrisxx]

As it's India, if it's 200 USD equivilant, don't bother as that's just silly money.
And due to terrifying traffic over there, the car is likely to get hit or scratched or scraped again soon anyway.

I'd say your best bet is to try to t-cut it out as best you can and wax it, if it has taken a full layer of paint off, try a touch up pen and coloured t-cut. Just use everything very sparingly.
Whatever you do, do NOT dry sand it, no matter how fine the paper. It'll just wreck the whole area.I'd suggest you find a forum with a decent detailing section. They will have better idea on the best method for minor scratch repair.

 

[Danger]

Or you could take my teenage approach: push it over a cliff and report it stolen.

 

[turbo]

Or you could take my teenage approach: push it over a cliff and report it stolen.

Does India have quarries?

 

[Danger]

Does India have quarries?

I doubt it. Given their population, I'm pretty sure that every square centimetre of land has at least one person on it.

 

[BobG]

Why did you have to leave the entire car when only the door needed painting?

 

[leroyjenkens]

I would try to fix it myself and if that ends up a disaster, then pay someone else to do it. If they're going to do the whole door anyway, you might as well give them a good reason.

 

[WiFO215]

Why did you have to leave the entire car when only the door needed painting?

Like I said, the guys at the Volkswagen service center told me they were going to have to remove the entire door and paint it so that it looks even. I'm quite uneasy about this and don't know if it's necessary. I didn't argue with the chaps and just left the car with them. To make matters worse, they say they'll take another 10 days as there are a lot of cars in line waiting to be repaired (not just paint jobs).