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Scraped Side of Vehicle

7K views 20 replies 9 participants last post by  Mely 
#1 ·
Title speaks for itself, sadly. Coming out of a parking garage and having to do a 10 point turn due to too many vehicles blocking my exit path (in DC...that should say enough). Damage isn’t THAT bad IMO. I was able to scrape most of the concrete paint from the pillar off, but rough estimate of what I’m looking at or, if possible, how to fix this myself? The last photo shows my clean-up attempt.
 

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#3 ·
I can't tell from the photo--has the actual paint been scraped off down to the primer or metal? If it's just clear coat damage you could possibly wet sand the scratches out. You could start with a clay bar to make sure all the contaminants are gone so you can assess how deep the gouges are.

As far as cost from a body shop, there's no way they'll charge you less than $1,000 to do any sort of paint work.
 
#4 ·
Start with the least intrusive method and go from there. Get a rubbing compound ( off the counter - meguiars, turtle wax etc), and buff off as much as possible with a foam or a microfiber cutting pad with a DA or rotary . If you dont have the power tool, then try by hands using a microfiber applicator. Most of those scratches should buff off especially with a polisher. The deeper ones at the bottom will need to be wet sanded and then compounded/polished. If its cut through the paint than a respray is your only option. Like the other poster said, good shops will charge you upwards of $800-$1000 for a respray, but if you are not crazy about perfection then there are body shops who'll do it for around $250-$350. Trouble is with mazda's soul red color, it is notorious for being hard to match.
 
#6 ·
Personal observation, I think it is really thin. Our CR-V 98 won't chip easily. Another thing, the metal is also thinner. I got used on the way I clean our CR-V 98 that the first time I cleaned this 6, I felt my hand "sink" in the panel! Good thing I didn't dent the car.

Yes, I know I should be gentle when cleaning the car.
[emoji3]

Are those touch-up paint pen good enough to match the color of our 6? I have the machine gray and I think it's not as "difficult" to match compared to Crystal Soul Red.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
 
#11 ·
I want to say, "You'll get used to it." However, but I can't. That scratch is "too big" for me. If it can be lightened then perhaps you can leave it that way.

Someone said to me that I should avoid a repaint as much as possible. No one can replicate the factory paint.

And I had the car repainted! Good thing it is just on the lower part so I'm hoping for the best.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
The ones on the door should go with wet sanding and polishing. The rocker panel and on top of wheel arches though looks like they may need to be resprayed. Try to sand and polish off as much as possible with a compound and then make a decision if its still bad enough to get it resprayed.
 
#14 ·
So, if I can get the door scratches to pretty much non-existent, I wouldn't care too much about the exposed metal if I did a self-job. I can get some paint shipped out to me. I just don't want straight metal showing and rusting over on this car.
 
#16 ·
That's unfortunate! I too scraped the side of my car in the parking garage some 10 years ago.. Still haunts me how I missed that big bleeping cement column among all the cars I was trying to avoid... So yeah, I get it, it happens! Best of luck getting out as much as you can!
 
#17 ·
was the concrete painted white? or just bare?

if it was white, you should be able to get some more of those scrapes to show up less with more scrubbing. any that do not disappear you can likely hide a bit with a closely matching wrap vinyl.

you would need to visit a sign shop with a friendly owner to use vinyl color charts. the car below i fixed with chemicals, scrubbing, and a small scrap of wrap vinyl i had laying here. no sandpaper, no paint. it's not perfect, but it's perfect enough that she forgot about the damage to the otherwise perfect car.
 

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#19 ·
was the concrete painted white? or just bare?

if it was white, you should be able to get some more of those scrapes to show up less with more scrubbing. any that do not disappear you can likely hide a bit with a closely matching wrap vinyl.

you would need to visit a sign shop with a friendly owner to use vinyl color charts. the car below i fixed with chemicals, scrubbing, and a small scrap of wrap vinyl i had laying here. no sandpaper, no paint. it's not perfect, but it's perfect enough that she forgot about the damage to the otherwise perfect car.

It was painted white. I already scrubbed off what I could. Took it for an estimate at a shop and the panel is cracked/dented. There's like a 1/2 inch gap between the bottom panel of the door and the frame of the car which rides up about 7 or so inches :frown2: A family friend that works at the dealership where I purchased the car is going to fix it for around $450. So, he'll have someone come in and fix the panel then repaint the entire door. Had no clue our local dealership also had a bodyshop as it's not advertised anywhere ::shrug:: I just want to get it done as it's winter and the metal is exposed, so I don't want it to rust over. Once that's done, my next concern is: an aftermarket remote start or Mazda remote start :grin2:
 
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