I have a black car which has a few scratches. When looking at them I see white. I'm not sure what the white is. Is it the primer? Clearcoat? Some of them I can feel with my fingernail and others I can't feel at all. Is there a way to remove these? I assume the deeper ones would need to be repainted, but what about the other ones? I've never really understood what I was looking at when viewing scratches on cars.
Can someone explain what type of scratches I have?
- Thread starter boarderx
- Start date
imported_BretFraz
New member
Well, it's difficult to really say what you're seeing when all we have to go on is a 9-sentence text post. A few hi-res pics would help us.
But, if you can feel the scratches, they are down thru the clearcoat and perhaps the color coat. High speed buffing probably will not fix them. The smaller scratches may be repairable with some serious but careful work.
I too have some white specs on my paint. Looking at them thru a 30X magnifier they are chips and nicks that have broken thru the clear and color coats and are showing primer. Not much I can do except attempt a touch up. You might be in the same boat.
But, if you can feel the scratches, they are down thru the clearcoat and perhaps the color coat. High speed buffing probably will not fix them. The smaller scratches may be repairable with some serious but careful work.
I too have some white specs on my paint. Looking at them thru a 30X magnifier they are chips and nicks that have broken thru the clear and color coats and are showing primer. Not much I can do except attempt a touch up. You might be in the same boat.
If I had a Digi Camera I'd be sure to post pictures, but unfortunately I don't. I'll see if I can borrow a friend's camera to take some pics. I'm sure pics would help all of you figure out what my problems are! I guess describing a visual defect doesn't give the best of information 
even though the clearcoat is colorless, when it scratches it can become white (and very noticable on black)
like when I accidently tried to open my hood with the wipers out, the clear got scratched in the corner and some clear shavings were left on the wiper, these shavings were not clear but white from the disturbance.
wax too can build up in there
like when I accidently tried to open my hood with the wipers out, the clear got scratched in the corner and some clear shavings were left on the wiper, these shavings were not clear but white from the disturbance.
wax too can build up in there
Black Acura? This is my area of expertise.
You can scratch only the clearcoat and feel the scratch with your fingernail. I think this is just scratching in the "plastic" of the clearcoat. I have not gotten agressive enough to take these out. The lighter scratches you can buff out with some 3M Swirl Mark Remover for Dark Cars or some use Meguiars 2.0 (both available at PepBoys)
My opinion is that you would have to have a pretty healthy scratch to get past the clearcoat but I may be wrong.
Also, our paint is not known for its quality so get used to the scratches and specs/flecks that will come off the hood. If this is a new car, I would highly recommend a stonguard or X-Pel clear bras for the hood and bumper - optional on the bumper as they are pretty cheap to get spray painted again.
You can scratch only the clearcoat and feel the scratch with your fingernail. I think this is just scratching in the "plastic" of the clearcoat. I have not gotten agressive enough to take these out. The lighter scratches you can buff out with some 3M Swirl Mark Remover for Dark Cars or some use Meguiars 2.0 (both available at PepBoys)
My opinion is that you would have to have a pretty healthy scratch to get past the clearcoat but I may be wrong.
Also, our paint is not known for its quality so get used to the scratches and specs/flecks that will come off the hood. If this is a new car, I would highly recommend a stonguard or X-Pel clear bras for the hood and bumper - optional on the bumper as they are pretty cheap to get spray painted again.